Vermeil in Gold (2022)

[金装のヴェルメイユ]

Director: Takashi Naoya
Studio: Staple Entertainment
Starring: Yuya Hirose, Maaya Uchida, Wakana Kuramochi
Episodes: 12

Synopsis:
A gifted magic student breaks the seal on a powerful demon and makes her his familiar.

Impressions:
No doubt the motivation for a significant portion of the audience to watch this series is the eponymous Vermeil's huge... smile. While I had some appreciation for Vermeil's teasing personality, there wasn't much more to latch on to. Alto our protagonist is the typical weenie who manages to man up on occasion, but even those moments lack much impact. The secondary cast aren't even worth mentioning as you never get much deeper characterization beyond their initial setup and their impact on the plot is minimal. The antagonists are similarly unimpressive. What does that leave us with? Not much, honestly. Most of the components have promise, but I never felt that these parts coalesced into a compelling narrative. Even if you were just going in for the fanservice, I feel you'd be disappointed. There's not much for me to recommend but also nothing so bad that I feel like taking the extra effort to drive you away from it. It's a thoroughly mediocre story that you may just find passable for one reason or a couple others. Take it or leave it.

Rating:
50/50