Episode Summary:

A knock on the door of Kaien’s office late one evening opens up to Ichiru, stopping by because Kaien had called to introduce him to Kaname. Standing in the doorway, Ichiru mockingly asks if Kaname wants him to be another piece in his game. Kaname wants to know his real goal, but as Ichiru turns to leave and closes the door behind him, he composedly answers that Kaname couldn’t do a single thing to stop him even if he did reveal his true intentions. Outside the door, Ichiru stares at a vial of blood in his hands.

Kaname tells Kaien he really has no intention of disrupting the foundation of peace the school was built upon, even though various dangers now threaten to break it. Kaien shows no signs of doubt or mistrust towards Kaname, and desires to fulfill the shared dreams of a beautiful yet troubled looking woman holding a very frilly baby that exists in his memory. Having promised to leave all decisions regarding vampires at the school up to Kaname, he is still surprised that he intended Yuki to be his lover. He lightheartedly jokes that if Kaname makes her cry, the battle is on. And yet, he notices Kaname doesn’t look very happy. On the contrary, he’s very happy – now that they are together he can finally… not finish a very revealing thought before a scene change.

The same night in Yuki’s dorm, various memories haunt her dreams: Kaname’s confession that he wants her as his lover.. A young boy’s voice telling her they’ll be like mother and father one day.. And a vicious, bloody hand reaching out to grab her, waking her screaming from a restless sleep. The cry awakens her friend Yori, who comes over to calm her down. The nightmare is over but a lingering and painful headache remains.

That morning, Yori expresses her concern for Yuki as they walk down the stairs of their dorm together. Running into Zero at the bottom of the stairs, a long awkward silence fills the room. Yori leads the self-conscious friends out the door only to meet face to face with four night class students sent to meet Yuki by Kaname’s orders: Aidou, Rima, Kain, and random-female-vampire-01. Yuki becomes incredibly ill at ease while they follow her to class, and as the day class grumbling intensifies she frantically asks them to stop. Aidou sharply tells Yuki(-sama) to shut-up, with a little help from Rima for his keigo review. She’d better just deal with it, because she couldn’t possibly understand the pride of vampire nobles that inspires them to respect Kaname’s decisions.

Ignoring the lecture as always, Yuki reflects on her situation with Kaname during class. She tenses up and soon passes out on her desk while recalling the malicious hand reaching out to grab her from her nightmare. In the nurse’s office, Zero asks her if she’s alright, but thinks that she earned this for choosing to be with Kaname in the first place. If this is what she really wants, then he’ll support her. Aidou stands guard outside as Zero leaves without acknowledging him.

While Yuki tosses and turns in an uneasy sleep, Ichiru employs the ominous powers of slow motion, brushes off Aidou, and enters the nurses’s office on the pretense of having a headache. Staring rather too intensely at her mouth, he hovers over her with the vial of blood in his hands. Suddenly, several vivid memories of Shizuka and Zero stop him from going any further. He recalls her promise to make only Zero a vampire, and many visions of Zero’s painful descent into level E. Aidou bursts in to stop him from harming Yuki, causing her to wake up and mistake Ichiru for Zero. Aidou takes the vial of blood from him with no resistance whatsoever, intending on giving it directly to Kaname to investigate, but Ichiru seems indifferent as he nonchalantly leaves the room.

In the Night Class dorm, Aidou hands over the blood to a grateful Kaname. Aidou asks who the blood belongs to, but Kaname only answers that Ichiru is not his real enemy. He has his own role to play. In other news, because of her extreme depression upon hearing Kaname and Yuki are together, Ruka has locked herself in her room, refusing to open the door for even her closest companion. Thanking Aidou again before he leaves, Kaname thinks to himself that he won’t allow this tainted blood from the vial to fulfill its goal, obliterating it into thin air in a sudden burst.

