This site is designed for accessibility. Content is obtainable and functional to any browser or Internet device. This site's full visual experience is available in a modern browser that supports web standards. Please consider upgrading your browser.
ファイト／ステイナイト 
OP Theme: 「二つの鼓動と赤い罪」 - Futatsu no Kodou to Akai Tsumi by ON/OFF - AVI version (43MB) | PSP version (17MB)
Wow. Between this, Soul Eater, and Special A, I have no idea which one is the better anime. I personally love every single one of them. This one turns out to be far better than what I had in mind. It's actually quite funny and the animation/character design are gorgeous. I especially love the OP theme Futatsu no Koudou to Akai Tsumi. I have never heard of ON/OFF before but I'm very impressed. Their song really fits the atmosphere of this series. And the animation that accompanies the song just fit really well. The same thing can be said about the ED theme, which is quite eerie. If this is going to be a long-running series, I hope ALI PROJECT will get selected as one of the singers. The story itself is quite interesting and for some reason reminds me a little bit of Fruits Basket. Maybe because the female protagonists look like Tohru and the two male protagonists remind me of Kyou and Yuuki. Anyway, this is another impressive series that everyone must take a look.
A girl is wandering on her own in a snowy area, asking herself the meaning behind pure white and snow. A woman can be heard explaining that snow is something that doesn't turn to red. All of a sudden, a man asks her if she's lost because if she is, he wonders if he can drink her blood. Before she gets bitten by the man, who turns out to be a vampire, however, a young man appears and kills the vampire. Yuuki remarks how one must not get close to vampire. If one gets close, you'll be captured in his eyes. Fast forward to present day, Yuuki is now a student at Cross Academy. She tries to get the students from day class back to their dormitory but several girls insist on staying to see the night students, asking why Yuuki gets special treatment just because she's the daughter of the head of school. Yuuki eventually loses control of the crowd and besides, the night class are ready to make their way to school. The day class immediately murmurs excitedly as groups of good-looking students wearing white uniform pass through them.
A student called Aidou is so popular that the female students end up pushing their way through to see him. As a result, Yuuki gets pushed back and falls on her knees. A man approaches her and offers his hand and Yuki recognizes him as Kaname, the guy who saved him years ago. Kaname asks her not to remember that anymore and proceeds to pet her. His hand, however, is stopped halfway by another man, Zero. He reminds Kaname that he would be late for his class. Zero also becomes impatient with the fangirls that he ends up scaring all of them away. Fed up with Zero's jerky attitude, Yuuki proceeds to punch the guy's back reminding him that he's late for his job as a prefect. In response, Zero tells him that he doesn't care about what's going on between Yuuki and Kaname but she surely understand that those night students lead a different existence from them. Later on in their school/dormitory, the night students are informed that they are the first of their kind to test a newly developed blood tablets. Some of them, however, seem more interested in fresh blood belonging to Yuuki.
Meanwhile, Zero is complaining to the head of Cross Academy about the lack of Guardian for the students, claiming that Yuuki is useless. In retaliation, Yuuki tells her father that the one who's late was Zero. The head of Cross Academy, however, informs both of them that it's impossible for him to get another help since this entire day/night students is supposed to be a secret. He knows it's a thankless job but he thinks he can rely on his (adopted) daughter and son. Yuuki thinks that the problem is not so much of the night class but the day class. The head of school cries upon hearing this, claiming that Yuuki understands his idea of pacifist relationship between human and vampire. Zero, however, is fed up by this talk and decides to go out and patrol. After Zero left, the head of school admits that Zero has a point. After all, there are still some evil vampires out there. Yuuki believes that Kaname would never do anything like that and she thinks there are honest vampires out there as well. She then jumps off a window to patrol as well.
