Vermeil in Gold: How a Clueless Mage Survives School with a Soul-Bound Demon Lady

A failing mage, a legendary demon, and a kiss that rewrites the rules—our deep dive into Vermeil in Gold looks past the cheeky premise to ask why this magic-school story hits harder than expected. We unpack Alto’s transformation from timid student to anchored partner after a soul tie quite literally puts heart and mana on the line, and we track how Vermeil’s flirty bravado hides fear, guilt, and a past as "The Strongest Scourge". That tension—between desire and danger, mask and self—powers the show’s best moments and gives the romance real stakes.

From dragon duels and council politics to the Golden and Platinum Squares, the academy’s hierarchy matters. We break down key rivals like Chris Westland and allies with agendas, then pull the thread on Professor Obsidian’s twist to reveal a larger design: Heaven’s Will. Led by the prodigious Iolite, this shadow group weaponizes demons and creation magic, turning exams into ambushes and ideals into bargaining chips. When Fatima, the Mage of Beginnings, steps in, the lore expands: Vermeil’s orphan years, persecution, and the rage that followed deliver the emotional core that explains both the seal and the stigma.

Not everything lands. Some fights resolve too fast, and a strategic retreat blunts the climax. But the art holds, the music supports the mood, and the fan service stays consistent without derailing tone. Most of all, the themes linger: prejudice against demons, consent inside a power-imbalanced bond, and what it costs to love someone the world calls a monster. We land on a confident 8/10—fun, flawed, and surprisingly tender.

If you enjoyed the breakdown, follow the show, share with a friend who loves magic-school anime, and leave a quick review so others can find it. What scene sold you on Vermeil in Gold?

Chapters

• 0:01 Setting The Stage And Scope
• 0:31 Premise And Core Trio Dynamics
• 2:31 Character Deep Dive: Alto And Vermeil
• 4:34 Supporting Cast And School Hierarchies
• 6:07 Obsidian Unmasked And Fallout
• 6:48 The Platinum Squares And Heaven’s Will
• 7:36 Vermeil’s Past And Moral Gray
• 8:44 Season Climax, Verdict, And Shoutouts

