Plot Summary:

Kain and Aidou spend the night guarding Yuki’s dorm as she sleeps restlessly, and Kaname meets with Rido (in Shiki’s body, tagging along with Ichijou) for the first time in 10 years. Rido is understandably a bit upset with this setback, but thanks Kaname for disposing of his difficult to control wife (Shizuka) while he was unable to return to his body. Kaname is grateful that his uncle’s personality hasn’t changed at all as he launches a powerful attack without holding back, but Ichijou blocks him to protect Shiki’s body. Kaname asks Ichijou if he’s on Genrouin and the council’s side (while showing off a bit of unexpected anti-gravity power), but Ichijou only says it’s fine if he wants to think so for now. Saying Kaname can’t kill him anyway, Rido thanks Kaname in advance for letting him stay in a room here for a little while, and walks out past Rima’s evil eye.

Walking with Yori and half the night class to school the next morning, Yuki admits she hasn’t been sleeping, and Rima becomes aggravated when Kain asks her about the sudden relationship between Ichiru and Shiki. Elsewhere, Ichijou is deeply troubled by his duty to oblige Rido, and in the classroom Yuki is somewhat less troubled by the lamenting Day Class girls who wanted to date Kaname than by her continuing bloody visions. Outside her classroom door, Kain walks off the job for a minute while guarding Yuki’s classroom with Aidou.

The door to Ruka’s room swings open to reveal this evening’s entertainment, and Rido makes some uninvited advances, wishing to make Ruka a “snack”. His dual-colored eyes frighten her, and she resists him only to find herself thrown violently against the wall. Before Rido can do any real harm, Kain shows up ready to retaliate, but Ichijou breaks in and orders Rido/Shiki back to his room. Because Rido isn’t fond of being told what to do, Ichijou suggests it would be better if he retired for the evening, and begs Kain and Ruka to keep quiet about this incident, even from Kaname. They apprehensively agree, and after they’re left alone, Ruka thanks Kain genuinely for saving her, but it looks like his chronic headache is bigger than usual.

In front of a fountain outside, Kaname invites Yuki to go on a trip tomorrow, but she isn’t listening. She begs him again to tell her the truth about her past, and even questions his true feelings for her. As a vision attacks, she recalls a boy telling her about a rose that blooms only once every 10 years, along with her more recent memories of Kaname and the special rose he gave her this year that she keeps in her dorm. She knows he is a big part of her past, but doesn’t understand what his true relationship to her is, or why he’s desperately protecting her. Before she passes out in his arms, she wonders out loud why he has always looked at her so sadly when they’re together. Kaname carries her to the headmaster, where Kaien refers to Yuki’s mother as “Juri” and promises to protect her daughter.

While the Night Class students worry about the real Shiki, Ichiru privately recalls Yuki’s puppy dog eyes while she was talking about his relationship with Zero, and stomps on Rido’s coffin, wishing for him to hurry and wake up. Outside, it begins to snow. Rido looks forward to getting what he wants soon, and Kaname asks him if he really thinks a tainted person like himself will ever be able to lay a finger on his precious Yuki, before he disappears dramatically in the snowy forest.

Unable to sleep, Yuki’s bloody visions now hardly cease long enough for her to take a deep breath, and her heart panics as she thinks the rose Kaname gave her becomes filled with blood. Zero comes in to check on her and she pushes him to the floor, choking him. Shocked at his total compliance, she asks why he doesn’t fight back. Zero tells her it’s because his life belongs to her, and he is deeply indebted. Strangely out of character, Yuki laughs at the notion that she is Zero’s victim, and tells him he’s dead wrong. It’s her fault for pushing Zero to take her blood, and it wasn’t for Zero’s sake, it was for her own. She thought if she became a necessary part of Zero’s life, she could forget about her past and move on. Otherwise, she would have never been able to ask Zero such a painful question on that day some weeks ago (about wanting to become a vampire to make her heart stronger). Interpreting her strange explanation, Zero thinks it sounds like she desperately needs him. But that’s not true. The one she needs, that she’s always needed, has been Kaname. Zero calls her weird, so Yuki suddenly jumps off of him and cheerfully apologizes for saying such strange things.

Blaming it on a bad dream, she pushes Zero out of her room saying she needs to change. Once the door is shut, she slides down and sobs in a panic because the bloody visions haven’t disappeared. Noticing a sudden cold breeze, Yuki looks up to see Kaname standing in front of her snowy window. She runs to him crying loudly, relieved to see him and exhausted from her painful visions. Zero hears her cries, and rushes back to her room in time to see Kaname cast a (shockingly fuchsia) spell to calm her down, and carry her out the window.

