#vanitas chapter 59

[septimus-h]

Jun really came back and stabbed daggers in my heart :"D

[sunsetsmakemesad]

Awwww

[tiniestdormouse]

Chapter 15:

Me: Oh, look at this Roland guy!!! 🙄

Chapter 59:

Me: Oh... look at this Roland guy... 😭😭😭

[lepetitloir]

A little note on the Border

Chapter 58 is called "Observation: The Darkness in Between", obviously referring to the Shapeless One and lady Archiviste, who run into each other in the Border.

They observe Astolfo's story, and based on that can form their own interpretations. Simply "to pass the time".

An observer is someone who watches an event, but has no active part in it. Observing allows people to come to their own conclusions, since the observer isn't experiencing the events, the "story" itself. Their location for this is perfect: the Border is neither part of the vampire world, nor the human world. It's a darkness in between.

Look, English isn't my native language, and my lexicon is lacking here, and googling isn't helping either, so let's just call this an "observation space" for now. With this I mean a gray area that allows people to consider nuances through observation and not active participation.

So then there's that scene in chapter 59 where Roland and Astolfo talk about the Border. The scene provides exposition on what exactly the Border is, but the most important thing is it's purpose. I uh. Could go on a separate analysis of that but um. Let's not do that now 😅 Ultimately I think it boils down to "Roland hesitates and questions his own capabilities". I'm not fully sure if that's worded correctly but let's not ponder on it too much for now.

The reason for that hesitance is that Astolfo slowly starts to think more and more in extremes and in doing so, considers harming people (Vampires) who are just living and don't cause any harm. Causing others unnecessary harm goes against Roland's beliefs. To show Astolfo's fall into these more extremist beliefs, it's clever to choose the Border as a topic.

Astolfo proposes to erase the Border. He suggests erasing the "observer space", leaving only the Human world and the Vampire wold behind, separately, with no way to connect them and no way for Humans and Vampires to communicate with each other.

---

So ig what I'm trying to say is that the Border is a metaphor for an observation-based approach of argumentation in discussions about discrimination, one that accepts nuance and can't be fully put into a black-or-white category.

[liesweliveby]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[lynnlyrae]

VnC timeline

I’m mostly an artist in this fandom, but sometimes inspiration strikes and leads me in completely weird directions, such as… figuring out dates of every event in VnC!

With the invaluable help of @retracexcviii, who has created timelines for VnC events before (thank you forever and ever💜) and helped me to avoid some really silly mistakes, I’ve done… this monstrosity of a text, which includes every important canon event I could think of.

— All events are distributed by centuries, starting with XVI and finishing with XIX, and after listing all the events of each century I will put screens of the same texts with correlating manga pages. Additionally, there are numbers of chapters for most of the events.

— Some dates are marked with ~, which means that this date could fluctuate a bit (could be a bit earlier or later). 

— Events that I couldn’t put anywhere specifically are in “UNKNOWN MOMENT” category. I still tried to differentiate them between centuries.

Alright, here we go! 

XVI CENTURY

1493-1500 — creation of an engraving; plague, cataclysms, Paracelsius is looking for a way to save humanity.

(7)

~ 1500 — Babel. The awakening of Faustina, who is considered to be the first vampire.

(19)

1500-1550 — the awakening of Teacher and Machina as vampires. Machina might be younger than Teacher. Creation (awakening?) of Luna? The awakening of Teacher and the creation of Luna — probably around the same time?

(19)

~ 1550-1560 — Chloe is born. She becomes a vampire at the age of 4.

(31)

Between 1550-1600 — Ruthven becomes a vampire. He is currently more that 200 years old, and it’s unknown whether he was born as a vampire or awaken or even when exactly his life began. But looks like an adult in 1650, so he was most likely alive in 1600. He is also younger than Chloe: when she calls him a “child”, he doesn’t correct her.

(31)

Presumable order of awakening of the oldest vampires: 

Faustina —> Teacher —> Machina —> Chloe —> Ruthven. 

When exactly was Luna born? Does Kresnik exist in this century?

XVII CENTURY

~ 1650 — the war between humans and vampires. Chloe meets Ruthven.

(31)

~ 1665-1669 — Jeanne awakens in a flask in front of an unknown person. She leaves the flask. Later, she is adopted by Eric and Louise, Ruthven's students.

(39)

~ 1669 — Chloe meets Jeanne. Ruthven tries to establish peace between humans and vampires.

(31, 32)

~ 1672 — (3 years after Chloe and Jeanne met, 30 years before the end of the war) Ruthven loses his students, his eye is injured; Jeanne becomes the Bourreau of the Senate; Chloe meets Machina; Machina tells about the fate of Ruthven and Jeanne. Almost immediately, Naenia appears for the first time (indicating that Faustina is already a cursebearer); Ruthven visits Chloe for the last time, they part as enemies. If Naenia exists, does Charlatan exist as well?

