vampireknightmusings

[vampireknightmusings]

Responses: True Love (Why Zeki Has It And Yume Doesn’t)

“This whole ship war wouldn't even be a thing if you guys didn't deny Yuuki's eternal and romantic love for Kaname. You make all these posts trying to negate her feelings for Kaname...”

Full post here.

Romantic love is a subjective thing. Every person has an individual notion of what is, and what is not, acceptable within a “true love” scenario. Some people believe in the existence of love at first sight, while others need some time to pass for the couple’s feelings to be considered love as opposed to a crush. In this post, I will explain my own views on what constitutes a genuine romantic love.

The first thing I find to be necessary is for the two partners to know each other. By this, I mean that the two know each other well enough to accurately predict their partners responses to certain stimuli, and even if their partner acts unpredictable, they must understand the motivating factors behind their actions. his knowledge of each other leads directly into their ability to trust each other. 

Zero and Yuuki spend the first arc getting to know each other, flaws and all. The more time they spend with each other, the more they come to understand the others motivations and feelings. Zero knows that Yuuki's selfless nature hides the fear that she was unwanted as a child, while Yuuki knows that Zero has always wished for her happiness above all else, even to his own detriment. The pair trust each others judgement even when the two of them are acting as “enemies”, neither getting in the other’s way. 

On the other hand, Kaname and Yuuki spend very little time together. Before Zero came into the picture, Kaname was actively putting distance between himself and Yuuki, only coming to see her when he was tricked into doing so. This distance was never bridged and a solid bond of friendship was never truly formed between them. Kaname continues to treat sixteen year old Yuuki as a child, despite claiming to be in love with her, which shows that his image of her hasn’t grown up with her. He still views her as the Yuuki he knew before Juuri sealed her memories. Yuuki puts Kaname on a pedestal, much like the other love struck day class students. 

So what does Yuuki know about Kaname? Well, she “knows” that:

1. Kaname is a pacifistic vampire who wishes for co-existence as much as Kaien Cross does. Except that he goes on to indiscriminately murder vampires who work for the senate regardless of whether that individual vampire is corrupt and puts humans on a pedestal of his own, granting them a right to exist that he doesn’t grant purebloods.

2. Kaname saved her as a helpless human girl, a stranger to him, when he didn’t need to. Except that he was her brother and was the reason that she was there in the first place, having temporarily abandoned her to remove the vampire threat behind them.

3. Kaname is her brother. Except that he actually isn’t her brother, but the progenitor of the Kurans and her direct ancestor.

4. Kaname views Cross Academy as his home as much as she views it as hers, and that he will protect the people he cares about as she wishes to. Except that he attempts to have her abandon her friends at the height of the danger in order to escape themselves.

How is Yuuki supposed to form a genuine love based on the person that Kaname is if everything she thought she knew about him was incorrect?

The second important thing for a love to be true is the ability to make each other happy, and beyond that, to be able to put their loved ones happiness above their own. This theme in Vampire Knight is explored through smiling from the heart. Yuuki states, in response to Zero’s asking how she can keep smiling, that she wants Zero to smile also. She has sacrificed her life’s blood for Zero in order to give him a reason to live and to give him some happiness, without knowing that she is already providing it for him. 

Zero confronts the vampire that he hates the most to get the answers that Yuuki is desperately seeking, resulting in his neck being torn apart in an effort to make him drink from said vampire. He endures a lot of abuse from Kaname  that he would not experience if not for Yuuki. He keeps his own feelings for her under wraps out of respect for Yuuki’s feelings for Kaname. He pushes Yuuki away from himself and the academy in order to be with Kaname, as he believes that Kaname can provide her with all she needs to be happy. He also actively protects her both before and after the reveal of her pureblood heritage.

Kaname is unable to make Yuuki happy, openly admitting that she doesn’t smile when she’s with him towards the end of Vampire Knight, and Yuuki is unable to make Kaname happy in turn. Kaname’s greatest mistake in this regard is craving the bond that Yuuki has with Zero rather than cherishing his own unique bond with her. He admits to wanting the Yuuki who had cut her hair as a symbolic gesture regarding letting her feelings for him go. In this way, he sets up his own misery in his relationship with Yuuki.

