A tale of pretty vampires and prettier girls with no annoying Seattle humans involved.
A school that teaches both a Night and Day class, one made of vampires, the other of humans. In Vampire Knight from Viz Yuki is given the difficult t task of keeping the two groups separate while maintaining the night classes secret. No easy task as childhood friend and fellow Disciplinary Committee member Zero Kiryu harbors deep hatred for vampires while all the young ladies on campus want a piece of the beautiful night class students. What’s a girl to do, let’s take a look.
Yuki finds herself in a peculiar and unique position at Cross Academy as a member of the disciplinary committee. Along with Zero Kiryu, the two must keep the night class separate from the day class. These two are also just a few that know the secret of the night class, that they are vampire. Yuki was saved as a child by the head of the night class, Kaname and Zero’s family was killed by vampire so the two have been together since childhood. Yuki’s job is not easy especially with her unique connection to Kaname and the jealousy it creates with the other night class members not to mention Zero’s aggression towards the same vampires. The beauty of the night class draws the admiration of the love struck day class which comes to a head with the exchanging of chocolate where true feelings are shared but it’s Zero’s secret, the origins of his family and that he was bitten by a pureblood vampire. Very rare and the only vampire with the ability to turn humans into vampire, Zero’s fate is set and hidden but how will he and Yuki react, let alone the night class he despises, when he must embrace who and what he is. Not all vampires are nice and not all are created equal.
These first four episodes, the first DVD, set the stage for what should be a joy of an anime. Viewers get to meet the main players in Yuki, Kaname and Zero, see the setting of Cross Academy, the conflicts, likes and dislikes then the story ramps up. The truth about Yuki and Kaname is told as is the true background for Zero and what happened to him, what he is. Cryptic but its easy enough to guess what is up with Zero, I just refuse to ruin it … I think. Kaname and Zero are both typical shojou pretty boys but no pushovers as are most of the night class. Yuki falls into the skinny teenage youth caught in the middle. It’s a typical story of two boys liking one girl and not each other, good times. Fans of the ever more popular genre of vampire tales such as Twilight will find a lot to love in Vampire Knight. The characters are all strong in personality and each have failings that make them more relatable. Great beginning to this story and the stage is set for some very interesting relationship and physical conflicts.
The art from the manga makes the leap to animated form in one fine looking anime. The characters are pretty and detailed, everything from the manga is intact and it just feels right. Yuki is pretty but not overly done while both Kaname and Zero carry an air of power mixed with handsomeness; Vampire Knight is chock full of the pretty and the strong. Each vampire wields unique elemental powers but this first volume does not see that action kick in too much but the speed and power of Kaname is on display a few times when dealing with some Level 3 vamps. A lot for the ladies to like and for the guys to did, Vampire Knight has it all and one jamming intro song so check it out.
Watch sub-titled Vampire Knight on VizAnime or pick up the dubbed DVD’s, can’t lose either way.