(32, 33)

UNKNOWN MOMENT BEFORE 1672 — Faustina becomes a cursebearer.

(33)

UNKNOWN MOMENT BEFORE 1672 — Luna creates the Books of Vanitas, which are considered to be the reason for the appearance of the Malnomen. Could the books be created to cure the cursebearers in the first place? Most likely, this happened early in the timeline, since there is a whole folklore about it. Even earlier, someone gave Luna the name " Vanitas", which is also reflected in the title of the books.

(48, 49)

XVIII CENTURY

Before 1702 — Ruthven joins the Oriflamme family, becomes one of the Queen's advisors and a senator. The Queen is still alive, but she is also active as Naenia. Luna sees Jeanne in battle.

(33)

1702 — the end of the war. According to the pact, vampires move to Altus and sell Astermite to humans in exchange for other goods.

(33, 59)

1764 — Chloe spends more than 50 years alone. Death of village girl Jeanne, who speculated to be killed by a Beast, but was a victim of radical anti-vampire group. On the same day, she is visited by Naenia and then meets Jean-Jacques. The Beast conspiracy continues.

(36, 33)

1767 — Chloe witnesses one of the murders and reveals her vampiric powers when she defends herself. After that, the general belief is that Chloe is the master of the mysterious nonexistent Beast and both are the culprits. Her human family is killed. A few days later the Chasseurs (Vampire eradication fraction?) and Ruthven come to Gévaudan. Jean-Jacques becomes a Cursebearer to protect Chloe. Jeanne, now the Hellfire Witch, finds Chloe. Chloe tries to jump off a cliff, but Naenia comes to her again. Chloe also becomes the Cursebearer. Jeanne kills other hunters, but Ruthven saves her, makes her give him an oath (she tries to resist) and puts her in deep sleep. The Beast stops attacks. Conspiracy between Ruthven and the Chasseurs presumably continues.

(35, 36, 37, 43, 39)

UNKNOWN MOMENT BETWEEN 1672-1702 — Luna witnesses Jeanne in a fight with vampires. Later, after 1767, Luna also knew about Jeanne’s sleep.

(4)

XIX CENTURY

1861 — Olivier is born. 

1862 — Roland is born.

1868 — Dominique and Louis are born. Teacher takes Louis.

(46)

1869 — Noé is born.

1870 — Vanitas is born; Dante is born.

1873 — Astolfo is born.

~ 1875 — Olivier meets Roland.

(58)

~ 1874-1875 — an elderly couple finds Noé. They live together for some time.

(9)

~ 1876 — Mikhail is born. Luca is probably born around the same time or a bit later.

~ 1876-1877 — Noé is kidnapped and ends up in a black market, gets an eye injury and is bought by Teacher. Noé meets Domi and Louis (their proportions are quite similar to Astolfo in his childhood flashbacks, where he is presumed to be around 8 years old, but Noé looks younger, so here I’m assuming Noé and the twins could be 6-7 or 7-8 years old). // Probably around the same time, Dante is abandoned by unknown woman. He meets Johann and Riche. Absence of his glasses and bandages indicate that there could be at least a few weeks or months between the two events. 

(9, 61, 62)

~ before 1881 — Vanitas is orphaned and placed under the care of the Church as a potential future Chasseur, but is kidnapped by Moreau for secret experiments.

(49)

1881 — sketch of the Tower of the Sun by Amédée Sébillot, electrical engineer. He worked with engineer Jules Bourdais on this project, but in fact the tower was unrealizable. If the monument designed by Sébillot was real, it would have collapsed under its own weight.

Before or early 1881 — Roland and Olivier move to Paris. Roland is injured, but it’s unknown how it happened. Olivier’s hairstyle may indicate that it happened earlier than the time when Roland almost died. 

(46.5)

~ 1881 — Roland (vice-captain) is injured while defending Olivier. Olivier was injured too. // Misha (who looks about 5 years old??) meets Roland, but later ends up in Moreau's laboratory, where Vanitas is already located.

(47)

~ 1881-1882 — Astolfo secretly meets a vampire. When Astolfo befriends Olivier, he tells him about this secret. The death of the Granatum family. Astolfo meets Carl, Roland (his injuries, which were still visible when he met Misha, have already healed) and other Paladins. Olivier definitely had a title of Obsidian by the time of Granatums’ murder, so some time passes between the day Astolfo met a vampire and the day of Granatums’ murder. 

(48, 58) 

~ 1882-1883 1881-1882* — Louis dies. Domi learns the truth about her and Louis being twins. // Luna saves Misha and Vanitas when they destroy Moreau's lab*. Moreau joins the Charlatan. Misha agrees to be bitten by Luna. Later, Luna loses their true name; Misha loses their arm; Luna dies by Vanitas’s hands. Vanitas and Misha inherit the Books, but are separated, and Teacher takes Misha.