As for Yuuki, once she is in a relationship with Kaname, she is unable to see the friends she cherishes, is unable to dress as she wishes and is unable to leave the house at all. The demands that Kaname puts on her strip her of the things that make her who she is. Rima comments on the fact that Yuuki is wearing pinheels rather than the comfortable shoes that are easy to run in that she prefers. This all contributes to Yuuki’s feelings of insecurity. The more Kaname asks things of her that are not natural to her, the more he changes her, the more she is going to feel that she is not good enough. This, in turn, leads to her unhappiness and misery with Kaname. Furthermore, Kaname burdens her with his suicidal feelings when she attempts to stand up to him, making her feel even worse about herself. He claimed to love her for who she is, so why does he try to change her so much?

Another important component in a true love scenario is the partner’s ability to provide comfort for the other. Their presence is often enough to provide the comfort their loved one needs. We can see this with Zero, who finds comfort in Yuuki’s arms, and with Yuuki, who is able to reveal her true emotions to Zero without fear of rejection. Instead of distracting her in this instance, he offers her a solution to her. Both are able to talk to each other and understand each other. The pair are comfortable in each others presence.

When Yuuki attempts to talk to Kaname and seek comfort with him, he often tries to distract her rather than dealing with the cause of her discomfort. When Yuuki is having nightmares because she can’t remember what happened before she awoke on the mountain, he brings her attention back to him instead of comforting her or listening to her concerns. He fails to listen to her when she tries to ask about pureblood families later on as well. 

From Kaname’s end, Yuuki is unable to provide the comfort he wants. He reveals snippets of his past to keep her with him and gets hugs from her, but he doesn’t get reaffirmation of Yuuki’s love for him, and she remains unspontaneous with her affection. When he asks her what she truly thinks of him, he is hoping for something positive from Yuuki. Instead, she lists negative character traits alongside superficial traits such as his appearance. She even questions if he loves her, which can’t feel good.

A fourth necessity is the ability to bring out the best in their partner. More specifically, a partner wants to better themselves not only for themselves, but for the one they love. Yuuki often finds her strength through Zero, and many of the actions she takes are, in part at least, because of him. He encourages her to be the kind-hearted, loving woman that she is without demanding anything or taking anything from her. He encourages her to live her life for herself, and to find happiness in the little things. Yuuki provides Zero a reason to continue living once Shizuka is gone, and is able to convince him that co-existence is a goal that should be striven for. She also helps to bring out his kind-hearted side, which he later expands to others. 

As much as Yuuki tries with Kaname, she is unable to bring out his best. Though she tries her best to give him a reason to continue living, she can’t help him escape his despair. Due to the feelings she cannot control, she brings out Kaname’s jealous, needy side. Due to these same feelings, he ends up attempting to control her in order to keep her by his side. Eventually, instead of acting with Yuuki to provide an acceptable out for purebloods who have lived too long and fighting for co-existence between humans and vampires, he decides to eradicate pureblood vampires entirely.  

Kaname brings out Yuuki’s insecurity and inferiority complex. By placing on her the blame of “leaving him alone” as a child and using that fear and her empathy against her, he causes her to question herself and see herself as the child she is often treated as. He puts so much of a burden on her that she cannot bring herself to stand up to him when she thinks he’s wrong. Yuuki herself states that if she stops doing what she thinks is right, then she will no longer be herself. This is foreshadowing to the Yuuki she will become with Kaname. She no longer shines as she once did, and Kaname doesn’t give her a reason to shine.

Most of the things I think are necessary for a true romantic love have been covered in these points. I hope this provides enough of an explanation for why what you may consider to be “negating” Yuuki’s romantic love for Kaname is actually just Yuuki misdiagnosing what those feelings were in my view. I strongly believe that true romantic love is born from a deep friendship, and is an incredibly powerful emotion that is difficult to shift. That Yuuki was able to put those feelings to bed fairly quickly once she was awakened as a vampire tells me that they were just not what Yuuki thought they were.

I’d be interested to hear what others consider necessary to true love, however. I’m sure there are many different views to mine! And I’d just like to say that I am speaking for myself, and cannot speak for any other Zeki shippers. This also isn’t meant to incite any further ship wars, it was simply meant to explain my point of view when it comes to the topic at hand. 

Thank you for reading!

[vampireknightmusings]

Looking Too Deeply Into Vampire Knight Covers

In this series, I pretend that I’m back in college having to over-analyse the use of the colour blue, except in image form rather than text! It’ll be fun to flex the old grey matter and see what I can shake loose from the recesses of my own mind! This is all in fun, so please don’t take it too seriously.

