OK, I said I was going to do a picspam on some of the anime I've been mainlining recently, so...

Imagine a Prussian-Gothic anime world where demons are real, the clergy are badass, and the hottest, most manly character is named…

…Frau.

* Snerk *

Boyfriend has some kind of 70's porn homoerotic thing going on with the bare chest and the chains, but we'll forgive him that because he is absolutely made of awesome.





Dude has a fucking scythe that shoots out of his fucking arm. How cool is that?



Apparently to get ordained into this church, you have to pass a fairly difficult test of knowledge, and demonstrate your ability to thrash real as well as inner demons. And be gorgeous. 07 Ghost puts the bishie in bishop.



My favorite holy man of all, however, is the fun, flamboyant and faaaaaaabulous Bishop Lance. Dude's got SERIOUS hair.



He's a little tempermental...



But he can smite the baddies without mussing his 'do.



I love Bishop Lance to pieces and want to slash him with the entire cast, including the mermaid.

Unsurprisingly, the bad guys are also dark and delicious:



But guess what kids, it isn't a blue bishonen ghetto without the requisite big-eyed male teenagers voiced by women. Exhibit A is Teito Klein. He's a battle-scarred, abused orphan who nevertheless manages to have massive amounts of angsty UST with pretty much the entire cast, including the mermaid.



But the real reason I watch is for the plot. No, but really. It's fascinating and complex. I especially like their take on the clergy: the church, which superficially seems Catholic, is in fact VERY Japanese, featuring Shinigami (death gods) and reincarnation.

However, note that the pacing is odd in some of the early episodes of the anime, with some parts feeling like filler. To keep the momentum going, I recommend tequila shots for every HOYAY! moment.



Aaaaaaaaaand something for your hangover.

But seriously, folks, the show gets better and better - and once you've watched all the anime episodes produced so far, you'll go after the manga, which is gorgeous and tightly plotted (much more so than the anime, oddly enough).

Also, the porn? It writes itself.

Not that I would know anything about that...

* Cough *