Outside, Yuuki admits that he has no recollection of her memory before she was 5 years old. It was Kaname who brought Yuuki to head of school, Cross, who takes care of her like his own daughter. Because of this Yuuki believes that she was born 10 years ago during that night. Meanwhile, Zero is in the middle of sitting on his own when he suddenly gets a sudden headache and has to reach for some kind of medication. The next day, Yuuki and Zero are asleep in class because they always patrol at night. As a result, they are forced to attend supplementary lesson. Because of this, Yuuki begs her friend, Yori, to come with her to detention since she doesn't want to get stuck with Zero. Much to her surprise, however, Zero is nowhere to be seen in class. He has actually run away to a stable to take a nap. Yuuki then come to drag him to go patrol with her. Despite his reluctance, Zero decides to come with her. During patrol, Zero asks him if she believes the whole vampire and humans living in co-existence. Yuuki admits that she believes it but Zero refuses to believe those creatures.
A flashback shows how when he was a kid, Zero was adopted by the head of school as his chlid after his entire family was killed by vampire. Yuuki notices that two girls are out and about on campus even though it's off-limit for them. To complicate matters, one of them has a wounded leg. Yuuki realises that she must get them out of the area before one of the vampires can smell them. Unfortunately it's too late because Akatsuki Kain and Hanabusa Aidou from night class are already attracted to the smell of blood. Much to Yuuki's horror, however, it's not the wound of the other girl that attracts their attention but rather the wound in her hand. Aidou proceeds to lick and suck the blood on Yuuki's hand despite Yuuki's attempt to stop him. Before Aidou can do anything more, however, Zero arrives and points his gun at the vampire. Zero thinks Aidou finally reveals his true nature and pulls the trigger. At the last minute, however, Yuuki manages to divert the gun so it only shoots at a tree. The effect of the shooting creates a cross symbol called Bloody Mary.
Kaname then appears and tells Aidou that he must be careful because that weapon is designed to kill their kind. After some persuasion, Zero agrees to hand in Aidou and Kain to Kaname but he immediately drags Yuuki away from them. He tells her that the smell of blood makes him sick. He thinks for those guys to like this smell means that they're nothing but beasts. In the aftermath, Yuuki reflects how after the incident 4 years ago, his heart is shrouded in darkness. Although she feels that they've become closer, she also feels that they are being pulled apart again. Her thoughts, however, is cut abruptly when Zero enters the bathroom because he wants to use the shower. Despite her objection, Zero strips in front of her like she's one of the guys. Zero then does a funny thing where he sniffs her body odor before telling her that she doesn't smell like blood anymore. This reminds Yuuki that 10 years ago, she got attacked by a vampire as well.
Because of this she wonders if her blood is sweet or something because vampires have the tendency to attack her. Unknown to her, Zero looks like he has some kind of lust for blood but manages to control himself and enters the shower room. Inside shower room, Zero tells himself that Yuuki must not get too close to him. He then accidentally bites his own lip and can't resist the desire to lick his own blood. It's also obvious that his eyes have now changed to red. Meanwhile, Aidou complains about how he can no longer live on blood tablet especially after tasting Yuuki's blood. Kaname who overhears this conversation promptly slaps Aidou. The episode ends with Yuuki repeating what she said earlier about how one must not get close to vampire because if you get close...cut to a shot of Kaname biting his own hand so he can taste his own blood. He then moans Yuuki's name while sucking his own finger. Freak.
Impression:
Vampire is always an interesting topic. To begin with, their bloodlust seems like a disease where their body actually develop sustenance from this instead of food. And then there's the auto-erotica associated with vampire. In many vampire lores, it seems safe to say that vampires are equal-opportunity biter, thus it doesn't matter whether a person is male or female, being bitten by a vampire has the erotic connotation to it. And then there's also a sense of ownership and subjugation, whereby the vampire has possession of the human that he/she bites. To bring this back to Vampire Knight, one can easily see all of these themes playing in this series. Problem arrives when the 'victim', in this case being Yuuki Cross, appears way too eager to offer herself for the vampire in need. On the one hand it's a fantasy, on the other hand, it feels a bit like she offers herself like a piece of meat. Of course to different people the idea of a girl being chased around by a bunch of bishounen vampire carries different meaning. Feminist probably want to shoot the vampires right away while others secretly get off on that fantasy.
