Scorned by others of his kind for being born under a blue moon, the vampire Vanitas grew afraid and desolate. According to legend, he created a cursed grimoire known as the "Book of Vanitas," and it is said he would one day use it to bring retribution upon all vampires of the crimson moon.
In 19th century Paris, Noé Archiviste is searching for the fabled Book of Vanitas. Whilst traveling aboard an airship, he is saved from a vampire attack by an eccentric doctor who calls himself Vanitas and carries the very tome he seeks. Ironically, the self-proclaimed vampire specialist is a mere human who inherited both his name and the book from his master, the same Vanitas of legend. As the odd case of the Charlatan's Parade crops up, the doctor's ability to restore sanity to vampires by recovering their true name will prove most beneficial.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
SingleH
Of all the things you can criticize this show for, you certainly can’t fault it for false advertising. You expect vampire yaoi-bait full of pretty boys blushing, pretty boys hand-holding, pretty boys naked, pretty boys with weirdly intimate physical relationships, pretty boys kissing submissive girls, pretty boys LICKING submissive girls, and whatever else it takes to fuel the fires of fujoshi fanfiction, and that’s exactly what you get. Aside from all the heavy breathing, sensual moaning, and sexy blood-sucking, this show is about Vanitas and Noé, two men on a mission to save all vampires. From what? I dunno. How? I dunno. Why? Actually, wedo kinda learn Noé’s motivation, but other than that, their mission is kept intentionally vague so the story can meander around, not really doing much for all twelve episodes. The show insistently interrupts every serious scene with unfunny comedy or goofy facial expressions, suggesting the show isn’t really meant to be taken all that seriously, but it also has an info-dump or a flashback every episode, suggesting we should actually be taking notes. The presentation is just poorly planned, and the tone is all over the place. One minute Noé is having Vietnam flashbacks about this grotesque face-eating monster, and ten seconds later we’re joking around with clingy oujo-sama waifu again. The action scenes are also pretty lackluster. It’s just a bunch of assholes standing around spouting meaningless attack names, doing some flashy nonsense, and incapacitating the enemy without the show ever attempting to introduce a cohesive magic system or well-defined power scale. I’m gonna be totally honest, there were many times throughout this show where I didn’t really know what someone was talking about. The characters would go somewhere or start some conversation, and only then would I realize I had zoned out and didn’t understand the context behind what was happening. I’m not saying the details weren’t there. I’m just saying the show was too boring to communicate them to me. This is ironic because, in other instances, the show repeats itself way too much. It’s constantly reminding you of its cookie-cutter vampiric lore and completely failing to appreciate its own banality. Yuki Kajiura will be playing this tremendous piece of gothic music while Vanitas is giving this epic speech, the characters are acting like the world is falling down around them, and all I can think is, “I'm sorry, but didn’t he already say that, like, two episodes ago?”
This show made me realize Tomoyuki Itamura only ever seemed like a competent director because he was working under the tutelage of Akiyuki Shinbou and constantly in a state of imitating the Studio Shaft aesthetic which better, more unique directors like Tatsuya Oishi had helped to define, and I’m not happy. I thought it was just a coincidence when the same thing happened with Shin Ōnuma slowly over the course of the last decade and Yuki Yase literally the second he left, but I guess this is the fate of those who leave Shaft: washed-up at a worse studio and with zero style of their own, pumping out nothing but forgettable and painfully boring seasonal shlock. Visually, I can’t really say this show looks better than just alright. The average production quality of modern anime is just so low, it makes this look like something phenomenally impressive when it really isn’t. For Bones, though, I thought it looked quite good. I watched the first episode and thought, “well, there’s no way they’re going to keep up this level of costume detail,” and I was right. However, instead of doing what they usually do and making a wildly inconsistent mess with a few over-animated action scenes to trick people into thinking the rest of the show looks presentable when it really doesn’t, they actually balanced everything out and crafted a much more solid work of animation. Another pleasant surprise from Bones was the outstanding art direction. Usually, the backgrounds are the weakest part of any Bones show, but the art direction in this show is great, especially in the gorgeous opening animation, and it really brings the setting of Paris to life. The last time an anime set in France looked this good was Le Chevalier D’Eon, and that’s cheating because the studio was Production IG and the art director was Hiroshi Ōno. But sadly, these pretty visuals are limited by the lifeless directing. In the first episode, there was this scene of Vanitas and Noé fighting which was storyboarded so that a metal grate would momentarily obscure the shot, and I legitimately felt physically ill for recognizing it. I mean, out of all the Akiyuki Shinbou trademarks Itamura could’ve ripped-off to communicate the fact he has no directorial identity of his own, why choose one of the most famous visual tricks from Shinou’s post-90s legacy at Shaft? I don’t know, it just seemed pathetic to me. Frankly, the whole show is steeped in mediocrity, and while I can’t fault it for anything serious, I doubt I’ll remember it fondly, assuming the smut isn’t all I remember.
Thank you for reading.
Stark700
What's fascinating about bringing a manga into anime form is the expression of its ideas onto the television screen. Jun Mochizuki is best known for her work, Pandoras Hearts and she's able to communicate her wealth of ideas to her fans. In respect, she's able to formulate together a fictional setting with colorful characters and ultimately create this piece of work known as Vanitas no Carte. Vanitas no Carte (or its English title 'The Case Study of Vanitas') takes place in France that adheres to a steampunk fantasy. Studio Bones helms the show with director Tomoyuki Itamura at the steering wheel. You'd think a guy whohas been involved with the Monogatari franchise to bring its witty dialogues this show. However, Vanitas no Carte sells its beyond talking and characer interactions. Watching the show equates to an elegant setting of fantasy, drama, and a whole lot of pretty boys.
Based on the manga, we meet Vanitas, a young man with vampire blood in his veins after a certain incident. In possession of the sacred The Book of Vanitas, he claims to be able to cure vampires. Fate would have it as he crosses paths with Noe, a vampire who seeks the book for himself. And together, we follow their quest in Paris, France, a setting of mystery and secrets. From most people's point of view, it's easy to label the show as a supernatural drama. After all, we are introduced to vampires, one of the most overused monsters even in the anime medium. However, this show managed to captivate me through its sheer storytelling from the first episode. We got a seemingly elegant airship that turns into a nightmare with the presence of vampires. Blood is spilled and we realize the stakes of the story. On the other hand, Vanitas is confident enough to call himself a doctor for the vampire curse. Can you believe it? Maybe not from the first episode but as we learn more about Vanitas, the more we can understand what the author wants to show us.
Vanitas himself is a confident character with a colorful amount of charisma. His personality is displayed as playful, sarcastic, and can be quite mischievious. He's a character who is hard to read based on emotions. Sometimes, you have to wonder if anything he says can be taken seriously. However, Vanitas' role shows he knows more than we think and has an important connection to his book. The relationship between him and Noe is perhaps one of the most entertaining element in the show for their conflicting personalities. Let's face it, the two fight like siblings and seems like they always have something to fight about. Although their relationship evolves throughout the show, it's still at times hard to see them eye to eye. But that's also what's entertaining about the show. Injecting toxicity into a relationship brings entertainment and it's the type of toxicity that doesn't rub off itself.
Meanwhile, other characters emerges from the show with elegance of various degrees. Jeanne, aka The Hellfire Witch, attracts the attention of Vanitas who decided to confess to her upon their meeting. The aristocrat Domi shares an unique relationship with Noe and upon their on-screen appearance, she wants him a taste of her blood. Unfortunately, beyond Vanitas, Noe, Jeanne, and Domi, most of the other cast are overshadowed by their sheer presence. It's not that other characters are ignored by the author but that these four has much more aura and mystique. We also get a glimpse of Vanitas' past and Noe and Domi's peculiar relationship. On the other hand, Jeanne is cast into the show as perhaps as the most feminine character you can find. When you get an anime filled with pretty boys, there's also room for pretty girls, right? Of course, this anime isn't shy to give out kiss scenes and moments that make the fangirl in you scream.
