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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
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Series: Vampire Knight Guilty: Part Two
UK Release date: 23rd May 2011
Distributor: Manga
Certificate: 12
Running time: 72 mins
Director: Kiyoko Sayama
Genre: Anime
Format: DVD
Country of Production: Japan
Language: Japanese
Review by: Chris Harris
Fans of gothic romance Vampire Knight Guilty have been made to wait for every morsel of Matsuri Hino’s anime series, but now they have another volume to get their teeth into. Kiyoko Sayama is back in the director’s chair as the story of Yuki Cross continues with three episodes that take us up to the halfway point in the show’s second series.
As ever, the action revolves around Cross Academy, an institution that houses Day classes of humans – and Night classes of vampires. Yuki and her friend Zero Kiryu are charged with keeping those unhappy bedfellows apart, but are constantly distracted by a love triangle that includes them both, as well as a true-blood vampire, Kaname Kuran.
Yuki knows that a vampire attacked her on a snowy night ten years previously and that Kaname rescued her - but she knows little else. In these three episodes, an increasingly haunted and tormented Yuki tries to piece together her past despite the reluctance of Kaname to reveal what really happened to her.
Kaname’s response to Yuki’s pleas is to take their relationship to a whole new level, while Zero, having finally succumbed to his own transformation into a vampire, tries to control his own bloodlust as he keeps Yuki out of harm’s way.
The return of Zero’s twin, Ichiru, and Senri Shiki heralds even more danger for Yuki and the story takes a violent turn before Sayama leaves the series on a cliff-hanger at the end of episode seven...
That eye-catching set-piece is very welcome, not least because it’s preceded by a good 45 minutes of treading water. These episodes turn the focus back on Yuki’s struggle to cope with her missing memories and the voices in her head. But the intensity of the relationships between Yuki, Kaname and Zero weigh down the story.
The three miserablists swap sighs, gasps and long pauses. And when they do talk…let’s just say a lot gets said before anything really gets said. There’s nothing wrong with a measure of brooding. but there’s only so much one can take of Zero and Kaname peering through their fringes at a world that misunderstands them.
When the emotional scenes make way for action, Vampire Knight Guilty goes up a gear. Whether it’s Kaname and Zero squaring up, or the menacing presence of Ichiru and Senri, volume two grabs your attention when the love triangle is put to one side. Sayama switches the tone in the latter stages, linking Yuki’s relationships to the wider vampire world and the power within that sphere – and it gives this volume a timely boost.
So what of the characters? Frankly, this is not a good time to be Yuki. She is beset on all sides by problems, none of which are of her own making. As ever, she is torn by her emotions for Zero and Kaname, and yet her true quest here is to uncover the secrets of her past. Yuki pushes hard, but is rebuffed at every turn, and sinks further into despair as visions of blood, internal voices and external threats gang up on her.
Zero can barely help - he has enough problems of his own. Those who have seen volume one of Vampire Knight Guilty will know that Zero is still piecing his own world together in the wake of the Shizuka Hio incident. In these episodes, he cuts a peripheral figure while others take centre stage.
Others like Kaname. He is as controlling, as ever, but the mask finally slips in his scenes with Yuki and that makes Kaname rather more likeable than before. All the same, he holds all the aces here. If knowledge is power, Kaname has stacks of it, and it’s left to Yuki to flail around, her eyes bulging, in a vain attempt to extract information.
Once you’ve watched that scene five or six times in the space of two episodes, you’ll understand what a welcome relief it is to see Ichiru and Senri. Both are out for revenge and both shake this series from its torpor.
The threat of violence is cranked up with those two on the scene – note how the moody, brooding piano replaces the power ballads in the soundtrack – but Sayama never lets Vampire Knight Guilty get too serious or too dour. His solution is to lob in moments of whimsy, even farce, as the gothic darkness of the plot is broken up by unexpected shrieks from the more ludicrous characters.
You can see what Sayama is trying to do – this series doesn’t want to take itself too seriously - but his execution is not quite right. In most cases, it’s off-putting, not soothing, to follow five minutes of anguish with a quick burst of stupidity.
