Venus Versus Virus, Volume One

We live in an unclean world, rife with tiny microbes capable of felling even the strongest immune systems. Healthcare’s become a big business due to illness and fear of illness, but what if there existed organisms which were far worse than a rhino virus or the Staphylococcus bacteria?

Viruses can rob us of function, health and vitality, and at the extreme, they can rob us of life. There are fates worse than death however, and living without a soul is an existence not worth living; an existence which the ladies of the Venus Vanguard are prepared to remedy.

plot summary

There are things in his world we cannot see with the naked eye; things that can cripple and kill. There are also other unseen creatures which take more than lives: they take souls. Viruses aren’t just mindless micro-organisms, they’re also soul-stealing beings which exist in tandem with humans, but are invisible to the majority of the population.

Those who can see Viruses seldom see them for long, since Viruses prefer to devour the souls of those who can detect them. Sumire Takahana is one who can see Viruses and is thus targeted by them, when fate intervenes in the manner of the goth-loli Virus fighter, Lucia Nahashi.

Lucia, along with Laura and Sōichirō Nahashi, is part of the Venus Vanguard, a group of fighters sworn to eradicate the Virus menace. Lucia saves Sumire from the Viruses and senses an unknown power emanating from Sumire.

Sumire is then sucked, against her will, into Lucia’s world, as she discovers she has powers that can help the Vanguard destroy the Viruses once and for all. But is the price Sumire pays for her powers worth the sacrifice?

review

There was no spark when I watched Venus Versus Virus- VVV for short- Volume One, no connection. Nothing. I gave Volume One my undivided attention but it failed to keep it.

VVV’s concept wasn’t as fresh as it could have been and felt contrived. The idea of young girls fighting otherworldly powers, while inspiring and potentially fascinating, felt too formulaic in this instance. Everything was already setup from the get-go for VVV to be what it is: cute girls with inherent powers doing brave things. How could this go wrong? It’s not a bad formula and is in fact a pretty standard template for anime and manga.

Character Development

Where Volume One went wrong was that there was no connection with any of the characters. The characters themselves were also too formulaic. In order for a series to set itself apart if an anime formula is followed, at least the characters must be non-standard. But I could feel myself moving away from the story since I felt nothing for the characters. I can sometimes forgive a story that’s been done before, and done better, if the characters move me and connect with me.

I don’t like to have a sense of déjà vu when I watch anime; I like to be surprised, I like to have a feeling of, “Hey, that series really got me!” Instead, VVV elicited many: “M’yep, thought you might do/say/ wear that.” Perhaps the later volumes of the series will define and develop the characters more, but I wish they could have set some spark into the first volume which would keep viewers interested enough to watch volume two.

Character Design

Lucia and Laura’s characters were designed as lolitas. As much as I adore the style in real-life, I’m beginning to dislike it in anime; a lot. However, to be fair, the gals of Venus Vanguard are using a clothing shop as a front for their anti-Virus operations; dressing in their wares is a damn fine way to advertise and sell them. But I still feel as if the use of lolis is ever so slightly gratuitous and abused in VVV.

Sumire’s school uniform is a quite novel, although unlikely, design. It’s good to see something new done with the same old school uniforms which habitually show up in anime. The colors for the uniform weren’t as good as the cut and overall design, but it made for a pleasant change of pace from the standard fuku.

The designs for the Viruses, unlike the school uniforms, were pretty blah. I like it when studios go the extra mile with the bad guy’s designs; makes for added interest. The overall character designs are fairly mediocre, so far, considering the studio can get inventive with this genre of anime.

Animation

I don’t believe I’ve ever seen anything produced by Studio Hibari, the company behind Venus Versus Virus’ anime production and I wasn’t impressed with my premiere viewing of their work. The animation was fairly average and standard with a few good-to-great shots. They did do something interesting with flashbacks: they framed them. Whenever a character had a flashback, it was set in an oval frame. It was interesting but the novelty wore off the umpteenth time it was used.

Music

“Bravin’ Bad Brew” is the name of the OP by Riryka. The song is, like the rest of the anime, average, but the beginning is catchy enough: I can’t seem to get, “I’m in the hell. I’m in the fate.” outta my head. The ED, “Shijun no Zankoku” by Yousei Teikoku is only slighter better than the OP.

Voice Acting

The Japanese voice cast was eons better than the English one, which seemed overly bright and forced. However, I wasn’t taken much with the Japanese voice cast either. It also was average.

Venus Versus Virus is an average anime that’s nothing new. Everything about is fairly standard and it doesn’t manage to set itself apart. Maybe the series will spark some sort of interest or connection with audiences, or else, it too will just be another soulless addition to the anime world.

Rating

Venus Versus Virus, Volume One gets 2.5 out of 4 Hammies.