Despite the various degrees of light comedy, Vanitas no Carte is to be taken as a serious show. Beyond the humor lies an anime of dark secrets. We find out more and more about the origins of vampires, the purpose of the Book of Vanitas, and even secrets we may not want to know. However, do also realize that this is just the first season and it's meant more as a setup and introduction of the overall anime's themes and ideas. When the adaptation was announced, it was already set up to run more than one cour. In order to adequately tell its story, it had to be expanded this way given the amount of chapters and volumes from the manga. So yes, be patient. This first season isn't here to drop you into everything the world it has to offer.
Anyone familiar with Mochizuki's past work will draw similarities in her character designs. Yes, this anime has very pretty characters. That's perhaps an understatement when we see the aristocrat society. The male cast has their bishounen look while the ladies draws you into with their elegance. Let's face it, most of the cast look attractive and it's just how the author wants you to feel when watching their every scene. We also behold our eyes on the beautiful setting that is France. It's a place of mystique and the first episode shouldn't take long for you to take it in. Take a deep breath because Vanitas no Carte is no shortstop in the visual quality department. Similarly, the voice actors does a phenomenal job at protraying their respective characters. From the playful voice tone of Vanitas to the lady-like mannerisms of Domi, you can truly believe the characters are who they are.
I don't believe it takes an award winning writer to create a series such as Vanitas no Carte. Yet, Jun Mochizuki is able to convince me to follow her legacy. This show has proven itself that she can make a fictional world in a steampunk setting and create a beautiful cast. Whether you agree with her ideas is another thing. But let's face it, Vanitas no Carte is how a supernatural drama should be.
234Mannan
All good things must come to an end but in Vanitas case it’s just begun On A side note If you are looking for long shounen fights, an idealistic protagonist, one objective and goal for which everyone works for and if you dislike slow burners, dialogue Then drop down. This series is not for you! Synopsis is already there so I am not gonna bother with it. Each story has different strengths. In Vanitas case, it’s the writing style itself. The author Jun uses drip feeding technique and she is extremely talented in doing so and anyone familiar knows what I am referring to. and due to this Everythingin the world of Vanitas from characters to plot and the world itself is a mystery.
Don’t let some common tropes mislead you!(The writer is pretty famous for that)
Vanitas is not your typical vampire story
In other words, Vampires are not blood sucking parasites which is pretty common in vampire stories. Turning into a blood sucking parasite though is a huge crime. But they are still vampires so yup there are occasional blood sucking scenes.
The world building is unique and is done extremely well but at the same time not entirely revealed (Drip feeding). And You always learn something new while you are moving ahead in the story and that makes it intriguing to say the least.
The power system of the series has to be interpreted through several hints and it is explained occasionally when it needs to be (World formula theory, vampire eyes and the book of Vanitas are based on altering the formula to do something) and it too is quite unique.
As far as comedy goes (For now only) its either a hit or a miss but that being said, the comedy is actually good (Unlike Jujutsu kaisen, demon slayer or any other common shounen comedy you can think of). The author basically uses the comedic factors in order to balance the overall tone of the 1st cour/half of the story since after that its quite dark. With that being said it doesn’t become overdramatic or overly emotional and is pretty much balanced.
The characters of Vanitas are very well crafted. They are not your Typical shounen protagonists or characters and majority of them including the mains are 18 or 18+ in other words it has primarily adult cast. There is no good or evil because every character has deep rooted motivations and ideologies which make them correct and their actions logical (With an exception of some). The best characters being Vanitas and Noe the 2 main characters of the series. The contradicting ideologies of the 2 main characters but how they are able to work together and make each other “whole” makes their dynamic a treat to watch/read. Other than that, the expressions and dialogues regarding the characters are extremely important. That being said the characters are a mystery and its extremely important to pay attention to their expressions and dialogues to learn about them. That gives hints to why they are like that in the first place.
On a side note, the chibi is mostly Bones original with an exception of a few scenes.
With that being said and done
This is basically the beginning of the case or should I say the tragedy of Vanitas.
What can first time viewers expect?
The plot twists haven’t began yet so without counting that they can expect an original story with a few tropes here and there, good dynamics, Great Music(Yuki kaijura) and a developing mystery and several raised questions waiting to be answered later on while watching or completing the first cour
So considering the writing style and everything about the series and how it executes everything, I personally believe it deserves a 10.
Snapshot426
It’s been a while since I’ve managed to sat down and watch an entire vampire anime and enjoyed it at the same time. No disrespect to people to people who liked Mars Red last season, it just didn’t grab me. But how did this one grab me then? Well you set it in Paris, have some sexy men in there, make the two leads a dynamic duo and have an ED you don’t want to skip. But that is only the baseline, let’s go into more detail as to how this show was one of the bright spots in this okay summer season. Sit back,relax and get the weirdest arousal while being bitten by a vampire as I present to you the anime review for The Case Study of Vanitas. Let’s begin shall we?
Story: 7/10
Set in 19th century Paris, we follow a vampire by the name of Noé who is searching for a grimoire called the “Book of Vanitas,” which was created by a vampire born under the blue moon rather than the red moon vampires are usually born under. During a vampire attack, Noé runs into a human who calls himself Vanitas with the titular grimoire in hand that is able to return the sanity of vampires who have become cursed. With Noé fascinated by Vanitas, he joins Vanitas in his objectives to save all vampires.
It’s a solid baseline to go off as to how Vanitas will save the vampires and all the misadventures that Noé and Vanitas get up to. The story is comprised of small arcs that contain different cases related to vampires and there is usually a bigger picture to each of them. Each of them different as well which helps establish the world better as we discover more secrets and reveals that help get to know what kind of world where humans and vampires coexist.
But I wouldn’t say the story of this show is a main selling point. Don’t get me wrong, it’s solid and there are interesting narrative beats, but it does lack that big overarching narrative that acts as a core pillar for the story. You do obviously have Vanitas wanting to save the vampires but the bigger picture of that doesn’t go very far. The story is best in the moment to moment scenes and how our characters interact with it. Now there is an interesting narrative reveal at the end of episode one that acts as interesting plotpoint but I don’t think that will be a major point in the story until season two.
Another thing I want to point out is the tone of the series because I think some people might think it’s inconsistent. I think it strikes a nice balance and it is established early on it does have a quirky attitude which I do think gives the series its charm and gives it a good sense of humour. Now that it is carried by it’s great cast of characters to carry that humour. Speaking of which, let’s talk about them.
Characters: 9.5/10
The characters are probably the best thing about this show (Well that and the ED but we will get to that). Noé and Vanitas really do make a very dynamic duo and their chemistry with each other is brilliant. Noé’s is a thoughtful man with a child like curiosity which leads him to be fascinated by Vanitas and his ambitions. Yet on paper, his character traits wouldn’t work with Vanitas on paper. You see, Vanitas is an arrogant, self absorbed s**tsterer who can’t seem to stay out of trouble. Yet the chemistry between our two main leads is so good. They bounce off each other really well and the scenes where it is just them two make for some of the best in this show. They feel like two separate people and their personalities and moralities clash time and time again which helps each character grow and help both understand each other.
This is also helped by the fact that this show has a great supporting cast around them, which also has personalities and traits that bounce of out main leads well and help with the show’s quirky tone. Characters like Jeanne, Domi, Roland and Louis have likeable traits to make them standout characters on their own. Jeanne for example is a very dangerous vampire with a lot of power but gets easily smittened by Vanitas’ words, leading to their chemistry work so well with one another. No matter how big or small their role, these supporting characters leave their mark really well and work well with our two main leads.
