Summary:

Having left the dance, Yuuki heads straight to Maria in order to offer herself in exchange for the way to save Zero. Having possessed Maria, Shizuka doesn’t like it when Yuuki talks about saving Zero because Shizuka was the person who gave him despair in the first place. Nevertheless, when Ichiru brings her real body to her and lets her reawaken it, Shizuka still explains to Yuuki that all Zero has to do to survive is to drink her blood. With the real Shizuka awake now, she gives up Maria’s body, and Ichiru carries it away. Shizuka then goes for Yuuki’s neck, but before she can bite down, Zero interrupts them. To his surprise, Yuuki actually protects Shizuka and cites how only Shizuka can save him. Zero, however, quickly points out that he could drink Shizuka’s blood after half killing her. When Yuuki reluctantly decides to use her bracelet on him, Zero grabs her arm to stop her but quickly notices that she’s in tears. Before Zero can do anything else, Shizuka exercises her vampire power over him and has him hold Yuuki. She first drinks from Zero’s neck, but when she leans in to drink from Yuuki’s neck too, Zero is able to resist her command and grabs Shizuka by the throat. As he struggles with her control over him, he shoots himself in the leg before turning his gun and shooting her three times in the chest. Though bleeding, Shizuka just laughs and blocks the rest of his shots with her clothing.

Ichiru then returns and tosses a sword into Zero’s arm, giving Shizuka the opening to walk away because there’s still something else she has to do. Zero is kept from chasing after her by Ichiru, and when Yuuki questions who Ichiru is, Zero reveals that Ichiru is his little brother. As the two start fighting, Ichiru reveals that Shizuka let him drink her blood to get special powers, but he’s still a human because she didn’t drink his blood in return. Shizuka had been the one who had saved him from the endless loneliness, yet she still chose Zero in Ichiru’s eyes. Meanwhile, Shizuka makes her way to a dark room where she finds Kaname waiting. When she questions why he came to Cross Academy, Kaname answers that it was to repay a favor and to arrange some chess pieces. Disappearing and reappearing behind her, he also admits to trying to do the same thing as her, and he proceeds to pierce his arm through her chest. As Kaname then bites her neck, Shizuka remembers how they had met when he was little and how they had stared at the same thing. Kaname then finishes her off by pulling out her heart, but he vows not to let her life got to waste and promises to destroy whatever upset the purebloods destiny. In her final breaths, Shizuka notes that he’ll get a new power, but she warns that there’ll only be darkness wherever he goes.

The smell of Shizuka’s blood soon permeates through the school, and it causes Ichiru to leave the fight with Zero so that he can go find her. Zero still thinks that he has to kill Shizuka, but Yuuki stops him and questions what he’ll do after that – she’s worried that he plans kill himself after everything is over. After hearing that she just doesn’t want him to die, Zero hugs Yuuki and expresses how glad he is that she’s safe. He also admits that, although he had thought about being dying alongside Shizuka, he doesn’t feel that way anymore, and he promises to return. Meanwhile, Ichiru discovers Shizuka’s dead body.

 
 
 

Wow, things happened so quickly this week. Or more to the point, Shizuka is dead after Kaname killed her, just like that. I thought she’d still have a few tricks up her sleeve, and it would take more than this to kill her, but maybe I’ve been watching too many shounen series like Bleach where the focus is on battles and powering up. Regardless, I still don’t think they’ve really explained what she (and Kaname) were after, and the vagueness of their conversation doesn’t help. Kaname’s going to be very interesting to watch moving forward because he appears to be holding all the keys to the story. Perhaps next week’s finale will clear things up a bit.

On that note, as I’m sure many of you are aware by now (thanks goes out to all seven of you who emailed me about it), it was announced today, the second season of Vampire Knight is going to be airing in the fall, which means that they’re going with the approach of splitting a longer series into two – something that’s become more and more common. I don’t particularly favor this approach over having just a single longer series, but I suspect that this might mean that the second season will have better production quality than if they had just kept going from here. In any case, the final episode of the first season is next week, just in time to wrap up the Shizuka and Ichiru stuff. Hopefully it won’t end in a frustrating cliffhanger… *shakes fist at Druaga*

29 Comments

  1. Pretty good episode. I didn’t expect for them/him to kill Shizuka that quickly (in the scene) either. I expected more drama for some reason.

    And wow, they’re only at episode 12 and their up to this part already. Well, guess that’s why there’s a second season; most likely waiting for the manga to further its story or finish the current arc. At least they’re not going for an anime-original ending. Phew.

    Final
  2. It’s still possible they could go for an anime original ending, especially if there’s not a good stopping point later on. I don’t think the manga’s ended yet, and it probably won’t end before the 2nd season finishes airing.

