(This review covers parts one and two)

Ah, vampires. Stories about them have been around since the mid-19th century. From the very first vampire novella Carmilla, Bram Stoker's Dracula, the God-awful Twilight series, Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles series, to the newest TV series on Netflix, First Kill. Vampires and their lore are rife for all kinds of storytelling ideas, and the anime/manga industry is no different, offering stuff like the dark, violent Hellsing series alongside more sweet and wholesome vampire fare such as Ms. Vampire Who Lives In My Neighborhood. I remember when the Twilight series was huge, but I was never into it, or the vampire trend in general, so I mostly stayed away from vampire-themed stuff. But as of recently, one show I initially missed out on caught my attention, called The Case Study of Vanitas, more so when I learned that it was a new series by Jun Mochizuki, known for her other manga Pandora Hearts. I remember reading and owning 12 volumes of Pandora Hearts when it was first being brought to the US, but I dropped it due to other obligations and sold my copies on Ebay. I really need to get back to it some time. A podcast I follow was praising the English dub for Vanitas up the wazoo, and I thought "Eh, why not? I'm bored. I might as well watch something new." So I decided to watch Vanitas, since the series' second half had ended around that time. As of this writing, I've only read three volumes of the manga, but now that I've finished the show, I can say...it's actually pretty good! Though not without its issues.

In an alternate 19th century Paris, humans and vampires have co-existed for centuries, though that's because humans believe vampires have been wiped out long ago. A young vampire, Noe Archiviste, is on a mission to find the mysterious Book of Vanitas, a clockwork grimoire that is said to corrupt vampires and turn them into bloodthirsty, out of control curse-bearers. The Book of Vanitas is the creation of the feared Vampire of the Blue Moon, considered a monster by the regular vampire society. Luck seems to be on his side, as he finds the book on the very first airship he boards, in the possession of a mysterious human man who refers to himself by Vanitas and claims to be a vampire doctor. Their first meeting is awkward, but through a series of circumstances, Noe and Vanitas find themselves joining forces to heal cursed vampires, but there lurks the threat of an unknown being called Charlatan, the one likely responsible for corrupting them in the first place. And is Charlatan the only force at play here?

Most anime studios tend to favor a particular type of series. Sunrise likes its mecha, JC Staff and Doga Kobo like moe girls, Studio Deen has its bishounen anime, and Hal Film Maker is often into slice-of-life. The Case Study of Vanitas is animated by BONES, and many of that studio's shows are very different from one another. This is the same studio that made anime such as Angelic Layer, Kurau Phantom Memory, the Cowboy Bebop movie, and Ouran High School Host Club, among many, many others. The fact that their shows are so diverse is really one of BONES' biggest strengths, alongside the effort they put into their execution, even if their attempts don't always land. The animation they did for Vanitas is surprisingly smooth, and even when it isn't, the colors are sharp and bright, the fight scenes are well choreographed, the backgrounds are beautifully rendered, and even the costumes are well designed. Sometimes the anime employs some artfully creative cut out sequences or charcoal art with watercolor backgrounds for added atmospheric effect. This is because some of the staff that worked on this worked at Shaft, and you may know them for stuff like the Monogatari series or Madoka Magica. Granted, Jun Mochizuki's artwork is highly detailed and intricate, so there was no way BONES could really replicate it in an animated medium without possibly going bankrupt, so it's inevitable that some things had to be simplified. But for what it's worth, the animation still remains true to the manga as a whole, and what the anime lacks in some details, it makes up for with smoother motion and colors that pop. Also, Vanitas has much more of a budget than the Pandora Hearts' anime ever did. Yeah, I remember when people utterly lambasted Pandora Hearts' animation, even though there are plenty of anime that had far worse animation and had even less of a budget, even when PH first aired. Though...there is one thing about the character designs that bothers me: Why the hell are everybody's eyelashes the same color as their hair?! It just looks weird to me! It looks fine on characters with darker hair like Vanitas, Dominique, and Olivier, but seeing yellow or pink eyelashes on the characters just looks off to me. Unfortunately, this is also in the manga too, so I can only assume this was a deliberate style choice on Mochizuki's part. Ehhh, I don't know.