*@torterrachampion mentioned in reblog that Noé is officially 12 years old when Louis’s died ang provided an image from a booklet for the Blu-ray of the anime. I completely missed that fact, so thank you for bringing it up! I’ve decided to change the time range for this event to 1881-1882 for better accuracy.

*It is likely that Noé witnessed Louis’s death around the same time Vanitas and Misha were saved by Luna; bonus card features Noé in the same outfit as on the day of Louis’s death together with Vanitas dressed in his lab clothes. 1881 or 1882 is a possible year for Louis’s death and salvation of Vanitas and Misha. In this scenario Luna dies later than Louis.

(9, 46, 51, * bonus card)

1887 — possible start of construction of the Tower of the Sun (in reality, the construction of the Eiffel Tower started on 28 January 1887).

~ 1887-1888 — Astolfo and Roland have a conflict.

(59)

UNKNOWN MOMENT (after 1702?) BEFORE 1888 — Veronica and Loki, along with Machina, become Beastias, and Antoine enters the Senate. How old are Veronica, Antione and Loki?

UNKNOWN MOMENT (not earlier than 12 years?*) BEFORE 1888 — “death” of Faustina at the hands of her Beasts and Rusven. Luka replaces her on the throne, but the Senate controls him. Strangely, he isn’t even officially presented yet. It’s unknown how old he was when he assumed his current position, but it’s unlikely that the Senate and Beastias would “kill” the Queen without choosing a suitable successor first.

*Alternatively, it could happen earlier, if Loki, Luca’s older brother, was supposed to inherit the throne prior to becoming a cursebearer as well, but was replaced with Luca. But this is a pure speculation.

(38, 13)

UNKNOWN MOMENT BEFORE 1874 — Archivists disappear. It’s unknown whether there are any living Archivists other than Machina and Noé in the present. It’s also unknown why Noe thinks about blood when he thinks about his clan.

(57)

UNKNOWN MOMENT BETWEEN 1871-1888 — Vanitas meets Teacher, or Saint—Germain, who at that time had a different appearance. Were Luna alive at that moment?

(55)

UNKNOWN MOMENT BEFORE 1888 — Machina becomes patron of the dhampires and creates her network of information brokers.

(62)

~ 1888 (before current events) — Astolfo and Roland become Paladins. // 6 month before — Teacher goes somewhere. // 1 month before — Jeanne awakens from her sleep.

(13, 4)

1888 — Teacher asks Noé to witness the story of the Book of Vanitas via correspondence. Current events begin.

(1, 52)

Possible future event — The Exposition Universelle of 1889, which was held in Paris, 5 May to 31 October. The Tower of Sun (instead of Eiffel Tower in VnC universe) was created for this fair. However, at least some of the buildings were ruined.

(44, 20.5, 46, 55)

That’s it for now! I think I will update this post in future when we have enough new information to define unclear dates and add new details and whatnot~

[vixvaporub]

The Case Study of Vanitas | Vanitas no Carte by  Jun Mochizuki – Chapter 59 ☾ What the Organist Plays 

[beanyboobee]

Random theories of mine:

1. What were the Archvisites?

2. Teachers out here scheming

3. How does vanitas die?

What were Archvisties to vampire society? I keep wondering that because I find it so curious how so very few people actually know what they are, and the only ones we have seen who know right away are count orlock, chloe and Ruthvan, all high ups in vampire society, while those of lower status, aka count Orlocks servents, Jean Jacqes, didn't know until they were told.

Surely if Archivistes were well known their massacre would still be remembered as it wasn't that long ago [if we go by Noes age] but yet the servent of Orlocks who does know what an Archvisite is, refers to the massacre as happening 'long ago'

Concidering how long some vampires live, isnt it odd for them to refer to something not even 20 years old as a long time ago ?

We also know Archvisites are differant to regular vampires, as Dominique claimed vanitas wanted to use noe for his unique abilities, (abilities not just ability to see memories), how it (presumably) took longer for chloes potion to kick on for him

Not to mwntion- SPOILER FOR THE LATEST CHAPTER CHAPTER 61

how Noe is already starting to recall what Ruthvan did to him, which shouldn't be possiable if Ruthvan is more powerful than him.

Moving into another theory that I mentioned before but I keep finding more and more proof for,

I think EVERYTHING since the beginning has been planned by teacher, everything, not just the small things. From him just os happening to find noe at an auction, as far as we know the teacher didn't have any others in the mansion so he just so happend to go to a human auction and find the last remaining archvisite? As we know noe added that the vampires who kidnapped hom mistook him for a human?

It was almost as if Noe was the main peice of the story the teacher wanted to see play out. Not to mention in Domiques first appearance she says this-

Who told her where Noe was? Realistically how would anyone know that Noe was with count Orlock? Unless count orlock told someone and it got passed on? But the only person who knew noe was in Paris was the teacher.

