Legend tells of a Vampire named Vanitas who was exiled by
his people because of his blue eyes and the Grimoire he created to serve as his
weapon of revenge against them. For Vampire Noe Archiviste, this story has
remained a myth…until he meets a human, bearing not only the Grimoire itself
but also going by the name of Vanitas.
Brought together by fate, Noe and Vanitas join forces to cure a surge in
corrupted Vampires in Paris. But who or
what is the cause of this sudden infection of Vampires and what will it take
for these two excentric souls to stop it?
Welcome, Dear Readers, to the start of a new season of
First Impression Friday.
Today’s title
comes as a suggestion from a friend of mine who’s looking to cosplay a
character from this series.
Up until
they announced their plans, I hadn’t even heard of Case Study of Vanitas.
And based on how it begins I was a little
worried it was going to be a repeat of another Anime I’d covered on FIF last
October, Undead Murder Farce, what with Vampires living in tandem with Humans
in an uneasy(ish) peace and a pair of specialists looking to deal with them.
Not gonna lie though, I think Case Study of Vanitas gets off to a better start
than the other title and quickly proved to me it wasn’t a rehash of ideas
(though UMF came a couple years after this dropped).
The toe tapping opening credits show off very little of
the more darker elements we see in the first episode but do establish that the
two wayward souls we’re following: Noe and Vanitas, are quite the eccentric and
theatrical duo.
Vanitas in particular
sees the entire world as his stage and he doesn’t shy from presenting his
thoughts and wishes in over dramatic fashion (under beautiful blue moonlight no
less).
Noe looks to be just as wacky but
in, oddly enough, a Doctor Who sort of way.
By this I mean he’s inquisitive and quick to pick up on details but also
has the manic energy of the popular Time Lord stepping into a new page of
history for the first time.
Arguably the
best laugh of the episode came near the end when Vanitas declared he and Noe
would team up…and Noe quickly shot him down while Vanitas denied that was his
answer.
Yeah, these two have good
comedic potential together.
The first episodes presentation value is pretty damn good
too.
Case Study in Vanitas comes to us
from Studio Bones, who rarely ever turn out a bad looking Anime.
Honestly though, between some of the glowing
visuals and the music of the ever awesome Yuki Kaijura, I could swear this was
Studio Ufotable’s work. Granted, it lacks the same Ufotable movie level
polish.
This is still Bones though and
they know how to catch you eye with amazing images.
The sight of the gigantic airship definitely
had me whistling in approval.
Considering Square Enix published the original Vanitas Manga, you can
see the Final Fantasy inspiration on the Castle sized vehicle flying towards
Paris.
My friend told me I’d probably
like the Steampunk aesthetic of the show…and they were right, damn that thing
looked so awesome.
Though the ending of the first episode teases a rather
grim finale, the road to getting there might be worth it with Case Study of
Vanitas.
The two leads have potential,
both together and individually.
The
sudden surge in berserk Vampires might not be anything new but the mystery of
the Vanitas Grimoire is certainly worth looking into.
Plus, Bones’ beautiful animation and the
equally hauntingly beautiful music of Yuki Kaijura (I cant remember the last
OST I heard from her), is a nice attention grabber.
Hell, I do have plans for something to review
for Halloween this year…but if I carry on a bit longer with this one, those
plans might have to change.
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