Anyway, enough about vampire and the fantasy associated with it but I thought it's interesting to bring it up. Moving on to the actual characters, I do think that Yuuki is a bit too trusting of the vampires despite her traumatic past. I guess she needs to serve as the mediator between Zero and Kaname but I think she should have a more skeptical attitude towards the vampire's so-called good will. After all, she can't remember what happened prior to that incident 10 years ago. For all she knows, Kaname could be the one who killed her family. Zero himself is an interesting main character. I get the impression that when the author first started the project, Zero wasn't meant to be the main male lead. However, his popularity ended up eclipsing Kaname so now he's the main romantic interest for Yuuki. It reminds me of Fruits Basket where Kyou's popularity eclipsing Yuki in almost every reader's poll that he's the one who end up with the girl at the end. Anyway, so far the adaptation has been pretty faithful. The VAs also did a good job that I didn't notice who's playing who until I saw the VAs list.
ED Theme: 「still doll」 by Wakeshima Kanon - AVI version (11.7MB) | PSP version (8MB)
Yay! They draw Zero correctly. I also never like Kaname before but he looks better here.
Iv'e been waiting for weeks thank you dude!!!
Hmm, it does look pretty good. I don't remember the manga being that light hearted though.
I'm uploading the opening on YouTube right now. I hope YouTube doesn't think it's copyright infringement. This looks cool. I might try this out when its subbed. I haven't come into contact with the manga. My YouTube name is HaruToki101.
it's better than i expected..the animation is awesome...i love aidou sempai more n more...n zero looks cooler in color too ..>
Yay, finally! I'm planning to watch this together with CG R2, Soul Eater and maybe Special A xD. I was afraid of Studio DEEN adaptation but looks good. *runs off to download raw*
The opening looks unbelievable. I hope the animators can maintain this kind of quality throughout the series. How many episodes is this supposed to be anyway?
I think it's going to be assume.
The character design is better than I had expected.
I think the anime will be of 13 episodes. Anyway, if the anime is good, I hope they make a second season. :)
Is this as good as Trinity Blood or Hellsing or is it more like soap opera-ish?
Oh my gosh!!! O__o
I am soo looking forward tooo watching this, it looks sooo good!!!!!
Thanks for the caps. (pics)
This episode is deceiving. It looks like a light comedy but it'll all be angst, angst, angst.
Finally! Ever since I read the manga, I've been waiting to see this. The animation looks amazing, so much better than I thought it would be. Oh, I can't wait! XD
Is it true that Kaname is actually
@last_memory
Only 13? That's insane. I don't think they can cover much with that number.
@nero
it's like Interview with Vampires. If you like that, you'll like this, I thin.
@Fern
read the manga if you want to know.
Love the manga even though the story can be can be a bit convoluted at times.
Hey Garten, have you tried Kurenai?
I like the fact that Kaname looks a lot less girly in this one. I find it hard to see him as viable romantic interest for Yuuki on the manga because he looks so girly.
Hey Garten, have you tried Kurenai?
Sort of. I did try to watch the first few minutes of it....
gahh thanks so much for the caps....
now I cant sit and wait for the subs <.
I can't believe that they managed to make the characters look similar to the manga version. I was afraid it'd be all messed up or sumethin....
@Fern
and about Yuki's blood..
Yuki's hair looks too short here in the anime..
Rin, that's so messed up. But wow, I'd never guessed it myself.
But it looks like the anime is favoring
>>>Sort of. I did try to watch the first few minutes of it....
If you only got to the OP, it's freaking terrible. It has absolutely nothing to do with the mood that the first episode sets. It may possibly be the worst OP choice ever.
Please blog this Garten
this series is amazing!!1 you should read the manga, amazing plot!! trust me this series will not disappoint at all!!
You're actually right in that Zero wasn't originally the lead (I own the manga with the author's notes) but they've done a good job with him. I'll wait until I see it in motion to judge the animation.
NICE! I also agree with you guys about the character designs, i was thinking they werent going to capture the mangkas art but this is good. Also judging from the screens (havent seen the ep yet, damn dial up <_
Please blog this Garten
I'm sorry if I wasn't obvious about it before but I definitely intend on blogging this one.