  3. Right on schedule! I’ve predicted they’ll finish up till volume 4 with Episode 12. If VK (1st season) is 26 episodes, it will manage to cover up until chapter 43 (rough estimate from the pace they are going). Since the manga is only once a month and the anime is four times a month, it will be possible for them not to have an anime original ending but to finish at Rido’s arc (somewhere there).

    I really hope they won’t do an anime original ending. Since they are planning on aecond season, it will be better to keep things the same as the manga if they are continuing it. It will look awkward somehow if they’ll end it differently then pick up where they left off in the manga.

    miara
  4. Yes!!! This is great news about the second season, as I hoped that there wouldn’t be a anime only ending and I expect that the manga will be finished by the time it starts back up again or the manga will finish halfway through the second season.

    Phoenix
  5. I loved how Akatsuki asked to dance with Ruka. That was sweet of him. ^w^ What I didn’t like about this episode was that Show Spoiler ▼

  6. “Right on schedule! I’ve predicted they’ll finish up till volume 4 with Episode 12. If VK (1st season) is 26 episodes, it will manage to cover up until chapter 43 (rough estimate from the pace they are going). Since the manga is only once a month and the anime is four times a month, it will be possible for them not to have an anime original ending but to finish at Rido’s arc (somewhere there).”

    The first season will end at episode 13, and the second season will end at 26.

    Man0warr
  7. The way the manga is going I believe that it will end soon. The manga gives the feeling of a 6 volume story. Come on people don’t think it will go longer all that is left is killing off the real bad guy. No Spoilers sorry, everything else is out in the open. I believe the anime will end with the original ending from the manga seeing that it is almost finished and that it is continuing in fall which is October and the fact that 12 episodes take up to 3 months to complete, yeah I got to say it is pretty likely.

    Liza
  8. @Liza: I also think the manga is nearing its end from the last chapters I read. All that’s left probably is killing the real bad guy and tying up the loose ends. >__<

    ichigo_daisuki
  9. I also thought the pacing was a bit quick in this episode, and that Shizuka’s death was better portrayed in the manga. But still, I felt that the Zero x Ichiru fight was well done in the anime, and it really made me sympathize with Ichiru.

    @ dan: I believe Zero is soon to overpower Kaname, but.. the manga is taking so long to reveal his true power. T_T The recent chapter didn’t even show him at all..

    By the time the second season starts, I doubt the manga will be finished, because there will only be a couple more chapters completed within the gap. While I do believe that the manga is on its final arc.. with the material the chapters are covering, it may take a bit longer (my guesstimate is chapter 50? 9 more chapters? maybe..) before the manga finishes.

    happyhippo
  10. Well can someone in a spoiler tell me what they mean by powerful? like what kind of power? how can he become as strong as a pureblood? i knew he was going to become strong and rival Kaname, but what is his power and exactly how does he get it?

    dan
  11. what the hell? So I have to wait till fall to watch rest of the series? That’s freaken stupid,if it’s only 25 or so epi’s why not air it all at once? unless they’re not finished with the animation\production.

    Tokki
  12. Great episode Zero is kind of like a Emo “Blade”. I did not know a second season has been confirmed. I just started watching this show about two weeks ago and just finished episode twelve. Does anybody else think that with all the sexual innuendo this show has if the writers wanted to they could make Kanokon look tame in comparison.My last question is to people who had read the manga does Yuki become smarter later in the story or do Zero and Kaname always have to save her if anyone can answer without giving away spoilers it would be appreciated.

    Roger
  13. Offtopic and spolier for The tower of Druaga

    “Hopefully it won’t end in a frustrating cliffhanger… *shakes fist at Druaga*”
    Show Spoiler ▼

    Roger
  14. @ dan:

    Show Spoiler ▼

    ShadowChaos
  15. Urgh, a cliffhanger then i will have to wait till fall. And it will probably be licensed by then which means I have to go out of my way to find a sub for it. But this episode was brilliant, Kaneme is intriging me more and I’m wondering what she meant by saying a terrible thing will happen now that a pureblood has drunk a purebloods blood. But i guess next episode will leave at a cliffhanger to get our teeth in(pun intended)and having us look forward to the next series.

    Sylar
  16. I think my main problem with the animated version of Vampire Knight is that i don’t think it’s animated well. I still watch it the minute it’s fansubbed, and i enjoy it, but i feel like there was so much more potential there.
    I mean Matsuri Hino’s artwork is amazing. The manga kicks so much ass. I just wish that i could feel the same about the anime. I wanted the anime to do justice the the manga. But that’s just my opinion, so don’t chew my head off.

    T-chan

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