Noe Archiviste travels to Paris to learn more about the Book of Vanitas. Vanitas was a legendary vampire in possession of a cursed book that can destroy vampires. On his way, he meets a human who claims to be Vanitas himself and who uses the famed book to restore vampires affected by the Charlatan, who steals their true names and puts them in a mindless state of blood-frenzy, to their former healthy state. The two end up living and traveling together, putting the pieces together, about the dark truth behind the new vampire epidemic, and their own pasts.
We've got 19th century Paris, steampunk paradise, shoujo glimmer all around, Noé Archiviste of the Archiviste line of vampires, beautiful, kind, and cursed, and Vanitas, a blend of contradictions, over-the-top, genius, and a fool. This is Vanitas no Carte (The Case Study of Vanitas) for you, a blend of historical vampire mystery, with shounen elements, and a generous side of comedy. The first part of The Case Study of Vanitas we just finished watching sets the tone, introduces the universe, the antagonists, and the love pairings we need to focus on in the rest of the story. It left us with questions unanswered and just a taste into Vanitas’ past, enough to keep us watching!
As for the story (and I’m not a reader of the manga) I’ll mostly withhold judgment for now. It plays like pretty standard vampire fluff and the premiere as style over substance, but going by Pandora Hearts Mochizuki is no slouch when it comes to depth and subtlety. After an exposition-heavy prologue explaining the premise (sigh) we open on the aforementioned airship where the (obviously) vampire Noe (Ishikawa Kaitou) – traveling with his cat, Murr – (Komaki Miyu) – chivalrously comes to the aid of the ailing (obviously) vampire Amelia (Shitaya Noriko). As the airship approaches Paris she’s feeling rather faint, and blanches considerably at Noe’s mention of the legendary book that provides the series title, supposedly a chronicle for how to destroy vampires written by a vengeful elder vamp named Vanitas.
OK, jokes aside, so many great anime series have attractive characters without letting the story flop or the overall quality be affected. The Case Study of Vanitas knows that it can do fanservice well, but it doesn’t let it overtake the plot. All these steamy interactions we see between Vanitas, Noe, Jeanne, and Domi are important to show us their past (Noe’s and Domi’s), and current dynamics (Jeanne and Vanitas). This is also how Vanitas no Carte establishes a part of vampire lore well, too: the sexual aspect of feeding on blood. So, it’s no wonder that we get moments like that, it’s a sexy genre by definition.
Vampire
stories are certainly a staple of anime as of most mediums these days.
And Vanitas no Shuki seems like a more traditional gothic vampire
tale than Mars Red, which was a mold-breaker in every way. There are
obvious ground rules here – vampires are forbidden from attacking humans, for
example, and there are humans working for the church whose role it is to seek
out and destroy them. Presumably vampires are going to be the good guys
here generally, though perhaps that’s more of a function that they’ll be both
heroes and antagonists, with humans in a minor role.
All
in all this works, in a highly campy sort of way. It’s theatrical in a
much more traditional sense than Mars Red, and very much at home in the
Bones aesthetic. Ishikawa comfortably outpaces Hanae in the premiere –
his performance is far more layered, while Hanae kind of does his usual
schtick. He’s not the strength of the premiere, but there are a lot of
good things happening – the various elements of sight and sound come together
in an appealingly symphonic way. I’m going mostly on faith (in Mochizuki)
as far as the story being interesting enough to sustain its momentum, and the
fact that the manga is ongoing is always a worry (two cours is better than
one). But like Sonny Boy, Vanitas no Carte mostly
connected in its premiere by delivering what I expected from it, and that makes
this a very good start.
We’ve
got to be patient to learn what’s going on with August Ruthven, what kind of
pact he formed with Noe, and what the future holds for Vanitas. Until then,
let’s rewatch this beautiful, atmospheric yet funny vampire anime, and track
all the clues!
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