Review of the Vampire Knight Anime Series

This review first appeared on the Vampire Awareness Month on Mark Deniz's (Morrigan Books) blog

Sharon K. Reamer

Vampire Knight, 13 Episodes

Vampire Knight Guilty, 13 Episodes

Studio Deen

Vampire Knight is an anime dramatization of the of the same name as the (ongoing) shōjo manga (drawn by one of the stars of Japanese manga, Matsuri Hino) started in January, 2005. The first Vampire Knight anime series originally appeared on Japanese television starting in April 2008 and was followed in October 2008 by the second series, Vampire Knight Guilty.

The story follows the three protagonists Yuki Cross, Kaname Kuran, and Zero Kiryu. Yuki and Zero are Guardians posing as prefects at an unusual school founded by Yuki's adoptive father, Cross Kaien, a legendary vampire hunter who has hung up his sword and profession to start the Cross Academy intended to show that vampires and humans can live and study together peaceably. They are divided into the Day Class (humans) and Night Class (vampires). The nature of the Night Class students is a secret maintained by Chairman Cross and known only to Yuki and Zero, whose job it is to prevent the labile females of the Day Class from getting too close to the elegant, sparkly Night Class males and finding out that they are vampires or tempting the vampires with adolescent girls as snacks.

Yuki has no memories before the age of five, when Kaname, a (rare) pureblood or 'Level A' vampire saved her from a bloodthirsty 'Level E' vampire and brought her to Cross. She has adored Kaname since then, and it is quite clear that he feels the same about her. Zero came to live with Cross Kaien after his parents, also vampire hunters, were killed by a pureblood vampire. Zero was spared but hates all vampires and had already completed his apprenticeship as a vampire hunter. Kaname is the Dorm Leader of the Night Class, the only pureblood, among noble Level B vampire students. Both the Vampire Hunter Association and the Vampire Senate conspire to disrupt the peace of the Cross Academy for purposes of their own.

Zero, Yuki, and Kaname

My original intention was only to view the first seven episodes of the first series to get an impression. Each episode lasts twenty-four minutes including title and ending song. I watched them together with my 15-year old son in a single sitting. As my anime background is slight, and he watches a lot of anime, I wanted to see if he could also relate to this series. Although my son liked the episodes we watched, it was not something he wanted to actively pursue further. (Aside: he did ask when I was going to order the second half of the series. Teenage boys are inscrutable.)

I, on the other hand, was hooked after the first seven episodes. I watched all the remaining episodes of both series over the space of two weeks. The target audience for the magazine (and the anime dramatizations) are primarily girls between the ages of 13-25. The vampires are drawn with a lush sensuality, and Yuki is, of course, quite adorable. I found all of the animations richly detailed and well drawn.

Yuki Cross in her Day School uniform.

The love triangle with Yuki, Kaname, and Zero plays out with a generous number of plot twists and surprises. Some of the revelations were predictable, but many were not. Plot holes and inconsistencies abounded, and I had many questions at the end about certain details that were likely much clearer in the manga version. Despite this, I found the series irresistible and enjoyable.

Zero getting some from Yuki

The top-shelf vampires are all sparkly and have sworn off drinking human blood (at Kaname's insistence). They drink water with dissolved blood substitute tablets. Comparisons to Twilight must inevitably be made, at least for the first series, in terms of the problems of an ongoing love affair between human and vampire, but the original manga appeared nearly ten months before Twilight hit the bookstores.

The bestial Level E vampires are humans who have been 'turned' into a vampire by a pureblood and have degenerated due to bloodlust after a certain time. These vampires attack Yuki regularly necessitating rescue by either Zero or Kaname. Because of the PG rating, buckets of blood should not be expected with this series, although the blood volume is high enough to raise the level of violence satisfyingly above tame. Alas, also no sex, although the sensuality of the character exchanges are suggestive enough to titillate any teenage girl's heart.

A Level E vampire.

I found it interesting that most of the vampires drank blood from each other. Drinking the blood of a pureblood can bestow a vampire with more powers and also stave off degradation to a Level E vampire. Besides the usual traits such as enhanced vampire strength and magnetic attraction over the opposite (human) sex, Level A and Level B vampires have an array of neat tricks such as encasing their Level E opponents in ice blocks or disintegrating them outright. Vampire hunters have individualized charmed weapons effective against vampires. As Guardians, Yuki and Zero also possess anti-vampire weapons. The vampires have red eyes when they are in their 'vampire' mode and sleep during the day but are not adversely affected by daylight.

