Vanitas no Karte Part 2

Vanitas and Noé Archiviste head out to the town of Gévaudan in search of the "Beast," an enormous wolf-like creature that has slaughtered hundreds of people. Suspecting that the Beast is a curse-bearing vampire, Vanitas primarily aims to heal it using the powers of his grimoire.

Along the way, the two get separated and suddenly travel back to the past—to the exact moment the Beast is lurking in the woods. After a battle against the gigantic wolf and a vampire hunter, Vanitas decides to team up with Jeanne in order to find Noé. Despite being allies, Jeanne's goal is the opposite of Vanitas', as she was tasked to kill the Beast—suspecting it may be someone she used to know.

Meanwhile, a severely wounded Noé is picked up by the mysterious Chloé d'Apchier and her servant. Like Noé, Chloé is a vampire whose existence was erased from the public's knowledge. She has been a guardian for future generations and once tried to find a way to become human again. While Noé is grateful to Chloé for her hospitality, little does he know that she might be siding with forces far more dangerous than the Beast itself.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Vanitas Main

Hanae, Natsuki Japanese

Archiviste, Noé Main

Ishikawa, Kaito Japanese

Jeanne Supporting

Minase, Inori Japanese

de Sade, Dominique Supporting

Kayano, Ai Japanese

d'Apchier, Chloé Supporting

Kugimiya, Rie Japanese

Fortis, Roland Supporting

Kawanishi, Kengo Japanese

Murr Supporting

Komaki, Miyu Japanese

de Sade, Louis Supporting

Shimabukuro, Miyuri Japanese

Granatum, Astolfo Supporting

Murase, Ayumu Japanese

Vampire of the Blue Moon Supporting

Park, Romi Japanese

Odagiri, Narumi Producer

Komatsu, Shouta Producer

Itamura, Tomoyuki Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Wakabayashi, Kazuhiro Sound Director

Reviews

Apr 1, 2022

KANLen09

Recommended

Jun Mochizuki's epic vampire tale continues after a season's break, and is it just as good as the 1st Cour back in Summer last year? I mean, come on, it's gotta be good, and I assure you that it delivered the same and more.

In the 2nd Cour, right after the events of the Chasseur Hunters, the two main focal events are The Beast of Gévaudan and Amusement Park arcs, which covers the manga progression continuing from Volume 6 to the most recent Volume 10, meaning that the anime has fully caught up with the source material, which in my mind, sums up the perfect adaptation ... of an esteemed series by an esteemed author like Jun Mochizuki. Spoilers be warned for intensity.

The Beast of Gévaudan arc, which takes up 2/3rds of Part 2 / 2nd Cour, this arc really displays the magnificence of Vanitas no Carte's world-building as a whole, which combines both vampires, humans, Charlatan, Chasseurs, and the diabolical plan of the Beast: the Silver Witch known to all as Chloé d'Apchier. As the daguther of Marquis d'Apchier and being a "curse-bearer" vampire herself, she was the hidden vampire of the family, and her presence mattered because Jeanne's parents were Lord Ruthven's students when she was young, and Jeanne got to know Chloé because Ruthven introduced the former to her, taking care of her well-being until it was found out that she was the Beast, and you can imagine that all hell broke loose right after that fateful incident. And this time, the Book of Vanitas becomes a lot more relevant as it's used to create the Alternte Engine in an effort to make her human again, and there will be none to stop her, other than getting past her protector Jean-Jacques Chastel, which he is always prepared to sacrifice his humanity to play the scapegoat game as the Beast to lure people off Chloé from her oppressors. Along with the inner conflict of the Charalatan that continues to haunt people's past, makes for one hellish nightmare that requires a lot of sacrifice, reconciliation and realization to turn people to the truth, that like Noé friends turned curse-bearers before, it's the same story but on a larger, grand scale.

And if you'd thought that was enough, the Amusement Park arc which displays the final 1/3rd of the 2nd Cour, is where I like to call: personal friends settle grievances towards each other. Vanitas's past is on full display this time, since we the audience never really got the chance to dive deep into his psyche in the 1st half, and it's forced through this little boy known as Mikhail. Not just Vanitas's, but combining Domi, Louis and his past, paints a picture of a moment in that time the human of the Blue Moon would not want to diverge and forget about all that's happened between him and Mikhail. If you remember the eccentric vampire doctor that is Moreau, he was employed by the Chasseurs to research on vampires, and declared Vanitas as No. 69. But, BUT, there was actually another person hiding in the sidelines: the young kid Mikhail, whom like Vanitas, is subjected to inhumane research. Why do I say this, is because both Vanitas and Mikhail were rescued by the original Vampire of the Blue Moon, being raised by him/her and teaching the young-uns all about the world of vampires consisting of the malnomen, astermite, and most importantly, the Book of Vanitas, which is why Mikhail has another copy of it as well. The past that Vanitas wishes not to be digged into, forces Noé to confront him and save those he cares about fondly, and ultimately understand Vanitas as a whole in his most vulnerable stage.

As I've said in my 1st Cour review, Jun Mochizuki really knows how to use character development to her advantage, and using that to course and piece the events of her epic story, it's just as well done as Part 1, if not on par with it since this is a continuation after all. Her stories are fearsome, yet have balance at stake to weigh the pros and cons, and this is the mark of a very talented writer that I honestly just have no words to say, but even more jaw-dropped at its capability to warp understanding even in the most intense manner. It's ambition at its most darkest, yet gleaming with light at the end of the tunnel.

