The 2015 fall anime season holds a lot more of interest than the summer did: we’ve got second seasons of Noragami (which is a must-watch , by the way), Haikyuu, and Seraph of the End to watch, as well as Young Black Jack, One Punch Man , the new Lupin series that premiered in Italy, and baffling but promising original sci-fi Concrete Revolutio. Fall anime season 2015 is shaping up nicely.

The subject of today’s fall anime 2015 review is Seraph of the End, which is now in its second season, titled Seraph of the End: Battle in Nagoya. The manga adaptation’s first season aired this spring from April to June. It’s from Wit Studio, which also produces the Attack on Titan anime adaptation. That should come as no surprise, as the source material in both cases bear some similarity to one another: politics, body horror, and a desperate war.

Based on my viewing of the first two episodes of Seraph of the End: Battle in Nagoya , I’d say that this is a must-watch -- but only for people who have already seen and enjoyed the first season. My spoiler-tastic, filled with spoilers, lots of spoilers, spoilerrific reasoning is below:

There’s a lot of information shared, both new and old, that sets us up for a very briskly-paced season.

Why were Mikaela and Yu permitted to escape the slaughter of their orphanage when the rest of their family perished? Why was one allowed to escape to the humans while the other was kept with the vampires? What is the source of the power that Yu demonstrated on the battlefield in last season’s finale? Does Mika have that power too? What was the real purpose of the orphanage Mikaela and Yu were both a part of? What human in authority is trustworthy, if any?

Pause for breath:

Why are the Hiragi family such a bag of dicks? Can Mikaela be saved? Why did Guren save Yu? Why didn’t he teach him proper use of his Demon Weapon? Why do the Demon Weapons take the form of demon contract and possession? What’s the relation between demons and vampires, anyway? Why are Yu and his friends so good at their Demon Weapons? What’s the relation between demons, vampires, and the Seraph of the End? Who is spying where and why are they doing it? What the fuck is that thing?

In order to ask most of these questions, all of which are raised in the first two episodes of Seraph of the End: Battle in Nagoya, you have to have background information from the entire first season. Without that information, stuff like “the orphanage was involved in spellcraft” and “I killed the kids to kill the Seraph factor” and “I let Yu go on purpose” just don’t have that much punch. But with that information, stuff like Guren’s ambivalence and the Hiragi family’s general sinister weirdness becomes much more compelling. If this season manages to answer even a fraction of the questions it’s raised, it’ll be worth at least one “so that’s what Eren’s dad was hiding in the basement” moment.

The Demon Weapons got cooler.

Let’s face it: Yu is kind of an idiot in a lot of ways, a fact that’s both lampshaded and made explicit throughout the series. He’s focused, he’s scrappy, he’s ready to take it outside at any given moment, he’s got a tragic backstory and all but really, he just wants to save Mika and kill some vampires. So he’s not exactly a compelling character. He’s a genre-standard protagonist. He cares about his friends, I mean, duh, good.

The other characters aren’t really much better. Yoichi’s the nice but weak one, Shiho’s the one in glasses, Mitsube is the annoying pointless tsundere, and really only coy, intelligent Shinoa stands out. So why watch if no one is all that interesting? The answer is simple: the unbelievable coolness of the Demon Weapons. This season kicks up their coolness even further when we learn that it’s possible to basically level them up, so that the demon itself manifests when the weapon is used.

The Demon Weapons are already huge, outsized things that their wielder must earn by enduring a demon’s psychological torture and earning its respect or partnership. They manifest with a thought in every variety of weapon possible and vanish just as quickly in eerie black and green clouds. They’re already ridiculously cool. But to have the demon manifest alongside them? So Yu’s sword turns into a freaking corona of swords, like he’s the damn Brave of Swords? And Yoichi’s arrows turn into guided demon crow arrows?

Mikaela.

Mikaela continues to be far and away the show’s emotional center. Even more so than “what is the Seraph of the End,” whether or not Mikaela will achieve some kind of happiness or resolution is the most interesting and important question of all the questions the show throws at us.

Can Yu achieve his goal of rescuing Mikaela, maybe even reversing his vampirism? It’s clear that Yu doesn’t blame Mika, would never dream of it, continues to wish for nothing more than to save his friend, but is it possible?

And can Mika stay uncorrupted, living amongst vampires he loathes, existing as a creature he despises? Will he give in, drink human blood, fight with his whole heart on the vampire’s side? Is his virtuous struggle destined to lose? Can Yu save him? Will he save himself?

Mika commands attention when he’s on the screen because he’s just as much a lynchpin of the plot as Yu, except he’s much smarter and much quieter, so we don’t have as much of a window into what he’s going through. His position is openly precarious, as dangerous as Yu’s appears to be becoming, except Mika seems keenly, torturously aware of the knife’s edge he hovers on. So long as Mikaela continues to exist: the plot continues to have a point beside loathsome humans warring with loathsome vampires and the depths to which their respective depravities will sink. The hope of Mikaela’s rescue sustains the emotional heart of Seraph of the End, and that continues into season 2.

In short: should you watch Seraph of the End: Battle of Nagoya?

If you watched and liked season 1 of Seraph of the End , you should absolutely watch season 2, as it promises to complicate all the plotlines brought up in the first season. If you watched and did not like season 1 of Seraph of the End , you should not watch season 2, as so far it doesn’t look like there’s any huge change in animation quality, characterization, or plot that will bring back a viewer who has left the fold. If you did not watch season 1 of Seraph of the End , you should not jump in on season 2: you should go back, watch season 1, and then proceed based on the above.

I’ll definitely be watching Seraph of the End: Battle of Nagoya . I need to know if Mikaela ever finds happiness. And in the meanwhile, all those Demon Weapons being flung about are really, relentlessly cool. And I’d like to know the answers to all my questions above, too.

Seraph of the End can be viewed streaming on Funimation’s website here and is updated every Saturday.