Ranked #255

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

If you enjoyed Vampire Knight, you'll enjoy Vampire Knight Guilty. Mostly because it is the continuation of Vampire Knight, but also because it's more developed than Vampire Knight and contains a better story. It's not that I didn't like the story to Vampire Knight, but that I like the story to Vampire Knight Guilty better.

Story: You know, the story here it's good. And I have told you that I liked the VKG (Vampire Knight Guilty) better than VK (Vampire Knight) It's, I find, very well thought-out. Like any other anime that is based on a manga, it follows the manga, though not always the same. (It is in this case, but anyways.) The main subject really is about a love that can't happen; in this case between humans and vampires, friend and friend's enemy. Well, really, it's Zero and Yuuki, or Yuuki and Kaname, as the way I see it. It doesn't drag on like some of the animes I've watched, which usually makes the viewer get bored of the series and looses interest in the anime/manga. That has happened to me millions of times, but because this one gets to the point, or, just a lot of things happen in just a short while, and everytime we get to a better and better plot. That is one of the things you'll definitely like about VKG.

Art: I find the guys have a bit of a feminine feature to them; particularly their eyes, which are basically just a smaller version of a female's, and the small curve when they wear their uniforms. Their faces are very.. pointy, may I say, at the end and actually just gives me a feminine vibe. Their hair is usually long, though some of them are shorter but is long, like most of manga guys. Most, not all, because some of them actually have short hair, like Naruto. But in this case, Zero, Kaname, Shiki, Ichijou, and a lot of other people have longer hair than usual. I find the eyes to the girls, which are what I find an enlarged version of the males', are a bit haunting. They have that weird impression, and it gives you the feeling that there really are vampires in this world. It just suits the main subject of this story; vampires.

Sound: It's good, I guess. I'm not one to judge about sound; but I find the openings and endings do fit the series, however. Also about the voices, it's okay. I don't really care about the voices, as long as they actually make sense, but I doubt someone will make an anime with voices that don't make sense.

Character: This is where I'll rant. I don't like Yuuki's character. She's too innocent. And every guy seems to just want to flirt with her or something. Kaname loves her, in some way, and Zero; and if you notice, in one point of the story, Hanabusa is quite the flirt, too. It just seems that it's unfair to the other girls in the Night Class, plus the Day Class students. (But I don't really care about the Day Class students because they aren't REALLY critical to the story,) I'm not saying that they all love her the way Kaname and Zero like her, but everyone in the Night Class, males I mean, have a particular liking to her. They either want something to do with her, or regularly talk to her. Like, I'm not saying Akatsuki Kain wants to get married with her. I'm just saying that they have a particular liking to her. I'm glad Shiki isn't really, or actually not at all, having a liking to Yuuki. The girls in the Night Class are pretty well-made, too. Rima's character is my particular favourite, since she's mysterious and she's cute at the same time. Ruka is a strong girl, I know it, even though I dislike her... but only a bit.

Enjoyment: I enjoy everything I see, really. If I don't like it, I'm not really going to watch it. That's the kind of person I am. Don't like it, don't care about it. I'm not going to review, or something else.
Other than that, I enjoy watching this anime 'cause it keeps catching my attention. It doesn't drag on, like I have said before, and keeps my interest in place.

Overall: Yeah, it's great. read more

Whiney emo kids unite! There's an anime JUST FOR YOU.

Does society not get you? Do you often feel ostracised for being... different? Have you many dark, terrible secrets? Is the person with whom you are incestuously in love with a vampire?

Then don't look too far, we have an anime just for you!

If you like to bitch, moan, cry, feel dark and deeply in love with yourself, then Vampire Knight Guilty is just the trick.

No coherent storyline to confuse you (Lestat knows you are so troubled anyway, why stress you out with a good storyline?), no character development (see! Nobody is gonna force you to change or, you know, grow the hell up!), no entertainment (why would you want someone to smile when you're bleeding on the inside anyway?)

Vampire Knight. You'd be GUILTY if you don't watch this *winks* read more

NOTE: I have not read the manga so my view on this anime may differ slighlty from those who have.

Vampire knight guilty is a continuation of the original series Vampire Knight. The series is set in a school that caters to both vampires and humans that are separated into the night and day classes respectively. The story revolves around a girl whose first memories she can remember is being attacked by a vampire and being saved by a pureblood vampire which is the highest rank. She starts to harbour feelings for both her good friend and vampire hunter Zero as well as the pureblood who saved her which is currently in the school.