The teacher sending a letter to count orlock with Noes full name and asking him to help Noe with anything he needs is also weirdly suspicious because there was no need to give out Noes full name unless he knew the effect it would have.

I am also of the mindset that everything happening is a timeloop, of this situation has played out time and time again, from the conversation lady Archvisitie and the teacher have in Chapter [ 58]

That his excitement at Noe coming with him, "Yes I am having fun because you came with me" implying Noe had a choice not to come, and as we know Teacher loves throwing around the word "choice" an awful lott.

If it is true abiut this being a time loop or some sort of time shenanigans, Noe could be the slightly differant thing Lady Archvisite and Teacher discussed in chapter [58 and 59 ]

One small "choice" can change the entire direction of a story after all.

Also final theory, Vanitas Dies by Noe not grabbing his hand when crossing the portal, I'm still of the mind the story will end with Atlus crumbling. And Vanitas will be trapped in the middle world because Noe didn't grab his hand. Why? Simple, I like to think this scene is foreshadowing

Noe keeps moving between saying- he killed vanitas by his own hand, and, he regrets not grabbing his hand that day, the death of vanitas won't be this big and major gruesome thing like we are led to beleive but rather him being stuck in a void, as it would also explain vanitas saying this during his 'death'

As we know Noe is an unreliable narrator, he blames himself for alott of things that happend, and tends to overexagerate how much of a part he played in the tragedy, as we can see during the whole Louis situation, he holds alott of regret and blames himself for it to the point even years later Domi has to remind him it wasn't his fault, so by him saying he killed Vanitas by his own two hands, it could be something as simple as him- being unable to catch vanitas in time. Or hesitating before holding onto him because Vanitas might of been the to let go.

There was enough of time between Vanitas dying and Noe somehow being the cause of it, for Vanitas to give him the reassurance that he won't die that he just won't be apart of this world,

It could of been said in a similar fashion to how Jean jauqes forced Noe to drink his blood so someone would remember hom and chloe, because if we think about it in that sense. He could of meant he won't die because Now will always be around to remember.

Making Vanitas a figure similar to the shapeless one or lady archvisite; who mainly seem to operate and live in the between world.

[digital-dhampirs]

VnC 58: the case study of astolfo

After a whole year of suspense, the Case Study of Vanitas is back with a bang and so is this tumblr blog. Time isn’t real, so let’s pretend that this analysis came out when I wrote it after reading chapter 58 rather than the day before chapter 59. Let’s go!

As always, although it’s been a while, this post will contain massive spoilers for VnC 58 and is intended for those who have read up to this point in the manga!

intergalactic tea party

Chapter 58 begins with (an absolutely stunning shot of Vanitas’s tarte tatin) a quick recap of the plot so far and where the main cast is at the moment— Domi and Jeanne tragically finish their conversation offscreen; Domi and Noé have an adorable reunion; and Jeanne leaves the hotel alone, likely to report on her successful mission to a worried Luca. Jeanne looks adorably carefree as she heads out and I pray for a flashback to her conversation with Domi in the near future.

Moving rapidly along, we cut to the Archiviste Noé caught a glimpse of last chapter, traveling through the border between worlds. We learn that she’s familiar with Comte and likely Luna as well, and she and Comte sit down to have a very Pandora Hearts flavored tea break. Comte says that mystery Archiviste hasn’t travelled to the human world in ages, making it very unlikely that she was there explicitly to see Noé, although it’s possible she was (like Comte) waiting in the shadows to intervene if the fair fight reached a certain point.

Mystarchiviste in turn reveals that Comte’s existence is “unstable”. The only context we really have for that term is Vani and Misha, artificial followers of the blue moon lying somewhere between human and vampire… Comte certainly acts like a vampire, but maybe he’s actually something much more in between? My half-theory half-headcanon is that his obsession with Luna stems partially from feeling commonality with another being who doesn’t understand their own existence…

Speaking of Luna, Comte taking their form has interesting lore implications (can he take the form of anyone he’s met, or is there another requirement that has to be met first?) and also interesting fanfic implications but let’s move rapidly onwards to the real meat of chapter 58.

the chasseurs are insane

A majority of VnC 58 takes place in an extended flashback, as Astolfo reflects on his past. This flashback confirms a lot of what past chapters have implied about Astolfo— he was consumed by self hatred and guilt following the vampire attack, to the point of attempting suicide. The whole flashback could easily read as yet another parallel to Vanitas, who, after finding himself as the sole survivor a second time in a row, turned to a path he knew would culminate in his own death.

We meet two fun new characters during this section of the chapter— a guy wearing an earring (I was half-wondering if this was a younger version of Olivier’s assistant, but their eyebrows and earrings are different, so he’s probably one of Gano’s homeboys) and Charles.