The animation goes into overdrive when the farce kicks in, with contorted features to the fore. But the default setting for Vampire Knight Guilty’s animation is brilliantly drawn, often static, gothic visuals. Shades of grey with flashes and flourishes fill every episode, while the male characters are dashing with angular features.
The static nature of the animation works perfectly with the slow, brooding dialogue, but it sparks into life when violent ensues or when Yuki is imperilled – her petrified, bulging eyes are a sight to behold, and perfectly capture her claustrophobia as the world closes in.
The visuals and technical merits of Vampire Knight Guilty are a major plus, even if they are undermined to some degree by a rather formulaic script and that interminable love triangle. But those concerns are unlikely to bother this series’ target demographic. The fans know what to expect – angst, smouldering looks and gothic romance – and that’s exactly what they get.
Mid-season episodes are often drawn-out affairs with character development crowding out pyrotechnics. But Vampire Knight Guilty presses all the right buttons for the teenagers (and the older crowd) who have invested their own emotions in the story of Yuki and her two suitors, Zero and Kaname. They might have expected more than a paltry three episodes, but this volume’s melodrama will keep the fans on side and Sayama’s cliff-hanging climax will leave them thirsty for more. And that’s the whole point, isn’t it? CH
Series: Vampire Knight Guilty: Part 1 – Episodes 1-4
UK Release date: 4th April 2011
Distributor: Manga
Certificate: 12
Running time: 96 mins
Director: Kiyoko Sayama
Starring: Yui Horie, Mamoru Miyano, Susumu Chiba, Jun Fukuyama, Hozumi Gôda
Genre: Anime
Format: DVD
Country of Production: Japan
Language: Japanese
Matsuri Hino’s dark shoujo manga, Vampire Knight Guilty returns to our screens for a second outing, with long-term director Kiyoko Sayama at its helm. Retaining its mysticism, Vampire Knight Guilty opens with the instability and uneasiness left as a result of the tragedy at the end of series one.
We return to Cross Academy, an institution secretly divided into Day and Night classes of humans and vampires, respectively. It is up to the main protagonists, Yuki and Zero to maintain balance and protect the human populous from the insatiable thirst of the vampires.
Episodes 1 to 4 see the return of Zero to the academy after his shadowy disappearance at the end of season one. His return is shrouded in doubt and confusion and unsettles the love triangle between himself, Yuki and pure-blood vampire Kaname.
This series continues to delve into the mysterious pasts of both Yuki and Zero whilst shedding light onto the childhood of Kaname. Zero continues to contemplate his identity as he struggles to cope with his deteriorating transformation into vampirism, and the effect this has on his relationship with Yuki and his rivalry with Kaname…
The series retains its sense of dark, brooding gothicism, but in a far more contrived way. The constant barrage of imagery from the title and end credits is sickeningly clichéd. The sequences featuring blood-soaked roses, butterflies, glistening spiders webs and shadowy forests works clearly as a means to heighten the romanticism of vampirism. And to those watching the series after a certain vampire franchise will immediately see its similarities with the twilight fanaticism of recent years (however, Vampire Knight was first to establish the vampire/human romance story). From the credits alone, Vampire Knight Guilty is a fangirl’s dream series of handsome, brooding vampires and lovesick schoolgirls.
The cast of the original series return, some with more relevance than in the previous season. In episode one, the Vampire Council invade the school grounds to kill Zero for murdering the pure-blood Shizuka. They finally emerge as a powerful entity after remaining shadowed through much of the first season. The series does well at integrating a huge cast of protagonists and supporting characters, including the return of Ichiru, Zero’s twin brother. It just begs the question will these individuals get enough screen-time for them to be relevant to the overall story?
Yuki’s character is yet again searching for the answers to her blurred past, as she tries to piece together her feelings for both Zero and Kaname. This series pushes the mystery surrounding her character up a notch, as her flashbacks and visions intensify in episode four – it would seem she has a much closer connection to vampirism than first thought. Her research in the Hunter Association’s records end in the book bursting into flames - it seems someone or something doesn’t want her to remember her past. She retains her cutesy and bashful personality, but with far fewer comedic scenes her sudden anime gimmicks seem out of place for the mood that is set up around her. As for the bishonen characters of Zero and Kaname, they seem to hold greater depth, perhaps due to the fact they can remember their tormented pasts. Kaname’s stoic and cool demeanor is a fresh outlook on the vampire mythos, whereas Zero’s moody ‘emo’, comes across annoying rather than convincing as he wanders from scene to scene moping like a spoilt teenager.
