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Hey guys, kanna here. I know I promised Wolf Children this week, and rest assured, that is coming for the next Anime Monday. However, with me moving into my dorm in just under a week (the time just flies by, doesn't it?), I wanted to get a quick Anime Monday out. So, without further ado...
Yeah, those of you Pokemon fans out there had to know this was coming. It wouldn't be a complete list without it. This is, by far, my absolute favorite insert song (could change over time, but it hasn't yet). It's a beautiful song, the orchestra fits in great, and the ocarina by itself is just wonderful. Just when you think an orchestra wouldn't fit in, it does.
This version of the song is actually BETTER than the original Japanese version. Don't get me wrong, they both sound great. This one just sounds...sadder, but more hopeful at the same time. It's beautiful, perfect, and sets the tone for the end of the movie. A quote from the movie is, "The Guardian shall arise to quell the fighting, but alone its song shall fail," and this definitely sets the mood.
I still get emotional when I hear this song, because Pokemon 2000 is my favorite Pokemon movie, because how much this reminds me of my childhood, and because it's just such a beautiful piece of music that only a genius could compose. If only I knew who this composing genius was...
Anyway, that's my Top Ten Anime Openings, Endings, Inserts, and Background Music! What are some of your favorite openings, endings, inserts, and background music? Leave them in the comments, and get ready for Anime Monday #24: Wolf Children! Bye for now! ~k
kanna's
TOP TEN
ANIME OPENINGS
ENDINGS
INSERTS
AND
BACKGROUND MUSIC
(could that title BE any bigger? hahaha...*ahem*)
My first Top Ten list! Yay! If this is well-received, I may do other Top Ten lists in the future. I'm open to requests, but this has to be well-received if you want other Top Ten lists.
My first Top Ten list! Yay! If this is well-received, I may do other Top Ten lists in the future. I'm open to requests, but this has to be well-received if you want other Top Ten lists.
This list WILL include the following:
- stuff from English dubs and stuff from the original Japanese
- stuff from anime I either haven't reviewed (yet) or won't review (ever)
- stuff from anime I may have given a bad rating but liked the music
- an honorable mentions section
This list WILL NOT include the following:
An insert song is basically a song within the body of the anime that is given more attention than the background music. You hear it in one or two episodes (usually one, sometimes two, three on a rare occasion), and pretty often throughout a movie. I'll point it out to you when we get to one.
Note: Please keep in mind that this is in order of my personal opinion. I have NOT taken a general census to determine what everyone's favorite anime openings, endings, inserts, and background music are (as of right now, I think my audience is too small for that).
Note 2: This list is noninclusive. Meaning that some of my favorites may not be listed here, but they are still my favorites.
With that said, let's get started!
- stuff from anime about music (i.e. UtaPri, Hibike! Euphonium, K-On!, AKB0048, Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch, Love Live!, La Corda d'Oro, etc.)
- Why: This post would be waaaaaaay too long if I did that and it would consist ENTIRELY of songs from those anime. I might save that for another post. We'll have to wait and see.
- stuff by Joe Hisaishi
- Why: As awesome as Joe Hisaishi's music is (if you don't know who he is, he composed the music for almost all - if not all - of Hayao Miyazaki's movies), I feel I can't give a review of his music justice. I'd be totally and completely biased and list all of his stuff, making this post too long (again).
- my opinion of the animation sequence that goes with the song
- Why: While the animation sequences may or may not be nice, this review is about music, not the animation sequences that go with it.
An insert song is basically a song within the body of the anime that is given more attention than the background music. You hear it in one or two episodes (usually one, sometimes two, three on a rare occasion), and pretty often throughout a movie. I'll point it out to you when we get to one.
Note: Please keep in mind that this is in order of my personal opinion. I have NOT taken a general census to determine what everyone's favorite anime openings, endings, inserts, and background music are (as of right now, I think my audience is too small for that).
Note 2: This list is noninclusive. Meaning that some of my favorites may not be listed here, but they are still my favorites.
With that said, let's get started!
#10: Sailor Moon - English opening (no idea what the title is, but I think it's "She's the One Named Sailor Moon")
For most girls born in the 90s (not all, but most) who started watching anime in either the mid to late 90s or early 2000s, one of the first female-oriented anime we saw was Sailor Moon, Cardcaptors, Revolutionary Girl Utena, or others that I might not have mentioned.