Vanitas's core staff team from Bones are back, and the quality retains its action-packed violent gore that simply just is breathtaking to watch. The OST is just as great under the invincible woman of flare that is Yuki Kaijura, but I feel it's a tad under for Jun Mochizuki's standards when it comes to the OP/ED. Little Glee Monster's 2nd half OP isn't bad, but compared to the 1st half with Sasanomaly's, I really gotta take the latter's anyday. For the ED, I would like to believe that Momonkul's ED song is without a doubt, purposeful. As is by the song title of "salvation", this 2nd Cour's teaching point is that everyone deserves salvation, regardless of the right or wrong actions done addressed towards themselves or others' lives.

Vanitas no Carte a.k.a. The Case Study of Vanitas is more than just a work of art, it's about the allegory and juxtapositions of life, and the extent of putting others at risk just so that you could preserve your history. That's why this show is a play on the classic case study teaching quantum, and will be a Case Study worth examining that I will never forget.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Nov 7, 2023

SenApai07

Mixed Feelings

This series is unapologetically mediocre, to say the least. First, let's start with the art. The art isn't breathtaking per se, but is very visually pleasing. It complements the story along with its world and characters extremely well. Unfortunately, I can't say the same thing for the story. Long story short, it's convoluted. Emotional scenes carry no merit, I don't know whether to laugh or cringe half the time. This show also has a weird fixation on Vanitas and Noe, plot twist it ain't no JoJo bromance (but the friendship is there). The show quite literally ships them despite both having an obvious love interest. ... —And lastly, most of the plot points feel very predictable and cliche.

Nonetheless, I think we could have really had something here. The lore, setting and characters were quite fascinating. — But like Fireforce this show had top-notch animation with a subpar story and plot points. Don't get me wrong the story sounds good on paper but the way this anime executed it was horrible. It felt very miss-queued and incoherent, which is probably why it took me so long to finish it —despite finishing the first season in 2 days.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Apr 1, 2022

SingleH

Not Recommended

When I reviewed part one, I talked a lot about the director, the studio, the production—that was a mistake. Because who cares? That shit is boring. And fuck the “plot” too. What people really want to read about is hot goss, and Vanitas no Karte continues to deliver. This show reminds me of Gossip Girl. There was always stuff going on at the school, and there was always some pretense that what you were watching was a young woman’s coming of age story, but the only reason people really watched it was for the juicy teen drama, and I think Bones putting less effort into ... the fight scenes than they put into the kissing scenes says a lot. The user Sarwan111 created a forum thread where he asked a question which, whether intentional or not, served as a scathing critique of this show’s flawed characterization. What he asked was, “Can anyone explain me who is the protagonist in this?” And no one could give him a straight answer. After all, there isn’t one.

If this were a boys’ love manga adaptation structured like a shoujo manga, especially one written by an author like Jun Mochizuki, then the answer would clearly be Noé. At the end of the day, you experience most of the story with essentially the same information he has, and most of the internal monologging we get is from his perspective. Shoujo protagonists are typically introduced living very reserved, plain, innocent lives, and the story begins with a dashing, mysterious, domineering older male love interest suddenly appearing out of the blue, spicing up her mundane life, and sweeping her into a new world of wonder and passion. This handsome heartthrob would of course be Vanitas. Initially, the plot usually focuses on her arc of self-discovery, and the story usually then moves on to her new boyfriend’s hidden past and the melodrama that comes with resolving it. The problem with this understand of the story, though, is Vanitas and Noé don’t fit these roles.

The author is merely shoving them together to make the audience ship them and draw yaoi doujins. The real love interests are Jeanne, who Vanitas just sexually harassed until she liked it (which is actually great, but don’t pretend it’s anything more than a fanservice device), and Domi, who’s whole existence is frustrated by the author’s deliberate refusal to explain why Noé hasn’t fucked her yet. They both like each other, and they have seemingly no reason not to hook up. The result is an awkward story with no real protagonist, but rather two “main characters” who compete for the right to undergo even the slightest bit of a character arc. To top it all off, despite the shoujo-style characters, the actual plot progresses much more like a weekly shounen manga, with no well-defined goal and endless meandering between tensionless fight sequences, tactless exposition dumps, and meaningless reveals to nebulous mysteries which could’ve come at any time.

The term “comedy relief” is a literal phrase; if executed correctly, jokes add levity & help scenes flow. This show, however, uses chibi regardless of the tone or atmosphere, even cutting into life or death situations. This art style is obviously being abused so Bones can put as little effort as possible into the drawings. The overuse of chibi screams laziness, and considering that whole incident back in part one where just episode nine itself needed eighteen different animation directors working on it just to stay afloat, the state of the production is obvious. People were impressed when they saw a show that didn’t immediately and outwardly look like total trash and then overpraised it before they could realize it was just any other inconsistent, otherwise decent-looking romp. Ultimately, the visuals continue to look mediocre at best, and despite all the show’s actual attempts at comedy, that CG book continues to be the funniest, most memorable thing on screen.

Thank you for reading.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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	Poll: Vanitas no Karte Part 2 Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 ) tsubasalover - Jan 14, 2022	88 replies	by Tas_Ali »» Apr 28, 3:53 PM
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