The series has an interesting plot point in that both humans and vampires inhabit Cross Academy, but this potentially intriguing concept is scarpered before it even begins. The Day Class students, who we are introduced to at the start of episode one and the end of episode two, are hormonal teenagers infatuated with the elite Night Class. The animation between the two factions is also interesting here, whilst the Day Class students all have the same chibi facial expression and brunette hair, the students of the Night Class are beautifully drawn, each with his/her own particular style. Similarly, they are the only students, apart from Yuki and Zero, to be seen outside of the school grounds. The Night Class’ pretentious cliché at being the cool, good-looking crowd feels more American high school rather than the mysterious ethos the series establishes around vampire folklore.
Repression becomes the key word in understanding the love-triangle between the three leading characters. The romantic scenes are poorly executed and come off as corny attempts in trying to establish the vampire as a brooding individual who would rather protect the female’s humanity rather than exploit her sexually. After seeing the hormone-fuelled actions of licking necks and heavy breathing and grunting across several episodes, it becomes clear that Vampire Knight Guilty is trying to build some kind of romantic tension at an achingly slow level that becomes more of a hindrance than a satisfying narrative choice. Instead of accepting this choice, one is yelling at the screen to get over your temptation and just bite her! With hints of homoeroticism thrown in for good measure, Vampire Knight Guilty plays to fangirl ideology, which is completely fine for fans of the genre but for a fan of anime new to this particular sort of series, it plays out like a poor attempt to flesh out a now tiresome genre.
Rather than building tension, the love-triangle becomes tedious at the lack of action between the three of them - the action is subconscious in that it never reaches physical expression. This is certainly not directed at their relationships sexually but in general; they seem to lack the ability of conversing and telling each other how they truly feel, instead it becomes a series of dull facial expressions and over-articulated inner monologues recounting that characters repressed emotions.
The start to this series does have its redeeming features, far from rushing through the narrative, the series does not falter in the details. The back-stories and previous situations are integrated well through flashbacks, (although you do feel like you are having them pummeled into you) and the series does well to make sure no stone is left unturned, whilst maintaining the overall mystery of the story.
The animation is good, although it does rely heavily upon anime clichés; far too many times do chibi-esque facial expressions and mannerisms occur that don’t quite fit. This is fine for fans of anime, but a little childish for those expecting to watch a more adult-appropriate series. Aside from the annoying opening theme, the music is surprisingly well thought out, providing the right amount of atmosphere and mystery to help the narrative along. The same goes for the well placed sound effects that enrich and enhance the mood.
Episodes 1-4 open with the uncertainty left by the events of the previous series, and opens this series out with premises of the dark mysteriousness that made the show successful in the first place. It seems as Yuki’s past memories intensify, so too do the audience’s questions. Who is the mysterious man, the Vampire Senate call lord in episode four? What is the story behind the ‘Cursed Twins’? How is Yuki connected? For each the slight answers these initial episodes give, the series throws another five back at you. It is what guides the series and obviously enthralls the viewer, although at times achingly slow and drab. The romance is there, the action is there, the characters are there, all orchestrated within an interesting narrative, it is just a shame that it all seems a bit complacent and lackluster. However, the series has time to develop and hopefully bring about an impressive and well-executed conclusion. LF
Yuki Cross is a general education student at Cross Academy. As a member of the school’s Disciplinary Committee, along with her childhood friend Zero Kiryu, her duty is to keep the infatuated students of the Day Class from chasing the beautiful Night Class students, all while performing the important task of protecting the dark secret of the Night Class – that all its members are vampires!