However, if you're a girl who lived in an English speaking country (or if you're a boy and you had a younger sister, who, at the time, forced you to watch Sailor Moon with her), and one of the first anime you saw was Sailor Moon, chances are they played this opening before every episode. And by G-d, was it catchy. Young girls (myself included) could often be heard singing this song at school, on the playground, at home...pretty much wherever. It got stuck in a lot of people's heads, and every week, most young girls would turn on the TV just to hear this song. It was pretty empowering and definitely set the tone for the anime.
Why #10: As catchy as this theme is, I feel that it doesn't hold up anymore. With the release of Sailor Moon Crystal, even though they use this theme as the opening for the English dub, I just feel that it's out of place. What I'm trying to say: what may have worked in the 90s doesn't really work now.
#9: Dragonball Z Movie 13: Wrath of the Dragon - Tapion's Theme (insert song) (it probably has a title, I just don't know what it is)
Let's take another trip down memory lane to the mid-2000s (or 1996, when the movie was released in Japan, if anyone who lived in Japan at the time is reading this). Dragonball Z: Wrath of the Dragon is one of my favorite movies out of the Dragonball Z movies that I've seen (I haven't seen all of them. One of these days, I'll have a Dragonball Z movie marathon - assuming I can find all of the movies online). While I won't go into a full on review of the movie (this post is about music from anime, not anime itself), I will talk about this insert song.
This song was played a number of times throughout the movie, and while there is a version that is sung, I prefer the instrumental and find the vocals too distracting. This song had a haunting melody that really seemed to fit Tapion's character in the movie, as well as the movie itself. It was a melody filled with mystery, suspense, and so much more. It's actually only somewhere between a few seconds to a minute long, but that amount of time is just enough to show that Tapion means business when he's fighting.
Unfortunately, this song wasn't featured in the English dub of the movie. Some guy played a different song (he actually learned ocarina for the movie), and they went with that instead. You can find English dubbed versions with this song edited in, but they're pitched due to copyright issues (or something). Additionally, you can find tons of covers of it on YouTube played on ocarina, recorder, piano, you name it. Personally, I prefer the piano covers (particularly this one: Tapion's theme - piano). I can actually play the right hand part on the piano, but I never learned the left hand part.
Why #9: As much as I could go on and on about how amazing this insert song is that's only somewhere between a few seconds and a minute (seriously, I could), I feel like most people have forgotten about this song. While I haven't forgotten about it (although that's probably because I've seen this movie at least ten times), the most recent comments on a lot of the videos I found were from a number of years ago. If you asked someone about Dragonball Z: Wrath of the Dragon today, chances are you wouldn't be able to find a lot of people who remember the song or the movie (I could be wrong about that, you never know).
#8: Fullmetal Alchemist - "Brothers/Bratja" (insert song) (please note that the second title is in Russian, which is a language I don't know and can't type in, so I typed the transliteration)
English version - "Brothers"
Russian version - "Bratja"
Ah, Fullmetal Alchemist. Where do I begin with you? Well, for starters, let's talk about the English version of the song. The English version is sung by legendary voice actor, Vic Mignogna (who's going to be at my local anime convention this year, yay!), and is probably one of my favorite insert songs from an English dub. It really sets the tone and not only talks about the general plot of the anime, but also shows how one brother is trying to ask for forgiveness from the other (if you want to know what for, watch the anime). It's really emotional and Vic Mignogna was truly the right person to sing the English version of the song. I don't think I could imagine the English version being sung by anyone else.
Now for the Russian version, "Bratja." This version is sung by Anastasia and Veronika Golovina. Keep in mind that I know next to zero Russian, so my opinion on this version is pretty limited. The two women have wonderful voices, and I think I actually like the Russian version more than I like the English version, even though the English version is sung by Vic Mignogna (who I'm a pretty big fan of). I just feel that the Russian version lends itself to the anime more and the way it's sung makes it sound more sad. Now, I don't know what exactly they're saying, because I don't know Russian, but I know I can safely say that both versions are great.
Why #8: To be honest, my reasons for putting this as #8 are pretty hard to explain. I'd have to compare and contrast the two versions, which I just did (sort of). I guess, if anything, I think this is more suited as an ending rather than an insert song.
