Vampire Knight ep.09

June 16, 2008 | 17 Comments

I am really bad at this whole catching up thing. After 12 hours, I've only managed to complete this review and I am aware that a batch of new episodes are coming in soon. Maybe I should not bother trying to summarize the content while watching and just write down the general plot after watching it once. I wonder if that would actually cut down the time I spend in front of the blog. At any rate, I should really complete all of the back episodes ASAP because I'd be going back to work in a matter of days and I'd have even less time to review the series later on. As for this episode, this is actually rather entertaining but because there isn't anything substantial that happened in it, it's rather hard to talk about it. I was amused with the Pocky subliminal advert though. I'm not even sure if that was there in the manga. Hmm, Pocky. I missed the time when their ads were weird like the one with Shibasaki Kou and Tsumabuki Satoshi.

Episode 9

A flashback shows a woman telling a young Zero to make hatred his nourishment and to grow up quickly. The woman also tells the boy that they are bound by a bond that can never be broken. In the present, Zero wakes up in terror while his teacher, Yagari, informs Cross that it seems a particular woman is still alive. The next day at school, Yuuki gets overwhelmed by the screaming fangirls and end up getting pushed around until Aidou pulls her into the Night dormitory. She, however, is quickly pulled back out of the place by Zero, who doesn't like the fact that she's being abducted by the vampires. As it turns out, the reason the students are over-excited is because there will be school ball very soon. Later on, Yuuki confronts Cross about him using Zero to hunt other vampires but Cross points out that it's Zero who chooses to live like a human. Cross also wants Yuuki to show a transfer student around the campus.

The girl was supposed to come earlier but because she has poor health, she's been staying at the mountain. The girl then appears and introduces herself as Kurenai Maria. Maria immediately makes a remark about how Yuuki is a delicious kid, which earns her a scold from Cross. Later on, she tells Yuuki that she's afraid of not fitting in because she's a weak vampire so Yuuki assures her that she can rely on her and Cross. The other vampires, on the other hand, are suspicious of her motivations and are not happy when they see her, especially after she rubs her face against his hand. Meanwhile, Yuuki is trying to cheer up Zero by saying that the girl that he saved from a Level-E the other day is now okay. Zero, however, can't care less, causing Yuuki to realize that Zero only sees the whole thing as a job. Because of this, she tells Zero that she's afraid that one day he'll leave to avenge his parents and not telling her about it.

Yuuki reminds him that she has the obligation to kill him and she intends on fulfilling that promise. Their conversation comes to a halt when a floaty Maria comes over. Zero suddenly pulls out her gun and points it at the young vampire. Yuuki, however, stops him by putting herself in front of Maria. Zero apologizes and realizes that Maria is not the person that he thought she was. Maria thanks Yuuki by saying that her blood is probably tasty. Later on, Maria tells Kaname that she doesn't want to disturb the other vampires so she'd like to live separately in the old dormitory. Not having any reason to reject her request, Kaname grants it. Meanwhile, Kain and Aidou are going through Maria's background but finds nothing extraordinary about it. Aidou, however, wonders if Kain has heard about the woman who has the same blood as Kaname, Hiou Shizuka. Kain only knows that she's gone missing after the incident with the Kiryuu family.

The next day, Ichijou can be seen walking into the day school in an attempt to find Maria. It seems the girl has gone out to take a look at the day class' cafetaria so Ichijou has no choice but to look after her. Much to Yuuki's surprise, Zero doesn't want her to get close to Maria and assures her that Ichijou will do something about it. Aidou then comes over and hugs Yuuki from behind telling her that now the other girls are going to be jealous about it. The surprise, however, is keep coming with Zero wanting to talk privately with Aidou. As for Yuuki, she has to face the wrath of angry fangirls. Yuuki decides to jump into a balcony and ends up meeting Ichijou, who's also on the run from the crazy fangirls. However, because he was too busy running away from the fangirls, he lost sight of Maria. Yuuki feels sorry for Ichijou for having to do annoying task like this but Ichijou tells her that he and the other vampires don't mind doing things for Kaname.

He informs Yuuki that the truth is, Kaname has the ability to make other vampires do things for him but he'd rather not use it. At the same time, Zero is informed by Aidou that Maria is nothing more than an old relative of Hiou. Zero, however, doesn't believe this and thinks that the reason Shizuka hasn't been found is because she can change her appearance. Aidou thinks the only one who can know is Zero since he's the only one who has a bond with her. Right at this moment, Zero has a weird sensation and realizes it's because Maria has been watching them from behind the building. Later on that night, Maria tells her mysterious helper that Zero is cute, causing the helper to be jealous. Maria then pretends that she wants to bite the helper but at the last minute she withdraws her intention. This seems to disappoint the helper but she simply lets out a giggle and moves away from him. The episode ends with Maria telling herself that she's having fun.

Impression

There wasn't much plot development in this one apart from Maria causing problem for everyone at the school. I think the only remotely interesting part was Ichijou telling Yuuki that Kaname actually has the power to control lower-being vampires but chooses not to use this power. As for Maria, I find her character to be interesting because she looks so much like one of those European dolls that it's creepy. When she first appeared in the series, I was intrigued with the possibilities that vampires (or just pure-blood vampires) might be able to change their appearance. However, as the series went on, it becomes obvious that the author changed her minds. I don't really mind the change but sometimes I wonder what the series would have been if it still retains this particular plot point. Would it complicate situations if vampires can alter his/her appearance? After all, if they had this ability, vampires would be able to hide effectively.

Come to think of it, I wonder if this is the reason that Kaname looks the same age as Yuuki and Zero now even though when we first met him, he clearly looks older than the other two? I remember reading from somewhere that he's only a few years older but the flashback seems to suggest that he's a lot older than that. Moving along, during the part where Ichijou was being chased around by the fangirls, I realized that it'd be fun to see the series from Ichijou's POV, which seems less angsty than the three main characters' POV. Ditto with the idea of watching what Rima and Shiki do in their professional life. Having said that, I remember that some people once said that the anime inserts too many comedic situations as it is now so I'm not sure if having side stories for the side characters is a popular opinion or not. I think if it's just a one-off thing and is clearly separated from the main story, it won't affect the atmosphere of the main story.

Poll

Maria Kurenai is:

a) a beautiful Goddess
b) a mysterious, eerie, and captivating character.
c) an extraneous character
d) her hairdo is totally unrealistic.
e) I can't stand girls who spend half of their time giggling.
f) she's still alive?

© memento 2003