Each day at twilight, when the students of the Day Class return to their dorm, they cross paths with the Night Class on their way to school, and it is Yuki and Zero’s job to ensure the two groups remain separate. This bizarre arrangement was created in the hope of bringing an end to the long history of conflict between humans and vampires by promoting a peaceful coexistence between the two. But such ideals don’t come easy. Although Yuki believes there is a chance for peace, Zero sees the vampires as enemies, a view that is only reinforced when a member of the Night Class begins to develop an unhealthy interest in his friend.
Burden Of Sinners
After Shizuka Hio’s death, peace is restored at the academy. As usual, Yuki is busy with her duties as Guardian when Zero, who has been gone for quite some time, comes back.
The Eternal Promise
Yuki has a lot on her mind after almost being kissed by Zero. She asserts that she will not speak to Kaname until he admits to Zero’s innocence. While walking around town with Sayori, she comes across a lost little boy.
The Azure Portrait
The Night Class goes to the Aido family’s vacation home during the long break, but Hanabusa decides to stay at the academy because he suspects Kaname had something to do with Shizuka’s death.
Devil’s Awakening
While the Night Class is at the Aido family’s vacation home, Yuki, driven by her desire to stop hurting Zero, tries to regain her memory of the past and becomes haunted by even more powerful visions.
Based on the manga series written by Matsuri Hino (Captive Hearts; Wanted) and directed by Kiyoko Sayama (Angel Sanctuary; Miyuki-chan In Wonderland) Vampire Knight’s twisted tale of a teenage human-vampire love triangle will undoubtedly appeal to anime fans with a taste for the likes of TV’s The Vampire Diaries and the Twilight movies.
Series: Vampire Knight Guilty: Part 1 – Episodes 1-4
Release date: 4th April 2011
Certificate: 12
Running time: 96 mins
Director: Kiyoko Sayama
Starring: Yui Horie, Mamoru Miyano, Susumu Chiba, Jun Fukuyama, Hozumi Gôda
Genre: Anime
Studio: Manga
Format: DVD
Country: Japan
Series: Vampire Knight – Part 4: Episodes 14-17
Release date: 28th February 2011
Certificate: 15
Running time: 72 mins
Director: Kiyoko Sayama
Starring: Daisuke Kishio, Mamoru Miyano, Yui Horie, Fumiko Orikasa, Hiroki Yasumoto
Genre: Anime
Studio: Manga
Format: DVD
Country: Japan
Vampire Knight – Part 4 sees Matsuri Hiro return with a revelatory series of events taking place at Cross Academy, a dangerous place where vampires mix with normal students - some having accepted their night-time existence, others forging a battle to control the beast within. Fast paced and emotional, this gothic romance takes the viewer on a bumpy ride.
In episodes fourteen to seventeen, pureblood vampire Kaname still stalks the shadows of our heroine Yuki Cross. We watch as the love triangle between Kaname, Yuki and Zero complicates, with the tension rising when Yuki is offered a solution in her quest to prevent Zero from descending into Level E status. She is asked by pureblood vampire Shizuka to choose between the two brooding men. Will she be able to sacrifice Kaname to save Zero?
Zero’s twin Ichiru returns to cause trouble and reveals the cause of his anger, which has so far tainted the relationship with his brother. Shizuka and Kaname are cast against each other in a power struggle where they icily disagree over the protection of Yuki. Meanwhile Yuki’s turmoil continues as she tries to remember the memories which have been hidden from her past, questioning Kaname as to his motives for suppressing them.
Yuki’s father Kaien continues to prove a mysterious figure, turning up on the sidelines when least expected…
Hiro has a talent for transferring beauty onto the screen - the students at the academy seeming impeccably groomed with glassy eyes and choppy layered hair. The tailored jackets could be convincingly haute couture designs. The inclusion of a ball at the academy offers the chance for some teenage angst as the plainer students dare to hope to break into the circle of these beautiful people.
This is not a relaxing segment of the Vampire Knight story as there a constant threat of violence running alongside the hasty exchanges of conversation, which occasionally does lead to fighting and, as expected, the drawing of blood.
Hiro has a strong tendency to play to the emotive side of the plotline and as a result relationships between the protagonists are fraught with jealousy and there is no shortage of emotional confrontation.
