Vampire Knight ep.12

July 1, 2008 | 11 Comments

This is slightly better than episode 11 mostly because it's filled with actions and surprising twist. There's also a good character development for Zero here and the story actually moves forward. At least now Kaname actually has some kind of purpose in the story apart from being a mysterious guy who saved Yuuki a few years ago. Although after watching this episode, I wonder how the writers will conclude the series this season. IIRC, the story that comes after this one is a rather minor story involving the council of ancients. I think that's a story that can easily be solved in one episode. In that case, I guess the first season will just end like a normal episode. The difference is that instead of waiting for one week for the next episode, the viewers have to wait for one season to watch the next episode.

As Shizuka shows Yuuki her real body, she informs the prefect that in order not to become a Level E, all Zero has to do is drink her blood. Shizuka, however, wants to drink Yuuki's blood first because she needs power to escape from her pursuer. Before Shizuka can do so, however, Zero has arrived and asks her to get away from Yuuki. Despite Yuuki telling Zero that Shizuka can save him, Zero doesn't want to stop until he sees Yuuki crying. Upon seeing this, Shizuka realizes that Zero has been tamed by Yuuki and becomes unhappy. By using her voice, she instructs Zero to hold Yuuki. Because she was the one who turned Zero, Zero can't disobey her order. Shizuka then bites Zero's neck, prompting Yuuki to ask her why she's being cruel to Zero. In response she tells Yuuki that it's a punishment because Zero is too close to Yuuki. Before Shizuka can bite Yuuki, however, Zero manages to move his hand on his own and strangles Shizuka. Shizuka tries to restrain Zero again using her voice but Zero shoots his own leg to regain his free will before firing a few bullets into Shizuka's body.

Despite this, Zero can't kill Shizuka because she manages to deflect her bullet using her own piece of garment. Ichiru then interrupts their fight by throwing his sword at Zero. Shizuka, however, doesn't like Ichiru's intervention, telling her slave that it's not time for him to appear. Before Zero can chase after Shizuka, Ichiru already blocks his way so Zero hits Ichiru's mask with the sword and tells Yuuki that the man in front of him is his younger brother. While Zero and Ichiru are fighting because Ichiru is being an insecure loser as usual, an injured Shizuka is greeted in the darkness by Kaname. Shizuka wonders why Kaname is Cross High School so Kaname tells her that it's to return a favor and because this is the place where he can get the appropriate pieces. Back in another room, Ichiru continues to bitch about his inability to get noticed by anyone. As Ichiru loses his sword, Zero realizes that in contrast, Yuuki's eyes is focused on no one but Zero. At the same time, Shizuka is killed by Kaname when the later punch his hand into her body.

Shizuka, however, is not surprised because she wanted to do the same thing to Kaname and turns Yuuki into an assassin. Kaname assures Shizuka that her death won't be in vain because he'll kill the pure-blood vampire who ruins the fate of other pure-blood vampires. In her dying breath, Shizuka tells Kaname that he'll receive a new power for killing her but his future will be shrouded in darkness. At the same time, Aidou arrives at the old mansion and realizes that Kaname has killed Shizuka. In the other room, Zero and Ichiru smells a very strong blood but before Zero can go there, Yuuki has stopped him. She knows that after Zero kills Shizuka, he intends on killing himself. Because of this, she tells him that she doesn't want him to die. Zero is touched and hugs Yuuki, telling her that he doesn't understand why she'd go this far for him. However, while he intent on dying before, he has no desire to do so again so he asks her to stay in the room after telling her that he'll be back. At the same time, Ichiru finally finds Shizuka's dead body in the other room.

Impression

I was amused to see Ichijou enjoying the party and giggling with his fangirls while everyone else is on their merry-brood-round. If one doesn't know better, one would think he's a very genki human. It's be nice if half of the cast are as cheerful as him but that's not going to happen. Moving along, I wish the writers tell us why Shizuka want to cause Zero a lot of pain because at the moment, she comes across as a psycho vampire who's just hellbent on destroying Zero and his family. I actually don't like her character design in comparison to Kurenai Maria so I wasn't sorry to see her killed by Kaname. And while Kaname is not exactly a nice character, I figure that the only person who can kill Shizuka is someone who's equally cunning and neither Zero nor Yuuki is capable of any kind of backstabbing. I actually like characters who can take care of themselves and can give the villain a taste of their own medicine. If only I like Kaname more, he'd come across as an anti-hero to me. At the moment, however, I just think that what he did was quite clever and useful for Yuuki/Zero. At the same time, I also dread the possibility of him becoming stronger and more dangerous to others.

Come to think of it, I still don't understand why both Kaname and Shizuka want to kill each other. Is this because Shizuka endangers Yuuki or is it because they both want to use her? Or is there another reason like a pure-blood who kills another pure-blood will gain his/her power? If that's the case, what is Kaname intend to do with this additional power? He was talking about destroying the pure-blood who has ruined the fate of other pure-blood. But then Shizuka was also talking about how Kaname has been looking for it since he was a kid so that kind of threw me off. Moving along, I can't help but laughing at Ichiru instead of sympathizing with him. I really can't stand characters who need to be validated by other person to feel whole in his/her life. Plus, I fail to see how his insecurity is the fault of other people (which include his parents, Yagari, and Shizuka). The good thing about that completely pathetic scene is that it brings Zero to his senses. He finally realizes that Yuuki really cares about him that it's time for him to stop moping around and act like he has no one to look out for.

© memento 2003