Seriously, I love the way the first episode turned out. I love ending theme (it's so beautifully haunting^^)
my sister prefers kaname
Wow! You intend to blog this?! That's great!. I love reading your comments and impressions.
I think VK's story is very interesting so as long as they keep the anime relatively faithful to it's source we should all be in for a real treat! I do hope I can see a sub of it soon!
A few thoughts about the episode: The animation looks a bit off considering the artwork of the manga especially so for the chibis. Kaname's face design looks strangely subdued as compared to Zero's but I guess it helps in differentiating between the two. Color palette is good tho. The overall thing that stands out was the seiyuu powerhouse. Maybe the animation will improve when it comes to the later part of the story when it turns emo.
Woohoo! I'm excited to read your impressions on Vampire Knight already. Thank you so much for deciding to blog it!:D
By the way, I thought you might find it interesting that there's a Taiwanese live action of Honey and Clover coming out. I'm not really sure on the specifics, but it's supposed to come out this month.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=RN5S0KewUSM
http://youtube.com/watch?v=05AliQC8KnE
http://youtube.com/watch?v=nXb8XXFebis
Sorry if you already knew about this.^_^;
The was an okay episode, IMO. The animation was nice sometimes, but then other times it looked a bit . . . um, not nice. XD I also thought the episode was a bit too bogged down by the constant voice overs and the cramming od back-stories into it all at once . . . but I'm still looking forward to the next episode, so. Oh, and the voice acting was awesome~ ^^
About four questions, though, about the plot, etc., for bigger VK fans than myself:
I thought that the Night Class students couldn't go out in the day time (as they did in this ep.)? I remember a scene in the manga in which the vampires were sleeping during the day, and were complaining about some of the sun getting into the room. . . .
And also, it just occurred to me . . . how stupid do the Day students have to be? Honestly, why would a private academy force certain students to live by a completely different time schedule from the rest of the world, unless there wasn't something very wrong with 'em all? Why does no one question this, even once? o_O;;
And I don't understand how the chairman can claim that he's trying to unite vampire and humans . . . but then separates them by two different sleeping/awakening schedules and separate dorms, etc. I mean, I understand the vampires' need of those two things, and the potential disaster of having them live with humans 24/7, but I don't understand the stupidity of then saying, "But I'm UNIFYING everyone!" XD
And last but not least . . . they're ancient vampires. Hundreds of years old, I presume. So why, oh why, do they need to go to a high school, again . . . ? =/ I haven't read too far into the manga (only a few volumes), so I don't know everything (and feel free to spoil me, btw; I don't mind) . . . but I'm wondering if Kaname has some sort of plan/reason he's making the vampires try it out at Cross Academy, other than just a convenient shojo plot device? XD
Deena - I'm aware of the drama but after the Japanese version, I'm not sure if I want to see another live-action adaptation. Besides, I have no proficiency whatsoever in the language used in this latest version.
Roomastah - I think that wasn't in the day. I think that was in the evening and they're about to go to school. It's just that the day students keep hanging around despite the fact that the sun is about to disappear.
As for question 2, I guess there's some kind of suspicion but most people's first train of thought as to why they can't see the night students is probably not "because they're vampires" but more along the lines "because they're famous".
The rest are vaguely spoiler-ish so:
The last question is a bit of a plot hole. But IIRC, this episode mentioned how they are basically the leading examples in vampire societies. They are proof that vampires can control their urge and not just biting humans instantly. The reason they do this is so that humans will trust vampire societies a bit more and not going on a full war against them.
>>>The VAs also did a good job that I didn't notice who's playing who until I saw the VAs list.
-----
I recognized her voice right at 12 mintues and 33 seconds. ~Uguu!