Animation: 8/10
When you see Bones attached to an anime, you expect quality and that is exactly what we get. Vanitas looks great with good animation and some great art style. You can definitely tell by some shots that this is a Bones made anime. The animation itself is solid and does a good job with the photography to make a scene more dramatic. I do love the animation when Vanitas uses the Grimoire. Makes it look like he’s opening something that should never be opened. Then there are the vampire biting scenes which seem to make them more erotic than they need to be; which lead to me awakening some dormant fetishes (Stupid sexy Angel). Admit it, you got weirdly aroused by that biting scene at the end of episode 4.
The show does have some really impressive backgrounds as well at times. Paris looks great, especially at night and very thematic for the time period. I also like the character designs that help make the character distinct. Vanitas in his big trench coat, black gloves hiding some claw like nails and with a hint of blue to go with his design, symbolising the vampire born under the blue moon. Noé’s all white look with the purple eyes that can glow red, representing the vampire born under the red moon and make it a sort of ying and yang look between Noé and Vanitas.
Sound: 8/10
Well it certainly sounds very French, which is very thematic, considering the setting. While it can sound generic, it does at least try to vary itself so it does not blend into one another. While it may use the same instruments, it’s in how they are used that makes it more unique. It does match the tone of the scene by changing how fast or slow the instruments are; which is notable on some instruments like the accordion. So despite it sounding as you would expect, it is good and varied enough to like its soundtrack. This is done by Yuki Kajiura so you expect it to be good at minimum.
The opening is alright. Actually no, it’s good, simply put. "Sora to Utsuro" by Sasanomaly, captures the quirky side of the show and shows off the character’s personalities very well. You can get a gage as to how the characters will interact with one another and the world itself. The song itself is alright but it is the visuals that carry this OP and it does do a good job at it.
But the real star of the show besides its characters is its ED. In fact, the main reason why I wanted to do this review was to simply gush about this ED. It is really, really, REALLY good. "0 (zero)" by LMYK is easily best ED of the season. Quite possibly of the year but it’s got some stiff competition from Mars Red’s “On My Own” by Hyde. Which ironically, is another vampire anime. LMYK puts in a fantastic vocal performance with a rhythm that is so perfect, it’s easily to groove along to. Visuals are nice to with Noé’ reaching out to Vanitas like he doesn’t want him to leave his side. What’s also cool about this ED is that there is both a Japanese and English version of the song. Both are fantastic so pick what you prefer. This ED outshines all other EDs this season. I think it is that good. I expect a bloodbath between this ED and Mars Red’s ED for ED of the year. So yeah, best ED of the season.
Conclusion:
I would probably consider The Case of Vanitas to be my anime of the season and why not? Everything it does is at least good and there are things here it excels at doing to give that edge over other anime this season. It’s cast of characters, art direction and its ED are the main selling points that make this show enjoyable while the other aspects of this show aren’t holding it back either. It looks great, Noé’ and Vanitas are likeable characters and have great characters and again, that ED is so damn good. I’ve already added it to my playlist of personal favourite OPs and EDs. It really is just a great show all round and in a solid but underwhelming Summer 2021 (when comparing to the previous two seasons), this is easily one of the standouts. It’s worth a watch if you haven’t already and it’s nice to have a second season to look forward to as well.
Do I think it could be better? Well the overarching story could be more interesting but the rest would just be simple nitpicks that wouldn’t be worth discussing. This show is great and is certainly worth your time. Now we will see how season two will pan out.
My Personal Enjoyment: 9/10
Overall Score: 8.3/10 Recommendation: Watch it
NextUniverse
There's a French saying, "On ne connaît pas la vie, jusqu’à ce qu’on connaisse la mort!", which contextually translates to "One does not know life, until they know death!" This saying does not actually exist (if it does, then wow), and is a reminder that you should not take to heart any piece of information without even the smallest scepticism, especially when it is from online. Ok... what a way to start a review. What's the actual reasoning for doing such? The first reason. Enthusiasm. Or should I say, «————— ༺ ༄ ✨ 。*・✫ 𝓔 𝓷 𝓽 𝓱 𝓾 𝓼 𝓲 𝓪 𝓼 𝓶 ☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ ✨ ༄ ༻—————»
(∩ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)⊃━☆ﾟ. * (wow much sparkle)
The Case Study of Vanitas is this drama with timely enthusiasm to its name, for what it aims to be, at least, on a functional level, I believe it does well at presenting its name under such light.
The narrative, set in the 19th-century world of vampires and humans. A human doctor, Vanitas, sincere but selfish, sets himself on this mission to save all vampires living, despite bearing the cursed moon's name. Accompanied by Noé, who is basically the Pinky to the Brain, the two go on this ambition Vanitas set for himself. Overall, the story is easy to follow, with it not being too much of a hassle to actually understand what is going on. It's a pretty linear narrative too, so I wouldn't go into this looking for anything elusive or secretive as that is a matter of non-existent material. Sure, you can look into characters, and I too try and guess why these characters do what they do, but overthinking this may not profit one, making things unnecessarily perplexing tends to backfire. Though, it brings to question, how exactly The Case Study of Vanitas plays in the realm of anime. Before I get onto that, I will comment on how the characters are indeed pretty good in themselves. Looking back on it though, they each have personality, yet are each devoid of intrinsic value, that's mostly true for anyone who isn't Vanitas or Noé though, the former being unnecessarily enigmatic, the latter being that dude whose entire life we spectate. Though everyone's gimmicks, predominantly the conspicuous Vanitas, they were something I always found fun is looking forward to viewing.
So, I (possibly) tricked you into believing the earliest statement in this review, for a second reason, that reason is fraud. So I don't mean to shun down Bones by misinforming anyone that they are plagiarists or something silly like that, but the production of this anime contains nothing but Shaft vibes, in fact, the director (Itamura Tomoyuki) and one of the main musicians (Omnipotent Goddess - Kajiura Yuki) have literally been associates of large titles from Shaft (Monogatari, PMMM and more). Now, Bones does a good job holding the style, it is just that they aren't the style. It was close for sure, but it isn't what it isn't. Still, you can expect some A-tier animation from the studio that didn't really manage to make me raise eyebrows in correlation to inconsistencies to the quality. As for the sounds. It's Yuki Kajiura; 10/10. Also, Hanae Natsuki needs a raise, now.
Overall, this anime was quite enjoyable and fun to watch, or if you like, you can feel that enthusiasm whilst viewing such. I would recommend this to all looking for something of a clean modern historical anime. It may hide behind facades, though, despite the misleading sins, I looked over it, and it was fun for sure. I am looking forward to season 2, waiting to see what that rapscallion Vanitas and his frivolous nature will bring. Since I have nothing of importance to touch off with, I am going to slide in another recommendation, "Gosick", just because of the aesthetic this anime beholds, if you enjoy this and won't complain on a critical level, you might like that as well.
Bon voyage.
nomanom776
I had high hopes for this anime, and I went in almost entirely blind. Vampires usually aren't my thing, but what little I'd seen of it had me really excited. It was, in every way, a total disappointment. It looks pretty enough, of course, and the opening and closing credits are wonderfully done. Sadly, that's where my praise ends. The story is both too quick and yet moves about as fast as molasses. The female characters are a poor excuse for anything more than heterosexual wish-fulfillment to immediately plaster over any type of relationship Vanitas and Noé could've otherwise developed. I will admit that I came to thisshow expecting a character study (cons of going in almost completely blind), but even the action scenes were disappointing. Past the first episode-and-a-half, I felt little more than general boredom and a wish to get this show over with and done.
If you're looking for a vampire anime, there are better ones out there. The same goes for action-focused anime. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone.
