Also known as the Twilight of anime. Time for me to get a little ranty here. In short, this anime made me very fangirlish at times, and “WTH IS HAPPENING???” at other times. Plenty of spoilers ahead, so read at your own risk. Not like this was worth watching…
Genres: Drama, Romance, School Story, Action
Synopsis: Yuki Cross and her adoptive brother Zero Kiriyu arethe "guardians" of Cross Academy. Their job is to protect the Night class, made up entirely of vampires, and to keep their secret. But a turn of events and a love triangle will test everyone's loyalties and bring back a thousands-year old conflict.
Story and Characters:
At a elite academy with a night class full of vampires, Yuki Cross and her childhood friend Zero Kiryu protect the day class, keep the night class in check, and keeping the night class’s secret safe. Now, of course, things get a little complicated with a love triangle, and a plot that became hard to understand around when Shizuka Hio showed up. Things got even worse with Yuki’s “awakening”. Now as for the characters, my review is about to get nastier. Yuki is a pathetic crybaby, cookie-cutter shojo heroine who only serves as a source of food for Zero and eventually Kaname. She is extremely indecisive, and I RAGED at the fact that she chose Kaname, even though “her heart is with Zero, but she belongs to Kaname.” Oh, please SHUT UP! And for Kaname, he is a jerk that always has an “ultimate plan” who claimed to do everything “for the one he loves”. He is abusive, secretive, and more than willing to kill Zero. He wasn’t even that good looking! And last but best of the three, we have Zero. Okay, I liked him because 1) He was hot (and had a hot dub voice) 2) He was better than the previous two mentioned, and 3) He wasn’t a complete jerk. (Key work complete) My only fault with him is how he dealt with his twin, Ichiru. The secondary characters (night class) aren’t much better either. I hated Ruka, Ichijo, and Aido.
At a elite academy with a night class full of vampires, Yuki Cross and her childhood friend Zero Kiryu protect the day class, keep the night class in check, and keeping the night class’s secret safe. Now, of course, things get a little complicated with a love triangle, and a plot that became hard to understand around when Shizuka Hio showed up. Things got even worse with Yuki’s “awakening”. Now as for the characters, my review is about to get nastier. Yuki is a pathetic crybaby, cookie-cutter shojo heroine who only serves as a source of food for Zero and eventually Kaname. She is extremely indecisive, and I RAGED at the fact that she chose Kaname, even though “her heart is with Zero, but she belongs to Kaname.” Oh, please SHUT UP! And for Kaname, he is a jerk that always has an “ultimate plan” who claimed to do everything “for the one he loves”. He is abusive, secretive, and more than willing to kill Zero. He wasn’t even that good looking! And last but best of the three, we have Zero. Okay, I liked him because 1) He was hot (and had a hot dub voice) 2) He was better than the previous two mentioned, and 3) He wasn’t a complete jerk. (Key work complete) My only fault with him is how he dealt with his twin, Ichiru. The secondary characters (night class) aren’t much better either. I hated Ruka, Ichijo, and Aido.
Art and Animation:
The art is okay, and the animation quality isn’t too bad. I’m actually not too fond of Matsuri Hino’s art, but the transition from manga to anime art-wise was actually kinda good. The only thing I found disappointing were the fight scenes. In almost every supernatural anime (that I’ve seen), there are fight scenes, ranging from absolutely epic, to just plain bad. Vampire Knight falls closer to the latter, but it’s not the worst. Ironically, the anime with the worst fight scenes is another Vampire anime, Rosario + Vampire. (Bleh…)
The art is okay, and the animation quality isn’t too bad. I’m actually not too fond of Matsuri Hino’s art, but the transition from manga to anime art-wise was actually kinda good. The only thing I found disappointing were the fight scenes. In almost every supernatural anime (that I’ve seen), there are fight scenes, ranging from absolutely epic, to just plain bad. Vampire Knight falls closer to the latter, but it’s not the worst. Ironically, the anime with the worst fight scenes is another Vampire anime, Rosario + Vampire. (Bleh…)
Voice and Music:
When I was starting this series, I was rather conflicted between sub or dub. The sub voices sounded more natural for the characters, (this is often the case) but I couldn’t stand them pronouncing “banpaia”. As for the dub, I liked Zero’s voice (who doesn’t like Vic?) but Kaname and Yuki’s voices were bad. Mela Lee (Yuki) pronounced his name “Kanameh”. Ugh. The OST of this anime is mostly serious, as this is technically a romance/drama anime. What I find interesting is that one of the soundtrack’s names is “Still Doll”. And I thought, “That perfectly fits Yuki!” But I do have to give props to the two opening themes. Both sung by twins ON/OFF, hearing the first one really got me geared up for a dark, dramatic romance. Of course, I was very disappointed.
When I was starting this series, I was rather conflicted between sub or dub. The sub voices sounded more natural for the characters, (this is often the case) but I couldn’t stand them pronouncing “banpaia”. As for the dub, I liked Zero’s voice (who doesn’t like Vic?) but Kaname and Yuki’s voices were bad. Mela Lee (Yuki) pronounced his name “Kanameh”. Ugh. The OST of this anime is mostly serious, as this is technically a romance/drama anime. What I find interesting is that one of the soundtrack’s names is “Still Doll”. And I thought, “That perfectly fits Yuki!” But I do have to give props to the two opening themes. Both sung by twins ON/OFF, hearing the first one really got me geared up for a dark, dramatic romance. Of course, I was very disappointed.
My Enjoyment:
Okay, I admit it. There were times when I fangirled, screaming, “I love this anime!” Boy, that didn’t last long. The whole time, I was kinda angry at how slow the plot was progressing. And when something DID happen, it usually wasn’t what I wanted to happen. I spent much of the second season trying to figure out what the heck was going on. That led to me not focusing what was happening NOW, and, well, the domino effect came into play. And finally, when Yuki became a vampire, she had the chance to make things right with Zero! But, NOOOOOO, she had to leave and become Kaname’s wife. At least she kissed Zero in the manga!
The Score:
A bad, somewhat trashy romance/drama, Vampire Knight left me very disappointed. I don’t even think this was a better story than Twilight! I give Vampire Knight a 4.8 and would recommend this to anyone who liked Twilight. (Are there still any more of those people out there???) As for similar anime, I suggest Diabolik Lovers, another awful vampire reverse harem with a wimpy female protagonist. If you want manga, I point you towards Black Bird, an even trashier romance with plenty of smut. Enjoy.
UPDATE 3 MARCH 2014 Real scores:
Story: 2.2 Characters: 2.2
Art: 6.5 Animation: 6.0
Voice: 4.0 Music: 6.2
Execution: 5.2 My Enjoyment: 6.1
Average: 4.8 But seriously, don't watch it.
This has been Selena, and follow me for more anime/manga reviews, rants, otaku news, first looks, and general thoughts!
Last Updated: 3 March 2014
Originally Published: 22 November 2013
Originally Published: 22 November 2013
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