From my impression, Kaname does not bite himself at the end. When he slaps Aidou, he injures him and some of Aidous blood gets on his finger. He licks it remembering Yuuki, as Aidou drank blood from her...(well, not that it makes it any better, he's a freak nonetheless lol).
they say they are test subjects for the blood pills, so they go to this school ... well actually, they don't learn anything, or did the teacher ever teach them anything? he only praises them, as they are the pride of vampire society, like Garten wrote. Actually, they're doing it because of Kaname and i think he wanted to install it there so he could be near Yuuki and because he's friend with the chairman or something like that. Just my thoughts :P
Actually, I got the same exact Fruits Basket vibe- Yuuki is alot like Tohru (same seiyuu too; did you catch that taiyaki reference? *laughs*), and two main male protagonists/antagonists are JUST like Kyou and Yuki.
Still... it was intriguing. Finally a vampire anime that doesn't overly-moe vampires to death... no pun intended.
What's that glowing blue thing that Yuuki is holding in the ending credits?
Birdie, I think that object she's holding is a mirror. See how she uses it to see herself in that ballet costume?
I so agree with you. Special A, and VK looks good! It seems 2008 is a year of good animes. 2007 was sort of disappointing. I was worried that Special A was going to be sad, the trailer didn't really make it cool, but... yay! a few good quality animes.
I don't really know what to think so far. It's filled with cliches` from so many different places with these lead female characters - doesn't remember the past, her closest male friend is hiding something, attracted to a more mysterious, brooding character. The actual characters themselves are quite funny, but even the comedy might start to wear thin because we've seen this kind of situation over and over.
It's a little bit much to overcome all of this when there are just so many shows that are really, really interesting this spring. If this comes out last year, I probably don't hesitate to download it - but this year is especially hard when shows I wasn't planning on watching, like Kurenai, 20 Mensou, and S.A. are so good in addition to everything else.
Hi there!
First time i'm here.
I just love this anime! And now, i want to see it much more.
I loved to read your impressions about Kanon. It's really fantastic!
I hope to see more informations about VK.
See ya.
i kinda think ,that if you ask the people who have read the manga, i dont think they would personally think the anime was any good. i had a friend complain to me an entire day about how horrible the anime was compared to the manga art XD i would say the same thing on some levels. plot wise but they did switch out some parts, and zero looks better in action then on the actual home page and kaname looks a tad bit worse as does his voice - it doesnt seem to fit him perfectly, it fits him well but not perfectly, and his voice frankly gives me the creeps of a criminal or some psychotic being =/ the anime just lacks the whole artistic sophication that the manga had. it has the same vibe though, just a bit creepier. Yuuki as someone pointed out "looked like they had drawn in all the lines, coloured her, then rubbed all the lines out" what you are left with is just colour with no definitive lines separating the colour. I must admit they put a great deal of work onto zero, by far he looks the best of the 3.
It has been reported that the anime would be 26 episodes. and i think it should be given the chance to be created into a 26 episode (im not sure if this is a spoiler but ill put it anyway)
Yes!! I've been following the manga since it came out and I'm so happy it's an anime series! XD
I completely agree that this has a definite Natsuki Takaya/"Fruits Basket" feel. If I hadn't known who the author was, I'd assume it was her. O.O
And I agree a little with wend`aii. The manga art is amazingly beautiful and detailed, I was hoping for a lot more...detail in the anime. However, it's very difficult to animate but I think they did a decent job.
Oh Kaname, love him!!! But based on his character type, I think it's going to be Yuuki/Zero. Just like Furuba, the brooding prince and the loud punk. Who did Tohru choose? Exactly.
Can't wait for more though!!!! :)
@ Roomstash
For your third question, I personally always saw the Night Class as not so much of a High School, but a discussion group.
ZERRRO IS SEXXXY!
I know I've read some stuff online and:
Note:
Please be aware that the following type of comments will be deleted from now on: spams, comments containing l33t talk or rudeness. Check Animesuki, Tokyo Toshokan, or D-Addicts before asking where to find a series. If you want to post spoiler, please use <spoiler>write your spoiler here</spoiler> tags.
The comment area allows post without email address. However, all posters have to fill out the name field. If you have a question unrelated to the particular entry, please email: designchronicle@NOSPAMgmail.com. Make sure you remove the NOSPAM part of the email.