Uraboku

When weird things start to happen around him, and his powers begin to awaken, attracting minor demons, Yuki finds himself suddenly meeting all sorts of people who've been observing him for years, waiting for his powers to awaken--fellow teenagers who befriend him and act as his bodyguards, a charming young man who claims to be Yuki's older brother, and a brooding, gorgeous demon lord who (unknown to the present Yuki) loved his previous incarnation enough to turn his back on the demon world and pledge himself to Yuki's cause.

After a series of demon attacks that put the children of the orphanage in grave peril, the current Yuki agrees to join a mysterious organization known as the Giou Clan, who are engaged in a thousand-year war against the necromancer Reiga and his hordes of demon helpers.

The series progresses along at a swift clip, with exciting battles against various forces of darkness, plus various bits of melodrama related to the plenty of hints of secrets yet to be revealed, tragic pasts all around, strained relationships between various members of the team, plus the revelation that the Necromancer Reiga's current incarnation is a young man who was Yuki's best friend at the orphanage.

There are also a number of mentions of a dark secret surrounding how Yuki's previous incarnation died, and concerns about how the present Yuki will react when that secret is finally revealed. Meanwhile, everyone in the clan is preparing for what promises to be an apocalyptic showdown between the two sides, which will determine how the thousand-year battle ends.

I was watching with great interest at this point. While there isn't anything very original about this series' element, it's put together stylishly, with appealing characters and lots of physical and emotional jeopardies that move the story along at a brisk pace.

And then it all fizzles out in the last episode.

The Apocalyptic Showdown never happens, none of the Dread Secrets are ever revealed...after 24 episodes of angsty sturm-und-drang, the two parties just sort of shrug, decided that maybe the grand prophecy was wrong about the need for an apocalyptic confrontation, and everyone lives happily ever after. End of story. We never found out what Handsome Brooding Demon Guy did to win Yuki's love in the previous incarnation, why she died, what the necromancer Reiga really wants, and whether present-day Yuki ever finds out about the real nature of his bond with Handsome Brooding Demon Guy.

It felt like the production company just ran out of time, or money, or both, and hastily tried to wrap up a few story threads in a single 24-minute episode. Sigh.