TheUnholySausage
I feel that in modern day media, the vampire genre of shows has been beaten to a pulp, so much so that it’s very hard to find a novel and interesting take on the genre. You have the classic Twilight series and other recognizable titles such as Vampire Diaries, Van Hellsing etc. But there’s fairly few universally acclaimed, name recognized vampire shows when it comes to anime. But “The Case Study of Vanitas” had potential to be the first popular, mainstream vampire anime…..or so I thought. The story is set in a historical steampunk era of Paris, inhabited by normal people and vampires alike. We followthe journey of Vanitas, a human in possession of the infamous Book of Vanitas & Noe, a vampire in search of thy said book on command from his master. Their chance meeting leads to them working together, and solving the various conflicts that arises with Charlatan, and vampires in general, in an effort to reach Vanitas’s self-centered goal of “saving” all the vampires.
Pretty neat premise right? Well, unfortunately the premise goes to shit pretty soon, and is tossed aside like a used condom.
The premise in this show has depth, but becomes less and less explored. The more episodes you watch, the more you feel disconnected from the story in general. Vanitas’s goal of saving vampires takes a back seat, as they pull various shenanigans, engage in soft core yaoi, or see Vanitas sexually harass Jeanne for the 50th time. Again, enjoyable to watch these dumb character interactions, but kind of leaves you asking for a more serious situation every once in a while.
Major events occur throughout the show which gives you a more in depth look at characters past and personalities, but then proceeds to go back to showing the same character tropes of being goofy, hyper/ rather than expressing a change in their persona. You get to meet more characters but the plot feels like it’s halted on one spot, and hasn’t progressed since then. I guess it’ll explore forward in the next season, but for now it’s pretty vague and isolated and feels more fujoshibate than an ostracized vampires quest in saving his corrupted, antagonistic vampire race.
The show gives you an over exposure to its comedic side, with chibi dialogues, James Corden levels of sketches, goofs and shit, Le funny. It’s amusing to see the characters act all dumb and have their personalities clash, but it kind of wastes the whole tension of the show. U forget the nervousness and thrill of seeing Vanitas, a man despised by vampires, try to save the very people whom he’s hated by.
The story is definitely not the shows strong suit. It has a decent premise, just left unexplored and often times feels that shits happening for the sake of happening. Unexplained powers, unneeded comedic effects which gets rid of the tension (to its credit, it’s efficient in swapping between comedic moments and serious tones, but it isn’t able to recover the solemnity of an event after a comedic relief, which results in various conflicts feeling more like a joke). You feel drifting away from the main purpose of the show, and don’t see any silver lining of returning back to its original goal, so you end up tagging along for the rest of the show to see some more brainless amusement.
Definitely one of the weaker points of the show are the characters, though initially the characters in this show feels lively and eccentric, they start to get annoying the more you watch. Vanitas is a hyperactive, charismatic arrogant asshole. His bizarre, quirky personality makes it hard not to root for him. Noe’s more mature, calculated and is the more reliable and well-grounded member of the duo, basically the oil to Vanitas’s water. Their aims, views and personalities clashing is quite fun to watch at first, until it loses its charm.
The repetitive use of the same character tropes gets kind of boring, and then proceeds to get quite dull the more you watch. None of the characters attempt to come out of their shells or show much development. So in the later parts you just expect a mix of comedy and soft core BL from our two mcs, rather than a really unexpected change in character persona.
Side Characters like Jeanne are introduced in a grand fashion, yet is left underdeveloped. She’s a tsundere whos hot…like really really hot. First reaction to her appearance makes her seem like a badass, overpowering Vanitas, making her the Whis to Vanitas’s Beerus (shit analogy I know don’t @ me). But that slowly changes as we see her take a more submissive role, mostly being there for comedic relief or to be harassed by our favorite vampire boy. We rarely get to see her go all out, no filter, like we did in the first 2 episodes.
The duke’s childish persona shows a bit of the human side in the show, among all the badass vampires. He isn’t really an integral character to the plot, but has had his fair few memorable moments. He is also kind of reserved for mainly comedic effects, but his presence is definitely felt in certain episodes.
Other characters are introduced such as Noe’s childhood GF, red haired vampire daddy who looks like a cocaine addict and his bat shit crazy wife or something. But not much is explained, mostly left unexplored, and pretty forgettable. But given its 12 episodes run time, I can see why properly establishing all the characters are going to be a struggle.
In the words of the great Keanu Reeves, the art is “simply breathtaking” need I say more?
The only flaw I could think of, is in the animation of the fight scenes. The animations great, don’t get me wrong, but most fight scenes have the bare minimum animations. Due to this most fights last fairly short, or ends up being cut short with forceful romance or chibi jokes.
Meaning we don’t get a whole ton of cool vampire fighting in the show…but ngl Jeanne is too hot like damn, I wouldn’t mind if all fights get interrupted if she’s the one interrupting, jeez.
But honestly, you can easily let this slide from how gorgeous this show looks and feels. It never fails to catch your eye with its bewitching scenes and visual imagery.
The sound in this show is fantastic. The OST’s are amazing. The opening is not the most memorable or anything but is pretty catchy and fun despite being kinda generic.
The voice acting feels lively, especially Vanitas...I mean its Natsuki Hanae, what more can you expect. VA isn’t really my forte, but I can appreciate the effort the VAs put into their characters.
Soundtracks in the show makes Paris feel more lively and vigorous. The steampunk bustling city, mixed with the subtle, melodic yet eerie soundtracks adds a lot to the whole atmosphere of the show.
The ending song is amazing, weirdly reminds me of Ergo Proxy’s opening just more alive and less depressing sounding. It really compliments the whole olden vampire aesthetics a lot more. I honestly have personal bias for the ending, it’s so magnificent.
Pretty high score after ripping into the show that much. I honestly can’t say that I didn’t enjoy the show, as a matter of fact it’s really amusing and just a lot of brainless fun. The target audience of this show, is definitely leaning towards the people that enjoy soft core yaoi or fujoshi, which might be a factor to why it didnt appeal to me all that much. What this show lacks in proper storytelling and well developed characters, makes up for it with gorgeous animations, and an absolutely sensational art style, enough to make your own grandma say “dayum, magnefique”. If you’re going into this, searching for a deep story and proper character development of a vampire messiah, you’ll be disappointed. This is a show you watch just for a fun time. Grab a drink, a bit of snacks and just have a good time watching Vanitas and Noe do the most stupid shit. The eccentric characters, the breathtakingly gorgeous world, Jeanne when she blushes, all these factors makes for a pretty entertaining and memorable watch. It’s honestly worth a shot, you’ll end up enjoying it if well driven story isn’t a necessity for you. Pretty enojyable show overall.
(Also, Natsuki Hanaes voice already gives this show a +1)
Pssst...Beginner reviewer here yea, so if I’m talking outta my ass then I apologize, don’t start a witch hunt against me or sum. Anyways, Peace!
SommetSilencieu
The awkward scene jumps often occurred causing confusion and disagreement throughout the story. I'm not sure if it's a translation error or something related to the story itself. It feels too rushed and things haven't really been explained in any way for the viewer to understand. There is a lack of world construction and at the same time massive information dumps and a backstory that takes me out of the story as I have to go back and look again to understand what just happened. I also wish a little more time was spent on characterization because I liked the characters, but I found them underdevelopedand sometimes confusing.
KyomaBritannia
This show is an enigma. It is a shonen, yet the age rating is 17+, meaning it's intended audience isn't supposed to be watching it. The story feels quite original, the lore intriguing, and at first I was interested in the mysteries proposed. But it quickly became tedious to watch. Every other minute, there is a comedic moment put in which ruins the mood, ecchi scenes are scattered throughout (where is the ecchi genre tag?) that feel specifically made for young teens, and characters often feel inconsistent. I think it is the perfect show for the audience they were going for, but they didn't edit itto secure a PG13 rating. At the same time, I wish they had just designed the show for older viewers in the first place, as I feel I really could've enjoyed this story.
