Back in January I announced that I was working on a collaboration with a few otome fans I know, where we collectively review anime adaptations of otome games. It took a bit longer than I anticipated, but here is the very first Otome Fans React post! If you missed the announcement post, or are new here this new series is meant to be an ongoing monthly collaboration review that gives otome fans the chance to share their thoughts on otome game anime adaptations. Each month we will select an otome game anime adaptation to watch and review. Each participant will submit a short review about the anime series and each one will be compiled into one post here on Blerdy Otome with links to each contributor so you guys can check out their other great content. After talking among ourselves we all decided to cover Diabolik Lovers for our debut anime! If you have not yet had the pleasure of checking out this “delightful” series here’s a brief synopsis:
At the behest of her father, Yui Komori goes to live in a secluded mansion, home to the six Sakamaki brothers—Shuu, Reiji, Ayato, Kanato, Laito, and Subaru—a family of vampires. Though at first the siblings are confused as to why the girl has arrived, they soon realize that she is to be their new “sacrificial bride,” not to mention their other, more carnal intentions for her. After meeting the brothers, Yui quickly begins to question why her father would have sent her here and why she feels a strange, new pain in her chest. With each brother more sadistic than the last, Yui’s life as a captive takes a harrowing turn in her new home. As her days turn into endless nights, and each brother vows to make her his own, Yui falls deeper and deeper into madness and ecstasy.
Diabolik Lovers is a vampire romance otome game series developed by Japanese game developer Rejet. The series follows Yui Komori, a normal high school student who finds herself the unwitting house guest of a group of sadistic vampire brothers. The game series spans seven games, the most recent—Diabolik Lovers: Chaos Lineage—was released for Nintendo Switch in 2019. Diabolik Lovers has also been adapted into various other media including: manga, Drama CDs, fanbooks, and three successful stage plays. While the game series has never been officially localized for an English speaking audience, the series is immensely popular with Western otome fans thanks in part to the 12 episode anime series released in 2013.
The Diabolik Lovers anime is notoriously bad, even by otome game anime adaptation standards, but it was popular enough to warrant an OVA and a second series, Diabolik Lovers More, Blood. It’s super low budget and trashy… and the perfect pick for our first Otome Fans React! The roster for this post includes: Hazel from Archi-Anime, Ruby from Otomates Podcast , Pseudofaux from the Press X to Fall in Love Podcast, and my otome buddy, April.
Alright! Let’s delve into the “madness and ecstasy” of season 1 of the Diabolik Lovers anime!!
Continue reading “Otome Fans React to the Diabolik Lovers Anime”
The game we ended up choosing was The Men of Yoshiwara: Kikuya. There are a total of two Men of Yoshiwara games, the other being The Men of Yoshiwara: Oghiya, in which our MC is vastly different-but more on the Kikuya version of her later. 