#7: Zatch Bell - "Zatch Bell! Theme" (opening)
Only thirty seconds of pure awesomeness is all that's needed to give this seriously underrated anime the entrance it deserves. But, then I'd have to include all three of the Japanese openings, not to mention the endings, and you want me to have some variety and get to #1 sooner rather than later, right? -sigh-
This opening may only be thirty seconds, but it is pure awesomeness. It stuck around for all the episodes of the English dub (all 104 of them), despite the change in the animation sequence as it went from season to season. Sure, the lyrics seem a little Pokemon-esque, but it's pretty catchy and this song let you know who had the power in Zatch Bell.
Why #7: This song is ONLY 30 SECONDS LONG! I kinda wanted a little bit more. I mean, most anime openings are anywhere from a minute to two minutes, and sometimes a little over that (and those are only the ones that are TV-length). THIS IS JUST 30 SECONDS. The writers had to have more to say than just, "You know who's got the power." I mean, this is one of the cases where I actually prefer the Japanese openings over this one. Because the songwriters for those openings had a lot more to say.
#6: Tsubasa Chronicle - "You Are My Love" (insert song)
You didn't think I could have a music list and NOT include a song by the legendary anime composer, Yuki Kajiura, did you? If I didn't include her, this would be a pretty boring list.
This song is so beautiful, but so sad at the same time. It sets the tone for the characters and their struggles. We can see through this that our protagonist is trying hard to recover her memories of her loved ones and how much she misses them. It's beautiful perfection sung by Yui Makino and composed by Yuki Kajiura.
Why #6: This is a good song, it really is. However, as beautiful and sad as it is, it didn't really tug at my heartstrings like other songs from other anime. We'll get to those later.
Now we're really getting down to some of my top favorites, because here comes the top five!
#5: Naruto - "Sadness and Sorrow" (background music)
Dear freaking G-d, this has to be one of my favorite pieces of music from Naruto. While I can't necessarily call myself a fan of the anime, I love the music that goes with it, and this song is no exception. It's so beautiful and sad, it literally tugs at your heartstrings and gets you all emotional.
I love the use of the traditional Japanese instruments in this song. While I can't name every instrument that was used (I took a class on Asian music, so I should know this stuff, and I'm really angry with myself that I can't identify everything). It really gives it a unique, traditional spin.
We're shown how ninja funerals (yeah...we first hear this song during a funeral. I probably should have mentioned that...) work and we can connect with the characters' emotions through this song. This is a song that, when covered, sounds good on almost any instrument. Take my friend's video, for example, where he covers the song on a Chinese flute:
Why #5: Don't get me wrong, this song is great. However, Naruto has better songs, and this one just seems to go on for too long. They could trim it down to about two minutes, maybe three or four, tops. But seven minutes? Just for one background song? I don't get it. I mean, maybe that's how long the scene was? I honestly don't remember.
#4: Naruto - "The Raising Fighting Spirit" (background music)
Again, can't call myself a fan of the anime, but if they could just shut off all the voices and have the soundtrack play, then I could call myself a fan of the anime. This song plays during most fight scenes, and it's freaking awesome.
The use of traditional Japanese instruments is what gives this song its own unique style and allows it to sound different from other fight-themed songs in most anime. When you hear this song, it's empowering. If you hear this song and you're down about something, you want to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start over again. I think this is the ultimate motivational music.
Why #4: This song is better than "Sadness and Sorrow," for one (not to mention less depressing), but I feel that it's not as good as other songs from Naruto, such as "Naruto Main Theme." Sure, it gets you pumped up, and that's great, but like I said, it's not as good as some of the other songs from Naruto.
#3: Inuyasha - "Inuyasha Main Battle Theme" (background music)
Inuyasha was what launched me into the world of anime (well...that's if you don't count Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Digimon, Sailor Moon, Cardcaptors, etc., which I don't, because when I was little and watched those shows, I had no idea what anime was). I had to include SOMETHING from it on this list. It just wouldn't feel right if I didn't.
Sure, the openings and endings are great (most of them are; others, not so much), but what really got me addicted to this anime was the soundtrack. And as we all know, I am a sucker for a good soundtrack. This song really made you wonder what it meant to just give up, and it made you want to keep going ahead strong.