(very minor spoilers here) There is one part of the show that is a little off-putting. There is a female vampire character that the main character blackmails into having a relationship with him. She has a hidden affliction which he shows he can fix, but never does, and instead uses as the blackmail. He later mentions that he doesn't know if he can fix it, but he never actually tries.
The art is not top tier, but it's very consistent, with bright varied colors, and good lighting and backgrounds. They go a bit overboard with the sound, but it's solid overall.
If you like a light-hearted shonen with mysteries, comedy bits throughout, and some ecchi, then this show may be for you. (If you are younger, just don't let your parents catch you watching it during the more risqué scenes.)
UsanBergling
Quick review here; You will love or hate Vanitas no Karte depending on one thing: do you like the main character AKA Vanitas. This "horroristic", serius and dangerous world with vampires isn't something new, but the simple fact that here we have a lighthead protagonist who don't take things very seriusly at first, but he has an important mission and a complex, deep background. It's somewhat similar to Vash from Trigun. Both have a very strong charisma which will make you remember them forever or you will complitely hate them. Any other character is a strong mid. Not bad, but nothing special to talk about, exceptthe Vampire of the Blue Moon. We know very little about him and I just simply want more. To talk about something else, the main story is trying to be very serius, but our main character makes the anime not to be an other edgy and/or depressed drama.
Cons: as I said, you either love or hate this anime, depending on what you think about the main character.
Overall rating: this show has some very unique ideas for world building, and animation and the action scenes are very well made as well and if you didn't stopped watching it after the first two episodes because of Vanitas, this one should be a great anime for you!
LordSozin
Vampires. A fascinating group of creatures generally depicted as merciless monsters across many works of literature of its existence. Their conventional roles in a story are either misunderstood and victimized, or they’re straight-up one-dimensional adversaries--a hurdle for the hero to get through. And The Case Study of Vanitas is no exception--the series follows the conventional flow of writing. Set in 19th century Paris, the story follows a vampire and a human doctor that goes around the city to cure the recent phenomenon that corrupts vampires. A phenomenon is known as the “Curse Bearer.” Once the phenomenon corrupts its target, the victim loses all sense ofnormalcy and goes berserk, killing anyone in its sight. This is where the conflict comes in. In the world of Vanitas, vampires and humans have long ended their disputes. There is a harmonious establishment between humans and vampires. However, that’s not to say that there isn’t any stigma between the two races. As demonstrated on the vampire side, vampires, in general, still despise humans to an extent. As for the reasons, they are unknown. But I suspect it has to do with the history between the two and what humans did to the vampires.
Seeing the emergence of corrupt vampires in the human realm, the ministry for the vampires was searching for ways to mitigate the situation before it turned to complete chaos and disorder. Thus, long story short: Noe and Vanitas went against the ministry’s cruel method of dealing with corrupt vampires and insisted on their own solutions for the matter, which was to use a special book to purify the corruptions. Through this journey of curing vampires that Noe and Vanitas were tasked with, the reveal of themselves and the people around these two makes a large chunk of the series. The narrative thus far hasn’t conceived anything new. It follows the formula of a duo protagonist in their quest of eliminating chaos and dissipating fomentations.
The heavy reliance in The Case Study of Vanitas is the character dynamics. Yet, the interaction between Noe and Vanitas, or the protagonists with the supporting casts such as Janne and Dominique, are uninteresting, to say the least. It is shown that there could be more to the characters, that each of them can change one another--the four of them. But that’s barely the focus. We were only being given hints between each episode before it disappears and goes back to lackluster comedy. The poor placement of tone shifts is mainly derived from the cheap comedy, where there’s also dependence on chibi art. Some of the writing and presentation lands, but the comedy is a hindrance for most of the time. The jokes in this show are whatever. We can essentially ignore the humor since it doesn’t add anything valuable to the series. The sole reason for its existence is to provide a tone shift, which, in all honestly, can be done better. But in The Case Study of Vanitas, the transitional scenes are just jarring, which for the majority of the time, ruins the immersion of a particular scene.
Besides the poorly placed comedy and inadequate casts, I am gravitated by its art and visuals. The beautiful depiction of the realistic colors of a city, characters, and overall atmosphere facilitate narrative in an immersion sense. When watching The Case Study of Vanitas, the show was always able to let viewers be placed in situations. Usually, both the writing of its story, characters, themes, and visuals are needed to immerse the viewers, but Vanitas only really succeeded in visuals for me.
The Case Study of Vanitas is a solid yet straightforward story. Conventional writing does have its charms and faults since it doesn’t flourish into anything outstanding. Its major appeals, I would say, are the character dynamics and visuals. If this series was to be compared with others of its similar playing field, I believe The Case Study of Vanitas would stand shoulders above them.
g1l
Studio Bones are continuing to do what they do best, this time following a pretty-boy vampire and a pretty-boy human as they explore 19th century Paris engaging in all kinds of conflicts. The Case Study of Vanitas had its own style while also maintaining a steady narrative, and it’s safe to say it was a good addition to a rather lackluster season of anime. The story doesn’t start overly complicated, and some people may be turned off by how it can all just feel like a bunch of characters speaking fancily to each other. This will somewhat fix itself overtime as more narrative stakes are introducedand you get a better understanding of where the story is heading. It isn’t afraid to blend dark moments in with cheerful ones, and this does a great job at keeping you invested in the story while keeping character interactions fun and entertaining. There are some cases where this can mean that the mood of a scene doesn’t match the events, but it will be fine for the most part. It’s pretty apparent that the anime will take on more darker themes as it progresses, but it’s gradually introduced in a way that never feels forced or unfitting.
The pacing of Vanitas and its arcs is handled well, never drawing scenes out longer than necessary and always making progress with each episode. It’s capable of including meaningful flashbacks without taking up an entire episode. Characters are introduced at a steady pace, allowing for a decently sized cast without overloading the series with too many characters. There is room left for development in later seasons and I can easily see it improving from where it left off. Of course, it’s not all perfect. There was one particular arc in the latter half that was significantly worse than the others, however my thoughts on it are still overall positive.
The world that Vanitas takes place in built upon with each episode, and this is done with visuals, saving the viewer from having to deal with unnecessary narrations. From the outfits to the architecture Vanitas succeeds in creating its own version of 19th Century Paris, making sure you are pulled in with its settings and backgrounds. The usage of lighting and the color choices also make the world stand out all the more. Hell, it manages to do a great job at introducing you to the setting through the opening alone, even if it is all just tourist attractions. The setting isn’t all for show either. Characters are constantly interacting with the world in ways you wouldn’t find in many other anime. It’s always pretty cool seeing characters run across some European 1800’s style buildings.
The Case Study of Vanitas seems to pride itself on its characters, particularly the main duo, and while they do make the series enjoyable, I found them to be quite shallow at times. There’s almost no depth to majority of the cast despite desperate efforts to make it seem like there is. It seems to think that having one scene of a character gazing off into the distance suddenly makes them all deep and filled with characterization. In reality it’s more just attempt to make the boys look hot and gain attention from fans of the series. You can dig deeper into the characters and their relationships all you like but it will never be anything more than fake characters only written to look complicated on the surface. With that out the way, I will say that what was lost in character depth was made up for with clever and overall entertaining character interactions and dialogue. They were written with the intention of becoming fan favorites, and proper characterization was lost as a result of this.