On a snowy rooftop, Yuki grasps softly at the falling red snowflakes as she lies in Kaname’s arms, and surrenders hope that the blood-stained world will ever go back to normal. Kaname tells her it’s alright for her to open her eyes now, before she breaks. Unable to keep her real eyes open any longer, Kaname leans in gently to bite her neck. As blood slowly trickles down, Yuki thinks to herself that it’s cold – but somehow very warm. She becomes panicked when she realizes what Kaname is doing, but he covers her mouth from resisting and continues to suck her blood while holding her down. Inside Yuki’s mind, a shell covering her body breaks open into a sea of blood, and she momentarily loses consciousness.

Kaname sorrowfully laments that somehow, she’s the only one.. and bites his wrist, filling his mouth with blood. Leaning in again, he kisses Yuki and forces her to drink his own blood. The entire Night Class is startled at the sudden smell of Kuran’s blood penetrating the night air. Yuki wakes up surprised in the middle of the long kiss, but unable to stop him. As he finishes, Kaname wipes the spilled blood from her lips and asks her if she knows who he is. Before she can finish her thought, a gun clicks. On the rooftop above, Zero points his gun down in a furious rage at the smell of two vampires instead of one, but before he can shoot, Yuki rushes to protect Kaname. She begs Zero not to shoot because Kaname is her dearest brother. As she apologizes to Zero and passes out from the ordeal into Kaname’s arms, he looks up and tells Zero it would have been better if he were truly born as her real brother.

ED and “Preview”

 
First Thoughts:

I have never been so satisfied after an episode of VK, for the minimal blender usage at Studio Deen, and the more or less greatest plot twist in the show to date being fairly well done. And for bonus points, I was right about saving up at least a little budget for this week, because for the most part, everyone looked fantastic. Yes, there were still only non-movement shots and lots of smoldering emotions floating about in perfect stillness, but they were pretty this week.

I’m also happy that Rido (in Shiki’s body) knocked Yuka out of her pity party and made her realize that there’s real danger going on around her. It’s about time she steps up to the challenge and becomes a better person, not that there’s much of an alternate choice. That’s why I love Aidou – He’s been dedicated to Kaname from the beginning, like a good friend (or as close as Kaname’s ever going to get).

I find it slightly interesting that Kaname chooses to wake up Yuki in the middle of the open air where everyone can “smell” the presence of both Kurans quite easily. They usually make it a big deal to do these kinds of things behind closed doors for privacy, but he advertised this for a reason.

Prepare yourselves for Zero-angst like you’ve never seen it before.

54 Comments

  1. Zero is gonna be depressed after that ordeal and he might hate yuki for a while epscially kaname can,t wait despite zero saying he wasn,t going to let her become a vampire there wa nothing he could do to stop it the girl already made her choice i just hope zero doesn,t commit suicide LMAO

    Riise Rickett
  2. wow, actually first ^^… well the episode looks really interesting. can’t wait to see it. the anime is going in a different order from the manga, but putting it this way makes sense too. but aren’t they going a little too fast seeing as they are pretty close to the manga again…

    darkdragn
  3. @Oliva, haha… I don’t know, I thought it was funny. In the manga they hide his motives until the end, but they’re making it pretty clear that Ichiru has pretty negative feelings towards Rido by jumping all over his casket. Pretty rude thing to do, imo. Hilarious, but somewhat frowned upon.

    They’re just showing that he’s susceptible to the kind-hearted things Yuki said (notice his flashbacks) and it proves that he really does want to “make up” with Zero. He’ll have his day. They’ve made a point of it so many times that it’s inevitable no matter how you slice it.

  4. Man i hate kaname so much his attitude and personality really piss me off. Becasue he uses everyone like chess peices and thinks he’s a king. But really he is just a slime ball.

    Shadowmagius
  5. @balance:
    not quite right, u shouldn’t (double) post something that isn’t even accurate.

    prefer the manga, too. but the anime is still good. kinda wondering if the anime ending is getting the same touch as the manga or the other way round. :/

    Nightflame
  6. Now this is an episode, thought i think it would have had a better dramatic ending to see Yuki opening her eyes, revealing them to be the bright blood red eyes of a vampire. That would send shivers down my spine, but oh well. I am just hoping that shoku-dan wakes up, since their the best translators of the series. (yuurisan and shinsen don’t count since they are speed subs and Mishicorp is a wimp)….i want more!!! *Goes in search of the manga*

    zeroherrera
  7. aaah, the zero angst that comes after this is my favorite part of the manga.
    what can i say? i just love angst.