Earring guy is suspicious. He might have some sort of plot relevant past (cough cough, No. 7- [i am escorted off the stage]), he might be an average chasseur with a vampire related incident in his history, or he might just be your standard issue psychopath. My favorite Mochijun Flavored Detail this chapter is the panel where, under the guise of breaking up Mira and Gano’s brawl, he moves to block Olivier’s line of sight and path to Astolfo. It’s just so Mochijun and i missed her so much—-

Charles is neato, but he sort of has this vibe where he’s not meant to be the star of the panels he’s in. It’s like Astolfo isn’t fully looking at him. Even though Charles is trying to inspire faith in Astolfo here, the only light Astolfo sees is Roland. In his double-page introductory panel Charles is exclusively lit by light coming in through the door as Roland opens it. Roland, meanwhile, looks like a savior, the light behind him blinding, and Astolfo bursts into tears when he sees him. I’m so excited to watch their relationship collapse as this flashback continues..!

Through Charles’s conversation with Astolfo, we learn a very interesting piece of lore: when a vampire bites someone they aren’t injecting an aphrodisiac or poison with their fangs— they’re actively rewriting their world formula, and sometimes these effects are permanent. I feel like I should’ve been able to riddle this out, given the whole mark of the blue moon thing, but the fact that this happens so frequently throughout the series, and that Jeanne has rewritten Vanitas, is feckin shocking and feels like it has some very interesting implications for the series. Perhaps Archivistes are unique in that, rather than rewriting with their bite, they read what’s already there.

I honestly don’t have many other thoughts on Charles. He gets carried around and nobody’s allowed see him, possibly implying that he’s become sicker/ his existence has gotten more unstable ;) since he originally became a paladin. Maybe he’s the head honcho Roland and Olivier are working against, maybe he’s actually dead by the time we hit the main plotline. At this point, it feels like he could move in any direction.

interpretation, extrapolation, being wrong, that’s the mochijuncycle

Vampires rewrite the world formula when they bite others, often leading to devastating and permanent consequences for those they’ve bitten. Misha and Vanitas aren’t the only two unstable beings in existence— while we’ve never heard of VnC vampires turning humans with their bite, maybe once a human has been rewritten enough times they too become unstable. Maybe Comte, in constantly changing his name and shape, has been rewriting himself to the point of instability. Maybe Noé struggles to rewrite because, as an Archiviste, he was born to simply read and record.

But you probably shouldn’t trust me on any of this because, as always, this is 100% my biased initial interpretation of Chapter 58! I hope you’re all as hyped to see this flashback play out as I am, and I’ll see you (hopefully somewhat) soon for VnC 59!

[animegoil-vnc]

So I think everything's been said already about poor Astolfo and beautiful but creepy Charles and fucking Gano. But.

Chapter 59 solidified a theory I'd been rolling around in my head for a while based on how much of a "saviour" figure Roland is to Astolfo and how enduring Astolfo's hatred of vampires is. But there wasn't much evidence for it before the hiatus.

Olivier and Roland are protagonists from the Song of Roland. I think most of us know that at this point. Astolfo is also a character from that series, though I can't find the post now that says that he turned against Roland for a perceived betrayal, so maybe there's less evidence for this than I thought, but that particular bit of setup has now been confirmed as of Ch. 59 anyway.

But. Even before that. In the Song of Roland, Olivier dies in battle in Roland's arms after they make up about a disagreement. In the epic poem, the disagreement is about how Roland leads the battle (IIRC about calling for reinforcements?). I am convinced that Olivier will die in a similar fashion - before the hiatus ended I thought the disagreement would have been about Roland's involvement with the vampires, but now I'm wondering if it will be about Astolfo. In fact, now I'm thinking there may not be a disagreement at all, and instead Olivier's death will be due to him trying to protect Astolfo (to make up for his perceived failings in protecting him as shown in Ch. 58) from the plans the Church/Charles has for the kid.

Now, for Olivier's death to have emotional impact they're going to have to build up Olivier's character and his relationship to Roland (and if the Astolfo angle is true, also to Astolfo). Which is exactly what Ch. 58 started to do with the scene showing Olivier's guilt from not intervening about Astolfo's secret friend because he had been comparing the situation to his own clandestine friendship with Roland when they were kids. We got both pieces in one scene, woo! The more they dig into Olivier's backstory and his relationship to Roland, then more I will take that as evidence for Olivier's death (it can't hurt if we don't know much about the man, after all).

Now, the next piece is that I'm willing to bet that Olivier's death will be attributable to the Church's plans somehow, which Roland has already been suspicious of. My theory is that his death will be the final straw and he will defect to the vampire's side (well, specifically to Vanitas and Noe's side) in this conflict that's slowly bubbling to the surface between the Church and the vampires. Roland has been shown to be a "good" person who is able to look past ideologies and do what's right regardless of what he's been told is right. So it makes sense for him to eventually side with our protagonists, who are the "good guys". That could continue to happen from the shadows the way it has been up until now, with Roland covertly helping Vani and Noe, but to finish Roland's character arc I think it makes more sense for him to fully defect, to fully break away from the hateful institution that's been using him and his faith for the sake of their own goals instead of for the good of humans/vampires, which is what Roland ultimately cares more about.

