Review of Diabolik Lovers II: More,Blood

Story -3- The story of Diabolik Lovers: More Blood follows Yui as she continues her life with the vicious vampires. However, this time a new group kidnaps her. They seem to think that her blood is that of ‘Eve’ and by drinking that blood she gives them the power of ‘Adam.' It is never really explained what these powers would do, and if they were, it was glanced over. That is the whole story, with a lot of biting. There wasn’t real depth, and there truly was nothing unique about the story line. It was clear that it was pulling straight from the game that itwas based on. There was no real attempt to make the boys relatable, nor the main character. There were some vaguely interesting points, as the threat of ‘werewolves’ and what was so different about Yui. The werewolves plot was the reason I bothered to stick around long enough. However, just when the werewolves were going to be introduced, the season ended. It was majorly disappointing and left an overwhelmingly sour taste in my mouth.

Art -4-
The art style was one of the better points of the season. While it was not that horrible of an art style, everyone was shining. The boys were attractive, but that was very much the point of the genre. If the boys were not the best point of the season, then something much have gone very wrong.
The blood when shown, was very well done as well and the character designs were interesting to look at. However, everything else lacks in comparison. The background was rather dull, and when something was not the main point of the scene, the studio blurred it out, so that the focus was again on the main point. It was quick and showed how little they were thinking about the show overall.

Sound -2-
The voice acting was all right, and there isn’t much to complain about there. Unless we are talking about Yui, who would pause and stutter through each and every one of her lines. That was nothing against the voice actor, but the character, in general, was just annoying. Also, the background music seemed only to have two tracks that would repeat over and over again, driving the viewer insane.
The sound that was the biggest problem, however, was whenever anyone would bite Yui. It happened every episode, and quite honestly, and it was the most ‘nails-on-chalkboard’ sound. There was most likely some meaning behind the sound being like biting into an apple (I doubt the producers would put that much thought into it, however), but it was so bothersome. Every time one of them would bite into her neck, I physically cringed.
This would not have been a problem if they did not bite into multiple times, in every episode. It bothered me so greatly that I could not get over it. It was repulsive and so out of place with the show in a whole that there is no way the sound could ever score higher than a 2.

Character -1-
Where to start with this one. Every single character was one dimensional and fulfilled some shoujo ‘bad boy’ arch type. Yui, the main character whom the girls are supposed to relate to, was as deep as a puddle. Not only that but she was most likely the weakest female lead. She never thought for herself and was always feeling sorry for other people. It was infuriating.
The boys from the first season were not expanded on, and they stayed overall the same as they were from the first season, other than Kanato. He seemed to get a little bit more sadistic than he was before, but that was only once and then he returned to being the same as always.
The new boys were all the same as well, only with a little bit less in number. They all had a horrible past, and they all were ‘hiding behind tough skin.' There is a much better way to make the romantic interests interesting, rather than just make them all mysterious. With the characters being so dull and having such simple motives, there was no way to get invested in the plot, let alone care enough about what happens with the characters.

Enjoyment -1-
It should be clear by now that this was not enjoyable in any way. With dull characters, a simple plot, and sound that physically makes someone cringe, there was nothing to enjoy in this, in any way. There were times that you could find yourself laughing at the sheer stupidity of it all.
Multiple shoujo harems do the whole idea much better than this one. Amnesia is the first one that comes to mind. The men are all mysterious, have multiple layers, and the heroine has a reason to be as clueless as she is. Yui has no excuse as she is a priest’s daughter.
This is a simple waste of time, the only interesting thing it has to offer is dangled in front of the viewer, only to be stolen away in the last few minutes.

Overall -2.2-
The only reason this does not score lower is simply that the art was not terrible and the plot at least had something it pretended to offer. Otherwise, this was a cash grab to those who might have enjoyed the game.
It is always difficult to change a game into an anime; however, this was just poorly done. Maybe it was simply a bad choice to turn into an anime in general. With such flat characters and a protagonist that makes one groan aloud from her idiotic decisions, it was so bad it appears the problem lies with the source material. This is to be doubted however as any good company can make bad source material into something much more attractive.