"If I become a vampire ... Do you think my heart will be stronger too?"

I feel this question captures the essence of Vampire Knight. Or rather, what appears to be Matsuri Hino's answer to this question, a resounding and definitive "no."

I should admit first off that if you are reading this for a definitive "should I read or watch this" or a scoring of some kind, you will not find it. I can even admit that the overall score I have given Vampire Knight may be a result of years of built up nostalgia and fondness for a series that impacted my life rather than any form of objective analysis. Also, while this "review" will not contain plainly presented spoilers, it may spoil the feelings of Vampire Knight or mechanics of the setting and skew your emotions as you consume the series for the first time. I don't want to do that to any one that is genuinely interested and open minded going into the series. Please take time to watch the anime or/and read the manga to completion before reading this. Attach your own feelings to the series, then you can come back to this if you want and see how someone else feels about it.

Vampire Knight is, of course, more than anything a love story. I am only 20 years old as of writing this, so I cannot say I fully understand love, particularly romantic love. Though, I do believe I have experienced it once or twice in my life. And based on that previous experience and my ongoing experience, I feel that Vampire Knight captures and describes the feeling of love better than any other piece of fiction I have ever consumed. It is an unquenchable thirst, and while it can fade, it can never be fully cured.

In Vampire Knight, as with most vampire media, there is some spin on the typical vampire archetype. Well, there are actually many differences from the standard in Vampire Knight's vampires, but one trait is the most important in my eyes: vampires feel an unending thirst for the blood of whom they love. This trait constantly drives the plot forward. It motivates the decisions of many main characters in the series, and it of course significantly effects intercharacter relationships, romantic or otherwise. Both male leads in the series give in to this thirst despite both trying their best to escape it.

However, this trait is not simply a way to force conflict in the series. It is not a purely fictional idea. Real, normal love is no different in my eyes. The male leads are not avoiding their thirst simply because sucking the blood of your loved ones is a dangerous relationship dynamic. They are avoiding it because of the emotional harm it might cause their romantic interest and because they do not want to force their burden onto them. Those feelings are plainly human. Love is terrifying because it is not about you, it is about the other person. Regardless of your affection being mutual, you have to find that balance of wanting nothing more than their happiness but also feeling the need to have them in your life.

Ultimately, one of the most intriguing parts of Vampire Knight is seeing how all the characters handle this in their own way. Some characters simply devote themselves and do whatever their love interest asks. Other characters will do anything to protect the one they love even if it corrupts the feelings their love interest has towards them. One of my favorite approaches had a character reject any oncoming feeling of love. They were so afraid of the consequences of loving someone else that they avoided it.

Love is both salvation and destruction.

Another approach to handling love that is explored is becoming someone new. I would argue that transformation or growth is a theme of Vampire Knight despite the biological stagnation of many of its characters.

What constitutes becoming a new person? Can people truly change? Matsuri Hino seems to place her stance somewhere in the middle. Characters in Vampire Knight undergo seemingly drastic transformations or changes. I can imagine that some people interpret one of the male lead's actions as entirely directionless at times. Maybe that is a critique other viewers might have. Frankly, while I respect such an interpretation, I completely disagree with it. I believe characters in Vampire Knight, and especially the male lead I have referred to, never fully deviate from the base of their personality. The characters may reinterpret the experiences that ground them and the goals that guide them, but they never abandon them. Do you view your experiences the same years later? Do you always take the same approach to a goal? Do you wear the same face in front of everyone? I believe most people would answer "no" to all these questions and the characters in Vampire Knight are no different. They give different answers to the same question when talking to different people. They change their minds, and they take drastic measures after a roadblock or an opportunity to quickly reach their goals appears.

By the end of the series, the in universe origin of the plot in Vampire Knight is explained to be one thing: the split second decision of a main character after an opportunity is presented to them.

Beyond just character decisions, though, there are also characters actively trying to change who they are. Without too much deep discussion, Matsuri Hino writes her characters in a way that they never truly change no matter how hard they may try. You may have traits that you would like to change and seek to improve, but you can never change who you are. Those feelings and ideas still exist within you. They are permanently part of you as a memory or something deeper.

In fact, Vampire Knight portrays memories as entirely secondary to who you are. Even without their memories, characters have the same general personality. If anything, losing memories reverts characters to their core rather than changing them into someone else.

Why have I talked about these aspects of Vampire Knight, though? The overall point I am trying to make is that Vampire Knight is one of the most accurate reflections of human nature I have experienced (outside of interacting with people irl). This is all entirely opinion based, of course. I would not dare to argue what people are or how people should be interpreted. Given that I first watched and read Vampire Knight so many years ago, it is entirely possible that my beliefs can in some ways be sourced to it. Perhaps Vampire Knight to me is not a reflection of human nature, but I subconsciously have based my ideas on human nature on Vampire Knight (I sincerely hope that is not that case, though, I am all for respecting the influence of entertainment but that would be a yikes). Because of how accurate a reflection of human nature Vampire Knight is to me, though, and because I am genuinely in love with people as a whole, I can only see Vampire Knight as beautiful. It tells the story of people. A melancholic tale of one of the most beautiful aspects of us: the inescapable love we can feel for another.