----------------- PROS -----------------
• The premise of this story is somewhat unique. Sure, there are several other vampire anime, but it's not a very common genre compared to superheroes, romance, or slice of life.
• The action scenes are also pretty decent. It's usually fun and pretty creative, and they come regularly in almost every episode.
• The world is somewhat interesting. Steampunk Paris with Vampires and an Alternate History Storyline. The writing uses a lot of fancy words which is... fine.
• A lot SEEMS to happen very quickly and the show jumps from beat to beat with fast pacing.
----------------- CONS -----------------
• I say "seems" because NOTHING actually happens across this anime. The characters will say that things are happening and there might be some action occurring on screen, but nothing relevant or significant to the plot is taking place.
• The world is not compelling enough to keep us interested while the characters literally do NOTHING but talk (even during action scenes). And our main character KEEPS INTRODUCING HIMSELF OVER AND OVER.
• And of course he does! Because this series CONSTANTLY introduces brand new characters each episode (sometimes multiple) who have absolutely nothing to contribute to the story or make the conflict more interesting. Our protagonists just dilly-dally from location to location, meeting new people, "saving the day" and then go home and get their blood sucked or whatever.
• Characters have no clear motivation. The story has no clear destination. There is nothing at stake. "I want to save all the vampires." Okay, cool, but why should I care about that quest?
• I hate the villain's voice, it's so goddamn annoying.
----------------- What I Wish This Anime Was -----------------
• One aspect that I personally wanted more from was the romance, surprisingly enough. I know my opening line criticizes Vanitas no Karte for being "fan fiction" but honestly, if the creator(s) want to go down that route, then they should go ALL IN rather than trying to do everything (drama, action, mystery, romance, etc.)
• The interactions between Vantias and Jeanne were actually compelling, albeit barely fleshed out. Not to mention, Noé's unspoken jealousy and homoerotic longing for Vantias from the sidelines. Between the four or five recurring characters, there was plenty of room for a full-blown soap opera to take place, while still having some of the action and mystery included.
Overall, this anime is simply not worth watching. I will check out season 2 because of its rating on MAL, but I'm not looking forward to it.