I love the flute solo towards the end of the song, and think it really adds something to the song as a whole. Kaoru Wada (the guy who composed the music for Inuyasha) is a genius, and I wish he got more recognition.
Why #3: While this is a FANTASTIC song, I can't help but feel it's not good enough to be #2 or #1. I can't really explain my reasons.
#2: Attack on Titan - "Crimson Bow and Arrow" (opening 1)
Yeah, you knew this was going to be on the list even before you read it. Why? Because this is the best music from all of Attack on Titan (okay, I will admit that the other opening is good and the songs from the anime movies are good, too).
It's so cool how they mix German and Japanese together into the song, especially because German isn't even the lead singer's first language. I don't speak German (I know a few words here and there, but not enough to form coherent sentences), so I don't know what they're saying in the middle part of the song that's ENTIRELY in German. I looked at the English translation for the first part of the song, though, and it definitely sets the tone for the anime. It's unique in that it's not the type of music that can be played over anything else.
Why #2: It would have been too obvious if this was #1, and you guys know it. It's good, and Linked Horizon (the group who did the music for Attack on Titan) is AMAZING. This is a great song to get you pumped for whatever is about to happen next. But this song isn't good enough to be #1.
And now for a few honorable mentions before we get to #1. I'm only going to post these as bullet points to keep this looking somewhat concise. The links will be there; feel free to click on them.
- Clannad - "Dango Daikazoku" (insert song)
- Clannad After Story - "Small Palms" (insert song)
- Pokemon - "Pokemon Theme" (opening 1), "XY&Z" (opening...who the heck is even counting anymore? Anyway, it's the third opening from the XY series from the original Japanese)
- Yu-Gi-Oh! - "Yu-Gi-Oh Theme" (English opening), "Warriors" (Japanese opening 4)
- Inuyasha - "Dearest" (violin ver.) (ending 3)
- Here's the real version (I just think the violin version is better, but Ayumi Hamasaki -- the singer of the original version -- has a wonderful voice and the original version is good, too)
- Diabolik Lovers - "Mr. Sadistic Night" (opening 1)
- OK, before you all think I'm 100% bonkers for putting this as an honorable mention, be thankful I didn't put it as #1. YES, this anime sucks (teehee, sucks...and it's about vampires...get it? OK, bad joke). YES, the anime is worse than Twilight. HOWEVER, this song is the ONE redeeming quality this anime has. It's dark and addictive. I'm actually listening to it while typing this bit. It's a rock song, which is even better for those of us who love rock (note that rock and metal are two separate genres). Hikaru Midorikawa and Kosuke Toriumi are great singers, and this song proves it. I was actually surprised when I found out that Kosuke Toriumi sang this. Why? Because before I saw Diabolik Lovers, I just finished the most recent season of UtaPri and was used to him singing ballad-y love songs. I get voice actors have a lot of different variety in their roles, but I was still surprised to hear him sing this and actually sound good. Overall, while the anime sucks, this song is still worth a listen.
And the #1 song is....what? No drum roll? Seriously, guys? Fine, I'll do it myself.
#1: Pokemon: The Movie 2000 - "Lugia's Song" (insert song)
Yeah, those of you Pokemon fans out there had to know this was coming. It wouldn't be a complete list without it. This is, by far, my absolute favorite insert song (could change over time, but it hasn't yet). It's a beautiful song, the orchestra fits in great, and the ocarina by itself is just wonderful. Just when you think an orchestra wouldn't fit in, it does.
This version of the song is actually BETTER than the original Japanese version. Don't get me wrong, they both sound great. This one just sounds...sadder, but more hopeful at the same time. It's beautiful, perfect, and sets the tone for the end of the movie. A quote from the movie is, "The Guardian shall arise to quell the fighting, but alone its song shall fail," and this definitely sets the mood.
I still get emotional when I hear this song, because Pokemon 2000 is my favorite Pokemon movie, because how much this reminds me of my childhood, and because it's just such a beautiful piece of music that only a genius could compose. If only I knew who this composing genius was...
Anyway, that's my Top Ten Anime Openings, Endings, Inserts, and Background Music! What are some of your favorite openings, endings, inserts, and background music? Leave them in the comments, and get ready for Anime Monday #24: Wolf Children! Bye for now! ~k
Hey guys, kanna here. Because my writer's mind has decided to torture me and keep me in the realm of vampires (oh, joy), we're going to keep the theme going with...Vampire Knight.
