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「Canorus−雪の花−」 (Kanorusu−Yuki no Hana−)
“Snow Flower”
As Vanitas notes-all ends on a false note of security. Jacques-Jean and Chloe get their happy ending together and Jeanne breaks out of her rut. Except something is off. Ruthven’s brainwashing which seemed iron-clad, is thrown off by Jeanne and Vanitas and the relentless Chasseurs pack up and leave Gevaudan Both parties seemingly forgetting to bring home Chloe’s head. Things obviously aren’t going to end here.
The question is-where do they go from here? Chloe and Jacques-Jean no longer have the power to fight off enemies and there’s only so long they can be on the run with both the Chasseurs and Borreaus after them. As for Jeanne-she is the loyal, earnest type who won’t run away from her duty to Luca, which means going back to the hell of punishment at the hands of Ruthven. She knows what she faces by going back-her outpouring of tender passion for Vanitas and reminder of his promise almost seems like a farewell.
Is this the beginning of Vanitas’ own farewell? He overexerted himself using immense amounts of astermite power to drive the World Formula Alteration machine, attempting to cure Chloe, and healing Jacques-Jean. The blue mark on his hand spread extensively-whatever happens when it spreads too much is probably bad news.
From the way Vanitas is so set on revenge against the vampire Vanitas, I was expecting a total asshole. Yet, the picture we get of the vampire Vanitas (I’m assuming that’s who the hooded figure in the flashback was) is anything but. Vanitas Sr. actually seemed to care for young Vanitas. Something must have gone down after that flashback occurred to warrant Vanitas Jr.’s sentiments. If I had to guess, it probably had something to do with that other boy in his memories.
I was confused as to why they focused so much on Astolfo when he didn’t add anything other than another road-block. After going back to previous episodes, I remembered the two are in the same boat-Vanitas’ parents too were killed by vampires and he also was taken in by the Chasseurs. The biggest difference is what happened to them after that-Vanitas was used for research and Astolfo was trained as a weapon. Vanitas broadly sees both humans and vampires at fault because he suffered at the hands of both and as a research subject, escaped indoctrination by the church. Would Vanitas have followed a trajectory of hatred and anti-vampirism similar to Astolfo, had he become a Chasseur? Astolfo’s character gives pause for thought on what Vanitas could have been and what would not have been (namely Vanitas’ friendships with Noe and Jeanne).
Jeanne as the sweet, loving girl overcomes the fearful, trapped woman inside. I was rooting for her the whole time and was so glad she could do what she couldn’t do the first time in saving Chloe. And sort of confess to Vanitas to boot (actions do speak louder than words). That was an incredibly beautiful scene, with the flowers softly falling and each party involved realizing their feelings without needing words. Vanitas even did the most un-Vanitas thing and broke down in tears after realizing Jeanne had broken through his defensive walls (well, some of them at least).
I am beginning to question Vanitas’ nature. He went from being terribly cynical and self-serving to being so gentle with Jeanne and even encouraging Noe to follow his own sense of justice. He’s obviously changed through interactions with genuinely kind people like Jeanne and Noe, but it’s almost like he’s a completely different character. He is even allowing himself to remember his past-this is the first time we’ve encountered his past through a personal flashback rather than him giving a matter-of-fact account through 3rd person narration. Don’t get me wrong, I like that he’s opening up-but at the same time, to go from 0 all the way to 100 almost seems contrived.
Vanitas is not the only one who has changed. Noe has become more assertive thanks to Vanitas’ urging- willing to seriously fight against another person. As opposed to previously where Noe would hesitate against an opponent, caught up in empathy. I am getting an increasing sense of Noe becoming isolated. During Vanitas’ emotional moment and then when Jean-Jacques and Chloe chose each other over their curses, it Noe was in a daze-like an outsider looking in on something he can’t quite grasp. (Although losing your hand and a lot of blood with it would also have that effect.) Vanitas and Jeanne have found each other and are driven by their personal motives (revenge and protector, respectively). Jean-Jacques and Chloe have each other and are willing to fight for that. They all have a purpose that drives them, whereas Noe seems lacks that-he goes where life takes him, without any clear end-goal to fight for. It will be interesting to see if this divide becomes even greater or if Noe finally finds purpose beyond mere curiosity in his journey.
