Sometimes a bad summoning can go oh so very well.
What They Say:
Magic student Alto Goldfield isn’t having much luck at summoning, but it’s required to advance to the next grade. Then he chances upon an old grimoire and summons a lot more than he anticipated – a very beautiful and naked demon girl named Vermeil! The good news: she’s willing to become his familiar! Unfortunately, she also wants to “bond” in another way, live off his mana, and isn’t crazy about wearing clothes.
This is probably going to get awkward, but in a school where the bullies have dragons, could it hurt to have a familiar who can kick a dragon’s tail? Welcome to Demon keeping 101, where, with any luck, Alto will hopefully survive summoning VERMEIL IN GOLD!
The Review:
Audio:
The audio presentation for this release brings us the original Japanese language track in stereo along with an English language dub, both of which are encoded using the DTS-HD MA lossless codec. The series has a few fantastical moments from time to time but largely operates in the realm of the slice of life genre, just with a good bit of sexual comedy. That means it’s pretty dialogue-oriented throughout and there’s some nice placement with it in how it sets the stage with the cast. This can bring in some decent depth from time to time in how they’re laid out and what they’re interacting with, but a lot of it is a standard and natural design that flows across the forward soundstage. The music is the richest part of it as you’d expect in this lossless form and we didn’t have any dropouts or distortions during regular playback of either language track.
Video:
Originally airing in 2022, the transfer for this TV series is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.78:1 in 1080p using the AVC codec. The twelve-episode series are spread across two discs in the traditional nine/three format that gives it plenty of space to work with. Animated by Staple Entertainment, the show is one that works with a number of vibrant colors that fit perfectly, giving it something that really stands out beautifully. There are a lot of detailed backgrounds working off real locations and that gives it a very rich and lived-in feeling as you’d expect, but it blends well with the character animation. The solidity of the colors is spot on and the encoding keeps it from blockiness or noise during regular playback. I love the visual design of the show and the job done on bringing it to home video here is pretty strong overall.
Packaging:
The packaging design for this release brings us a standard-sized Blu-ray case that holds the two discs without any hinges involved. The package itself is one that works the familiar as we get the main key visual from the Japanese side of the main characters together with some good sigil action behind them with lots of active moments blended into it. The logo is nicely done with its simplicity so that it doesn’t overly dominate but is still clean and clear – and we do get the full name as the subtitle. The back cover has some nice visual elements to it with the edges while the character artwork is muted in an interesting way next to it. The shots from the show add a little more color to it and the isekai aspect of it all is made big and clear. The extras are clearly listed as well and we get a solid technical grid breakdown that covers everything cleanly and accurately. No show-related inserts are included with the release.
Menu:
The menu design for this release is pretty traditional but it has some solid appeal to it. The layout does the standard split with the artwork along the right, though this one is slimmer as it uses some of the near-illustration-style artwork of the main cast for each disc. I really like the look of it with its colors and softness so there’s a lot of appeal there, especially as the theme song plays out The navigation along the left is done with some nice minor ornateness to it and with good widgets attached to the main cursor when it moves. It’s done against a black background so the white text looks good and the nod to the gold works well too. Everything loads quickly and smoothly and it’s a breeze to get around in both as the main menu and as the pop-up menu.
Extras:
The only extras included here are the clean versions of the opening and closing sequences along with a small selection of Japanese TV spots.
Based on the manga of the same name, it’s known originally in full as Vermeil in Gold: The Failing Student and the Strongest Scourge Plunge Into the World of Magic. The series comes from writer Kota Amana and artist yoko Umezu which began in 2018 as serialized in Monthly Shonen Gangan and it has seven volumes out as of this release. So it’s not a title, obviously, with a lot of material and it’s not burning through pages and plot like crazy since it’s monthly. The animation adaptation landed in the summer of 2022 from Staple Entertainment with the talents of Takashi Naoya directing it from the scripts by Tatsuya Takahashi. Staple Entertainment isn’t a big company involved in a lot of things but they’ve put out some interesting projects in the last few years with lots of assistance and in-between work but they also have projects like Am I Actually the Strongest and Tales of Wedding Rings as their next full productions.
The premise for this is pretty familiar but it “matures-up” a bit nicely for me as we get something a bit more fanservice-y-fun that I can enjoy. I like all kinds of these properties but those that lean into the absurd relationship aspects and the fanservice still make me stupidly happy. Here, we’re introduced to Oritigia Academy of Magic where Alto is a student that’s having one hell of a time trying to make a magic contract with a familiar. He just can’t seem to do it and he’s close to being held back a year in order to make it work. His friend Lilia, who clearly is interested in him in ways that he hasn’t quite understood yet, is very supportive of him and does her best to encourage him to keep trying and that he has a future ere and can achieve what he needs to. She knows how to puff him up even if he still can’t quite believe it himself. But it’s what he needs to keep trying.
