Vampire Knight
Vampire Knight was directed by Kiyoko Sayama who was also behind 3x3 Eyes. The series consists of 13 episodes and originally aired between 7 April 2008 and 30 June 2008.
Synopsis
Yuki Cross's earliest memory is of a stormy winter where she was attacked by a vampire. At the last moment she is saved by another Vampire named Kaname Kuran. Yuuki soon idolises her saviour but when Kaname meets her other childhood friend, Zero Kiryu things change forever.
10 years later Yuki and Zero have become guardians to the Cross Academy and have the mission of protecting the day and night classes. Unknown to the day students is the fact that all the night pupils are actually vampires! Can Yuki and Zero keep this secret while maintaining the peace between humans and vampires?
Review
Being a vampire series there can be little surprise it has a strong Gothic feel. This is also reflected in the soundtrack which complements the series quite well. Being a sucker for vampire series I had to give this series a go!
What we find is a story with an interesting premise. Vampire Knight takes place in Cross Academy, a school containing two classes, a day class (human) and night class (vampires). This all serves to reel the viewer in and with some early dramas it certainly adds to the suspense and excitement. Unfortunately for the series, these moments are often stifled by the numerous (poor) jokes that not only feel awkward but also out of place.
What Vampire Knight does well is developing the love triangle between Yuki, Kaname and Zero. Much of the middle-arc concentrates on building these relationships. This not only gives us a good insight to the character's past but also gives the reasons behind their motivations. It all adds to the drama that occurs later in the series and this is where Vampire Knight shines the brightest. With the introduction of the major villain near the end we not only learn much about Zero's background but also gain an insight between Kaname's true motivations and why he treasures Yuki so much. With the numerous questions left hanging at the end of this series there are plenty of reasons to watch the second season. Indeed making a review for Vampire Knight seems somewhat unfair as it almost feels like an incomplete product.
Saying all that there is a number of things that detract from the whole show. Vampire Knight introduces a lot of terms which can be pretty confusing to the viewer. Not only that but the quality of the animation often shifts, there are numerous scenes that seem rather sketchy, this is particularly true for the minor characters where their faces are often blank. All in all this show will appeal to vampire fans and with the numerous questions left hanging at the end most people will watch the sequel, Vampire Knight Guilty which premiers on 6th October 2008.
Animation: 5 – The series will not be to everyone tastes and some scenes can seem rather "sketchy".
Story: 6 – The plot does start rather slowly but ends on a high note.
Characters: 7 – Vampire Knight does a good job of developing the main characters background and motivations.
Action: 5 – Wasn't the main focus of the show, and was lacking at the beginning. Did pickup towards the end.
Sound: 6 – The OP was rather enjoyable but the ending was slightly generic.
Replay value: 7 – Worth watching a second time as there are numerous plot references that will be missed the first time round.
Overall: 6 – This series will be more appealing to people who haven’t read the manga.
Vampire Knight (Based on Episode 1)
Linear Mode