There are no points in Vanitas where I can say the art or animation really went above and beyond. The fight scenes were considerably average, especially coming from Bones who are known for these kinds of shows. Some animation can feel stiff and jagged, but unless you are paying close attention to the art it won’t diminish your enjoyment whatsoever. The character designs are good and recognizable, further giving the series its own sense of individuality when compared to other vampire anime. The soundtrack is really solid and manages to add to the overall value of the series. The opening is memorable, and the ending was my favorite one of the season. The OSTs also do a fantastic job at encapsulating the feeling that the show was going for.
There are people who will be all over The Case Study of Vanitas due to the engaging setting and characters, and there will be others who dislike it for the overall lack of depth and development. The series would have benefitted a lot from better exploring its characters rather than have them only exist to be pretty and mysterious. Regardless of its flaws it is well paced, enjoyable, and overall a series I would recommend to anyone who sees themselves enjoying similar anime with some fun characters and a story that isn’t afraid to get dark at times and go beyond what you might expect.
Rinshuu
(SLIGHT SPOILERS - ep 1-3) I want to preface this interview by saying I have zero knowledge of the manga this work was adapted from nor do I have any prior experience with Jun Mochizuki's other works. I watched this completely blind. When I began watching Vanitas no Carte, I was not expecting to get the story that I ended up getting. The art, story, character design and the fact Bones was animating it, lead me to believe it was a more female-audience targeted shounen, such as Bungou Stray Dogs, Black Butler, KK, etc., however I was not expecting to go into a show that had copious amountsof weirdly sexual scenes and romance scenes.
I'll go over it from the beginning:
The story follows the vampire, Noe, and the human, Vanitas, as they try to find and cure cursed vampires using a book that Vanitas was gifted by the previous Vanitas, who was a vampire.
The opening, the premise, the vague promise of gaybaiting shounen, lead me to believe this would be a buddy cop type of story with two worlds colliding and two complete opposites (in terms of race) learning to see past their differences to accomplish the same goal.
However, I could not be any more wrong. To talk about this, I first need to talk about the characters.
Noe, again from the opening and some slice of life moments, is a sweet tooth, a sweetiepie and generally just easily excited over things he cares about. That's what you'd like to think, anyway. In reality, he's somewhat of a mess of a character. At times, he's way too serious for me to think he's being consistent with the character they'd established, while other times he just seems uncaring. We learn fairly quickly about his background story and after seeing, I can't help but to think "is this really the same person?".
So many of his "cute" traits are just completely forgotten at times, his intelligence varies from situation to situation, and all of this just made it very hard to like him.
His relationship with Vanitas is clearly supposed to be "I dislike this person, but find him interesting", which then morphs into "I don't know how I feel about this person, but I still find him interesting", but it doesn't feel deserved. Their feel-good moments are far and between and the show spends much more time showing them interacting with every other person more.
(Slight SPOILER) Then there's Domi. I'm putting a spoiler for this section, because I do dwelve into her background story with Noe.
Domi is shown as a sweet girl who's forced to grown up quickly to help herself and Noe cope with the loss of her brother, however we see nothing of her previous personality. We see no anguish, no sign that the hardships of her loss and personality shifting was taxing to her.
Her and Noe's relationship is also very weird and does not feel as tightly knit as one would expect. Instead, she just feels like a one-sided love interest for Noe. (SPOILER over)
Then there's the character I have the most problems with. Vanitas. I hate this man and I don't say that lightly.
Vanitas is supposed to be the "anguished morally grey antihero who does things on his own premises and doesn't mind lying/being an asshole" and it follows the trope to such an extend that I can almost feel the remnants of Tumblr Sexyman radiating off of him. If Vanitas was released in 2014, he would have invaded Tumblr and I'll just let that speak for itself.
He weirdly sexually assaults a woman and when later asked about it, he tells Noe that his favorite type of person is one who "doesn't want to love him back". Someone put this man on some lists, goddamn. His whole 'relationship' with Jeanne is weird, gross and frankly put me off his character way more than any other thing about him.
The other thing with him is that he has no redeeming qualities in terms of personality. Yes, he's strong, smart, has knowledge about history, etc. but there's nothing about him that truly makes me say "ah, I can sympathize with that".
He's hinted to have a tragic background story, but I didn't see nearly enough of it for me to justify any of his actions or mannerisms.
I'll get some of the other anime standards over with:
Art (8/10): it's Bones. It looks good, it looks pleasing. The actions scenes are cool and nicely animated.
Sound (7/10): The BGM didn't really stand out to me, but the OP/ED are both certified bangers.
Story (6/10):
My second gripe with this show is the story. The pacing is terrible. It might just be Bones, because Bungou Stray Dogs didn't have the best pacing ever, but this one truly takes the cake.
3 episodes of plot, weird episodes filled with establishing things like romance (?) and BG stories, back to the actual interesting plot in like episode 8-9 and after.
Noe's background story was shown too fast, the whole "arc" of them being in the vampire world was shown too soon as well and overall there just wasn't enough time to actually hunt cursed vampires. I wish the show had been more episodic in the start, just to really showcase how Noe and Vanitas interact, but alas.
Enjoyment (6/10): I enjoyed half of the show. The other half not so much.
Overall (6/10):
I'm sure someone is tasting blood right now reading this, but I truly think this anime dropped the ball in many ways. However.
I am willing to chalk this up to Bones weirdness and the team needing more time to properly adapt the work. I didn't enjoy BSD either, I thought the first season was terrible, but now it's one of my favorite shows.
For now, I'm giving Vanitas no Carte a 6/10 and leaving off with a "I'm sure next season will be better".
Exonymos
Vanitas no Karte is an anime that is definitely worth checking out if you're a fan of vampire stories with a twist of steampunk elements. This series offers an intriguing tale full of mysteries, betrayals, and humor, with plenty of action to keep you hooked. The anime follows Vanitas, a charismatic human with a hidden agenda, and Noé, a vampire who is inexplicably drawn to Vanitas' cause. Together, they unravel the intricate world of vampires and humans, uncovering secrets and conspiracies that will leave you guessing. What sets Vanitas no Karte apart is its breathtaking animation and unique character designs. The vampires in this anime have theirown individual looks and personality, making them stand out. The fight scenes are also well-executed, adding to the series' excitement.
The storyline is engaging and well-developed, with plenty of twists and turns that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The character development is also noteworthy, especially Vanitas, who is a complex and mysterious character that you can't help but root for.
Additionally, the opening and ending songs are fantastic, and the visuals that accompany them are stunning. The opening song "Sora to Utsuro" by Sasanomaly is catchy and energizing, while the ending song "0 (zero)" by LMYK is a beautiful and fitting piece for the show's more emotional moments.
All in all, I highly recommend Vanitas no Karte for anyone who wants to watch a fun and engaging anime. So why not sink your teeth into this vampire adventure and see for yourself?
Curlybrace101
The Case Study of Vanitas is trashier than people act like it is. This show was made to appeal to two demographics: 1) teenagers who are just now deciding to explore darker ideas and aesthetics just for the sake of it and 2) people who think vampires are sexy as hell. Fortunately, there is a lot of overlap between the two. The Case Study of Vanitas is about French vampires in the 1800s, and that fact alone should make the general feel of the show (and target audience) clear. It is edgy, tragic, and so, so sexy. Several of the blood drinking scenes straight up look likesex scenes, and it’s said vampires emit a substance similar to an aphrodisiac when they bite; it’s not subtle.
The story follows a docile, empathetic vampire named Noé, and his titular companion—the arrogant gadfly of a human that is Vanitas. As it follows their escapades helping curse-bearing vampires and investigating the cause behind becoming curse-bearers, we also see their relationship develop as they learn about and grow to understand each other. If it was not obvious based on this description, the author clearly wanted to write a yaoi. Seriously, the romantic tension between the two of them is so thick you could cut it with a knife, and it almost leaves me wondering why she didn’t just make a yaoi in the first place.
