Humanity After the Fall (Episode)

"Humanity After the Fall" is the title of the second episode of the first season and second episode overall in the Seraph of the End anime series.

Synopsis
Four years later, Yūichirō 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 around, 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 Hīragi, 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.

Summary
Yuichiro Hyakuya recollects the time with the other Hyakuya orphans that made up his his family. He remembers them all happy together in the vampire city before the memories come to an end in a nightmare of them being murdered by a vampire. He is also troubled by having to leave Mika behind to die in order to escape himself. It has been four years since he fled Sanguinem and at sixteen in a ruined human city, Yu fights a Horseman of John as it breaks through a billboard to attack his two teammates. They order him to retreat but he disobeys orders, which apparently he has done many a time. Yu claims he only lives for revenge against bloodsuckers so he fights and kills the monster. In exchange for disobeying orders, Yu is suspended and punished by being sent to school the next day. During class, he mumbles to himself about having to be here and annoys the teacher. When threatened with being suspended from school for his attitude, Yu happily 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 co-operates and makes a friend.

Yu recalls meeting Guren Ichinose on that winter night four years ago after escaping the vampires. Guren asked him if he hates vampires, and he takes off his coat for Shigure to put on Yu. Yu had 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 tells Yamanaka to lay off and draws his and his friends Shishido and Yūji's attention from Yoichi to himself. 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.

Yu is next seen carrying the drinks while Yoichi carries a large bag of bread and snacks. Yu picks a fight with Shinoa raising a can aggressively. 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 as he is one of the soldiers who has been accepted into the Moon Demon Company. He wants to use Yamanaka's connections in order to do a retest, so he decided to try and enter Yamanaka's circle of friends. Hearing this, Yu is ticked off even more at Guren. He advises Yoichi against joining the army, calls him a weakling that would only be in the way, which nearly makes Yoichi cry. A drinks can Yu gave him falls off of Yoichi's snacks and lands on the ground. Shinoa turns and grimaces before suddenly an explosion occurs at a building a block or so away. Sirens go off, with the alert that a vampire has escaped a laboratory. The warning system repeats the message that everyone must flee to safety and should not approach the vampire. It shares that vampires regain strength by drinking blood. 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 acquire his sword and gun from his locker. Shinoa calls him an idiot when he disobeys. The can he stepped on sprays at her and Yoichi, so she calls him a idiot again while she defends herself from the sticky soda with her bag. Yu runs into a classroom where 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 before she can bite her. With that the vampire decides to drink his blood instead. The two fight where the vampire is very agile and able to avoid Yu's sword strikes. She is also exceptionally strong and attacks with her nails. Yamanaka is present in the room and lying on the ground in terror. Yu asks him to save the girl on the desk because he is an army candidate, but Yamanaka confesses that was a lie. As the vampire moves to bite into the girl, Yoichi appears and 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 out through the window. Tree branches are destroyed but cushion him in their fall, but Yu has managed to stab the vampire 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.

They have arrived and Guren pierces her heart with his cursed blade before she gets the chance to carry out her threat. He kills the vampire, and she dissolves into embers with her clothing left behind. The rest of Guren's squad stand behind him. Shinoa is with them as well, automatically annoying Yu by her appearance. When Yu asks Guren to let him into the company already, Guren replies that 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, much to Guren's shock. Yu experiences Mika, Akane and his Hyakuya family in his company who are all well. Mika tells him he is glad Yu finally made a friend since he is too kind to live for revenge, finally they can stop worrying about him. As they walk away, Yu tells them not to go and he cries out Mika's name. He reaches his arm out and wakes up in a hospital bed.

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

Characters
List of characters in order of appearance:

Gallery
Anime images provide a visual overview of the events of Episode 2 with depictions of the characters, Seraph of the End world, scenarios, artistic style among other areas.