First Impression: Vatican Kiseki Chousakan

Synopsis

This is a story that takes on the mysteries of religious miracles in the land of Vatican, a Holy Land of Catholics. Here there is a faction that investigates such mysteries and unlock their truths, they are called the Assembly of Saints and this is the tale of two priests who work for this organization, Robert Nicholas and Josef Kou.

The Good

The concept of a religious themed anime is something, to this writer’s knowledge, has almost never been done before in the anime community. It cannot be denied that the concept is interesting and the way that they establish the basic roles and personality points of the characters was rather smooth. In just a single episode there is general idea and story to one of them while the other seems rather laid back but the appeal of mystery is there.

The art is also a highlight to notice, with great details to things like symbols and imagery, it is to be expected, but the realism of it holds a note of appeal. Simply put the art and animation were very well established and tied in well with the general set-up of the story.

The Bad

In this writer’s opinion, from what has been presented from just the first episode, alone, the series is to be handled with a grain of salt. As a longtime anime fan, this by far is the most religious heavy anime to be encountered yet, a rather touchy subject for an anime to take on. While the concept is interesting, for those who may be heavily religious, this series may be touch and go.

Then there are the rather heavy handedness of imagery and rather jarring points when the episode takes focus on the darker aspects. For example, in the first episode, Josef ends up dreaming of a demon taking on the image of his little brother. The transition from one scene to this scene and ending with a child maniacally laughing before Josef wakes up? Not an easy image to get over if you don’t have the heart for things like this.

Conclusion

There is a good amount of mystery and intrigue t be found with this story but there is also a heaviness to it that may not appeal to everybody. The art and animation were well laid out but can be rather overplayed when displaying the symbolism and has some moments of less than smooth transitions. Depending on how interested you may be in a story filled with religious questioning mixed with dark mysteries, it could be an interesting watch.

Rating: 7/10