Upcoming Reverse Harem Anime - Diabolik Lovers: Haunted Dark Bridal
Based on a popular otome game, Diabolik Lovers is scheduled to be released this fall. If you’re a fan of reverse harem (female protagonist surrounded by a number of male love interests), you might want to take note of this series. After all, there’s pretty bishounen and vampires in it - what more could a girl ask for?
The story follows Komori Yui who transfers to a new school - a night school for famous people and entertainers. Somehow she ends up living with six sadistic Sakamaki vampire brothers.
Sakamaki Shuu
He is the oldest and is the master of the Sakamaki mansion. Lazy is the word to describe him as he is usually seen sleeping or dozing off somewhere. Despite being the oldest, he doesn’t have a sense of responsibility and leaves the managing of the household to Reiji.
Sakamaki Reiji
The second oldest is a “polite” young man, very formal and proper. He takes his responsibilities seriously unlike the rest of the brothers, especially the oldest son. But beneath his gentlemanly veneer is a haughty and condescending vampire who can use polite words to spin insults.
Sakamaki Ayato
Sakamaki Raito
The second in the set of triplets, he is rather perverted, or make that extremely perverted considering he was suspended many times due to his pervy acts. His nickname for the heroine is “bitch-chan” but maintains that it is a term of endearment. While he has a cheerful personality in general, his mood can suddenly switch when something doesn’t go his way.
Sakamaki Kanato
The youngest of the triplets, he looks pretty much like a child with childlike tendencies such as being very demanding, crying a lot and throwing tantrums when he doesn't get what he wants. And just like a child, he has a great attachment to his Teddy and would not leave his room without it. (Personally, I think he looks the most disturbing. I would love it if they played the childlike-psycho card on this guy)
Sakamaki Subaru
The youngest of the brothers. He’s very quiet and prefers to be by himself, often shutting himself in his room. He doesn't like it when his brothers show any concern for him. He also has a violent temper that can easily be triggered and can become quite destructive in his rage.
By the way, if I got the order of the triplets wrong, please enlighten me on the correct order. Since the anime is not out yet and I did not play the game, I am clueless and can only depend on Internet research. Funny thing is the different sites I went to had different orders for the triplets. So I went by gut instincts. I apologise if my instincts were wrong.
Overall, the plot is lean and simple, too simple, but I’m hoping that it will be fleshed out properly and hopefully contain more depth than the usual, run-of-the-mill reverse harem series. And by run-of-the-mill, I mean the typical stuff you see in such a genre. You know the type:
- Female protagonist with a weak character (helpless, damsel in distress)
- Female protagonist having no distinguishing qualities which makes me wonder what on earth the boys see in her
- The frustrating indecisiveness of the female lead
- All the males bend over backwards trying to cater to the female lead
- The boys are very... gentlemanly in the sense that none would overtly fight for the woman he loves and defaults to the ‘May the best man win’ strategy
So for Diabolik Lovers, I’m really hoping for a female lead with some backbone. After all, she is walking right into a lion’s den. Plus, the boys are blood-sucking vampires and the many sites that have talked about this upcoming anime have all mentioned the word ‘sadistic’. So I’m really expecting sadistic displays, possibly with a bit of blood (or a whole barrel of it, I’m not fussy) and it doesn't necessarily have to originate from the female lead.
Speaking of the female lead, who is the lucky lady in this series who has the attention of such hotties?
Komori Yui
This is my opinion but feel free to disagree. I think that the true stars of any harem and reverse harem shows are the harem members, not quite the person they are revolving around. In most cases, the person that the show is centered on are rather two-dimensional which I think makes them quite boring and unrelatable. These types of characters are even more pronounced in otome games (converted to an anime) if you ask me. A successful character is one that either displays out-of-this-world unique traits, or ones that the audience can find a relatable quality in their personality that can stir them emotionally.
Which leads me to a theory that the reason why so many harem and reverse harem shows produce two-dimensional central characters is actually a deliberate move on the creators’ part. They want your focus on the harem members more than they care about what you think about the central characters. Perhaps I’m wrong, or maybe there is some truth to what I’m saying. What do you think?
If you’re wondering whether or not I’ll be watching this series, even if the heroine turns out to be exactly the type I don’t like, I’ll still watch it. Like I said, it’s more the bishounen that I care about (and goth elements and vampires, I like!), certainly not that one delicate flower. Besides, I have watched other reverse harem shows where the female lead is less than desirable. What I’ll do to better stomach her existence is by imagining that she’ll somehow get killed in the show. No, really. I tend to do that. A lot.
Indeed, I can be quite sadistic. Heh.
Written by Deviliscious
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