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:01

Alright, let's go ahead and talk about Vermeal and Gold. And before I get started, let me just go ahead and go on the record that with Deadman Wonderland I was gonna do that review, but I just kind of don't feel like getting around to that this year, but maybe next year. But yeah, this is more about Vermeal and Gold. This is a review that I've wanted to do for a while, and I'll explain why at the end. Now, meet Alto Goldfield, a hackless student at Royal Ortizia Magic Academy, whose academic performances leaves much to be desired. Rather than take a more sensible approach to salvaging his grades in time for graduation, Alto decides to summon a bit of otherworldly assistance. Only after he does he learn he's bound to the legendary Shea Devil Vermil, who into service as his familiar. But while Vermil is a powerful ally, sure to turn his grades around, her magic can only be replenished with a kiss, and that makes everything go to hell with Alto's jealous childhood friend Lillia. Now, the music and artwork is fairly good, in my opinion. Alto is the kind of protagonist that's not very remarkable at first impression, kind of run-of-the-mill cookie-cutter main character, the bashful and innocent type that gets flustered by things like Vermil's advances at him. He has very potent mana that Vermil extracts with a kiss, and most of Alto's spells are ice-based. When Vermil accidentally killed Alto during the obsidian incident, she revived him by infusing her heart and mana into him, thereby creating a soul tie together. If one dies, so does the other. Like they kind of make a big deal out of that. But you know, they just let you know that oh he's built different, apparently. Now, for meal, she's a fairly beautiful-looking and seductive demon lady who's all gas and no breaks with her antics. She's considerate enough to choose to masquerade as a human in public, not only because most humans despise demons, but to make things easier for Alto as well. Vermil is also pretty strong despite not being at her peak strength at the time. And the obsidian incident is when we see her more demonic form, and from that point on, she's been a little more distant and apologetic. She was afraid of not being accepted as she is, especially with the past she had as the strongest scourge. Like all demons, her mana is gold color. Ah, so the title of the series makes sense now. Now we have the jealous childhood friend that I mentioned earlier, uh, Lilia Kudapelt. Or Kudafet, excuse me. She's very supportive and concerned about Alto to a point where you can just tell that she doesn't think of Alto as just a friend. Of course, she has a love rivalry with Bramil, but also wants them to be friends. She doesn't care if Ramil is a demon, only if she's a bad person and a bad influence on Alto. Her familiar is a high-class wind spirit, uh Sylphie. Uh, we have Rhett, a dragon rider, challenging Alto after Bramil flicked one of the dragons to protect her master. His familiar is a dinosaur called Taranosuke. We have Mark's person, another second-year student, is from Nobility and Friends with Alto. He kind of reminds me of Gigi from Dandedan a little bit. Kind of a charmer and a goopo. Uh, we have Cheryl Iridescence. Uh, I'm not really picking on the name, he just, you know, really like her last name is Iridescent. Okay, okay. Uh, a second year dressed like a maid, serves marks, but she's not a total kiss ass about it. Uh, we have Chris Westlin, a captain of the Dragon Riders, is a very decorated, intelligent student as one of the top dogs on campus, the Golden Squares. She reminds me of the main character from The Saga Tongue the Evil, design-wise, and can be kind of cruel. By the way, I am so happy that the Saga Tongue, the Evil got the second season. It's crazy how I'm working on the review, and then that uh announced that we started seeing visuals of it too. So nice, nice, cool, cool, cool. Uh Chris is uh familiar, it's a thunder dragon called Whirlwind. And oh, yeah, by the way, after her defeat to Alto, she started being more friendly. So let's have we have Ryuga, uh Shinoj, the spectacle vice president of the student council, you know, just there, the dueling chair, uh Jessica Swartz has that elegant Prince look with the tassels and rapier sword. Uh, she normally has great composure like Elena, but she's a maiden at heart. And as we see, as soon as Alto joins his council. Speaking of Alina, uh the student council president has an ominous foreboding vibe to her. Like, kind of makes me wish there were more seasons of this anime because I'm like, something's off about you. This is something off about you. Uh, Professor Obsidian, uh Alto's magic history teacher, comes off as a nice teacher until episode four, where he started attacking students. Romeo figured him out almost immediately, but as soon as she leaves him alone, he injects her with a substance that made rest go berserk. His goal is to control a high-tier demon like Romeo for whatever reason. Like, I don't know, he turned out to just be a whack job that wanted to be a demon. I don't know what to do. Uh Ramiel ended up Saitama punching him, and he ended up going to match jail. Now it turns out that Obsidian was just a pawn in a bigger plot by three platin squares. So you know how there's like bronze squares, so silver squares, gold squares, where there's like the top dogs at the academy, and then there's platinum squares that's like a tier above that. Uh, three platin squares is plotting on the school, uh, named Iolite by Heliodor and Cohakomida. Together, they are part of Heaven's Will, who plus world destruction by using the power of demons. Iolite is the youngest to become a platinum square, the only one to ace all the exams, and he has the ability to create life, such as creating golems. Uh, the student council questions Alto and Vermil about what happened with Obsidian, with the president uh giving them a position on the council's executive committee. Uh, during the Bronze Square exam, IOI attacked and almost took off with Romeo until a hooded woman appeared from the book Vermil was sealed in. We learned that this hooded woman was Fatima, the mage of beginnings, the first to discover the depths of magic, and the one responsible for sealing from you in the first place upon request as a friend. We learned that Ramiel somehow became an orphan living with other orphans and the nuns that took look after them. She was bullied by local kids for being a demon, and an angry mob came for her, uh, having no choice but to run away with her adopted family. But when her family was killed trying to protect her, Ramiel went on a rampage, which honestly is one of those valid crash outs, you know, like Dracula from Castlevania, the Netflix series, where all you had to do was leave his wife alone. So I kind of don't blame Ramiro for crashing out on the ability to cook, like really why can't we be friends? Anyways, in conclusion to the anime season, the members of Heavens Will retreated because they were attracting too much attention. I I kiss you not, like as soon as you get the whole backstory of whatnot, you're thinking, okay, they're gonna keep fighting idol. Like, but then uh Heliodore was like, eh, nah, we're attracting too much attention, let's get out of here. Seriously, that's that's how the whole conflict ends. But uh, regardless, the main cast passed the Bronze Square exam, all was well for now. I thought the comedy was fine, I thought the fan service was consistent, but tame some of the conflict resolved too quickly for me to care or feel invested in them, and some of the fights seem more like Pokemon battles to me, but it does get bloody interesting at times. So I give it an 8 out of 10. I probably recommend it to people, and I won't say the main reason why I want to do this review in the first place is because my friend Martha Kaiju, she's doing her thing with the art commissions, the cosplay. She did a Vermeal cosplay, and I like that one. So check out Martaiju on Instagram and maybe Facebook. I she also has a TikTok. I'll I'll probably add links to this review at some point. But yeah, that's my review on Bermuda and Gold. With that being said, I'm gonna go ahead and zone out of here so you go ahead and take it easy. And hey, remember time does not exist in the world of the mind.