This defection to the "vampire" side will be perceived as the ultimate betrayal by Astolfo (as we just saw in Ch. 59 with the humans he killed), and set up a compelling and tragic conflict between these two characters who previously were so close to each other and are now on opposite sides. Now, after Ch. 59 it seems that Olivier's death and Roland's defection aren't necessary for this bit of tragic storytelling, but I imagine it'll compound. I know they already used the word betrayal and hatred in Ch. 59, but I got more of a feeling of "abandonment" from Astolfo based on the last couple of panels. If Roland defecting happens, that may be what tips it over into outright hatred and betrayal.

Either way, RIP to Olivier. Before the hiatus I thought his death was just going to be part of Roland's character progression, but now I think he's going to be unfortunate collateral damage from Astolfo and Roland's conflict.

[good7luck]

Some personal rants related to the latest VNC manga chapters (~60)

(more under the cut)

.

It's chapter 55(.5) when Vanitas and Noe officially made up with each other, where the anime ended.

Astolfo's backstory was handled in ch 58 & 59.

The latest chapter was the 60th.

It's been only like 5 chapters or so since ch 55(.5), and most of them were pretty short.

We're JUST moving on from the Amusement Park arc NOW, and the new arc barely started. It's still the beginning part, with some old & new characters (re)appearing.

.

I do remember that some people expected chasseurs to show up in the Amusement Park; to join the ongoing fights (which did not happen in the end), or to investigate the remaining mess after the whole fights ended. (Both are fine guesses, obviously)

But now I see some arguments that MJ-sensei made an "awkward" writing choice to "suddenly" talk about chasseurs... I don't know what to feel, even if they might not be the same people XD

Both chasseur AND bourreau were already brought up in the chapter 1. Jeanne was a bourreau, and MJ-sensei has showed quite a lot of what bourreau is like, especially in the Gévaudan arc. Maybe MJ-sensei thinks it's time to expand chasseur more now - through Astolfo, Roland, Olivier, Gano, etc. Not to mention the main protagonist Vanitas used to be in chasseur himself.

There're 12 captains of the chasseurs, almost the half are still unknown to us XD You're of course free to be not interested in chasseurs or even dislike them, but it's NOT like MJ-sensei pulled them "out of the blue (uwu)".

.

When ch 58 / 59 was out, mainly covering Astolfo and Roland - some people got (genuinely) angry and insisted that MJ-sensei is avoiding Noe / Domi / Jeanne / Vani interactions, not caring about her main characters, not able to handle her own plot anymore, etc. (Actually, even before ch 58...) And then ch 60 showed the 4 forming some sweet bonds lol They really couldn't wait...for a few chapters...

In fact, 1) some still complain why the chasseurs' backstory had to happen before the 4 interactions. Or, 2) some find the current plot "problematic" because things are going too good and well for the 4 now, NOT doomed / tragic enough asdfghjkl

For the former 1) - the story is NOT only about the 4 and chasseurs. Shapeless One and the Archiviste girl are related to the protagonist Noe each, and they'll get involved in this arc, too. I believe that's why MJ-sensei "mixed" everything and everyone together; letting the two introduce chasseurs' backstory, while also showing some traits and situations of them (ex. something is not right with Shapeless One / the girl is indeed an Archiviste).

To add more (angst uwu), chasseurs might try to come after Vanitas and/or Noe for the entire mess caused by Misha and Shapeless One: the attacked victims and the ruined amusement park :'))) (Vani/Noe fight did destroy the park, too, yeah, but Misha caused their fight as well) Jeanne explicitly told Domi to be careful for a while, even if Domi was just Misha's victim and did nothing wrong :')))))

For the latter 2) - again, it's been like only 5 (mostly short) chapters since the Amusement Park arc got wrapped up... Not even 1 day has passed since Misha left on the rooftop in VNC current timeline, plz XDD Also, why do they carelessly assume things will stay happy and lucky for the 4?? :'))) (even putting "whether things are truly good" aside, oops XD) For example, like above, chasseurs might bring some new chaotic hell to the 4 in the upcoming arc :'))))) Anyway, ch 60 is in the 11th volume (of 25 or so in total), the story won't end anytime soon, I promise XD

In addition, I'm pretty sure VNC has never been 100% only unhappy hopeless despair torture 24/7? I wonder if they got mad, too, when both Chloe and JJ survived AND talked things out AND got cured AND ran away together quite "successfully" at the end of the Gévaudan arc lol While I'm surely happy both have managed to not get caught so far...I'm still aware that nothing guarantees a forever happy ending for the two, oops :'))) So, I really don't understand why those people cannot stand SOME positive MOMENTS for the 4 in 1 chapter or so that much XD even judging the author for it asdfghjkl as if it's utter impossible for the 4 to go any wrong from now on, ooops! :')))))

.