Later on, Kaien calls Ichiru in to invite him to dinner, surprising him with a ridiculous white facial mask. Since Zero and Ichiru are twins with a difficult history, he wants to offer them an opportunity to work things out, but Ichiru walks out quietly without an answer. Outside, Aidou tells Ichiru that Kaname doesn’t seem to have a fight to pick with him, but he better not touch Yuki again. With a small sigh, Ichiru agrees to comply without the slightest hint of anger.

Zero comes to pick Yuki up only to be interrupted by Aidou, who was asked to take them to see Kaname immediately. Along the way, Aidou tells Yuki he’s discovered something vital in his investigations that relates to her. Surprised at his selfless hard work, he quickly puts any ideas of chivalry for her sake out of her mind. He’s actually been investigating the death of Kaname’s parents, but whenever he comes near something that could be a clue, it goes up in flames – just like Yuki’s research from her own past. The reason must be connected to why Kaname is so desperately protecting her. She may be in serious danger.

Yuki and Zero arrive to find Kaname waiting for her in a ‘romantic’ picnic area for two, where they can spend some peaceful time together at last. Stiff with nervous tension, Yuki asks him directly about her past again. Dodging with another refusal, he sends Zero to scare away gathering Day Class girls. He pulls Yuki to his side and orders her to rest – if her bad condition became worse she would cause him to worry. Despite loving Kaname for so long, Yuki can’t seem to shake her uneasiness, and wishes to understand why he protects her this much.

Initially showing up in front of Kaien’s building for dinner, Ichiru has second thoughts and turns around to leave, but Kaien shows up with a veggie basket behind him so they go inside and begin cooking together. Claiming ignorance, Kaien asks Ichiru if he knows what kind of food Zero likes. After a childhood memory of sharing one of Zero’s favorite dishes together, Ichiru quietly suggests vegetable soup. Returning home from Yuki’s date, Zero reminds her that he’ll never allow Kaname to turn her into a vampire, but Yuki just stares at him expressionlessly with her mouth open. Welcoming them home at the door, Zero notices Ichiru’s presence behind Kaien but Yuki is as cheerful as the headmaster as she pushes him inside to eat.

At the table, Yuki mentions mistaking Ichiru for Zero in the nurse’s office in an attempt at friendly conversation to lighten the mood, but Zero realizes that means he was up to no good and becomes explosively angry. As Kaien walks in with their dinner, Ichiru gets up to leave, saying that it’s impossible to make this work right now. Kaien brings the tomato soup to the table and Zero has a flashback to the same memory of sharing this dish with Ichiru as a child, recognizing this strange display of thoughtfulness.

Returning to the dorm for bed, Yuki apologizes to Zero for saying uncomfortable things. She also desires for him to to get along with Ichiru even though they have difficult and upsetting memories together. Out of the blue, another vision flashes painfully in Yuki’s mind, and he urges her to bed. Not left entirely alone in the room, Ichiru suddenly tells Zero again that he should abandon Yuki, and that his taste in women is poor. Bitterly refusing to answer any questions, he also goes to bed.

As Shiki and Ichijou rapidly approach the school in their car, Yuki is sleeping poorly in her room, and Kaname looks ominously out the window at the night sky. At the Night Class dorm, Rima lays down on a couch, exhausted from work, when Shiki suddenly walks in with Ichijou behind him. She immediately recognizes that it’s not the real Shiki, detecting something awful in her best friend’s abnormally colored eyes.

ED and “Preview”

I’ve noticed that Studio Deen is trying to highlight certain pieces of the plot more than others, so here are a few of my thoughts on that:

  • They emphasize trying to reconcile the feelings between Zero and Ichiru to the point where I’m not even looking forward to it when it happens anymore. Show Spoiler ▼
  • Why didn’t Ichiru pour “the unknown person’s” blood into Yuki’s mouth? He had the chance. But he clearly stopped because of his memories of Zero *in pain* during the transformation. These weren’t bitter memories, they were distressing. Also, the blood in the vial must belong to a pure blood vampire, otherwise it wouldn’t affect Yuki, but as of this point they still haven’t revealed the culprit’s true identity.

