Ranked #259

Vampire Knight Guilty

First and foremost, I write from the perspective of a dissatisfied audience of Vampire Knight Guilty. It was due to my positive opinion of Vampire Knight that led to me to Vampire Knight Guilty and hence my judgement cannot make dichotomies of the two (so I hope you don't mind me making reference to Vampire Knight).

As you'll probably know, VKG continues right where VK left off, retaining much of VK's good qualities at first. The characters from VK/VKG are very well-built and generally three-dimensional enough for me as an audience to relate to and hence enjoy, with the exception of Kaname-kun, who was so perfect in his prestige, power and popularity that there was no room for him to be anything but an admirable and incomprehensible figure.

The artwork itself was generally quite well-done, although I felt the quality didn't follow through towards the end of VKG. In terms of sound, nothing stood out as being special but nevertheless, it complimented the plot and character developments.

The one thing that I really want to talk about is the storyline. The reason why VK was excellent in my opinion was its plot. The flow of the story introduces audience to a very different and intriguing world of vampires, and as you journey through the plot progression, mysteries of the world and its creatures unravels itself through introduction of new characters, philosophies and events, that spices up and quenches curiosity of the world whilst requiting the audience a greater interest in knowledge of vampires and their existence.

And so VKG begins with this highly anticipated and built-up plot where most branches of side and main plots from VK was left wide open. However, as the story progresses in VKG, the pace of the story really dies down. Excluding a few snippets of fair back stories to some of the supporting characters, the main plot really felt mundane and hard to trudge through.

Due to an overly pretentious overemphasis on subtle foreshadowing, the climax of VKG comes about in a very poor, but surprising way, which in its own was interesting. VKG was on a road to revival, bringing back the essences that made its preceder a success. Inevitably, due to lack of pacing in the story, VKG ran out of time to wrap up properly, failing to arrive at the respectable conclusion that VKG's climax opened up for. In all honesty, the conclusion simply felt rushed, as if the writers just ran out of time and whipped up a mediocre ending and forgot about all these other things.

Having enjoyed VK, it really was a pity that VKG did not follow through. VK felt like it created so much potential for VKG, who grabbed a single point of interest and neglected the rest of VK's successful elements. To sum VKG up, it centralises on one element of a good script, then patched a drawn-out and repetitive build up to its front and a short and undermined continuity to its back.

It was not bad, but the fact that it was a mere shadow of its former annoys me, and so I give it a 6/10 (it's simply my opinion).

Nevertheless, if you have seen VK, watch VKG with an open mind. (I don't take into account that I wasn't in it for a fanciful, mystical tale about pretty boys, which was part of what VK/VKG was marketed to be.) read more

Note: Vampire Knight Guilty is a direct continuation of Vampire Knight more so than a sequel, so it is necessary to watch Vampire Knight first to truly understand Vampire Knight Guilty. This review is only based on Vampire Knight Guilty.

Story: Vampire Knight Guilty is very much a traditional shoujo series about forbidden love. However, through the inclusion of vampires, the series takes on a bit more of a gothic feel which is heavily relied on to hold the viewer's interest. The story is mainly told from the point of view from the female protagonist, Yuuki, and her inner turmoil about her past and her feelings about the two male main characters, a vampire Kaname and a vampire hunter Zero, are the main driving forces behind the story. The story is also sometimes told from a third-person perspective, allowing the viewer to know details that Yuuki does not. While the story in itself is quite good and probably one of the best gothic romance animes out there, due to the switching of perspectives, the plot pacing can sometimes feel excruciatingly slow and often very repetitive. Yuuki continuously tries to tackle the same issues internally episode after episode to the point where it becomes very redundant; the actual story moves along much better when it is not dwelling on Yuuki's thoughts. This also creates a conflict in the main point of the story, since it sometimes emphasizes the mystery shrouding Yuuki and the other main characters and other times seems to try to hold the viewer solely by building up (almost uneccessary) romantic tension to keep the viewer watching to see which character Yuuki will end up with.

Short version: The story is conflicted in a way that it sometimes tries to be a mystery/suspense anime and other times simply a gothic shoujo/romance. 7/10


Art: The main character designs are lovely for shoujo and done very well' some character features are a bit too over-exaggerated (Yuuki's eyes being one example), but this kind of character design is fairly normal for the shoujo genre. The background is also illustrated nicely and gives off a bit of an eerie feeling to lend to the gothic mood the anime is trying to create. However, sometimes there are inconsistencies in the animation, many still frames, and skimping out on the details of background characters. For the most part, this can be overlooked because the actual art direction is done very well, showing the right images at the right times. Someone with a scruitinizing eye will definitely pick up on the flaws, but a casual viewer probably won't. One flaw of sorts that almost any viewer would immediately pick out is the rather boring ending sequence that looks like it was thrown together in five minutes.

Shore version: Nice shoujo character designs and animation, but definitely not the best out there. 8/10


Sound: This is where Vampire Knight Guilty excels. Although the opening song is nice, but nothing to rave over, the ending song by Wakeshima Kanon is excellent and really gives the series an extra nudge into the gothic genre. The sound effects are also nicely done, as well as the background music which also gives the anime a rather eerie feeling, reminding you that you are watching something a bit darker than your average shoujo romance. The voice acting overall is great, but it is Miyano Mamoru (Best Actor in the Seiyuu Awards of 2008 for Setsuna from Gundam 00) that really does an outstanding job by voicing two charcters, twins, and giving them their own distinct nuances. Really excellent work. 10/10


Character: The main characters are all round, very well-developed characters (although their development severely slows the plot). The anime almost forces you to get into the heads and try to exerience and feel the emotions of certain characters, particularly in Yuuki's case, while leavin other characters in an air of mystery. You wouldn't be able to miss an instant of what Yuuki's thoughts and emotions are even if you tried. On the other hand, not everything is given to you on a silver platter, other characters remain much more mysterious and it is up to the viewer to try to unravel the mystery behind those characters themselves. It's a very stark contrast, but it works very well for the series. 10/10


Enjoyment: If you are looking for a shoujo anime overflowing with romance, this show will definitely hook you. It is filled with forbidden love, love-triangles, anguish, angst, unrequited love... just about any element you can think of that fits into the genre. However it is unique in its dark atmosphere. If you are looking for a shoujo anime and like the added bonus of a gothic edge and a bit of mystery, this is definitely the show to watch and would get a 10/10 in that regard. On the other hand, if you are looking for something that is more solely along the lines of suspense or supernatural without all the angsty romantic flare, give this one a pass.


Overall: An enjoyable, well-animated and produced show that definitely stands out in the shoujo genre as something a bit more unique than others. The added gothic edge and use of mystery will hook the lovers of the shoujo genre even more and probably pick up other casual viewers as well, since overall the show is better than your run-of-the-mill anime love story. 9/10 But, if you aren't a fan of the shoujo genre in the slightest and not interested in romance animes, you will want to give this one a pass. Although the show does contain a bit of mystery, suspense, and vampires, the main emphasis is undoubtedly romance, and there is no way to disregard that shoujo romantic factor in this anime to just enjoy it for the mystery and suspense it contains. read more