Vampire Knight Guilty Volume 3
I warn now you that this review will contain some spoilers. I shall also warn you that this is the point in the series where it takes a sinister turn; with twisted relationships and shocking revelations to boot. In fact, the whole dynamic of the show shifts from high school shenanigans with beautiful vampires, to a decade war now brought to head by a civilisation of ancient bloodsuckers.
Character’s status, attitudes and positions completely change as Yuki’s true identity as a PureBlood vampire princess of the Kuran family is revealed, causing a ripple effect across the school. The entire Night Class sense the blood spill and change in Yuki, day class students lives are now put at risk and the mysterious primeval vampire known as Lord Rido sees only pleasure in change of events. As the Day Class students evacuate the school, Kaname brings forward his pawns to set the final pieces in motion before the final battle with the re-awakened Rido Kuran, whilst trying to keep the sensitive Yuki out of his plans for her safety, but despite having her whole world turned upside down, she feels she must protect those she loves and set things right with Zero.
The 3 episodes provided on this disc only cover a small passage of time, but a heck lot of things happen within it; not just in the present but also regular trips back in time to explain Kaname and Yuki’s past as siblings before her transformation into a human. The flashbacks are very well presented in episodes 8 and 9; we get informative yet clearly constructed scenes that explain enough of Rido’s persona to consider him a menacing threat. Plus, although Kaname continues to be very mysterious – only revealing what he wants others to know for his own benefit – we also get shown some humanity within the character during his childhood memories, seeing more of his tender side that we haven’t seen much of since disc 2 of the first series, making a much more relatable character. We also get very touching scenes between the PureBlood parents, Juri and Haruka Kuran. The pair only speak a few lines between them but within their scenes you quickly get the sense of happiness within the family, the love for their children as they sacrifice themselves, and the power they once wielded. All in all, the ground work needed for the final 3 episodes and upcoming big finish to be ‘epic’ is laid strongly here.
In the present day, side characters that played little into the main story now suddenly step up their game to play their parts in protecting their lives and loved ones. Headmaster Kaien removes his hair band and comical persona to reveal a completely new side of his character; becoming the vampire hunter of legends. Night Class students Ruka, Aido, Rema and Kain step forward for a great battle of vampiric proportions, whilst also adjusting to the respect they must now address to the vampire princess. Some loose ends involving Ruka’s lasting feelings to Kaname also comes to a respective ending, whilst Aido’s new position as Yuki’s protector gives some great moments for the character as well as humorous lines in between the darker content – not enough to completely break the atmosphere however.
It should come as no surprise that the 3 episodes presented here are heavy on the Yuki and Kaname moments with Zero kept out of the way for most of it. There’s plenty of dialogue between the 2 as their new relationship blossoms to something very unconventional. It’s not the kind of pairing that most people are going to comfortable with (and Kaname’s explanation doesn’t makes it any easier for the audience, or Yuki, to deal with). However this is the start of Vampire Knight’s first flashes of real teeth that separate it from the rest of it vampire fiction currently available on the market. The series bites hard into the forbidden apple and doesn’t care who it hurts in the process, it lets the ludicrous situation spill out and watches the results of its actions. It’s effective, different and very worth tuning into if you’re willing to dive into a much darker story and admit that the guilty pleasure card isn’t going to get you away with watching it this time.
Sadly, the English dub can’t keep up with the emotional and dark twist turn of events. Despite finding the dub tolerable during the 2nd half of the first season, I found it awkwardly embarrassing during the scenes involving intimidate moments with new vampire Yuki and Kaname. Wooden performances and cringingly awful efforts to hike up the emotion in the right places made me switch to the Japanese track before you could say ‘blood sucker’. I also found that Yuki’s Japanese seiyū, Yui Horie makes the change within her performance from human Yuki to vampire Yuki by giving her character more grace and maturity in her vocals, yet Mela Lee doesn’t replicate the efforts in the English dub. However points go to Bryce Papenbrook, who delivers Aido’s change in role between him and Yuki brilliantly; he effortlessly slips into Aido predicament of trying to address’ Yuki status without slipping into old and rude habits – great performance that made the character very fun to watch.
Character designs have always been a high of the series; the animation quality however starts terribly before slowly hitting its peak in the 3rd episode of the disc. Watch the poorly constructed battle between Rima and possessed Senri in episode 8, then compare it 2 episodes later to the Night class students Ruka, Aido and Kain taking out a group of vampire warriors. Dramatic difference. It’s nice to see the side vampire characters take a leap from standing around talking, to showing off their variety of unique powers in great animation to pull it off, but the former battle fails to show Vampire Knight in a good light.
DVD extras have yet to grace themselves within this series. Hopefully a large amount will be included in the upcoming last disc of the series.
Disc 3 of Vampire Knight Guilty will either be the turning point for fans of lighter content to tune off, or a saving grace for those gagging for the sweet taste of darkness to go with their vampire thrill. There’s blood spilled, hearts broken, game changing elements and many plot threads streaming, all leading to the final episodes of Vampire Knight. An extremely vital disc to buy if you’re planning to tune in for the final battle, so sink your teeth in and enjoy the ride as we finally, and slowly, start to come to a close.
