OP: “Sora to Utsuru” by sasanomaly
The first two premieres (for me) of the season have been arguably the top two series on my expectations list, and that may be the first time that’s ever happened. Having so few in that category certainly improves the odds, of course. Vanitas no Carte (or Vanitas no Shuki as it’s also called) is certainly a series with a pedigree. It comes from Bones, as close to a platinum studio as TV anime offers these days. It’s written by Mochizuki Jun, whose Pandora Hearts is among the most beloved demographic-bending fantasy manga of the 21st Century. And while the staff isn’t flashy by Bones standards, it does include some well-known names.
Among those would be Kajiura Yuki, as close to royalty as it gets when it comes to anime background music. And while this premiere is generally quite good, it was her score that stood out for me. Soaring, operatic, grandiloquent – it suits the material (which is even more of those things than Pandora Hearts was) perfectly. This was not a first episode that traded heavily on subtlety and understatement – it was a bomb in every sense of the word. That works given the material, fortunately, but it certainly is a lot to take in aesthetically.
Another one of those standout staff names is Art Director Kanai Shingo. He’s a sometime-collaborator of Shinkai Makoto – including on 5 Centimeters per Second – and his depictions of the ridiculous Astermite airship and turn of the century (the one before this last one) Paris are another standout in the premiere. Ito Yoshiyuki, in charge of animation and character design, is one of Bones’ top dogs so you know things are in safe hands there. There’s a fair bit of CGI in this episode by Bones’ standards but it still looks pretty great on the whole.
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.
Speaking of Vanitas (Hanae Natsuki), he soon arrives – crashing through the skylight as his horrified second Dante (Kiuchi Tarou) looks on. He seems to be there to take out Amelia, which prompts Noe to come to her defense and soon, the two of them are fighting in rather grand fashion. But of course Vanitas’ “world of pain” warning was for Noe’s own good, and he ends up saving Noe from Amelia after she’s gone rogue. She has a disease, a corruption of her true name (Florifel) – which Vanitas later says is an increasing scourge which will lead to the extinction of vampires if not checked. But he’s not there to destroy Amelia, rather to save her – which he does, before he and Noe fall to Earth and land safely in a church (possibly Sainte-Chapelle – which seems to bother them not at all).
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.
ED: “0 (zero)” by LMYK
leongsh
July 3, 2021 at 6:39 pmThis has to follow a class act like Mars Red and for me, in such a comparison, it suffers badly. On its own, the campy way it has gone about it and the grand and well done visuals flags it to be an entertaining watch. Using food as metaphor, Mars Red is like an epicurean fine dining omekase sushi set dinner and then followed by Vanitas no Carte which is the triple ice cream scoop banana split sundae with all the toppings. Hence, on its own, it’s looks to be an entertaining watch on a different level and style as what Mars Red gave us.
Guardian Enzo
July 3, 2021 at 7:49 pmI just know Pandora Hearts got really dark and complex, and the early fluffy parts were kind of a bait and switch. Thinking along the same lines here.
leongsh
July 4, 2021 at 3:40 pmIt does hint that it will get dark towards the end. Noe’s narration at the end of the episode that at the end of it all, he kills Vanitas. As to how it gets there will be interesting.
Guardian Enzo
July 4, 2021 at 4:05 pmI’m sure that specifically is a misdirection, troll, or somewhere in-between. But with Mochizuki I am expecting dark.
Suldrun
July 3, 2021 at 8:01 pmThe fact that it’s going ceaselessly in chibi/goofy mode, all of this mixed with chuuni stuff is really painful. I did all I could to watch the episode until the end, but I think it’s a drop for me.
Robin
July 3, 2021 at 9:35 pmI don’t think any comparison to Mars Red is fair. I think Vanitas is trying to do its own thing with vampires, and we should let it.
I also disagree slightly with Enzo on Hanae’s performance here. I think he WAS trying to do something different with his performance, and the result didn’t work for you. Oddly enough, a lot manga readers had reservations on Hanae’s casting before the episode came out. The general consensus then was that he sounded too young (Tanjiro!) and they thought Miyano Mamoru or Kamiya Hiroshi- names better-known for protraying the kind of bravado Vanitas displayed in this episode- would be better fits.
I recall expressing concern with the director being a Monogatari series alumnus (may be wrong here). Did you get any Shaft vibes from this episode?
Guardian Enzo
July 3, 2021 at 9:54 pmMildly, but not as bad as I feared on the whole.
As for Hanae, I think the problem is that it doesn’t matter whether he tries or not, he’s not capable (by any evidence I’ve seen) of varying his performances. He’s clearly wrong here IMO., Odd Taxi is a weird semi-exception because while he was even more wrong there, he was so preposterously miscast that it almost worked in an absurdist sort of way.
writerRichieK
July 5, 2021 at 2:46 amAh yes. His voice roles so far (with the exception of OddTaxi) are unable to be differentiated by some fans & critics alike. I was thinking of Soma Saito would’ve been a better fit for this era’s Vanitas.
Litho
July 3, 2021 at 11:57 pmWhat kind of campy? If it’s Ash vs Evil Dead levels of campy, I might give it a chance. The screencaps say otherwise though.
Guardian Enzo
July 4, 2021 at 8:32 amI don’t know what kind, exactly. Not really Team Rocket campy. Sort of British panto meets Rocky Horror.
Aisha
July 4, 2021 at 5:22 amAsna big fan of Pandora Hearts, it warms my heart to see you praise Jun Muzuchi so much. Does this mean you’ve read the Pandora Hearts manga fully?
Guardian Enzo
July 4, 2021 at 8:31 amNo, I kept waiting for anime to finish it. Tick, tick, tick…
Aisha
July 4, 2021 at 1:24 pmIf Vanitas gets popular enough, fandom is hoping the PH manga gets reboot and a complete adaptation. Tick tick indeed.
Axl
July 4, 2021 at 8:23 amAdmittedly I kind of cringed at seeing Hanae being the voice of Vanitas, who really is a really layered character, similar to Hanako-kun(Ogata-san was wonderful for Hanako’s role). He’s still a professional so I can’t say his voice is bad for the role, but definitely just sufficient. Noe definitely satisfied me though.
Overall, looking forward to this anime’s adaptation.
writerRichieK
July 5, 2021 at 2:48 amDefinitely Soma Saito would’ve been a more suitable fit for this Vanitas’ voice. Heard Vanitas is complex and has so many emotions he’s about to be heard later on in this story.
Yann
July 4, 2021 at 9:07 amFunny how most of the time my taste aligns with yours, but once in a while they’re polar opposite. I could barely finish the episode. Hard pass for me…
Miyu Fan
July 4, 2021 at 9:19 amI have never read the manga, but when they announced Hanae and Ishikawa as seiyuu for the male leads they both don’t really matched the image for me. After watching this ep, Ishikawa actually fits as Noe. But for Vanitas, maybe because he acts like Yato from Noragami and the Monogatari flair, there is too much Hiroshi Kamiya vibes from him. So Hanae was fine, but still I can’t help felt like there someone is more suitable for Vanitas.
Anyway the airship was marvellous and I like enough the Bones x Monogatari style in display. The question will Mochizuki finally have a manga got fully adapted, because unfortunately to me the Pandora Hearts full adaptation boat has sunked already in current anime industry.
Guardian Enzo
July 4, 2021 at 9:40 amKimura Ryouhei would have been perfect.
writerRichieK
July 5, 2021 at 2:49 amAh! Him too besides Soma Saito!