    Is anyone else feeling rather sorry for Ichiru at this point? He’s clearly not being made out to be the bad guy, and yet he’s fairly sad and bitter all the time. (Dare I say angsty? They are twins, after all.) His motivations are still completely in the dark for now, but if he didn’t have at least a few good intentions, he wouldn’t have left the dinner table when Zero became upset. He wouldn’t have cared.

  • They also make a relatively big deal about Ruka’s depression in this adaptation. Although, to be honest I have a pretty difficult time sympathizing with the self-indulgent feelings of a side character who never stood a chance with Kaname in the first place.
  • Yuki’s growing frailty is also fairly important, although they toned down on the bloody illusions and increased the number of memory migraines. The woman coming toward her in her visions is the same woman in Kaien’s thoughts, only sans baby. They’re letting out as many hints as possible before they clarify many mysteries, perhaps within the next two episodes. I was actually quite impressed with how attractive Yuki looked this episode as opposed to when she looks like a giant, sad mouse. On the other hand, I was less impressed with Ichiru’s appearance this week. You can’t win all the time. I’m hoping it’s because they’re saving up for next week.
  • Shiki is back, and things aren’t looking too optimistic, but I’m very excited for what’s coming up soon. Next week we’ll have a nice confrontation or two, and see if Yuki is feeling any better.  Next time: “Kiss – The mouth with thorns”

    -Trillian

    32 Comments

    1. I am definitely hating this anime now!!

      The manga is way better and the animation is better too!!! Studio Deen has changed the whole story, and I dont know how they are going to end this anime now!

      Saif
    2. @Espada: It’s understandable. Studio Deen has really done a less than stellar job. I want to say unprofessional, but I really don’t have the credentials to go that far~ (so I’ll say it offhandedly, like so.)

      Instead of listing the things that aggravate/disappoint me, it’s easier to make a small list of reasons I’m still watching: I like the (original) story, I like vampire series, I like evil devious characters, … that’s about it.

      I understand the feelings of people who want to stop watching (really really I do,) but since I’m watching anyway, I’ll try my best to keep my feelings of dissatisfaction out of my summary as much as possible so that people who don’t want to watch but DO want to read about this train wreck can still have something to rely on. We’re halfway finished, so there’s only 6 more episodes to go! できるよ!頑張って!

    3. I think part of the reason why folks aren’t commenting much about this anime is that they milked so many scenes and drew it out so much over this season and last that no one cares too much what the big secrets are.

      Splash
    4. For once, I am pleasantly surprised with the lack of comments on VKG. Well usually loads of girls will flock to the latest episode review and start screaming, “Kaname-sama!” or “Zero-sama!”. I don’t really care if I’m wrong about that though.
      Yuuki’s uneasiness got on my nerves this episode. Its not about her memories, but rather about her feelings for Zero and Kaname. Its just frustrating how she always looks to me as if she’s torn in between. She is obviously infatuated with the dark-haired vampire, but at the same time cares deeply for the vampire hunter, as if she likes him as well. Well, when is the story going to draw the line? Some people might argue that this isn’t the case, but I’ve always felt that way, even with the manga.
      I’m only watching this, and reading the manga, for interest’s sake. Somehow, I’m just extremely unwillingly to acknowledge this series’ popularity. Its SO shoujo-ish that its unnerving. What’s original about this story? It seems as if the author is trying so hard at making this story good and serious, that it becomes ridiculous and silly. I’m really not impressed, but I shan’t stop watching, because I’d like to see how Studio Deen handles the upcoming spoilers. As mentioned, its only for interest’s sake.

