Let the vengeance begin.

What They Say:
(First Season) Yui Komori has spent her life sheltered by the Church and the man she thinks of as her father, but now she’s going to a new home and there’s a very different kind of family waiting for her. To her dismay, she discovers that she’ll be living with six very attractive young men, and not a single one is human! If trying to keep an entire brood of vampires at fangs’ length wasn’t stressful enough, there are even more sinister forces at work, threatening not only Yui’s life, but her very soul. Drawn into her wildest fantasies, or perhaps her most salacious nightmares, one thing is certain: Yui’s life will never be the same!

The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Having thoroughly enjoyed the first season of this series in its original simulcast as well as the Blu-ray release that came out for it, the news of a second season was certainly exciting. The show is one that plays to dark tones that many don’t like, but the beauty of fiction is the ability to explore these elements in a safe way. Shows that push your buttons should be explored to see why and grow from. With the way it worked out female lead in such a difference from how reverse-harem shows tend to go, it was something that definitely made for a welcome change of pace in a sea of series aimed at utterly pleasing and taking care of the lead character. Here, Yui found herself little more than a tool for various forces, a weapon to be used or a piece of potential food, and that changes the dynamic and feel in a big way.

After all those events, she’s now utterly in the care of the young men of the house and they reassert that quickly enough from the start after she wakes up from a dream wherein she was called Eve. Playing this just after a brief intro about a pair of brothers coming to the area for vengeance has us seeing events here in a way that are a bit a more straightforward than before, setting up sides quickly and easily, but the devil is always in the details. The familiar is all here with the way some of the boys are all over Yui and savoring her taste while others find their outward display to be distasteful. With a small but diverse crowd here from within the household there are a decent selection of personalities and understanding the way they view each other definitely works to add some flavor to it all.

Where it takes a stronger turn is that while on their way to school their car gets attacked, causing it to flip and blow up. They all survive easily enough, Yui just a bit worse for wear, but it’s an open statement of intent from a new enemy. One that makes itself clear quickly with the four young men that appear on the ridge. There’s a great sense of danger and sexuality to them amid the shadows that plays well, even in contrast to our familiar dark boys. They’re all about Yui though, making the Eve nod so that we know the intent quickly, and their presence and scent certainly ups our boys into wanting to deal with this. Sometimes you get shows like this where they dance around that first encounter, teasing it out for a while until it goes full, but here we essentially get both sides presenting themselves. It may not turn to action for the moment, but it’s looking to work the psychological side well, particularly when it comes to them getting inside Yui’s head with the Eve name.

In Summary:
Diabolik Lovers II: More, Blood gets underway in a pretty good way here as it doesn’t take time to go over the past but instead moves us forward into the new storyline quickly. There’s a greater sense of mystery coming from the dream elements that Yui has that can be explored and tantalized, both in words and visual, but in the end all of this puts Yui on the run once more. And that’s definitely fun to watch as the four close in on her and make clear their intent that they will control her. That won’t go over well with the others, but just the end visual with them all placing their hands across her and claiming her is powerful and frightening, much as it should be. There’s a lot to like here and this opening installment has me very excited to see what comes next and how it’ll play out with, so far at least, seemingly all young men that will be playing the claim game as Yui struggles.

Grade: B+

Streamed By: Crunchyroll

Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Apple TV via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.