As for the soundtrack...Come on. It's Yuki Kajiura. Does she really need an introduction at this point in time? What else is there to say about her and her work that hasn't been said already? She's one of the most prolific composers for a reason. The last thing I watched that she did the music for was Fena: Pirate Princess, and I didn't think her soundtrack was very memorable there. Then comes Vanitas and she brought her A-game once more, with her trademark violins, female vocals, gregorian choirs, and pretty much everything else she's good at. Since the anime specifically takes place in an alternate steampunk version of Paris, there's one instrument that gets top usage here: Accordions. Lots of them. Because you can't have France and Paris without accordions, right? Hell, the second opening has an impeccably, fluidly animated five-second shot of some dude playing an accordion in tune with the song! I don't think I can add much to praise Yuki Kajiura's soundtrack here that hasn't been said already, but there is one thing I can say that absolutely needs to be said: Where in the world can you find a composer who manages to both incorporate accordions into battle music and make accordions sound absolutely BADASS? Because she pulled out all the stops here, and it's fucking fantastic. Just watch episode 23 to see (or in this case, hear) what I mean. I have to admit, I am kinda surprised Kajiura was put on yet another anime based on Mochizuki's work. Was it because BONES knew she worked on PH and brought her on for that reason, or did Mochizuki-sensei like her work for PH so much that she wanted her again for Vanitas? Who knows?

The characters are where things start to get thorny. A lot of the more prominent characters, like Noe, Vanitas, Dominique, Jeanne, Chloe, and Astolfo are pretty nicely developed, all with their own unique flaws, strengths, idiosyncrasies, backstories, and so on, even if the anime wasn't able to adapt all of them to the screen. But there are just as many characters that either aren't utilized enough or are just flat-out forgotten after they're introduced. Roland's partner Olivier doesn't really do much except for help everyone in the Gevaudan arc and be Roland's perpetually angry babysitter, that's it. Dominique's older sister Veronica is just there to be a callous bitch and doesn't do anything for the plot, and speaking of not doing anything, poor Luca got it the worst. Out of all the characters, he was the one I wanted to learn more about the most, as he has the highest governmental authority in the vampire world, but due to being a child, he can't really do anything with said authority, so he's basically relegated to being a puppet figurehead. That makes for a lot of interesting story ideas that both the anime and the manga really could have built on, but after his initial introduction, he pretty much disappears. The poor kid doesn't even do anything in the second season other than be used for a one-note gag in episode 20, for God's sake!! Then again, the manga has this issue with Luca as well, and for all we know, Mochizuki might address this problem, but since the manga is on hiatus for the time being, that might not change any time soon. Tl;dr, the cast is pretty large, and while some characters get the right amount of development, others are very mismanaged.

Of course, underutilized characters aren't the only problem Vanitas has as a show. I only just started reading the manga, but the anime cuts out some minor yet important details that make things in the anime seem more nonsensical than they were in the manga. In episode 4, Dominique lures Vanitas into what's essentially a torture chamber, and the anime somehow makes it seem like she managed to tie Vanitas up to a giant wheel. The manga actually shows the process, explaining that she had two attendants restrain him and tie him up. Not sure why the anime chose to leave this out, probably for the sake of faster pacing, but it just feels jarring. Also, from what I've heard, the anime's adaptation of the Gevaudan arc, which covers four whole manga volumes, leaves out a significant amount of content, such as additional backstory information for a certain character, and even whole scenes that were meant to set up future arcs and plot points. Hell, apparently one particular character is said to have set up the events of the Gevaudan arc in the manga, but in the anime, he only has one small part, which is in the Bal Masque arc, and never appears in the anime after that. Jeez, way to leave out a lot of important context, anime. I've only read up to volume 3, so I can't confirm whether all this is true or not, but based on the research I did and from what fans of the series have said...yeah, I can understand wanting to catch up to the manga and end at a certain point rather than go for an anime original ending, but BONES, there were probably better ways to do it. Furthermore, the series also sets up a plot point in episodes 11-12 involving one of the antagonists (Any Vanitas fans will know it when they see it)...and then it just forgets about it a la A Wrinkle In Time. Like, why even bother setting it up if you're not even going to do anything with it for the rest of the series?! (And for anyone wanting to ask, yes, for all we know, Mochizuki might address this in the manga since its still ongoing, but since it's on hiatus, we don't know when that'll be)