Which is what makes things happen as he ends up trying to do the summoning with an old book that’s presumably off-curriculum to work with. He ends up summoning the very mature-looking Vermeil, a naked demon girl who was apparently imprisoned but is now free. The two have quite the opening moment that bonds the two of them and it works to create an interesting relationship where she’ll faithfully serve him. With her being what looks like a good foot taller than him and certainly mature in the right ways, she’s all over her master to help him and brings this kind of saucy maturity out in some very fun ways. When Lilia confronts him over her and challenges Vermeil directly, we see just how powerful she is and the confidence level but also the sensuality. And it comes with a hilarious attack that akes down Lilia in a very sensual way – something she was already feeling while thinking of Alto before things got serious. And Alto being the kind of person he is, he uses the victory to ask Lilia to be friends with Vermeil but also asks the same of Vermeil, which is cutely frustrating from her perspective.
What we end up with as the baseline here is that Vermeil continues to kiss Alto in order to get the mana she needs to survive and exist in this world, as well as physical interaction in general. I do love that she says that sex would give her a lot more but he’s definitely not into that at the moment. Vermeil’s also enjoying playing with Alto in order to get what she needs and seeing her tell him that Lilia is in love with him is a delight because it puts that out in clear form. Not that Alto believes it and, from all appearances, it seems like he’s not interested in Lilia and that helps to tamp down that aspect a bit. As a core trio, it’s certainly an interesting dynamic but I actually like seeing the way Vermeil handles things and watching how Lilia has to deal with her feelings toward Alto and that he knows even if he doesn’t believe it.
With that as the setup, Vermeil in Gold is still admittedly just a high school show. It’s just one that takes place in a fantasy realm and with all kinds of creatures to deal with, such as the brief bit with the dragonriders and other fantasy elements. One of the bigger things that makes an impact is the student council and specifically its president with Elena. She ends up getting involved with our core group a bit and harbors her own secrets but what we see are a lot of interactions that make for some amusing challenges. From fencing to quests and everything with the dragons themselves, it’s an area where Vermeil gets to show off but also looks at Elena warily while Elena herself is the epitome of what a student council president is. And all of this has a little extra color through characters like Marx and Cheryl who are Alto and Lilia’s friends respectively and provide the kind of supporting roles you’d expect. And the less said about Francois the better.
The show plays with a lot of familiar ideas but with it being pretty good stories within the fantasy context as well. And, of course, it has plenty of fanservice moments and sexuality but also some surprisingly good sensuality that made me happy. There may not be an overarching storyline just yet in a sense, but I appreciate that the final episodes lean into delving into Vermeil’s past and what she is and believed to be. It’s a little traditional in some ways as you get the basic idea of how her relationship with Alto is what changes her and that provides for some standard savior-style material, but there are a lot of things impacting Vermeil as the show progresses so that it’s more than just that. But I do like that they don’t shy away from some of the dark aspects of what her past was and how she managed to survive it and accept as reality what was done instead of it being something that she can change. An acceptance of one’s past is an interesting angle to play and with Vermeil wanting to do right by Alto the more time they spend together, the more meaningful it all becomes.
In Summary:
This series proved to be quite the surprise to me as I didn’t follow it closely during its simulcast and only heard bits about its fanservice. What I got was a show that was a lot of fun with interesting characters and a great setup to move things forward with. Vermeil is a character I can see being problematic for a lot of people but I liked how it played out and just the way she carried herself and interacted with others. The fantasy/school elements are fun enough and it all ties together in a way that felt more cohesive than a lot of shows tend to like this. The visual design was a huge plus for me just in the characters and color work of it all and there’s some good detail throughout to help bind it all together. Sentai’s release delighted me from pretty early on here and I had a wonderful time with the show and already feel like it’s time for a second viewing – which in itself is a rarity.
Features:
Japanese DTS-HD MA 2.0 Language, English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Language, English Subtitles, Clean Opening, Clean Closing, Japanese TV Spots
Content Grade: B+
Audio Grade: B+
Video Grade: A-
Packaging Grade: B+
Menu Grade: B
Extras Grade: B-
Released By: Sentai Filmworks
Release Date: August 1st, 2023
MSRP: $69.98
Running Time: 300 Minutes
Video Encoding: 1080p AVC
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Sony PlayStation3 Blu-ray player via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