I think the story was quite original from the usual vampires and stuff. Incorporating the shuojo genre very well. That is probably the main genre of ths series. Coupled with a bit of action here and there, suspense, drama and mystery to create a fairly good series. There are good twists in the show and the story is not so cliche in terms of the relationships between characters. However, the show can be rather dark at times, so if you prefer something more lightheated,comedic than prehaps this won't be the best choice of anime for you. Plot wise it may be a bit cliche, and don't expect heavy suspense or drama.

The art incorporates the typical shuojo style of drawing characters with big eyes and bishiounen(pretty boys). not necessarily the best i've seen but still of a decent quality.The background is mostly dull to help enhance the dark theme in tisi show.

The voice actors did a good job. Each voice fitting the characters perfectly. The OP and ED songs contribute to the gothic theme of the show. background music now and then also helps to enhance the atmosphere. But yet again, i would not say it was top-notch, there are better animes than this in the sound department.

The characters was what i was quite impressed in. Because they actually managed to cover a wide range of characters in the short span of 13 episodes. Of course some getting more depth and coverage than others but still the depth of each character can be seen clearly.

I enjoyed the series as a romance fan though i think the ending was not to my liking. Some of you will probably be disappointed with the ending as well so be prepared.This series is definitely better than the first. Having more action, more interaction between characters and more twists. I would say it is the best vampire-romance anime i have seen. So those of you who are considering whether the secod season is worth watching, i'd say give it a shot. read more

Story
There was more story than in season 1, but it was still dismal. I liked Yuki's post-traumatic stress behavior. It was a relief having her emotions at the forefront, instead of the previous season where she was constantly consoling the suicidal Zero. However, even though I usually enjoy heroines in torment, they didn't do much with any of it. She continued obsessing over Zero and repeating the phrase, "I cannot hurt Zero any more than this" in her monotonous internal dialogues. She continued chasing after Kaname, begging him to tell her about her past. This dragged on WAY too long. I can take only so many scenes of Yuki crying and pounding her fists against his chest while he goes, "Yuuki," in his sad voice. In all fairness, there was some buildup to the final events, the villain was decent, and there was some resolution. However, the story was so lacking and the characters' behavior was so repetitive that even at the climax, I just didn't care what was happening.

Art
The art was similar to season 1. Decent, nothing special. I was disappointed by the cheesiness of the monsters and the lameness of the fight scenes. I was pleasantly surprised though by just how cute Chairman Kaien was once he let down his hair and took off his glasses.

Sound
Another excellent soundtrack. Just for the music, suffering through the two seasons was worthwhile. I do hate the intro, but the ending theme makes up for it.

Character
Yuki was unbearable. She was just as weak as ever here, but much more intent on protecting everyone, even though she had ABSOLUTELY no capacity for defending herself. Watching her doggedly chase after the villain and put herself in danger set my teeth on edge. Not only that, she put a lot of Kaname's lackeys in danger in the process. Kaname did improve somewhat; his behavior became less opaque and we finally understood his attachment to Yuki. Zero and Ichirou also gained some depth. The twins may have been the most powerful, compelling plot element in the entire show. Unfortunately, understanding their motivations and enjoying that small sliver of character development wasn't enough to make the show engaging.

Enjoyment
Extremely unenjoyable. They shouldn't have raised our expectations that Yuki would eventually become strong if they weren't going to deliver. Forget about making her the guardian, since it wasn't used at all. If the main focus was instead on the love triangle, then they should have put WAY more attention on the two relationships. Yuki may have spent a lot of scene-time with Kaname or Zero, but she never connected with Kaname except at the very end, and her scenes with Zero were just over-the-top melodrama without the chemistry that makes other romantic shoujo, like Hana Yori Dango, so memorable. I can't remember a single romantic scene in either season that I would rewatch. Probably the only things I'm going to remember about this show in a few weeks are some subplot elements, like Rika/Shiki and the twins.

Overall
I'm honestly shocked by how popular this show is. I started with great anticipation because I love shoujo, but Yuki was a stifling lead who was never fun to identify with, truly one of those heroines they refer to as TSTL. read more

*SPOILER WARNING*
What started out as a very good continuation of season one, and loyal companion to the manga (which I am sad to say, I did not know, too the exact same turn as transcribed here) ended up being a major disappointment in the way of a Shoujo anime. I don't normally affiliate with the genre, and this series reminded me why. The abrupt ending of Zero's affection for Yuuki given the circumstances involving her having been a pure blood vampire this entire time was nothing short of a kick in the teeth. To watch 26 full episodes of them going back and forth with each other in one of the most twisted and abusive love triangles I have ever seen, only to find in the end because Yuuki was never who Zero thought she was he can no longer love her?
Admittedly there is some bias to my words. I preferred Zero over Kaname only because the latter of the two was a self absorbed prick who's soul intent was roughly the same as Zero's later on in the series. I don't really feel that the story for both the manga and the anime were all that in depth as so many things could have been done to prevent the overall conclusion, everything just seemed to happen because one vampire wanted to be strong. For some reason, however, no one ever thought to band up and kill him all at the same time? And why exactly did he need to drink Yuuki's blood?
Overall, a very bad series that sadly had great potential. read more

As you probably already know, you need to watch the first season to understand anything going on now. Anyway that's just a heads up.