Preview
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At first, it seemed odd that this arc ended so soon. However, that feeling dissipated once you remember there was a character in OP that had yet to make a physical appearance. A white haired kid in an alleyway during the OP sequence. So, if he wasn’t in this arc, it’s because he isn’t the focus of it but will be a focus later on.
Both the Senate and Church have had their ambitions screwed over Vanitas’ actions. So, there’s bound to be retribution on the horizon. After all, there are no action without consequences. At least Chloé and Jean-Jacques get their semi happy ending, even it means now living life in exile and on the run. Then there’s Jeanne who stands to find herself in hot water as well. Hopefully, she doesn’t get anything too severe.
My theory is the blue mark on Vanitas’ arm is acting as some kind of violation counter. Vanitas of the Blue Moon originally vowed revenge on all the Crimson Moon vampires and here, said Blue Moon vampire’s clansman is doing the polar opposite by saving them to fulfil a stated revenge campaign of his own design. So, it’s more than likely every time the human Vanitas saves a curse bearer, he risks a severe punishment of his own. But he’s deliberately ignoring it. But I’m wondering what happened between the two that caused a fallout. Because the few flashbacks there are of them show no sign of animosity. Odds are it has something to do with that white haired kid in the OP. Not to mention Vanitas mentioned the name “Lou” in a disoriented state while Jeanne was nursing him in the cabin.
Most people are molded based on the environment they’re in. More so when they’re younger and vulnerable to influence. Both Vanitas and Astolfo have similar backstories. The difference is Vanitas ended up in an environment where he experienced first-hand how vile humans can be, giving him multiple perspectives when it comes to both species, allowing him insight to navigate between them. Whereas Astolfo developed a bias because he only knows one perspective, making him inflexible. Even now, Vanitas is changing based on his current environment and the people he’s in contact with.
I was hoping for another bite scene and was not disappointed. Among other aspects, this story certainly prides itself on making vampire bites, rather vampirism in general, a focus of eroticism and animal instinct. Surely I’m not the only one sometimes thinking “Get a room, you two!”, whenever Jeanne acts on her vampiric impulses. The only other vampire animes I know that can give “The Case Study of Vanitas” competition in this department are “Strike the Blood” and “Black Blood Brothers”.
And let’s not forget to address the elephant in the room. After all the chaos was resolved, there was strange but brief emphasis on Murr the car towards the end of the episode. Maybe there’s more to this aloof feline than we think.
The character will definitely be in the coming episodes-on the official Twitter account they recently released a new promo image featuring that character along with a character design, introducing him as “Mihail”.
That is an interesting theory about the blue arm being related to a violation counter and it would certainly make sense.
I’m expecting the consequences for Jeanne to be severe-after all, she acted against his wishes and I’m sure Ruthven wouldn’t sit easily with a powerful witch able to act independently from (or even against) him. From the way she acted with Vanitas, it really seemed bittersweet, like a final farewell. I’m sure he’ll either stop providing her with medicine- causing her affliction to go out of control, or he’ll double down on the brainwashing.
A particular interest I’ve developed thanks to this series is how much and fast it’s going through the manga material for the adaptation. Personally, I have the paperback versions of volumes 1, 2, 3, 7 and 8. And have made comparisons now and again excluding where it involved the 4th, 5th and 6th volumes I’m missing. For example, just by comparing the cover art I saw online, Vanitas and Jeanne’s date in episode 11 takes place in the 4th volume. And here, this 19th episode ends at the first pages of chapter 43, which is part of the 8th volume that released on May 18, 2021. At this current pace, the anime will reach the 9th volume’s material before the English publisher “Yen Press” even releases it to the public.
Is that so? it’ll probably be a long time till we get another season if at all then.
Another issue is that there’s a gap of nearly a year’s worth of time between volumes. For both Japanese and English versions. So, it will be a very long time before there is enough material gathered to make a proper following season. Even more bothersome is the fact the manga began on December 22, 2015 and doesn’t even have a total of 60 chapters yet.
I wonder if they’ll end up veering off into anime only material like what they did with Pandora Hearts. They could also decide to put a following season on hiatus or to just end the anime with the end of this cour.