Humanity After the Fall (Episode)

Humanity After the Fall is the second episode of the anime series, Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign. It corresponds with chapter 2 of the manga.

Short Summary Four years later, Yuichiro Hyakuya is a soldier in the Japanese Imperial Demon Army, but he gets suspended for insubordination. As punishment, he attends a school with the order to "make friends." He interferes when three bullies are pushing Yoichi Saotome, but he is not allowed to harm a civilian and ends up becoming their errand boy instead.

A vampire escapes a nearby research facility, and Yu fights her. Yoichi helps as well. In the end, Guren Ichinose kills her and saves Yu's life. Yoichi gleefully arrives and gets all over Yu, so Shinoa Hiragi, Yu's surveillance officer, informs him he will have to keep his promise to allow Yu into the Moon Demon Company.

Both Yu and Yoichi are accepted into the Moon Demon Company.

Long Summary
Yuichiro Hyakuya recollects the time with his his family and follows the monologue of the manga. A Horseman of John breaks through a billboard as it attacks Yu's two teammates. They order him to retreat. Disobeying orders, which apparently he has done many a time, Yu claims he only lives for revenge against bloodsuckers. He fights and kills the monster. In exchange for disobeying orders, he is suspended and punished by being sent to school the next day. During class, he mumbles to himself and annoys the teacher. When threatened with being suspended from school, he cheerfully asks for it. Shinoa Hiragi, his surveillance officer, pokes him from behind and makes him read the note she wrote. It states he must behave, and she informs him that he will not be able to return to the army until he cooperates and makes a friend. Yu recalls meeting Guren Ichinose on that winter night four years ago, when he escaped the vampires at the end of episode 1. Guren asks him if he hates vampires, and he takes off his coat for Shigure to put on Yu. Yu lost his shoes while running from Ferid Bathory. In the present, Yu wonders why Guren has not let him kill any vampires yet. Class ends, and some students leave to get ice cream. Shinoa tells Yu that was his chance to try and make friends. When Yu argues about his orders again, she gives him a note written by Guren. Annoyed, he crushes it and throws it on the floor. She follows him to his shoe locker. Yu asks when she will stop following him, but she insists she will keep it up and report any behavior that may extend his suspension.

Yoichi Saotome gets pushed down near the locks. Satoshi Yamanaka insists that Yoichi buy snacks for him since he wants to be his friend. Yu ignores the situation, and Shinoa informs him Yu will never make friends that way. Yamanaka says Yoichi should be useful like livestock. Yu keeps walking but then turns around. He asks Yamanaka to lay off and picks a fight. Shinoa informs him that beating up any civilians will extend his suspension from the army. While Yu is distracted, Yamanaka punches him in the face.

In the next scene, Yu carries the drinks while Yoichi carries a large bag of bread and snacks. Yu picks a fight with Shinoa but hesitates to hit her. He drops the drinks onto the ground. Yoichi says he wants to become a soldier in order to avenge his sister, who was killed by a vampire while protecting him. Yoichi explains that he failed the admission test to get into the Moon Demon Company, and he wants to become friends with Yamanaka because Yamanaka is one of the soldiers in the Moon Demon Company. He wants to use Yamanaka's connections in order to do a retest, so he decided to enter Yamanaka's circle of friends. Hearing this, Yu is ticked off at Guren. He advises Yoichi against joining the army, calls him a weakling that would only be in the way, and nearly makes Yoichi cry.

A can Yu gave him falls off of Yoichi's snacks and lands on the ground. Shinoa suddenly turns and grimaces before an explosion occurs at a building a block or so away. Sirens go off, stating that a vampire has expected a laboratory. Everyone must flee to safety and should not approach the vampire. It says that vampires regain strength by drinking blood, and it keeps repeating its message.

Shinoa orders them to go to safety while she contacts the Moon Demon Company, but Yu hesitates and then states he will kill the vampire in order to prove himself. He steps on one of the cans as he runs back into the school to retrieve his sword and gun from his locker. Shinoa calls him a baka when he disobeys. The can he stepped on sprays at her and Yoichi, so she calls him a baka again while she defends herself from the stick soda with her bag.

