Vampire Cops: ' Devils’ Line' Review

Devils’ Line is a dark fantasy manga series created by Ryo Hanada that consists of thirteen volumes and was completed in 2018. An anime television series adaptation by Platinum Vision aired from April 7 to June 23, 2018.

Yūki Anzai is half-human and half-vampire. He works for the police force where he hunts aggressive and out of control vampires. During one of his investigations, Anzai encounters a young college woman, Tsukasa Taira, who was being sought after by a vampire. Anzai saves her and the two end up forming a close bond. Anzai and Taira’s feelings for each other become more romantic, but Anzai fears to get close to her due to his vampire nature. Despite these factors, Taira continues to stay by his side.

One of the major issues that Devil’s Line discusses is the treatment of vampires in society. Vampires are looked down upon and feared by humans, and so radical groups are desiring the genocide of all vampires. We can view vampires as representing racial and social minority groups in our society. One way we can apply vampires as minority groups in our society is how in this world, vampires do not have the same rights as humans and the justice system views them like criminals even if they unintentionally harm another person due to their blood-thirsty tendencies. In our society, we can see the mistreatment of certain races in our justice system when it comes to how drugs, gun violence, and sexual harassment lawsuits are handled—race still continues to be a factor in how punishments are given. Also, it is taboo for humans and vampires to have relationships with one another, but there has been movements and laws being processed to allow such relationships to happen. In this drama, Anzai and Taira must help in the fight for vampire rights and peace between the two species.

Devils’ Line tackles some interesting concepts, but the anime fails to execute a compelling story to convey those topics. There were so many storylines that the show introduced but the writers fail to give any satisfying conclusion to the subplots and issues brought up. The ending left us with no resolution to how vampires and humans unite, and there is uncertainty whether or not Anzai and Taira will remain together.

In fact, the ending was a bit cynical. The overarching message that was brought to the viewers’ attention was that there is no hope for peace amongst races. You can’t change the mindset of every individual. You aren’t born with values of discrimination and prejudices: you are taught these values by others and the environment you live in. Thus, even though some people’s viewpoints changed, there will always be someone who will discriminate because such values and ideology are still being passed down from generation to generation. The ending of this anime viewed humanity in a pessimistic manner. There seems to be no effective, long-term solution against discrimination and so, there’s no hope for a more accepting society, instead, we will always live in this hostile world.

Furthermore, the ending felt rushed and left the reader with more questions. For example, the series introduced some principal characters like Anzai’s parents, but the series didn’t further elaborate on their roles. If you are going to introduce key characters, you should follow-up on them. Since the anime focused a significant amount of time on Anzai's past, I would expect a more fulfilling storyline involving his parents helping him trying to understand himself. Overall, this series introduced so many subplots, but the series didn’t tie them together in a nice conclusion. It left us with more questions and I doubt there will be a second season since the first season didn’t do the manga justice.

You can watch this series on Hulu.