      Tiff
    5. Both the manga and anime don’t do the greatest job of convincing me Yuki loves Kaname over Zero, but I think the main reason is two-fold: 1) Yuki loved Kaname from the beginning, but she was a child when it started, and 95% of that is shown to the audience in the form of flashback. 2) Zero’s relationship is much more recent in terms of development, and they spend so much more time together developing trust and friendship, if not sexual tension (aka vampire lust). So, basically we just have to take their word on it that her feelings are stronger for Kaname, even if I personally feel like she is closer to Zero.

      Yet, the producers know that they must keep vague, indecisive, and lingering feelings for both Zero and Kaname around in order to push the plot forward as typical shoujo fare, so on that point, I agree with you (Tiff).

    6. @Trillian: Yeah, I have yet to buy the KanaYuki element in either the manga or anime. Namely because every time Yuuki says she loves him and says “if he betrays me, I wouldn’t mind” something always contradicts from her actions. Zeki feels stronger to me for the main reason they actually grow (and if anyone’s read up the latest chapter, it’s pretty clear where the drama is) and they have a LOT of challenges to clear as opposed to just “we’re together now because I wanted you to be my lover” (interesting they add “fake lover” in the title) and then later have the one thing that would mainly prevent them from being together just disappear no sacrifice. Plus, one of the main reason I don’t buy KanaYuki yet is because Yuuki still has Kaname on a pedestal and doesn’t see the full him (yet). What I hated before was the uneven relationship which is fixed a lot with the latest chapter events so there’s a chance my other complaint may be fixed.

      As for the episode itself, I wouldn’t say it’s horrible or that I hate it but I just prefer the manga, But, having said that, I really like that there’s more Ichiru development since I thought it was a bit lacking in the manga.

      Acerbus
    7. Yuki’s has bad taste in men kaname she doesn,t really know anythin about him neither does she have a clue about herself although she knows zero’s life story she still leans towards kaname why maybe because he was the one that saved her but come on for ten years u’ve been sayin thank you to guy but i guess he doesn,t want thank u anymore now its yuki become kaname’s lover so that he can protect her from what hasn,t told her what he is protectin her from maybe herself or family secret he doesn,t want exposed.don,t want to read spoliers and zero man that guy has patience and he wants the one girl he can,t have. Already everyone that was ever close to zero has either died or abandoned him its just seems to me that yuki doesn,t realize zero’s feelings she is always lookin at him like he is her brother or best friend in a way she is somewhat selfish. always goin back and forth with him. Also Ichiru is just senseless his reason for revenge is way off whatis he gettin revenge for this time oh the female vampire that was killed, who actually killed your parents and turned his twin into a vampire.Some twin that just wants to see his family fade before his own eyes. i wonder if cross knows more than he actually claims to know abut the whole thing.

      3nny FisHar
    8. I just hate how animes make love triangles and almost NEVER resolve them. Series go on and on with the main character stuck between 2 or more love interests and then it goes on thru the whole series and aside from School Days (which ended badly for some characters) come the last episode of the series the character still doesn’t make a clear choice. Can’t any of these main characters decide who they love and go for that person? From Bleach (Ichigo, Rukia, and Inoue) to Macross Frontier you see it time after time. At least in Naruto Shippuden they seem to be moving slowly towards a Naruto & Sakura pairing and no other females in sight.

      Splash
    9. re-Splash: I have a confession. I didn’t watch the last episode of Macross Frontier because I prefer believing that Alto made a decision after 25 episodes of screwing around. I’m MUCH happier this way. (He chose Ranka.) Ahhh the delusions are coming…

      Kudos to my friend who warned me about the Macross style of unresolved love triangles before I got my hopes up for a definitive ending. As far as VK (or any series) is concerned, I’m just not interested in investing myself in someone’s indecision problems for an entire season. If the story didn’t have something besides that to offer, I would go crazy. I think Vampire Knight does.