And, naturally, both of our young, attractive male leads have trauma and pain in their backstories. And not just them! Essentially every single character has a backstory filled with bloodshed, because this show doesn’t just deliver gratification through homoerotic undertones and sexed-up vampires, but also through tragedy and misery. Human beings have always had a fascination with seeing pain dialed up to eleven in stories, because that’s where it stays safely contained, not actually hurting anyone but still giving the audience those feelings of catharsis.
The author claims to be exploring deeper themes in this story, but I simply don’t buy it. It’s clearly a story meant for sexy, tragic, bloody fun.
And that’s…not actually a bad thing.
Media does not have to be deep and intellectual, and there is nothing wrong with making a story purely for audience gratification. Fiction is, first and foremost, a form of entertainment, so the beauty of it is that we can use it to be entertained in any way that strikes our fancy, and there is no “wrong” way to do it. It’s not real; go wild.
Despite the fact I am a pretentious literature student who loves “elitist” type anime—the kind that your high school English teacher would make you write an essay on—I am also a human being, which means I also enjoy trashy, wild, fun, and it would be daft of me to act like I am better than shows such as this and their fans. After all, I *do* love a sexy vampire.
Granted, I wouldn’t give something in this vein a 9 or a 10, but I would still give it a 7 or an 8, which I think is a respectable score. So no, it’s not exactly the trashiness that gives me mixed feelings. Rather, it’s more legitimate criticisms of the writing.
In particular, romance and women. In *particular* particular, one Jeanne No-Last-Name-Given.
Jeanne is, all things considered, a pretty good character. She has solid backstory, motivations, and character development. I would say I enjoyed her quite a lot. However, if you go to look at her character profile on this site, you’ll probably notice she’s holding a doll of Vanitas.
Oh boy…
So, Jeanne is the love interest for the eponymous character, and this ship did *not* give a good first impression whatsoever. Vanitas declares himself captivated by her and kisses her on the mouth *without permission* a whole fifteen minutes after meeting her. Off to a great start, right? Furthermore, you may recall I described Vanitas as a gadfly. For those unaware, a gadfly—in reference to a person—is someone who loves to tease people and push their buttons for the express purpose and riling them up and provoking a reaction.
So not only did he kiss her on the mouth unprompted immediately after meeting her, but he constantly pokes at and teases her just to make her frustrated and embarrassed.
Now, I don’t speak for all women (especially considering the mangaka is a woman), but as a woman, I have known many men like that and I have never found their behavior endearing. Rather, I find it uncomfortable and annoying. These two being a legitimate couple feels like being told that boy at school is only mean to me because he has a crush on me.
Case in point, this relationship dynamic is one I find to be deeply unpleasant and honestly a little bit sexist. It’s something that would seriously drag a show down for me.
However…
Somehow, this show managed to turn it around and actually somewhat sell me on Vanitas and Jeanne as a couple.
Now, I’m still not completely sold; their rough start is very hard to come back from, in my opinion. However, as the show goes on, it digs into Vanitas as a character more and gives a reason for his behavior that is both realistic and sympathetic. It also gives the two of them some genuine emotional moments beyond blood drinking so horny it could pass as a sex scene, which was greatly appreciated.
So, while I can’t say I love it, I *can* say they turned the relationship around enough that I can enjoy it somewhat.
*However* however…
I struggle to understand what the point of making them a legitimate couple is when the author so clearly just wanted to write yaoi. No matter what, the relationship between the two male leads will always be deeper, more focused-on, and, as such, more compelling than any relationship either of them could have with a woman. Not only was including any female love interests completely unnecessary, it also rings completely hollow because the real romance will always be overshadowed by the homosexual pseudo-romance.
The second female lead, Dominique, is in a similar boat to Jeanne. She is a well-developed character who I like a lot, but is still bound by her relationship to a man. She’s Noé’s childhood friend who is in deep unrequited love with him. That’s completely fine actually. No complaints there. What actually irks me about her writing is how her love for Noé almost *defines* her. In the last arc of the show (in the second part), she is put in danger to motivate Noé, and her internal conflict at the time is all about Noé as well. It’s a shame she doesn’t seem to stand on her own as well as she could, because as I stated before, she is otherwise a well-done character.
Honestly, considering Jeanne and Dominique have a bit of yuri subtext, the author really should have used all of that screen time dedicated to their relationships with men to give those two a deeper relationship instead.
Female characters aside, though, there is one other aspect that irks me. If blood drinking is a metaphor for sex, then drinking blood by force is a metaphor for rape. I am not jumping to conclusions here; Noé says explicitly that drinking blood without consent is illegal.
However, if that’s the case, that means Noé gets metaphorically sexually assaulted like, every three episodes. Seriously, this guy cannot catch a break from the forceful blood drinking. If you’re going to establish something as a metaphor for rape, you really need to examine that in greater detail and use it sparingly so it will have a greater impact on the audience. Throwing around metaphorical rape and then not exploring it as a concept not only feels somewhat grody, but it’s also just an absolute waste of an allegory.
Granted, allegories don’t have to (and usually shouldn’t) be one-to-one, but picture this: A character wakes up to find another character forcefully invading their bodily autonomy. This character tells this aggressor that what they’re doing is a crime, yet the aggressor continues. The victimized character then says that this aggressor has made them too weak to fight back, and that they’re scared and don’t know what to do.
It’s no secret what that’s meant to allude to. The parallels are explicit. And it happens to Noé in the second part of the show! And honestly, I would have been very interested in its inclusion if they had actually explored the concept, but the character who does this to him is never really condemned for it; it is brushed off entirely and she is meant to be sympathetic to the audience with the way she has been victimized by other characters.
And before anyone puts words in my mouth, I am not saying aggressors can’t also be victims. What I *am* saying is the narrative doesn’t seem to think of her as an aggressor and instantly moves on from her forceful blood drinking as though it were nothing.
Although, it almost doesn’t surprise me that this show just throws metaphorical sexual assault around for no reason. Another character is mentioned to have been pimped out by their mother as a prepubescent child and this, too, is never addressed again.
Just…why include it if you’re not going to do anything with it? Because it’s kinda trashy and humans feel gratification from portrayals of trauma and suffering? Probably.
The Case Study of Vanitas is sexy, bloody, historical gothic fun. And it’s also much trashier than people act like it is.
Panda_Roll
When I went into this show my expectations were pretty low, I saw a cute guy with black hair and another with a tan + white hair. Dude I'm in, how can this possibly go wrong! Well, they found a way... This show knows it's target audience. Cute guys being unusually close and physical, holding hands, close ups of their eyes and hair fluttering in the wind, kissing submissive women that kindda look like the other male lead, licking submissive women that kindda look like the other male lead???? Anyway the show is aiming directly for the fujoshi's loincloth! Which is fine, if it stuck to a tone. I keptwondering what was it that annoyed me while watching, clearly every frame was calculated to lead to a fanservice moment, which I don't mind in this context, so why didn't I like it. Then it hit me, because I don't know why it matters so don't really care about the characters. I've watched all 12 episodes, I can't tell you any of the five Ws of basic story telling.
Who, What, Where, When and Why.
Who are our leads? I don't know, their personalities shift and change from frame to frame. Noe "looks" like a born yesterday trope but he only acts that way when the plot requires him to be stupid. Vanitas "looks" like a vampire wannabe + agent of chaos but then goes all emo when plot. It's as if they want to squeeze all the uke/seme tropes possible into their leads least they miss a demographic!
What's happening? I don't know. The show stops from time to time and vomits exposition before saying screw it lets make them act cute for now. This is the tone part, if this was a gag show then the randomness would have made more sense but the exposition dumps and the hints of the "darker" character backstory suggest it's supposed to be a drama... I'm not even sure even after watching the whole thing.