When I first found Vampire Knight, I didn't know what to expect of it. I had randomly found it and decided to watch it since it sounded and looked interesting. Well, it was interesting. The first season of Vampire Knight actually impressed me so much that I was looking forward to the second season, Vampire Knight Guilty.

Story: Great/Brilliant story. Vampire Knight Guilty drew me in. After the events in season one and that cliffhanger, everyone basically wonders what happens with Zero and Kaname. Great so, in Guilty, Yuki starts off by confusing Zero with Kaname and much more happens between her and Kaname. Yuki struggles to remember parts of her past that she cannot mentally think of. She goes to libraries and even to Kaname to ask for information yet she is left in the dark. The story also gets more involved with the pureblooded vampires as well as more of Yuki's troubled memories. However, if you are expecting the series to end a certain way, I wouldn't count on it too much, the series becomes very predictable, which actually makes me rate this a 9. Near the ending, you become overloaded with many flashbacks, which really overkill an anime, because if you've seen it happen once and again in a flash back, you don't need three more times Though this is just my opinion, I wouldn't expect too much out of this anime. Story gets a 9/10.

Art: The artwork of Guilty is absolutely amazing. Very rarely in animes do you get art that portrays the depth of the characters and their surroundings. However, the art is not perfect. It lacks many things. Every single character is extremely thing and somewhat tall, much like in Code Geass. In many of the flash backs (even in the ones from the first season) why is it, that little kids have heads twice the size of their bodies? I mean honestly, I know it's a drawing but still, it's very disproportional. Art gets a 8/10.

Sound: Don't really have much to say about it, as the sound is typical for this type of anime. I only really noticed the sound in dramatic parts that would usually break out into some kind of fight.The ending sound however is pretty catchy and fits the theme of Vampire Knight Guilty perfectly. Providing an anime has a good ending theme does not get it a 10 if the music in the acutal anime fails to grasp the viewer. Sound gets an 8/10.

Character: You really don't see any character development in the second season, and if you do, it's repeated, over and over and over again. You learn somewhat about Yuki, Ichiru and Kaname but that's basically it. A flat character design really hits hard on an anime since a story needs good character designing. Now what they did give you in Guilty isn't all that bad but it's not great. It's repetitive and limited. Character gets a 7/10.

Enjoyment: Now most of you may think I'm being too critical of the series but I'm not. I'm simply pointing out the flaws. Though however, I loved Vampire Knight Guilty. It was a fresh new anime with a good first season. Though some things were predictable, some were not and this anime has some very good plot twists. I would recommend the first and second season to anyone. It's a great series and definitely worth a watch. Enjoyment gets a 9/10.

Overall: Guilty is not your average anime. It's actually above average. Finding the first season by random was one of the best random things I've found. I hadn't watched many vampire animes with the exception of Trinity Blood but I found myself very fond and drawn into Vampire Knight. The storyline is great and the plot is easily to follow. Overall, Vampire Knight Guilty gets a 9 out of 10. read more

THIS ANIME SUCKS.

The main character, Yuuki, annoys the heck out of me. I also believe that there's too much fanservice to the extent of it being disgusting. As for the artwork, it's inconsistent and definitely cannot compare to the manga version of VK. Story wise, it's boring and the first season is way better than this.

I really got into this anime, loved the characters and the world created, but all hopes and dreams smashed with the ending! I don't need a happy skipping into the sunset ending, but after seeing this anime I was not only disappointed but scratching my head (A school for human vampire coexistence, but neither interacts with the other nor even knows they are vampires, AND Zero goes throw this whole experience just to decide to kill all the vampires???).

My hope is that the love story is completely dropped (even though the scythe weapon of Yuki's is really cool) and Zero gets his own anime and manga, because the Bloody Rose gun is an awesome weapon and he's got a great background for his future of hunting down vampires. I wish that this anime was only included as flashbacks for Zero the Vampire Hunter and not an anime all by itself. read more