Vampire Knight
a review by youmi
a review by youmi
Kaname.............senpai ?
Vampire Knight is a 2008 drama, mystery, romance, and supernatural anime and it fails to be convincing in most of those genres.
The drama of it all is actually engaging and I didn't have any trouble being invested in the story.
The mystery could have been intriguing if the main character (Yuki) had been more active in the story: instead, she is constantly excluded from knowing anything important and doesn't even try to find out about anything (and she is painfully slow :((( not to hate on her but I can't believe it took her that long to figure out that Zero is a vampire). The main character's perspective should be the most interesting and I think that the mystery aspect of the anime would have been improved if Yuki had actively tried to find out more about vampires, Pureblood, and Level E.
In terms of romance, Yuki is in a love triangle with two guys who constantly hide things from her and one of them keeps treating her like a child. I suggest she focuses on studying instead of getting a vampire boyfriend (but that's not how it works in shoujo).
Vampire Knight does have a lot of supernatural elements, but it doesn't intend on explaining anything (ex: why Aido has ice powers?). However, that's not a huge issue for me, as I just wanted to watch something with vampires in it and I don't think that every story needs extensive world-building.
Animation: It's whatever honestly. There aren't a lot of action scenes and as a whole, it could have been worst. It looks awkward at times but it didn't bother me.
Art style: I'm actually a big fan of the early 2000s shoujo style (with the big eyes and all) so I really like the character design. I also thought that the uniforms looked cool. The backgrounds try to be gothic and I can appreciate that.
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Plot:__ Okay so. The two things that frustrate me the most while watching or reading something are 1) when miscommunication (or in this case, no communication at all) is used as a plot device, and 2) when characters are very very stupid to further the plot/create drama. And you know what, Vampire Knight's target audience is quite young and the characters themselves are high schoolers, so it's not unrealistic for them to make questionable decisions. But that doesn't mean that I'm not frustrated. The main conflict in this season is that Zero can't control his vampire tendencies and is going to become a Level E (a vampire without conscience nor self-control). Yuki decides to help him out by letting him drink her blood and it's a metaphor for sex etc. What she could have done is simply ask Kaname, a Pureblood, how to save Zero: Kaname is knowledgeable and he would have agreed to help her out. But somehow that wasn't even an option? In one of the later episodes, Yuki makes a deal with Shizuka Hio (the Pureblood who literally bit Zero and is responsible for his suffering) to become her servant in exchange for info on how to save him. This is stupid on many levels and that episode was especially painful to watch because all of it was so pointless. So basically, the plot relies on Yuki not being the brightest person and on the fact that no one tells her anything except "be careful", "don't go near that person", advice which she gleefully ignores.
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Characters:__ Yuki is a nice person who deeply cares about her friend Zero and their relationship was probably my favourite thing in the anime. But as a character, and especially as the main character, she doesn't really drive the plot forward and she's often passive and unknowing. She is regarded as someone who should be protected and as such, she's always the one who needs to be saved even though she has a weapon and knows how to use it (we never see her fight). I'm personally very tired of stories with a female main character where she's the least interesting character and is constantly pushed aside. Anyway. Zero could have been Kyo with white hair but he ultimately wasn't. It got tiring watching him be moody and refuse to talk to Yuki. I still think he's interesting and in another story, he would have been a great tragic character. The way his facial expressions were animated was probably a detriment to him because while the voice actor was doing a great job, his face was like ? most of the time. Kaname is a creep who's obsessed with a high schooler
Soundtrack: First of all, the OP is SO good and it really sets the mood. It's a shame that the plot of the anime wasn't on the same level as the soundtrack. Sometimes, the characters would have the stupidest dialogue while violins would be dramatically playing. The soundtrack is pretty dark and is perfect for a vampire story. The anime itself isn't exactly light-hearted but the few "comedic" moments weren't funny and I just wished that they would have kept the tone set by the soundtrack.
To conclude, I didn't like Vampire Knight and I probably only finished it because it was so short. It does have potential but looking at the spoilers, I don't even want to find out if it gets better. I recommend this if you want to casually watch something and you like vampires. Other than that,I think that it would be better if you don't watch it <3
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