Yu runs into a classroom. There, he finds the escaped vampire. She is a small, starving, and underweight with her ribs visible and sunken-in eyes. She attempts to drink the blood of a female student on the teacher's desk, but Yu interferes. She decides to drink his blood instead. The two fight. Yamanaka is lying on the ground in terror. Yu asks him to save the girl on the desk because he is an army candidate, but Yamanaka says that was a lie. As the vampire moves to bite into the girl, Yoichi tackles her from the side. When she strikes at Yoichi, Yu intercepts her with the sword. Yu and the vampire continue fighting, and she grabs Yu by the throat and jumps with him through the window.

They destroy tree branches in their fall, but Yu manages to stab her through the abdomen. She tells him he was close but states she will now drink his blood and regain her strength before the Moon Demon Company arrives.

Guren pierces her heart with his cursed blade before she gets the chance. He kills the vampire, and she dissolves in embers with her clothing left behind. The rest of Guren's squad stands behind him.

Shinoa appears as well, automatically annoying Yu by her appearance. When Yu asks Guren to let him into the company already, Guren says he hates brats who do not understand teamwork and refuses. Just then, Yoichi sees Yu. Waving, he jumps over a fence on the walkway above and stumbles down a slope until he crashes into Yu. Yu hits his head and faints. Yoichi hugs Yu, crying about how worried he was. Shinoa points out that Guren will now have to keep his promise since Yu managed to make a friend after all.

Yu dreams of Mika, Akane, and his Hyakuya family. Mika tells him he is glad Yu finally made a friend since he is too kind to live for revenge. As they walk away, Yu tells them not to go there, and he cries out Mika's name. He reaches out his arm and wakes up.

Yoichi greets him. Shinoa informs the two boys that the army approved of Yoichi's self-sacrifice for his friend, so both of them have been accepted into the Moon Demon Company.

Differences with the Manga
The memories recalled at the beginning are slightly different.Mika's arm is missing in the memories in the manga while his arm is present in the anime.The Horsemen of John are shown more fully instead of being hidden in shadows like in the manga.The Horseman breaks through a billboard instead of a wall. The battle against it also takes longer in the anime.Like in the first episode, the escape four years ago takes place during winter instead of another season like in the manga. Shigure and Sayuri are with Guren instead of Shigure and another soldier. The scene where Guren gives Yu is coat is only in the anime. Yu is only covered with Mika's blood in the anime as well.Yoichi is bullied near the school lockers rather than in the classroom.In the manga, both Yu and Yoichi carry drinks. In the anime, Yoichi carries a bag of bread and snacks.Yu smacks Yoichi on the backside of the head in the manga, but he taps Yoichi with a can of blended coffee in the anime. He also puts it on top of Yoichi's bag.</li>Yu steps on a soda as he runs to fight the vampire. The soda sprays Shinoa and Yoichi. This is only in the anime.</li>In the manga, Yu runs by his teacher, who tells him the vampire is in their classroom. In the anime, Yu just runs through a swarm of people.</li>In the manga, the escaped vampire drinks some of the girl's blood before Yu arrives.</li>The vampire's outfit is different.</li>The fight with the vampire takes longer. They manage to give each other minor cuts in the anime as well.</li>In the manga, Yu cuts of the vampire's arm when she attacks Yoichi, but he blocks her attack with his sword in the anime.</li>In the anime, both Yu and the vampire fall together. In the manga, she kicks him down first and then attacks him. She does all of this without her arm.</li>Guren arrives with his regular squad rather than Shigure, Goshi, and numerous other soldiers. They are also standing on steps in the anime instead of the school courtyard.</li>Yoichi stumbles and falls in the anime. He intentionally tackle-glomps Yu in the manga. Yu never mentions dislocating his shoulder and gets knocked out when he hits his head thanks to Yoichi.</li>In the manga, Yoichi is crying when Yu wakes up. He is not crying in the anime.</li>In the manga, Shinoa gives Yu his new military uniform after he wakes up. This does not happen in the anime.</li></ul>