You guys are lucky I still have my sanity after Diabolik Lovers. I could barely make it through the first season, let alone start the second. And if the rumors of making a third season are true, then I pray for EVERYONE'S sanity.
A bit of background.
Vampire Knight started out as a manga series by Matsuri Hino. You might recognize her from...actually, that's all you'll recognize her from. Vampire Knight is the manga that she's known for. She's done other work, but none of it is well-known. Kind of sucks for her, don't you think?
Anyway, aside from being known from only one manga, this manga was so popular that an anime adaptation was in the works thanks to Studio Deen, who produced some pretty popular anime, such as Higurashi no Naku Koro ni and Rurouni Kenshin. This anime had two seasons: Vampire Knight and Vampire Knight: Guilty. I'll get to which season was better later and why, but for now, let's talk about the plot of the first season.
The story is set at Cross Academy, a fictional school split up into two divisions: the Day Class and the Night Class. The twist: the Day Class consists entirely of humans, and the Night Class consists entirely of vampires.
Now, I know what you're thinking. "How is this possible?" Well, the headmaster, Kaien Cross, believes that humans and vampires can coexist without vampires feeding on humans. However, the Day Class doesn't know the secret of the Night Class, so the headmaster assigned two "guardians" to keep the secret at Cross Academy.
Our first "guardian" is Yuki Cross, Headmaster Cross's adopted daughter, and the overall protagonist of the anime. Yuki has no memories of her past. In fact, her earliest memory is of a stormy night in winter when she was attacked by a rogue vampire and then saved by Kaname Kuran (more on him later). She later became Headmaster Cross's adopted daughter and became friends with Kaname and eventually developed feelings for him.
Our second "guardian" is Zero Kiryuu, the lone survivor of a vampire attack that killed his entire family. Zero was taken in by Headmaster Cross after being bitten by a pureblood (more on that later) vampire, Shizuka Hio, who also killed his family. Due to the attack, Zero hated vampires and did not trust them. He believed they were all just blood-sucking monsters and did not share the belief that Headmaster Cross and Yuki shared of vampires and humans being able to coexist. He is a childhood friend/brother of Yuki's and it has been shown that he has feelings for her and often gets jealous when Kaname is around.
The first season basically shows the struggles that take place between vampires and humans coexisting, along with the struggle of keeping the Night Class's secret from the Day Class. We also learn a little bit more about vampires and the different "levels," and we get a lot of character development on Zero Kiryuu. It's kind of like a "day in the life of..." season, with a few twists and turns scattered throughout.
The second season shows Yuki trying to discover more about her past and why it was hidden from her. We get a lot of character development on Yuki's end, and learn something really shocking about her towards the end of the season. I'm doing my best to keep this review spoiler-free, but I will explain a few things.
Let's start with the different "levels" of vampires. There are five "levels" of vampires, which vary according to the purity of their blood.
The highest level, or level A, is the pureblood vampires, and there aren't many of them. They're the strongest and most powerful vampires out there, and their blood is known to have many different properties, so it is sought after by weaker vampires.
They have no human blood in their family line, so to reproduce, they often intermarry to reproduce. For those of you who don't know what that means, it means that, for example, a brother will marry his sister so that they can keep the pureblood line pure, without a single trace of human blood. Disgusting, right? What sick mind would come up with this?
Additionally, a human bitten by a pureblood vampire will become a vampire.
Level B is the aristocrat vampires. They're the elite vampires with special abilities beyond normal vampires. They are also very powerful vampires, but are not as powerful as the purebloods, due to the small traces of human blood in their family lines. They also have super strength and speed.
Level C is just the commonplace vampires. They're not really that special and don't really make an appearance in the anime, so we're going to skip over them.
Levels D and E are the lowest levels. They are ex-humans who were bitten by pureblood vampires. While Level D vampires can be tamed by a vampire hunter, Level E stands for Level End, meaning that the end of that vampire's life is near and will be ended by the Hunter's Association.
We talked about Zero and Yuki already, so let's talk about Kaname. Kaname Kuran is a pureblood vampire, and as such, is in charge of the Night Class. He's the one who saved Yuki from the rogue vampire when she was young. He, too, has romantic feelings for Yuki.
