VAMPIRE KNIGHT: GUILTY (VOLUME 1)
September 1st 2011 22:09
Based on the original Vampire Knight manga by Matsuri Hino
Director: Kiyoko Sayama
Writer: Mari Okada
Producers: Fukashi Azuma, Tomoko Takahashi & Yumiko Masushima
Starring: Mela Lee (Yuki Cross), Vic Mignonga (Zero Kiryu/Ichiru Kiryu), Ethan Murray (Kaname Kuran), Troy Baker (Akatsuki Kain), Christopher Corey Smith (Kaien Cross), Bryce Papenbrook (Hanabusa Aido), Megan Hollingshead (Ruka Souen), Carrie Savage (Rima Toya), Stephanie Sheh (Sayori Wakaba), Steve Staley (Senri Shiki), Colleen O’Shaughnessy (Day Class Girl), Spike Spencer (Takuma Ichijo), Travis Wallingham (Toga Yagari) Wendee Lee (Shizuka Hio), Laura Bailey (Maria Kurenai), Jamieson Price (Asato Ichijo) & Derek Stephen Prince (Class Rep)
English Version produced by: VIZ Media LLC
Released by: Madman Entertainment
Running Time: 125 minutes Rating: M
Ah those angst kids and brooding vampires of Cross Academy have returned for a second season – or rather what I should say is that the story begun with the first season continues in this latest incarnation of the Vampire Knight anime franchise. Based on, according to Madman Entertainment, the most popular manga series in Australia Vampire Knight Guilty features all the characters from the first season with a few new additions to the cast in this story that combines elements of horror, romance, tragedy and intrigue. One has to say that Matsuri Hino has definitely made the vampire genre her own with her unique take on this iconic character type.
Unlike Twilight which seems to be overly angsty or recent incarnations of Dracula which seem to be more surrealist nightmare than classical horror this series has a lot going for it in terms of story. And better yet even though the vampires within it are very much urbane, civilized and beautiful types – they can be downright frightening and decidedly sinister which to my way of thinking is how things should be. Maybe I’ve played too much Vampire the Masquerade read too much Ravenloft but as far as I’m concerned having a nice vampire just doesn’t really cut the mustard.
When the first season finished there was a ‘confrontation’ occurring between two pureblood vampires who had made their abode on the campus, one was Kaname Kuran; the president of the Night Class and Maria Kurenai the surrogate of Shizuka Hio, a rival to Kaname and like him a pureblood. The manoeuvring and manipulations b between the two played out like a chess game with Shizuka paying the ultimate price – things thus ended on a cliff-hanger as no one but the true killer of Shizuka knew what had happened. But that incident has proven to be like the proverbial stone tossed into the surface of an undisturbed clear pond it has caused ripples and now those ripples have begun to reach the shore…
Within the society of vampires in this world the purebloods are at the top of the pyramid so to speak, it is from them that vampiric society was created and they can in essence command all those vampires of aristocrat and commoner rank on downwards. Originally the society of vampires was ruled by a pureblood monarch who in essence had absolute power, in time though a member of the Kuran family, the traditional rulers of vampires decided to abdicate the throne and handed power over to the Senate, a governing body of aristocrats that now oversee vampire society. However even though the Kurans abdicated from the throne this did mean they relinquished their influence and their responsibilities as purebloods.
Purebloods then are seen as the glue that binds vampire society, which prevents the feuds between competing factions and families. The Senate whilst it governs in essence enforces this hidden influence, this glue thus further enhancing the status and capability of the purebloods. Thus for a pureblood to be killed is regarded by many within vampire society to be a heinous crime, one of truly massive proportions. Unfortunately though when the Senate elect to dispatch ‘emissaries’ to deal with the person responsible for this crime they have picked the wrong person – Zero Kiriyu had a grievance with Shizuka but did not in the end kill her.
And as if the misguided efforts of the Senate to bring a ‘criminal’ to justice weren’t enough it seems that the Vampire Hunters association also are up to something in dispatching Zero as a hunter to a vampire soiree to monitor the affair. Then there is the fact that Yuki is beginning to suffer flashbacks, fragments of her past life before she was adopted by the academy’s headmaster keep cropping up and causing her distress as she wants to know who her real parents were and what happened that caused her to be abandoned. If you’re a fan of this series and get into the whole affair then best have a box of tissues handy as Yuki and Zero try to come to terms with their life and just why things are the way they are…
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