Vampire Knight

How many of us fantasize about being at the center of a Love Polygon? No matter how you look at it, it would be pretty nice to be coveted by so many people at once. At the end of the day, you would probably choose one person to be your eternal soulmate, but the attention and troubles received along the way make for quite the life experience. Love and heartbreak go hand in hand, and this is no easy game! Shoujo Anime tends to tackle such matters of the heart quite often, and we all have a special place for them.

“Vampire Knight,” also known as “Vampire Kishi,” is a 13-episode TV anime series that aired from the 8th of April until the 1st of July in Spring 2008. It was produced by TV Tokyo, Aniplex, and Nihon Ad Systems, licensed by VIZ Media, and brought to life by Studio Studio Deen.

The central staff behind the series are Sayama Kiyoko as Director, Episode Director and on Storyboard, Andou Masaomi as Episode Director, Gouda Hozumi as Sound Director, and Okada Mari on Script and Series Composition. It featured the genres of Drama, Mystery, Romance, and Supernatural alongside the themes of Love Polygon and Vampires. Targeted at the Shoujo demographic, it received a rating of PG-13 for teenagers 13 years or older.

Vampire Knight is based on the source Manga of the same title, also known as “Watashi to Fukigen na Panya-san,” “The Sour-Faced Baker and Me,” or “The Sullen Baker and Me.” It spanned 19 Volumes from the 24th of November 2004 until the 24th of May 2013, featuring the additional theme of School Life. It was serialized in LaLa and spawned from the mind of Author and Artist Hino Matsuri.

A Side Story titled “Vampire Knight: Gekiai no Portrait” (Portrait of Passionate Love) was also released as a single Special episode in November 2008. The sequel TV Anime series “Vampire Knight: Guilty” spanned 13 episodes from the 7th of October until the 30th of December, in Fall 2008. The prequel series was released via Manga Entertainment in the UK and Madman Entertainment, Australia. It was also made available for streaming on both Hulu and Netflix. On a final note, it was adapted into Drama CDs, Live-Action Musicals, Dating Sims, and Art Books.

The story focuses on the cheerful Yuuki Cross and the gruff Zero Kiryuu, series protagonists who are members of the Cross Academy’s Disciplinary Committee. This peculiar Academy houses two very distinct classes: the Day Class and the Night Class. The duo’s duties lie in upholding order between the two classes whenever they switch out. This does not seem to be a complicated task on paper, but the Day Class is unaware of the mystical truth behind the Night Class; the fact that their absolutely gorgeous students are actually vampires.

Ten years before the beginning of the series, Yuuki was saved from a Vampire attack by a Pureblood Vampire named Kaname Kuran. Kaname is now the leader of the Night Class, and Yuuki's Disciplinary Committee tasks allow her to see him again, causing her feelings to grow complicated. On the contrary, Zero harbors a white-hot hatred for all of Vampire-kind and firmly believes that true harmony between them and humans can never be achieved. When a secret looming over Zero's past soon threatens the overly fragile peace of the entire academy, things begin to look like they will never be the same again…

The premise of how the Academy is systematically divided into Day class housing human students and Night class housing Vampire students is indeed interesting. There was so much potential for events and accidents that could have transpired with this dynamic, but unfortunately, none of it happened.

Viewers might expect Yuuki to be a likable heroine who patrols the school grounds at night while making sure that the bloodthirsty Vampires don’t step out of line like a total lady boss, but the reality is that she doesn’t. Instead, she continues to be a lame character who is constantly chasing after Zero episode after episode. What makes it worse is that she gets into danger in the most idiotic ways possible, only to be dramatically saved by one of the male leads, and ends things off feeling guilty. The Story is extremely weak and dull, with little to no redeeming features. None of the characters seem to learn or grow, the “major” events do not build up for the climax, and the final resolution is lukewarm and contrived.

The plot mainly consists of irritatingly dragged-out longing, melodramatic gazes, and characters just practicing the pronunciations of each others' names using near inaudible and tortured voices. Do not expect anything from this department.

The Characters are the worst aspect of the series and are to blame for its near non-existent story. This is a Shoujo anime, and thus the female lead plays the most significant role in the show, but Yuuki is a terrible and highly dull protagonist. She seemingly held promise initially, walking around with a cool Staff that appeared to have some Magical properties, but she never once used it well. She’d typically bring the Staff out, giving viewers hope about something exciting happening, only to weakly drop it whenever someone said something unsettling to her or just clumsily trips for no reason.

Kaname or Zero usually follows this up, the shining knights in armor they are, promptly coming to the rescue of the fair damsel in distress. She just falls flat on her face every time and drags other people into her mess. The series also does a poor job of explaining why she is in the middle of these messes in the first place or what her purpose is, failing to give their heroine any value whatsoever. She is very generous to Zero, and that is the only characteristic that stands out, getting credit just for being the good girl.

The remaining cast is just as bad. Zero spends most of his screen time either wanting to die or hating on Vampires. Kaname makes a full-time job out of rescuing Yuki without explaining why he even bothers with her. While some mystery is always welcome, his constant "She is so precious to me, but I won't say why" liners get tedious and annoying very fast. The antagonist only graces the audience with their presence towards the very end, but their behavior is inconsistent, and their conclusion is too rushed and overly anticlimactic.

The Art and Animation are decent, especially for a 2008 Anime. The character designs of the leads are pretty likable, with Yuuki being pretty cute, Zero being quite handsome and Kaname being drop-dead gorgeous. The remainder of the cast doesn’t look as great, especially the other vampires.

They are a typical band of hot young men and women who stayed utterly loyal to Kaname for no apparent reason. Of course, the series has a crew of girls who are completely smitten with them for complementary purposes. Visually, this is pretty much what viewers would expect from a Shoujo series, complete with large and vibrant eyes whose pupils are almost bigger than the actual organs.

The color scheme is typically dark and follows a somber tone with complementary backgrounds and sceneries. On a final note, Yuuki’s massive eyes become annoying after some time because viewers have to stare at them for far too long. The fact that the story is so weak makes her eyes quite distracting.

The Sounds and Music are pretty good. The OSTs utilize a lot of classical music, which is pretty enjoyable. Many sad pieces help elevate the somber tone of the Anime and manage to maintain good quality overall. None of these are groundbreaking either; they just do a good job and are done with it.

The Opening theme is "Futatsu no Kodou to Akai Tsumi" by ON/OFF, and the Ending theme is "still doll" by Wakeshima Kanon, both of which are nice. While the prior is overall better, the latter fits with the dark theme of the series well. The Voice Acting is excellent, too. The moods are well portrayed and maintain a good quality throughout. Not many complaints here.

Vampire Knight had the potential to be a much better show if not for its highly lackluster heroine. Yuuki is both physically and mentally weak, never really amounting to anything. She doesn’t learn or grow within this season, making her more unrelatable. No matter what she did (she didn’t have any significant effects either), Zero would just push her away and refuse to share his troubles, while Kaname kept protecting her with no explanations.

There are so many other Shoujos out there that are far better with much stronger heroines; girls who are intelligent, independent, quirky, determined, or have iron-clad souls. Unless you are a big fan of cute girls getting bitten by numerous hot men, this series is not recommended. Your time is better spent watching a different Shoujo with a solid story, a strong female lead, and lovable characters (not just by virtue of their looks).