So, rating: um...wow, this is tough. Let's just rate by season.
Vampire Knight: 8/10
Vampire Knight: Guilty: 5/10
Why (overall): This anime is actually pretty good, and the first season sets the second season up pretty well. The animation is great, as is the character development. There's comedy throughout thanks to Headmaster Cross, and the romance is actually somewhat believable. Keyword being somewhat. Why? Well, let's get back to what I said about pureblood vampires. It almost feels like their forcing the message of incest being okay (which it might be in some countries, I honestly don't know) down our throats.
As far as the characters go, this is basically the anime version of Twilight (minus the werewolves). Heck, this whole series is basically like this:
Yuki: Bella
Zero: Jacob (minus the werewolf bit)
Kaname: Edward
The only differences are that Yuki is a bigger dimwit than Bella (didn't think that was possible), Kaname is just a big abuser, and Zero isn't a werewolf.
What makes the series interesting is the different "levels" of vampires and the Vampire Hunters that are in the series. But that's all taken away from (and I'm going to spoil it here), the Team Kaname/Team Zero thing. Yuki chooses Team Kaname, decides to become a vampire, and we learn that not only is she a pureblood vampire, but she's Kaname's younger sister.
The music is probably the best part of the entire series. The openings for both seasons are sung by ON/OFF, and the endings for both seasons are sung by cellist and singer Kanon Wakeshima. The music videos for the songs are actually pretty cool to watch, too. I'd definitely check them out. The opening for Vampire Knight is "Two Beats and a Red Sin" (ふたつの鼓動と赤い罪), and the opening for Vampire Knight: Guilty is "Rinnie -Rondo-" (輪廻－ロンド－). The ending for Vampire Knight is "Still Doll," and the ending for Vampire Knight: Guilty is "Sand Castle" (砂のお城).
Well, that's my review of Vampire Knight and Vampire Knight: Guilty. I hope you enjoyed it, and look forward to Anime Monday #23, which will be...I have no idea. I'm considering Akatsuki no Yona, among a couple others, but we shall see.
ALSO: I'm moving into my dorm in a couple of weeks, and that entails a lot of packing. So, naturally, I might have to go on a short hiatus. Sorry!!!
You guys are lucky I still have my sanity after Diabolik Lovers. I could barely make it through the first season, let alone start the second. And if the rumors of making a third season are true, then I pray for EVERYONE'S sanity.
A bit of background.
Vampire Knight started out as a manga series by Matsuri Hino. You might recognize her from...actually, that's all you'll recognize her from. Vampire Knight is the manga that she's known for. She's done other work, but none of it is well-known. Kind of sucks for her, don't you think?
Anyway, aside from being known from only one manga, this manga was so popular that an anime adaptation was in the works thanks to Studio Deen, who produced some pretty popular anime, such as Higurashi no Naku Koro ni and Rurouni Kenshin. This anime had two seasons: Vampire Knight and Vampire Knight: Guilty. I'll get to which season was better later and why, but for now, let's talk about the plot of the first season.
The story is set at Cross Academy, a fictional school split up into two divisions: the Day Class and the Night Class. The twist: the Day Class consists entirely of humans, and the Night Class consists entirely of vampires.
Now, I know what you're thinking. "How is this possible?" Well, the headmaster, Kaien Cross, believes that humans and vampires can coexist without vampires feeding on humans. However, the Day Class doesn't know the secret of the Night Class, so the headmaster assigned two "guardians" to keep the secret at Cross Academy.
Our first "guardian" is Yuki Cross, Headmaster Cross's adopted daughter, and the overall protagonist of the anime. Yuki has no memories of her past. In fact, her earliest memory is of a stormy night in winter when she was attacked by a rogue vampire and then saved by Kaname Kuran (more on him later). She later became Headmaster Cross's adopted daughter and became friends with Kaname and eventually developed feelings for him.
Our second "guardian" is Zero Kiryuu, the lone survivor of a vampire attack that killed his entire family. Zero was taken in by Headmaster Cross after being bitten by a pureblood (more on that later) vampire, Shizuka Hio, who also killed his family. Due to the attack, Zero hated vampires and did not trust them. He believed they were all just blood-sucking monsters and did not share the belief that Headmaster Cross and Yuki shared of vampires and humans being able to coexist. He is a childhood friend/brother of Yuki's and it has been shown that he has feelings for her and often gets jealous when Kaname is around.