Inevitably, the conclusion I made from the series is that it's not so much about vampires as about undying (!) love, personal denial and sacrifice, and the quest for power. The series contains all the ingredients required for a good suspenseful romance, especially against the backdrop of humans and vampires cohabiting in a boarding school. There are artful shades of gray in the both the vampires and Vampire hunters that lend the characterizations verisimilitude and depth.

I think those of us in the Western world either like anime or not – I haven't observed much middle ground. I enjoy anime and find it fascinating but am not a devoted fan. Even though I'm also not the target age group for this series, I did enjoy it enough to watch all the episodes as quickly as I could manage. I watched it in original Japanese with English subtitles, preferable in my opinion (despite a touch of translation awkwardness) to the trailers I've seen for the English-dubbed series that came across as saccharine in comparison. I've also ordered a few of the manga books (available in a number of languages) to see what plot points had been left out of the anime (and, of course, to see what happens next). This series ranks as the best anime I've seen so far, both for visual effectiveness and story. Although a quick survey of a couple of the anime forums revealed that many series followers did not like the dangling threads ending, especially with the lack of a follow-up (anime) series, I found it satisfying. My rating: 8 out of 10.

Review of The Haunting

This review appeared as part of Ghost Appreciation Month 2010 on the Beyond Fiction blog here.

Sharon K. Reamer

Review of The Haunting

MGM, 1963

United Kingdom

Director: Robert Wise

Screenplay: Nelson Gidding

Based on the novel 'The Haunting of Hill House' by Shirley Jackson

 As a kid, I loved being scared witless. But there are only three films from my younger years that really remain memorable for this. One was Bambi (okay, I was three when my father took me to see it, and that music was scary). Another was Invaders from Mars (1953) that I remember seeing on television. I suspect viewing that film now would kill the fond memories of having the piss scared out of me in broad daylight. The third film, The Haunting, has stood the test of time. I find it just as creepy, if not quite as scary, as I did back then.

The Haunting was directed and produced by Robert Wise. For us lovers of the speculative, his films The Curse of the Cat People (1944), The Body Snatcher (1945), The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) and The Andromeda Strain (1971) will spring to mind. He is perhaps better known for some of his other films (The Sound of Music, The Sand Pebbles). The protagonists include Eleanor 'Nell' Lance  (Julie Harris), Theodora 'Theo' (Claire Bloom), John Markway (Richard Johnson) and Luke Sanderson (Russ Tamblyn).

John Markway opens the movie – even before the title and credits roll – with a nifty narrative introduction paraphrasing the beginning of Jackson's book accompanied by ultra spooky music (by British composer Humphrey Searle) and a view of Hill House at night. His narration describing the history of Hill House continues after the credits. This in media res beginning, including 'the first Mrs. Crain's' death – we only see her limp hand dangling from the crashed carriage – followed by the death of 'the second Mrs. Crain', with an 'accidental' plunge down the stairs and a look of utter horror on her face, and the suicidal hanging of surviving daughter Abigail Crain's companion, has us primed for nastiness. My favorite line from the movie comes from this sequence: "It was an evil house from the beginning, a house that was born bad."

John Markway is an anthropologist interested in the supernatural and receives permission to investigate Hill House. The 'team' of clairvoyants and those sensitive to the paranormal he has invited to join him dwindles to just two young women – Eleanor Lance and Theodora ('just Theodora') – along with the next heir to Hill House, Luke Sanderson. As Eleanor arrives at Hill House, the tension builds nicely due in part to the creepy custodians – The Dudleys – and her initial moments alone in the uninhabited house.

Even the early scenes where the four investigators meet and come together is handled with adequate pacing and without bogging the story down with too much background or exposition. Hill House also makes its entrance as character right away as, soon after their arrival, Theodora and Eleanor experience a cold spot, eerily waving plants, and Theodora's dramatically delivered remark that the house wants Eleanor.

We get many of Eleanor's internal monologues through the film, making her experiences of the house's activities intimate and revealing. Eleanor comes across as a frail and not particularly likeable character, prone to emotional outbursts and awkward sentiments. She hasn't gotten out much. Ever. We do sympathize with her terror, though, and just for that reason. She has no defenses against Hill House.