IDK I feel some people should seriously try to read the manga volume by volume (at least, multiple chapters at once) - NOT chapter by chapter. So that they could take the flow better and actually enjoy the story as it is. Rather than feeling "betrayed" by the "bits" and making (false) accusations against MJ-sensei all the time. They need to chill a little in general and maybe have a good sleep asap XD

To be fair, I do know the breaks have been so long, while the recent chapters have been quite slow and short... All this might've played some part for them to be more sensitive and impatient, perhaps ^^;;

I sure hope we'd get a new chapter this month, hopefully a long one!

.

Thanks for reading my incoherent personal rants!! Sorry about some negativity OTL

[koldusek]

I was thinking about this post. And I have a head with thoughts.

I warn you that my English is crooked. But I'll try to get my point.

What if Noe is part of this story because he is undergoing initiation to become a full-fledged Archivste?

Lady Archivste said the following words in chapter 59 - attention to the screenshot:

And I thought: every Archivste should have the first "memory" that was entrusted to him. Maybe the story of Vanitas and the others is a test for Noe? He most relive the story and bring it to the end himself, in order to understand how important the work of his clan and the preservation of "books" are?

[prapo237]

You can’t say anything else to me- Zero (the first ed) is spoiling the complete vnc story

The „melody“ part in the ending was always weird to me but after chapter 59 it makes more sense.

This is the first time that a melody in context with memories is being mentioned in the manga itself. It sounds like Vanitas and Noé are also part of a repeating melodie. And if you take it even further they could also be just a memory already. Like the sentence before says: unraveling the memories through melody.

My brain is working on a theory about the worldbuilding in vnc but I still can’t PinPoint it.

[lepetitloir]

I made an AI rewrite chapter 58 of vanitas no carte, then edited the chapter to add the text. After finishing the project I can confidently say it is one of the things I ever created...

I can't get over this deleted scene tho. I had to cut it because it didn't fit but WHAT

ALSO I'm now letting the AI write chapter 59 and it just. Decided to kill me with this:

😭😭😭

Anyway, I'm doing this as a fun(?) project for myself, but I've been thinking of sharing it online. I'm really not sure about it tho, so ig if someone wants to see it, just let me know and I'll post it in a google drive or something askjehgdfdsg

[ozlices]

So any theories on who’s going to die first in VNC? My money’s on it being one of the chasseurs.

damn, y'all feeling morbid today, huh? lol

honestly, i have no idea. and the thing is too that it's strange bc it feels kinda weird/unnerving that nobody's died yet in vnc, but i went back to check, & the first major death of ph doesn't actually happen until chapter 59.

obviously, Concerning initially bc chapter 57 will be the next chapter of vnc, but bare in mind, that first death of ph came with an arc that lasted quite a while. & was the arc that was meant to finish off the setup for ph's true story, with that death being the final catalyst to truly set it all into motion.

while the most recent arc of vnc has definitely felt like a setup for more major components in vnc's true story, and had a lot of similar energy to ph's headhunter arc, idk if we're necessarily at a similar point to ph's headhunter arc by now. i don't believe every piece is set into place just yet. i feel like one or two pieces still need to be set on the board.

that all being said, i dont think we're actually gonna be able to predict the first death in vnc, so i haven't really put that much thought into it. it's either going to happen as slowly yet surely as the first death in ph did, or it will be a total shock that very suddenly puts everything into motion. it also could be Anyone, really.

if i Had to guess, i really feel like misha's a high contender still. im still kinda in shock he survived the amusement park arc tbh, & his death would cause a lot of conflicting emotions for both vanitas & noe. so it'd be an interesting motive going forward.

but, like, i genuinely have no solid clue. i'm just waiting for mochijun to pull the rug out from under me lol.

[monsieur-guimauve]

Theory on how human Vanitas’s ending will turn out or be a result of

Spoilers ahead ! (Theories are of my opinion and not fact)

I love MochiJun’s work and there’s no telling how things will turn out when she writes a chapter. Therefore, I wanted to see what the fandom thinks about how Noe will ‘kill’ human Vanitas, as I personally don’t think it will be as straightforward as how Noe makes it out to be.

Firstly, there was an interview MochiJun did before the release of the VnC anime. One question she was asked was whether she wrote VnC based on her current inspirations, vs. if she had the whole plot thought out already. She responded that when she writes, she has a goal/destination in the storyline in mind, but how she gets there along with other things, seems to be something she does on the go.

This led some others in the fandom to believe that the dreaded scene described in Memoire 1 could be happen anytime in the storyline rather than the end, however, I personally think this could happen close to the end because Noe’s mentioned in Memoire 1 that ‘how at the END of that journey, I would kill him with my own two hands’.