Interestingly, the scenery is used to convey drama, such as when Kaname finds it hard to control his frustration, the Academy’s glass windows shatter, and later a chess piece crumbles as his powers increase. Kaien Cross’s hyperactive reaction to Yuki in her ball gown, however, perhaps crosses the line into madness. There is an excellently animated scene when Ichiru and Zero come to blows in episode eleven, with a swift sword fight between the brothers, involving beautiful airborne kicks and clashes of metal.
Hiro’s ability to convey the movement of wind throughout is also very realistic and impressive. It mirrors the story’s twists and turns, a metaphor for the inability for the characters to find security, their lives also being mutable.
Although full of drama and constantly surprising, the speed which the story moves at means no one theme or shock to the viewers is explored for very long, so entertainment takes priority over depth. Each conversation is a jigsaw piece in the Vampire Knight puzzle - quickly snatched moments used to reveal shocking truths. This can make the episodes seem jumbled rather than progressing naturally, although it does ensure those with a short attention span will be kept hooked. Due to this muddling of the plot, there is a heavy reliance on the use of flashbacks to keep the viewer from losing track on how each chain of events could have started. This will be useful if you are coming to Vampire Knight for the first time, but may seem like filler for those who are already aware of the storyline.
As mentioned, there are moments of great beauty, both in the animation itself and in the love shown by Yuki towards Kaname, and the tenderness Zero still maintains for Yuki, despite his desire to feed due to increasingly dominant call to his kin. The colours used are quite muted, though, and there are few changes of scenery, with the majority of the commotion taking place in the Academy.
After the shocking ending to episode twelve, the direction and mood changes to hinting at what could be to come in Vampire Knight - Part Five. The vampire senate is discussed, the worry being their anger at developments which have taken place so far in this volume. There is a sense of a move from looking inwardly at the love between Yuki and Zero to the larger vampire world, which is one of strict rules and greater power. The impression is given of calm before the storm. and it seems the themes of the series are coming together to hint at a stronger episode to come in the next series.
As a romantic drama, Vampire Knight doesn’t disappoint. It draws you in and keeps you entertained and shocked, if only to lose structure slightly as a result. Hiro stays true to traditional vampire folklore and effectively keeps a balance between the darkness of the vampire’s torment and the lightness of Yuki’s love, and so prevents the plot becoming too heavy or comedic. There are plenty of loose ends and a threat of involvement from the senate, so with these grand events on the horizon hopefully further work from Hiro will deliver the same level of beauty, but with a greater sense of depth. AT
At prestigious Cross Academy, there are two sessions of classes, the Day Class and the Night Class.
As the school's Disciplinary Committee, Yuki Cross and Zero Kiryu keep watch over the Day Class students, who are all infatuated with the beautiful, elite Night Class students.
As Guardians, Yuki and Zero must also protect the secret of the Night Class - they are all vampires!
Series: Vampire Knight – Part 4: Episodes 14-17
Release date: 28th February 2011
Certificate: 15
Running time: 72 mins
Director: Kiyoko Sayama
Starring: Daisuke Kishio, Mamoru Miyano, Yui Horie, Fumiko Orikasa, Hiroki Yasumoto
Genre: Anime
Studio: Manga
Format: DVD
Country: Japan
Series: Vampire Knight – Part 3: Episodes 09-13
Release date: 17th January 2011
Certificate: 12
Running time: 72 mins
Director: Kiyoko Sayama
Starring: Daisuke Kishio, Mamoru Miyano, Yui Horie, Fumiko Orikasa, Hiroki Yasumoto
Genre: Anime
Studio: Manga
Format: DVD
Country: Japan
Based on Matsuri Hino’s 2005 Japanese manga series, Vampire Knight is a curious mix of animation with fantasy, horror and romantic elements. The series features an interesting spin on the traditional (and well-worn) path of vampire folklore, with some passing thematic similarities to the hugely popular Twilight series.
At the prestigious Cross Academy, classes are divided between the Day Class and the Night Class. As the school's protective prefects, Yuki Cross (Yui Horie) and Zero Kiryu (Mamoru Miyano) keep watch over the Day Class students, who are all infatuated with the alluring and elite Night Class students. As Guardians, Yuki and Zero must also protect the secret of the Night Class - they are all vampires.