    10. The picnic scene was very funny kaname commanded zero to send the day students away which he did gladly and yuki oh man that girl has some issues kaname always dodging thw question that yuki asked him but she doesn,t care if he betrays her man when will yuki learn and man kaname is cold blooded guy i guessed been a pureblood is somethin ain,t it. also, there is no love triangle in VKG kaname has yuki so easily zero is just a friend she can talk to basically if someone saves you from vampires i think u owe him ur life pretty much zero needs to start sayin his goodbyes to her.

      babel
    11. Loves Tillian’s post but this anime is a complete waste. There is just too much wrong with this to list. Damn, I love vampire anime but when a shit plot is shit it can’t be anything else. Bring on some more killing. This fake love triangle is falling on its face too many times for my taste.

      Megas
    12. haven’t seen any of the new season, just reading your awesome posts. I just thought it was hilarious though about the Macross Frontier comment. I stopped at either episode 20 or 22 or somewhere around there just cause the love triangle was driving me sick, and I knew it probably wouldn’t be resolved.. Instead of Alto choosing Ranka in your case, I ended up just pretending Alto died and Ranka/Sheryl formed some awkward Yuri duet band.. -.-

      scott
    13. This is moving pretty much at the expected pace. With any luck there will be Show Spoiler ▼

      Bane
    14. I’m really also starting to get pissed off at Yuki’s drama. I, too, don’t buy the KanaYuki. I guess because Vampire Knight became popular and though it’s kinda cliche (vampires school/vampires/love triangle) it delives something unique. There are things in some books/manga/anime that crosses the line. There are freaking boundries, for which popular books/manga pass to please their audience and always milks the cow dry. For her love to be based on since she was a child does create an uneven balance and developed when she was younger and suddenly hit off after her PRESENT development with Zero. That’s one of the main reason I kinda stopped reading/watching the story. It became really unbearable with its many side dramas.

      I like the manga better but the animation seems to add more drama and attention on one part so fast. Though I do like Trillian’s descriptions and his blogs on anime. I just love Ichiru here, so confused ^^;

      Crucia
    15. Can’t say im disinterested. Im seeing this series cause i really like the manga, and i want to se WHAT ELSE will Deen Studios change. Personally i try to think as if the Manga and the Anime are different stories.

      lyn
    16. Your blog makes me feel like I’m on drugs, cause it’s so addicting and I keep coming back. I’m highly happy that your also reviewing Vampire Knight Guilty. I love to read others reviews and opinions about it before I review. Tho most people can watch without subs ,my japanese is at a point where I can but I’ll leave bits and parts out. Anyways thanks.

    17. @Bane: About your ending prediction, I think so, too. (It’s the kind of cliffhanger that fortunately or unfortunately *demands* another season.) I don’t think they’ll be able to get much further than that point in the manga, but depending on where they finally finish up I don’t know if there will be a 3rd season, if they’ll defile it with a made-for-tv story, if they’ll drop it, or maybe put out an OVA (with a larger budget please?).

      @Maura (and other positive comments): Thank you very much! I used to be the same way before my Japanese was at this level (not that I’m anywhere near perfect), so I understand the feeling of wanting to watch it raw (or even with subs) and read about the details on a blog, or vice versa. I worry sometimes that I get TOO detailed and then the review becomes too long… but since there have been no complaints, I won’t worry too much about it.

      Although comments for this series are understandably fewer than some of the others (*cough* Gundam *cough*), I’m happy for the thoughtfulness and discussion that goes on here.

    18. (Firstly, I’m sorry if there are any grammatical mistakes or wrong words in this comment ;_; my english is so far of being perfect lol)

      Hello Trillian 😀 I’ve been reading your posts and I like it because of your personal thoughts!

      I don’t know if my comment is a spoiler, so I’ll use spoiler tag to avoid problems (:

      Show Spoiler ▼

    19. Thanks for the comment Miyuki : ) Since it’s about the manga, I’ll respond in spoiler tags, too~ Beware, my very long thoughts on where this story may go are incoming.

      Show Spoiler ▼

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