Where is this? The easy answer is France however the show hints at there being this world and an alter world where the vampires live in, except they interact with humans all the time at very random parts so which is it?
When is this happening? The clothes suggest the Victorian era but the steampunk flying contraptions suggest an alternative timeline, this would have been fine if there was any, and I do mean ANYTHING, else different about this timeline. They couldn't even be bothered to research the time period and just pepper in some notable things making the alternative timeline sound like an excuse to be lazy.
Why is this happening & why should I care? I don't know. There is an exposition dump about the moon but it's very unclear why this is an issue or why the curse would turn vampires into werewolves (yes, really). Why vampires are forbidden from drinking human blood is obvious but... how are they feeding off eachother?
Summery
I don't know if the flaw is in the writing or directing but this show is pretty bad. It looks nice, the entire budget went into making it look nice but it lacks both a plot and it's own sense of style. The world building is none existent to where "vampires" walk around during the day and sleep at night (making the whole moon thing redundant) they can have kids that age but the older generation never seems to, they drink each others blood for food which just seems nonsensical, they crave blood but it's more of a background noise that's easy to ignore. It makes it seem like the author doesn't understand this world and instead is just going for the rule of cool and shoving cute scenes on the screen as often as possible to keep your interest.
Scordolo
Usually in your typical Vampire stories, you always see Vampires having a lust for human blood but in this Anime, it isn't that kind of story at all. It's very clear that the Author has taken as many risks as she can to avoid using the same old formula or tropesto make her story feel special and I have a huge respect for the new and unique direction she's taken which she easily makes to my top 5 favorite Authors of all time. For some reason, I'm a sucker when it comes to the 19th Century style setting. Usually because of the way their clothing are.It honestly makes me quite intrigued and it makes me imagine that I went right back to the past. At first, it was the synopsis that intrigued me the most to watch the Anime. I was so excited to see Vanitas as an antagonist of the show until when the author subverted my expectations. I thought about it, as the story that states in the synopsis is just a folklore and it to be completely accurate would just make the world building more unbelievable and silly and so I liked the new direction the author has taken and, it also allowed for the characters to perform their own actions rather than being controlled by the plot. That's what makes this anime quite special.
Vanitas no Karte is not the kind of anime that you see in a modern shounen. In My hero academia, in just one episode you know it's the story about Deku becoming the #1 hero, in Black clover, you know it's a story about Asta becoming the Wizard King so on and so forth. But it's not the same with Vanitas no Karte. You won't know what it's about in the first episode itself but rather, certain new things and world building will be explained as the story progresses. The way they introduced the world of the Vampires was also a job well done. I like how they didn't introduce it like a grand way. It just....exists like any other normal world.
Some people say that this show lacks in direction and makes it boring but to me, that's what makes it so interesting. The lack of direction is what makes me want to ask more questions regarding the show and therefore making it quite unpredictable. The story is done in a subtle way so you have to pay attention to every detail you can as they are important to the world building of the story some way or the other.
Even if it is more of a plot driven story, the author certainly hasn't forgotten it's characters as they are the most important in order for the story to be engaging. Every characters we meet have their own kind of a lovable personality and have their own charm. I really love the dynamic, Vanitas and Noe have. Feels wholesome and doesn't feel forced as Noe was told by his teacher to assess the book of Vanitas and to see for himself "The true character of Vanitas" so it only makes sense for him to team up.
I think the main reason why the Duo of Vanitas and Noe stands out so much is because they have constant conflicts with each other unlike other battle shounen where you see the Main character always supporting his friend but Vanitas and Noe ain't like that. They hold and stick to each of their own ideals and beliefs and that makes them even more interesting and they don't feel cliched at all.
I feel like Roland will be an interesting character. I definitely feel like he's planning something up ahead. He could be an interesting sub-antagonist for Vanitas but I don't think that'll happen.
It really sucks in the department of art style while it is truly a banger when it comes to the Animation Department. Most of the time the anime shows background or landscapes rather than actual character interaction. The characters do interact but sometimes, they don't even show their faces when they are talking especially in big fight scenes. What Bones don't realize is that, character interactions while showing their facial expressions is much more important than showing off their beautifully drawn landscapes and backgrounds.
I'm quite disappointed with Jeanne's character to be honest. "The Hellfire Witch" sounded something like she's important but in the end, she just turned out to be another waifu bait who serves no importance to the main story I also don't think there is a potential to the character development of Jeanne and I really hope the upcoming arcs prove me wrong and the way she blushes so hard literally looks like I'm watching a Hentai. Though, I can see in the last couple of episodes the build up to her character development is definitely happening so I'm looking forward to that.
Noe's personality was also poorly done. It's so unbelievable how he is perfectly fine today when he has experienced so much trauma in his childhood. It would've been more interesting if he currently had trauma and Vanitas or Domi or even both (preferably Domi because she knows him better than anyone else) would help him overcome his trauma and not only it would make it more interesting, it would also help to build up the relationship of Domi and Noe. It would've been so sweet and also cute.
I'm also disappointed with the way how the chibi comedy is placed at the most inappropriate of times. I should've thought Bones would take this direction since they also did the same with Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood taking away for God knows how many special and most important, memorable moments the characters could've had but this Anime looked so mature that I never thought they would use it at all. At this point, if the series was titled as Chibi no Karte or Vanitas no Chibi then I wouldn't have been bothered by the title at all.
For now, this Anime is like a 7-8/10 as this is just the first season but pretty amazing how this got me intrigued so much in just 12 episodes and I'd recommend it to everyone who are into Vampire themed series. There are some things I'm expecting in the upcoming arcs though
Focus on Luka and Jeanne's background
Focus on Jeanne's background, how she turned weak so much
Focus on Jeanne's character development, really hoping to see that.
It will suck if I don't see all of them happening in the upcoming arcs but I'm just hoping for the best! I'm looking forward to review the second cour as well.
reizamundi
Art: • Gorgeous Victorian setting and environment art • Stunning lighting and color grading • Unique and nice use of camera angles to attenuate the beautiful interior architecture • The animation is quite good, great mix of GCI and hand-drawn art, but nothing spectacular Story, Character, Music: • The story is mediocre and dull at times • I don't feel a lot of emotions or attachment towards the characters - they are "handsome" but blend • Mediocre music• No climax or interesting mystery
Overall:
It was enjoyable for me because I liked the Victorian 19th century atmosphere and I appreciated that they put in some thoughts into the character design, where not all characters look the same. The lighting of the series is my favorite, there were many artistic frames and I enjoyed the incorporation of a children's myth as the introduction of the narrative.
The story is not particularly novel or exciting and I'd suggest watching this only if you like the 19th century European setting.
PapaJoan
This is a perfect vampire anime with great music and a lovely version of Paris. I think the characters are one of this anime's low points because some of the characters are not treated very well by Vanitas. We can not get along very well with some of the characters, which causes a little. It is less noticeable the behaviour of some characters such as Noe. Still, the further the anime goes, the better it gets in the characterization of some characters. Give the anime a chance. It does not mean that you will stop seeing this work. But we come to the story ofthe anime, which is a good story. In the vampire genre and combining this genre with a bit of comedy that this anime has, I think it is good, and it delivers an excellent effect to you. Of course, the story has very few clichés in a series of sections, but it is generally delicious, and you can enjoy it. In general, if you like the genres of this work, I suggest you see it because it is worth seeing once and you will enjoy it. Well, first of all, one of the best strengths of this anime is that its music. It is stunning, and the piece sits on each of the anime sequences and does something to make you disappear from that sequence. The subsequent discussion is the art and animation of the anime. Which can be said to be quite well made of Bones. Not a masterpiece, but entirely acceptable, and you can enjoy it for what it is.
