REVIEW: DVD Release: Vampire Knight Guilty























Series: Vampire Knight Guilty – Part 3 – Episodes 8-10
UK Release date: 27th June 2011
Distributor: Manga
Certificate: 12
Running time: 72 mins
Director: Kiyoko Sayama
Genre: Anime
Format: DVD
Country of Production: Japan
Language: Japanese

Review by: Lewis Field

Hot on the heels of volume two, episodes eight to ten of Kiyoko Sayama’s shōjo anime Vampire Knight Guilty is released. Far from the brooding romanticism of vampire folklore, get set to witness the series’ darkest and most action packed episodes yet, as the end is nigh and it is time to make a choice - whether human or vampire, it’s kill or be killed.

The volume opens with the revelation that Yuki is in fact a pureblood vampire of the Kuran family and younger sister to Kaname. Known now as the pureblood princess, Yuki’s fragmented past is finally revealed to the disbelief of Zero. Daughter to Haruka and Juri, she is the last pureblood descendent of the Kuran lineage and therefore a prize bounty for those who wish to exploit her.

Kaname and Ichiru decide to awaken Rido from his eternal slumber as a means to end his reign of terror and finally bring peace to the Kuran family. However, Rido’s soul is rampaging the school grounds in Senri’s body for the rare blood of Yuki.

Principal Kaien Cross reawakens his legendary vampire hunter skills and, along with the Night Class and Yagari, they set about protecting the school from the invasive forces of the Vampire Council, the Senate, and Rido’s vampire slaves, who will do anything in their power to capture and manipulate Yuki, Zero and Kaname…


The love triangle that has dominated the series now takes on a darker tone. Zero is now faced with the nightmarish vision of Yuki’s true nature as a pureblood vampire and his duty as a vampire hunter. His memories of her humanity are now nothing more than just that, memories. The woman he had shown such adoration for is now the one creature he despises. As for his relationship with Kaname, we learn in episode ten that Zero has been nothing more than his pawn. One and a half parts vampire hunter, transformed by a pureblood and now with the power of Kuran running through his veins, he has become the ultimate vampire with the strength and abilities to kill Rido as Kaname’s puppet.

The character of Yuki has been somewhat scrutinized in previous reviews due to her being extremely one-dimensional. Her purpose on the most part has been to add the mysterious element to the series, with her inability to piece together her fractured memories. This, teamed with her lovesick teenager routine, really started to irritate. Her transformation from a cutesy high school girl to a bloodthirsty monster is delivered with a poignancy that boosts the series and fleshes out the tired clichés.

Episode eight shows her awakening as a pureblood vampire, and through coherent flashbacks, we witness her mother’s spell that sealed Yuki’s memories and transformed her into a human to protect her from the Senate and Rido, some ten years past. Her metamorphosis is captured stylishly, as contrasting lights soak her nude body and she shivers and recoils in pain. Rather than the empty stares, her eyes now glow with bloodlust, signaling a welcome change to her characterization.

Diverting away from the intricate love triangle, Sayama subverts the romanticism of previous episodes in favour of a far more threatening tone. Yuki’s awakening as the pureblood princess is the foundation that sets about displacing the fragile relationships between rival vampire/human factions. Yuki is now at the mercy of the vampire world. The once protected Cross Academy is no longer safe and is set to become a battleground.

This is perhaps the first set of episodes that really kicks the action up a gear; far from establishing characters and relationships, these episodes poignantly intensify the tension and threatening atmosphere that has been waiting to be unleashed. Even the overly processed romance of the love triangle is fizzled out in favour of setting characters against one another. When Yuki visits Zero for the first time after her transformation, she stops at his door and senses that he is pointing bloody rose directly at her, whilst condemning her as an arrogant pureblood. She bluntly states that the human Yuki he once knew is now gone, as the vampire Yuki completely devoured her.

Far from the love torn brooding, Sayama finally allows his characters to physically express their inner torments. Characters do not simply stare blankly, cry and sulk behind closed doors about the ‘what ifs’. It becomes clear that we are nearing the crescendo of the series and the need for the characters relationships to reach that same climactic point.

Zero’s descent into level-E status has been his character’s main subtext. The fact Yuki’s pure vampire blood now runs through his veins alongside Kaname’s is extremely interesting; the two people he has had such a complex relationships with now haunt his very existence, causing his vampirism to become extremely unpredictable. The love triangle is severed, with Yuki realising she was born to wed her brother Kaname, which subjects the viewer to an uncomfortable series of incestual biting and licking, which is, on the most part, slightly creepy.

The mysticism of the series has now faded with characters objectives brought to the forefront of the narrative. We traverse from mystery to unpredictability with the main protagonists metamorphoses and the knock on effect this has not only to each other but on the wider scale to individuals, in both the human and vampiric worlds.

Episodes eight to ten finally deliver on the series’ title. We witness the violence and bloodshed one would expect from a series titled Vampire Knight. Members of the Night Class are finally given some substance away from their good looks and ‘cool’ demeanour. Servants of Rido attack the school in an effort to free their master, and it becomes the duty of the Night Class to protect the academy. There are several action sequences and the series is given a supernatural edge, depicting vampires as beings with abilities to control mystical powers - Yuki’s trauma at her new found bloodlust causes the walls of her room to crack and the windows to shatter.

This is what viewers have been waiting for; the inherent danger and supernatural forces build tension as the vampire’s violent nature is thrust into the frame with no signs of stopping - this is certainly what the last section of a series needs.


It is obvious that we are reaching the end of the series with loose ends being tied, and questions being answered rather than cleverly avoided. The series does still have its flaws, but the grating love triangle is finally put aside and the episodes stay in the now rather than relying heavily upon past monologues and flashback. With some artsy and abstract imagery and an interesting supernatural edge, teamed with a haunting score of strings, piano keys and chorus, it begs the question, why leave it all to the last minute? LF


No comments:

Post a Comment