The first season basically shows the struggles that take place between vampires and humans coexisting, along with the struggle of keeping the Night Class's secret from the Day Class. We also learn a little bit more about vampires and the different "levels," and we get a lot of character development on Zero Kiryuu. It's kind of like a "day in the life of..." season, with a few twists and turns scattered throughout.
The second season shows Yuki trying to discover more about her past and why it was hidden from her. We get a lot of character development on Yuki's end, and learn something really shocking about her towards the end of the season. I'm doing my best to keep this review spoiler-free, but I will explain a few things.
Let's start with the different "levels" of vampires. There are five "levels" of vampires, which vary according to the purity of their blood.
The highest level, or level A, is the pureblood vampires, and there aren't many of them. They're the strongest and most powerful vampires out there, and their blood is known to have many different properties, so it is sought after by weaker vampires.
They have no human blood in their family line, so to reproduce, they often intermarry to reproduce. For those of you who don't know what that means, it means that, for example, a brother will marry his sister so that they can keep the pureblood line pure, without a single trace of human blood. Disgusting, right? What sick mind would come up with this?
Additionally, a human bitten by a pureblood vampire will become a vampire.
Level B is the aristocrat vampires. They're the elite vampires with special abilities beyond normal vampires. They are also very powerful vampires, but are not as powerful as the purebloods, due to the small traces of human blood in their family lines. They also have super strength and speed.
Level C is just the commonplace vampires. They're not really that special and don't really make an appearance in the anime, so we're going to skip over them.
Levels D and E are the lowest levels. They are ex-humans who were bitten by pureblood vampires. While Level D vampires can be tamed by a vampire hunter, Level E stands for Level End, meaning that the end of that vampire's life is near and will be ended by the Hunter's Association.
We talked about Zero and Yuki already, so let's talk about Kaname. Kaname Kuran is a pureblood vampire, and as such, is in charge of the Night Class. He's the one who saved Yuki from the rogue vampire when she was young. He, too, has romantic feelings for Yuki.
So, rating: um...wow, this is tough. Let's just rate by season.
Vampire Knight: 8/10
Vampire Knight: Guilty: 5/10
Why (overall): This anime is actually pretty good, and the first season sets the second season up pretty well. The animation is great, as is the character development. There's comedy throughout thanks to Headmaster Cross, and the romance is actually somewhat believable. Keyword being somewhat. Why? Well, let's get back to what I said about pureblood vampires. It almost feels like their forcing the message of incest being okay (which it might be in some countries, I honestly don't know) down our throats.
As far as the characters go, this is basically the anime version of Twilight (minus the werewolves). Heck, this whole series is basically like this:
Yuki: Bella
Zero: Jacob (minus the werewolf bit)
Kaname: Edward
The only differences are that Yuki is a bigger dimwit than Bella (didn't think that was possible), Kaname is just a big abuser, and Zero isn't a werewolf.
What makes the series interesting is the different "levels" of vampires and the Vampire Hunters that are in the series. But that's all taken away from (and I'm going to spoil it here), the Team Kaname/Team Zero thing. Yuki chooses Team Kaname, decides to become a vampire, and we learn that not only is she a pureblood vampire, but she's Kaname's younger sister.
The music is probably the best part of the entire series. The openings for both seasons are sung by ON/OFF, and the endings for both seasons are sung by cellist and singer Kanon Wakeshima. The music videos for the songs are actually pretty cool to watch, too. I'd definitely check them out. The opening for Vampire Knight is "Two Beats and a Red Sin" (ふたつの鼓動と赤い罪), and the opening for Vampire Knight: Guilty is "Rinnie -Rondo-" (輪廻－ロンド－). The ending for Vampire Knight is "Still Doll," and the ending for Vampire Knight: Guilty is "Sand Castle" (砂のお城).
Well, that's my review of Vampire Knight and Vampire Knight: Guilty. I hope you enjoyed it, and look forward to Anime Monday #23, which will be...I have no idea. I'm considering Akatsuki no Yona, among a couple others, but we shall see.
ALSO: I'm moving into my dorm in a couple of weeks, and that entails a lot of packing. So, naturally, I might have to go on a short hiatus. Sorry!!!