There's also the character of Vanitas himself. Personally, I like him as a character just fine, as he's wonderfully complex and flawed, with the series really going out of its way to show why he's the way he is, even if we still don't have all the answers, though I do like Noe better. But there are many people who may not like his eccentricities and initial arrogant persona, even if the series reveals there's more to him than that. The series takes a pretty big risk by making him a massive scumbag in the beginning, and I know episode 3 ruffled a lot of feathers, because in there, he flat-out kisses a woman without her consent, which we would consider some form of sexual assault. To be fair, the series does have a lot of its characters point out how utterly wrong this is, though you probably wouldn't know that from the way the scene is animated. Many I know were pretty put off by this, and I can totally understand why. Personally, while what Vanitas did was genuinely wrong, I wasn't bothered by it because, 1. Again, like I mentioned, several characters call him out on this, even if Vanitas makes no effort to at least apologize, 2. Jeanne gets back at him for it in the very next episode when she drops him to the floor like a hot potato after rescuing him, 3. Both the manga and anime do explain why he pursues her and why he does what he does later in the series, and 4. I'm just happy Mochizuki didn't make him do anything like, say, grab her boobs. If that had happened, I would have dropped the series like a hot potato. So yeah, for anyone who wants to watch the series, your enjoyment of it will very much depend on whether you like Vanitas as a character or not.

Though...come on. Look at this little shitgremlin. He can either be the sexiest man ever or he can make you want to punch that smug grin off his goddamn face.

In all honesty though, The Case Study of Vanitas as a show is still a hell of a fun ride, incomplete story notwithstanding, and there's a lot about this horny goth parade that definitely appeals to my inner 12-year-old. Yes, I said horny because this series really goes all in on the "bloodsucking made to look sexy and sensual" tropes, complete with sex metaphors, but its sensuality and sexual imagery actually feels genuine and authentically intimate, more than any jiggling boobs, panty shots, or ecchi anime could ever hope to achieve. I mean, just watch these two clips to see and hear what I mean, as simply describing it doesn't feel like enough. But simply relegating Vanitas down to just sexy bloodsucking doesn't do the series justice. The story is always moving forward, even if it does get convoluted at points, the setting is very intriguing, and I'm genuinely interested in learning more about this crazy world Noe and his buddies live in along with the amassing mysteries the series sets up. If this had come out when I was a lot younger, I probably would have considered this one of my favorite anime of all time, if not my #1 favorite, but I'm glad I've seen it now, my criticisms aside. I bet I probably would have crushed hard on Noe in particular. I actually do a little bit, because Noe is a good boy who deserves all the love and tarte tatin! I would let him suck my blood! Noe is a better vampire than Edward Cullen will ever be! Suck it, Twilight! Also, I kind of hope Hot Topic eventually makes Vanitas merchandise, because that show would be absolutely perfect for that store. I mean, if they're doing it for Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun, I don't see why they can't do it for Vanitas!

So yeah, The Case Study of Vanitas is a fun, action-packed vampire goth parade of a show that's blunt, edgy, over-the-top, theatrical, gleefully campy, violent, sexy, and sometimes in poor taste. But if you're into that stuff, definitely check out Vanitas if you want a fun time. Oh, and I wholly recommend the English dub. Seriously, Zeno Robinson's Vanitas is such an absolute delight to listen to.