Yuki is a human dealing with a traumatic vampire attack from her youth, where her childhood friend Zero has been recently turned to vampirism and attends the Night Class. When a new student arrives at the Night Class bearing an uncanny resemblance to the vampire who turned Zero, he begins to lose his grip on sanity, where Yuki is faced with a great dilemma if she wants to save her friend…
The central premise of Vampire Knight is certainly an intriguing one; where a school divided by Day and Night Classes hides the secret that the latter classes are filled with vampire students. The basic tenets of vampire folklore and mythology are well established in modern times, particularly with the current resurgence in the popularity of the ‘vampire romance’ genre propagated by the Twilight craze. Thus the twist in this anime series gives traditional elements of vampirism a new lease of life in a well animated and greatly stylized form.
However, the story itself does bear similar elements from the Twilight series, and as such carries over many of its more irritating traits (which is unlikely to be an issue in the case of Twilight’s army of predominantly teenage female fans). For instance, there is an implied love triangle between Zero, Yuki and Kaname Kuran (the pureblood vampire who saved Yuki from attack in her childhood) that evokes some Team Edward versus Team Jacob-esque rivalry. Again this might be to the delight of the hardcore Twilight fan base, and much to the chagrin of everyone else.
Still, the animation is wonderfully drawn, and the vampires have a distinctive, different aloofness about them that suits their Night Class elitism well. There is a complexity to the characters – particularly Zero and Kaname – that is fairly intriguing in the series. Zero’s descent into madness and Yuki’s struggle to save him from his traumas are well developed plotlines, where cliff-hangers at the end of each episode hold over interest as to what may happen next. Kaname is somewhat mysterious and unpredictable in terms of his motives, with the animated design of the character effectively reflecting this in terms of the character’s vampiric movement and appearance.
In Episode 10 – Princess Of Darkness - Zero’s memories of his trauma at the hands of the vampire who turned him is conveyed particularly well. This is most evident in his showdown with Maria, who reveals her true name and face as the innocent looking perpetrator behind Zero and his family’s suffering. However, there is still a little too much melodrama in terms of the over-the-top musical tone or the expositional dialogue of Yuki wondering aloud about Zero’s condition (where a line such as “...but is it (Zero’s strange behaviour) just today? No...it has been since...(gasp) since Maria came!” is quite typical). Indeed, the series as a whole features stilted dialogue between characters, as well as many sincerely read character soliloquies creating unintentional laughter. Also, scenes where Yuki and other day students undergo exams are a little less enthralling than a vampire versus vampire showdown, with thinly veiled elements of teen drama being all too unfortunately familiar and derivative of countless other teen stories in film or television.
While Vampire Knight is an anime series with an intriguing central premise, and an interesting take on traditional vampire folklore, it is also likely to irritate and isolate those who do not subscribe to the school of Twilight-esque vampire romance. It is, however, a well animated story with some hidden character depths, with the characters of Zero and Kaname having some development in the series even amidst the wooden dialogue. DB
The students at the prestigious Cross Academy live between two worlds - the human Day Class and the vampire Night Class! Human Yuki Cross serves as a Guardian protecting the classes from each other, while her friend Zero has just transferred to the Night Class, doomed to a life of bloodlust as a newborn vampire!
After being sent on his first mission as an official vampire hunter, Zero must now face the mysterious appearance of Maria, a new student at the school who looks all too similar to the vampire who turned him! But as Zero starts descending into a terrible madness, Maria offers Yuki a choice - surrender her powerful blood or watch her friend slip into sanity...
Can Yuki find a way to save Zero? Find out in the third exciting volume of Vampire Knight!
Series: Vampire Knight – Part3: Episodes 09-13
Release date: 17th January 2011
Certificate: 12
Running time: 72 mins
Director: Kiyoko Sayama
Starring: Daisuke Kishio, Mamoru Miyano, Yui Horie, Fumiko Orikasa, Hiroki Yasumoto
Genre: Anime
Studio: Manga
Format: DVD
Country: Japan
