My opinion after the second episode of Tenrou: Sirius the Jaeger, is substantially unchanged from after the first.  That is to say, rather impressed with the production values and scope and modestly interested in the story, but not really sold on any of the characters or the dexterity of the writing.  Jaeger is a series I’d certainly love to love – this has all the hallmarks of a threadbare anime season, and I’m a huge admirer of Andou Masahiro.  But so far the sale has definitely not been closed.

One element that does interest me is my increasing sense that this is very much a European horror story that happens to be set in Tokyo.  That contrast between the style and the setting could potentially prove interesting – indeed, there were more than a few moments during this episode when I found myself forgetting that this wasn’t London or Budapest.  Whether Koyanagi (the writer) has any attention of playing that angle up I have no idea, but I hope he does because so far, I don’t find any of the cast to be rising above what you’d get from the character profile page on the series’ website.

The sidebar with Yuri spending time recuperating at the estate of a heart surgeon and his daughter worked largely on the level of plot contrivance.  Everything with the daughter was pretty much out of the moe pandering 101 textbook, and the concept of the “beast” bonding with the little girl is a chestnut as old as horror fiction.  As a plot device, the point of this seems to be that the doc was working on an artificial heart – presumably intending somehow to revive his dead wife with it, though just how exactly I don’t know.  Kershner and his vampire crew have taken an interest in the doctor’s work, and indeed that of other artificial organ researchers – and they’re using the Hyaku group as a front for their attacks on those people and theft of their research.

Also of note here is that Phillip apparently hates Yuri because Yuri’s old comrade (whether that’s the older brother played by Sakurai Takahiro who shows up at the end of the episode or not I don’t know) did “terrible things” to Phillip’s parents.  Yuri’s loose cannon status is obviously down in part to his werewolf (“Sirius”) nature, but there are hints that there’s something special about Yuri that makes him unique even among his kind.  In any event he does manage to off the seriously annoying Agatha, but unfortunately not until she’s orphaned the even more annoying doctor’s daughter – here’s hoping she doesn’t become an accessory to V Company (but I fear the worst).

There’s enough that’s interesting here to give me hope that Sirius the Jaeger can remain viable as a series.  Plot over character is fine – it’s not usually the way great shows work (there are exceptions), but applies to plenty of good ones, especially when the visuals are as strong as this series’ are sure to be with Andou-sensei and PAW at the helm.  But while beautiful animation and art is terrific, Sirius the Jaeger is going to need one or the other to make the grade when it comes to plot and character if it’s going to make the grade, and I’m not yet convinced (though I am hopeful) that’s going to happen.