Movies / Animé and Toons

Vampire Knight Guilty DVD 1

By Chris Zimmerman
May 25, 2011 - 08:14

With the recent influx of vampire themed media saturating the market, it was only a matter of time before Vampire Knight made it to our shores. The angst-ridden gothic romance swooned viewers with its first season, with an ending that left little resolved. While the last DVD set had the moniker of “complete series” splayed across the box, those reading this review can see that was not the case. There is in-fact a second season dubbed “Guilty”, which continues the story of Yuki and the other residents of Cross Academy. Considering the series’ popularity, the release of the second season was a no brainer.

Vampire Knight began life as a popular manga series by Matsuri Hino. Much like certain other vampire centric stories for young adults, the series focused on a female protagonist torn between two brooding love interests that bare a connection to the supernatural. Viz has since been publishing the manga as part of it’s Shojo Beat imprint and has only just begun releasing the DVDs under said imprint. Much like the previous releases, this is a single disc containing four episodes.

Following the events of the previous season, Zero finds himself accused of murdering the pureblood vampire, Shizuka Hio, in the process threatening the balance of the school. Meanwhile, outside forces begin ascending upon the academy, with the Vampire Senate sending out assassins and the Hunter Society gearing up for their own agendas. And behind it all waits the Vampire noble Kaname, whose own plot begins to take shape. There are also a few tidbits hinting at a big bad on the rise but this being the first volume of the season and thus nothing is substantial enough to betray the direction of the series.

Trapped in the middle is Yuki,bound by her love of Zero and Kaname, her guilt and sensitivity finally begin to take a toll. Made even worse is the assault on her psyche from both, revealing raw emotion for her that leaves her frightened and confused. If this sounds like the prototypical young adult venture, that’s because it is. The series revels in melodrama and emotional turmoil. Perhaps it’s why the series has garnered the success it has.

The imagery of the show reflects its subject matter; gothic costumes flourish amidst haunting settings and decadent visuals. Sadly though, the animation falls short of doing the scenery justice. The character’s movements are clunky and the overall production looks to be a corner cutting venture.

Still, if you’ve stuck with the series for this long, your feelings on the animation won’t be heavily influenced by Guilty. The web of emotion entangling the characters is easily the main draw of the series and done so in a way that it shamelessly plays to audience’s expectations. It’s an over-the-top soap animated opera with vampires and angsty teens. As absurd as it can be sometimes, the series is universally appealing to those with a fetish for forbidden romance spiced with the supernatural.

B

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12