As an Archiviste, it’s fitting that Noe is recording down the memory/understanding of his journey with Vanitas (including of all we gained and lost) through his perspective and how the memories of others have effected him too. The final record of this journey is the manga we know as ‘The Case Study of Vanitas’. (MochiJun you genius magnificent b********) Therefore, human Vanitas’s death towards the end makes more sense.

Now onto why human Vanitas will die because of Noe is one of the following theories:

1) Salvation for human Vanitas may be death, and he asks Noe to kill him.

I thought of this theory (though I don’t think this is very likely) because there have been hints on what salvation means to different characters. In the scene after Vanitas grants death to Catherine (little girl turned curse bearer), Noe freaks out because Vanitas couldn’t save her. Noe learns that his understanding of salvation isn’t possible or the same for others, but has a difficult time coping with it.

Salvation is brought up by Noe again after Laurent helps him and human Vanitas escape the Catacombs. As Vanitas is resting behind him, he wonders if the one who’s always saving others (Vampires) without fail, is the one who wishes to be saved the most, which is human Vanitas himself. (Something along those lines)

And after Chloe is saved from being a curse bearer, Vanitas has an inner monologue about using Blue Moon Luna’s power:’ the more you call on its power, the more you will be re-written yourself’

^We don’t know what it means to be re-written in terms of VnC. Does it mean death in general? That human Vanitas and Mikhail will be ‘reborn’ as vampires? Cease to exist or remember as you were or something worst than death? What kind of salvation does human Vanitas need to ‘remain’ human until the very end? What can Noe do to grant that to human Vanitas is something I suspect to be the cause of the scene where human Vanitas ponders about being re-written.

Also, there is a chance that Noe doesn’t owe human Vanitas in this sort of scenario, but I highly suspect he will as his guilt for not granting Louis his last wish has been glooming over him in this series. (Vanitas and Louis do share some uncanny resemblance too.)

2) Vanitas ‘dies’ in the border between the Human World and Altus

Since Vampires are the result of the Babel incident, only Vampires can cross the border into Altus. Should a human enter without physical contact of a Vampire, they risk getting lost forever between both dimensions, or that no one will know what happens to him.

We are told by Noe as he scolds human Vanitas for the risk he took, but Vanitas says there’s nothing to worry about because Noe grabbed his hand. The story continues into the Bal Masque Arc from there without much thought.

But this is significant because there are additional two instances in the story which relate to this. One is Noe’s recollection on the day he failed to grab human Vanitas’s hand. The second is back to the first Memoire when Noe’s talking about killing human Vanitas, there is a voice over of human Vanitas saying ‘Don’t worry Noe, even if I’m not here, I won’t ‘die’’. This is pretty vague, but we aren’t told exactly if getting lost between borders means actual death for a human, or whatever human Vanitas will become due to the likelihood of being ‘rewritten’ when using the Blue Moon’s power. We also need to remember that Noe, being a moralistic character with defined values, may be a bit bias when he describes intangible things like love, salvation, loss and death to the audience. (Kind of like how the OP theme song Sora to Usturo lyrics reflects the themes of human emotion, but it’s not clear if it’s in Noe’s perspective or Vanitas’)

If we stick to the theory that human Vanitas dies towards the end in relation to getting lost in the border, I suspect this may have to do with something related to Altus or the story is located in Altus around this time. Will Vampires be returned their humanity? Will there be some form of the Babel incident being re-written again? How will that effect human Vanitas, who is an artificial kin of the Blue Moon?

3) Ruthven’s curse on Noe plays a role in Vanitas’ death

I don’t think this will be a direct cause, because Ruthven’s initial intention is to use the curse to make Noe a pawn against his Teacher. Vanitas is a human who is cunning and vague motives in his eyes, but he is young and has extremely limited resources to do anything on his own. Compared to Noe’s teacher, who is probably one of the oldest vampires, he’s seen everything and probably knows and has the power to do anything against anyone, but he chooses not to, but instead, puts a huge curious responsibility on the last surviving member of a clan that’s died out to that job (Noe). That position of choice seems to unnerve other vampires like Ruthven. He has gotten some news of Vanitas’ inconsistent character from Noe, but I think at most Ruthven sees the both of them like minor nuisances, and his target is Noe’s Teacher. If Vanitas dies because of Noe’s curse, it’s likely to be indirect cause.

By this time or around Retrace 59 in Pandora Hearts, we were revealed many details and it was a huge turning point of the storyline. There’s still too much we don’t know about either protagonist's past, their future goals or those of the Vampire Senate. And the relationships between all the characters will be a key focus of the storyline too. 

Is there more to human Vanitas’s backstory? What about ‘that night’ human Vanitas killed Luna? What is Ruthven’s goal? What’s the relation between Faustina and Luna Blue Moon? Who’s No. 70? Why is Noe the last survivor? What’s Jeanne’s curse? What do we need to know more about astermite? All of these questions, I’m very very interested in learning more in the near future.

I hope that VnC will be longer than PH, as I enjoy reading things from an earnest perspective of a character like Noe.