English Dub Review: Case Study of Vanitas “In The Event of Rusty Hopes”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

In Paris, vampire attacks have become frequent as the citizens worry about their safety. Noe, a visitor on an airship arrives to seek out the Book of Vanitas, a cursed grimoire from the old folktale about the Vampire of the Blue Moon. He saves an anemic lady, Amelia who reveals herself to be a vampire and becomes corrupted as a strange man crashes the party. The stranger claims to be there for Amelia and attacks them. However, Noe runs away with Amelia as he reveals that he too is a vampire.

Amelia’s corruption grows to the point where her thirst for blood is uncontrollable and bites into Noe. The stranger comes in to cure her and he does use the Book of Vanitas to return her true name. Afterwards the stranger falls out of the ship and Noe saves him. The stranger introduces himself as Vanitas given to him by the Vampire of the Blue Moon and wants Noe’s strength to help him save all vampires despite being only a human. However, Noe rejects his offer and heads back to the airship to get his things with Vanitas in tow.

Our Take:

The Case Study of Vanitas is from Pandora Hearts creator, Jun Mochizuki. Right off the bat in this first episode, anyone can tell that this story is going to be thrilling, tragic, and funny. The animation from Bones is stunning with the clockwork gears and the constellations floating out of the Book of Vanitas. Furthermore, the opening is a jam to Noe’s daily life with Vanitas while the story itself has dark undertones. The horror that the anime presents with the cursed bearing form of Amelia was good. The disconnect between Amelia’s inner world and the reality on the airship was a nice visual touch to her crumbling state of mind. The style for her cursed state with the black tears and the mark on her chest works to create that terrifying mood.

Noe is adorable with his tourist reaction to the city. Furthermore, he’s an odd vampire for liking the Blue Moon that nearly all vampires fear because it makes them powerless. Even though we don’t know much about him right now, it’s clear that he’s a good guy and cares about whether or not the cursed Amelia would die in Vanitas’s process of curing her.

Vanitas’s introduction was great and eccentric as the doctor attacks first with a sword and hidden wire. His monologue on the malady affecting Amelia sets up two things: the outline for the cases of curse bearers and how the world of the Case Study of Vanitas works with the vampires and their true name being essentially their very existence as Noe puts it. The malady erasing vampire’s true names is called the Malnomen. Vanitas uses the Book to reverse the cursed vampire’s formula back to its original state. Now, these two have an interesting dynamic so far with Noe’s simple personality and Vanitas’s carefree attitude. It’s pretty amusing how Noe straight up rejects Vanitas’ offer despite his Teacher’s request to assess the Book of Vanitas. It’s a great way to subvert the stereotypical beginning of a partnership.

Overall it was a great first episode to get people hooked on the show. Especially with Noe’s last words on being the one to kill Vanitas in the conclusion of their journey.