The pace builds as Hill House continues to spook Eleanor and Theodora with its presence. There are no sightings of anything ghostly, but the darkness of the rooms where the corners go off at odd angles, doors shut by themselves and the loud nightly banging sounds accompanied by sudden temperature drops – all suggest paranormal activity and are well executed in the film.

Eleanor begins to succumb to her terror of the house at the same time we begin to learn (through John Markway's questioning and her own behavior) that she is not a stable individual to begin with. Therefore, despite Hill House's physical paranormal manifestations, the audience has cause to doubt Eleanor's sense of reality. Is it the house or is it just Eleanor? She also refuses to leave – she insists that she wants to stay – further convincing us that Eleanor is in the blinking red light zone of the labile scale. Her school-girl crush on Markway also adds to this impression – although, to be fair – Markway does nothing to discourage her.

The movie's climax comes very close to the end, pursuant to the arrival of Markway's wife, Grace. That Markway is married comes across as a tragic shock to Eleanor (although it is clearly made known to the audience near the beginning of the film). Grace's character is portrayed in the film as a flippant non-believer in the paranormal come to convince Markway to return home to salvage what is left of his scientific reputation. She promptly ensconces herself in the dread nursery – which Markway believes is the heart of the house's evil. Second favorite line, delivered by Grace Markway on entering the nursery: "Now I know who your fiend at Hill House is – the interior decorator."

Despite Markway's protests, Grace insists on spending the night in the nursery alone. The other four lock themselves in the sitting room as Markway deems it a good idea that they all stay together.

The dramatic rise from this point on to the film's climax is a masterpiece of psychological suspense-building mixed with action along with a few nice twists along the way that I doubt even Hitchcock could have done better. My main criticism of the film – if it can even be classified as such – is that Hill House doesn't look the least bit scary from the outside, even though many camera shots at weird angles are shown with an attempt to convince us of this, and – here's the criticism part – apparently, in the novel, Jackson meant for the house to look unassuming and normal. This contradiction – was it supposed to look spooky or not – distracted me a wee bit.

At 112 minutes, The Haunting is not a long film – and a perfect one for viewing with a (hopefully, highly labile) friend or partner near midnight on Halloween. Rating: 9.5/10

Are you a Celt?

According to Éloi Johanneau of the Académie celtique, established during Napoleon's rule  (John T. Koch, Celtic Culture, a Historical Encyclopedia), the answer is, unequivocally, yes. But I think we can safely assume he wasn't entirely, shall we say, objective. The answer is, if you come from Indo-European stock, probably yes.

While many, if not most, of the Christian or, at least, Catholic, holidays that are celebrated have been stolen—er—appropriated from pre-existing Celtic rituals or observances (see my column from the March-April bulletin), we also have some remnants of observed holidays and festivals that do not necessarily have a 'clear' Christian correspondence.

The celebrations that in modern times have come to be known as May Day (e.g., Beltane, in Gaelic, Kala Hañv in Breton Celtic) represents one such holiday. One of the two most important days in the Celtic year, the associated rituals are as interesting as they are (to most of us) mystifying. Much of what is celebrated today is of a more recent nature (i.e., Lady Day) than what the original Celts likely observed, which was the half of the year associated with summer.

The main ritual, started on May Day eve: Fire. Bonfires were lit as symbols of purification and perhaps to honor the Celtic god, Bel. Although not much is known about him, Bel was most certainly a solar god. According to Miranda Green (The Gods of the Celts), solar deities, probably mostly local to individual tribes but common across the Celtic world, were extremely popular. To appease the local deity, cattle were driven between double bonfires in a purification ritual. Dancing around (or over) the fires was common, and 'dancing in the May' is still celebrated in Germany today. There are also fertility rites associated with this day that could account for some of the medieval and later efforts at repression.

In Germany, May Day is a national holiday honored in political rallies across the country celebrating labor. An older tradition, as in other parts of Europe, is for a young man to fell a sapling (usually birch in Germany) and, decorated with ribbons, place it in front of his sweetheart's home. Note: in leap years (2012), this task falls to the maidens. 

Also in Germany, Walpurgisnacht, named for the much beloved St. Walpurga, is celebrated  both historically and  contemporary as a witches' sabbath (see, for example, Goethe's Faust), with the main festivities taking place on the Brocken (1141 m), the highest of the Harz Mountains. Closer to home, you can celebrate this event at the Witches' Market and Festival at Burg Satzvey from April 29-May 1 (www.burgsatzvey.de). You won't need your maypole, but don't forget to take your broomstick.