    I can’t wait for the anime to come to the part where the manga now is, i have waited for that to animated.

    thanks for the summary.

    V6
  8. i have a question..what is with the episodes 02,03 and 04?…can we see this episodes and pictures on this side some day or not?…this is a big wish to see the pictures and i think i´m not the only one who want to see the pictures..

    hestaby
  9. Took long enough.
    Only unsatisfying thing was how anti-climax Yuki’s transoformation was. I went back to read that manga chapter again to refresh my memory, and felt that if the anime included a little flashback type of scene of young kaname like in the manga, the anime scene would have been better. And to the person who mentioned about Yuki opening her eyelids to reveal blood-red eyes, yes, that would be an added bonus as well!
    But yes, this episode was quite satisfying.

    .tiff
  10. OMG OMG!!! ITSH ONE OF THE BEST VK EPISODES!!!
    i didnt expect Yuki to be converted so early, theres limited material left from the manga, are there going to be anime-original plot in the later episodes?

    auntie bin
  11. @Yahiko03
    kaname is a cold person he uses everyone including poor yuki he can get whatever he wants if there is one thing have i noticed is people that have higher power than others mistreat the rest. All kaname has is respect the people that claim to be his friends to me are just there to follow his orders despite this riku falls into depression and locks herself in her room. Aidou just wants to be of help to kaname like he can,t help himself
    even zero that hates him is an hypocrite who ends up drinkin his blood ichiru is just drunk with a senseless revenge after killin his own parents and poor yuki doesn,t know what she wants she wanted to remember her past so bad now she got her wish she even got a bonus (kaname) the guy even hates it when you talk back to him.

    Riise Rickett
  12. @Riise Rickett:
    Kaname isn’t a cold person,he seriously loves Yuki and it’s evident with what he’s done for *her* sake. He’s just trying to manage things as best as he could from his position.
    Aidou is one of the few who really cares for Kaname and sees how he really is.

    Anyways,can’t wait to see this episode.
    Yuki X Kaname FTW. ~

    Azumi
  13. I don’t get all the Kaname hate either. What exactly would one have him do differently? His loved one is in serious danger. For ten years (or more), he’s had to watch out for Yuuki, and prepare for the events that are now unfolding. Yes, Zero has suffered very much, and the anime has made that abundantly clear. But just because Kaname is a pureblood vampire doesn’t mean that he has no feelings or that he has no painful and tragic backstory of his own. /rant

    Anyways, this episode is by far the best in the series. ^^;

    Sophie
  14. @Blist: whoops, too much Chaos;Head! Thanks! I thought it was weird that they shared the same name and I never noticed before. I was sleepy when I wrote it heehee~

    @Amethyst: Thank you very much! The happier I am with an episode, the harder I try not to be so sarcastic when I write about it. It’s more of a personality flaw than a writing style.

  15. I have a few questions regarding Yuki’s past, I’m a little confused. When Yuki went with the headmaster and Zero to the hunters HQ to retrieve some info, did the headmaster already know what happened? I mean he mentioned her mother, Juri in this episode, so was he keeping it secret or does he not know of:
    Kaname and Yuki’s true relation
    Juri was really a vampire
    Or he just heard of Juri through the records or from Kaname?

    Celes
  16. I was surprised they did this episode so soon. It was a good episode though. I wonder what they are going to plan for the rest of the episodes since they caught up to the manga so quickly.

    Julygirl17
  17. I usually only lurk about here, but I have to say this episode was great and I loved your review of it Trillian.
    Thank you for your hard work!

    On another note, poor Rima and poor Ruka! By the end of the season, everyone is going to be emotastic. I look forward to Zero having some major temper tantrums. A lot of people seemed to be turned off by the amounts of interpersonal drama and emotional distress, but I love it!

    Pandora
  18. @Celes: At first I wrote quite a long answer for all of your questions, but it’s too much of spoliers so I decided to just answer according to your questions 😀 so that it won’t ruin the fun for you and other people who haven’t read the manga yet.

    did the headmaster already know what happened?
    He did know some of it, but not sure if he knew about Rido or not, but he kept it a secret. The flashback of Juri holding a baby is his own memory when they met. So, yes, he knew Juri is a vampire.

    Blist
  19. She fainted afterward, so I think her hair will start growing while she’s sleeping or after she wakes up again. I REALLY hope they will animate her long hair version. The official poster shows her long hair version, so I’m pretty sure they will animate it.

    Also, why did they bother drawing the long hair before the episode aired? Anyone who hasn’t read the manga won’t know what’s going on…

    KittyMeepers

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