Once more, Kaname exists in a separate plane of existence from Zero and Yuuki. This highlights the distance not only in Kaname’s relationship with Yuuki in comparison to Zero, but in his ideals. While it has not been revealed yet within the volumes, we know that Kaname seeks to destroy purebloods while Yuuki seeks co-existence. Zero will eventually reach this decision alongside her and the two will stand together against Kaname.

Kaname is on the white side of the torn material, which could relate to his initial purer desire to be accepted by humans during his original life. It could also relate to the side of him that genuinely longs to protect Yuuki and do what’s best for her. This could further relate to Yuuki and by extension, Zero being on the dark side of the material. Kaname’s actions are dragging the pair into darkness from which they will have to escape later on. 

Kaname is holding onto a pile of red rose petals, which could be his attempt to hold onto the love that he desires with Yuuki, and that he will not be able to attain. The petals are also scattered around the page, representing the scattering romantic feelings between Kaname and Yuuki. Kaname’s expression says that he knows that Yuuki is steadily fading away from him. 

Following on from this vein, if the scattered petals are his love for Yuuki, the full rose on his lapel could relate to the Hooded Woman, whom he still holds a torch for. It could relate to how Kaname tries to hold onto love but comes up short with both the Hooded Woman and Yuuki.

Yuuki, on the other hand, has a full pink rose by her lips. The pink rose represents trust and happiness, both things that she will find with Zero as much as she tries to find them with Kaname. The rose is just out of reach of Kaname’s hand, which relates to his longing for Yuuki’s trust and happiness with him. 

Yuuki and Zero are pale and washed out while Kaname is in stark relief, which again highlights the distance between them. Yuuki and Zero, again by extension, are fading away from Kaname emotionally. It could also be related to Zero and Yuuki losing themselves temporarily in the future; Yuuki while she is trying to refind her lost memories and Zero while he is separated from Yuuki in a state of despair and anger that Yuuki’s presence guides him away from.

Yuuki and Zero being pale and washed out could also relate to their knowledge of their respective situations. Zero is in the dark about his past regarding Shizuka and Kaname’s role in it, while Yuuki still does not know who her parents are or again, how Kaname fits into it. In contrast, Kaname knows full well what has occurred in relation to both of them.

Part 4

Part 6

[vampireknightmusings]

Looking Too Deeply Into Vampire Knight Covers

In this series, I pretend that I’m back in college having to over-analyse the use of the colour blue, except in image form rather than text! It’ll be fun to flex the old grey matter and see what I can shake loose from the recesses of my own mind! This is all in fun, so please don’t take it too seriously.

It feels as though we are intruding looking at this cover. Zero and Yuuki lean into each other as if they are sharing a secret with one another. This could be a reference to the forbidden act that both engage in in order to keep Zero sane; an act that no one else can be involved in, which could be why the two face each other and exclude all others. It could also link to the future secrets that will be thrown into the open; Yuuki’s status as a pureblood princess which will be discovered during her search for her past. Zero is covering the bloody book, which hints at the quest the two undergo at the Hunter’s headquarters. It is as though he is protecting Yuuki both from internal threats and outer ones.

The book being covered in blood could link to Yuuki’s bloody future. It could also be symbolic of Yuuki’s quest for her memories leading to knowledge that she would ultimately regret; being the “trigger” for Kaname’s despair and discovering that Zero’s family was killed in order to protect her. The rose petals scattered on the book could link to Yuuki discovering her love for Zero too late.

The ripped effect appears to be closing in on the pair, linking to the dark future that is steadily approaching. It could link to the deep dark forest that they, along with Kaname, will find themselves in.

I can’t tell for certain what the item Yuuki is sitting on is, as there are too many obstructions on the page. It could simply be a long table, as is often found in places like libraries, which could once again link to Yuuki’s need for knowledge. The embossed rose by Yuuki’s foot makes me wonder if it is a cask or a box and this is where the hinge is. If this is the case, then the fact that Yuuki is sitting on top of the box could link to her hiding her memories not just from Zero but from herself. It could also relate to Juuri locking her memories away in such a way as to prevent Yuuki from finding them.

Part 3

Part 5

[vampireknightmusings]

Looking Too Deeply Into Vampire Knight Covers

In this series, I pretend that I’m back in college having to over-analyse the use of the colour blue, except in image form rather than text! It’ll be fun to flex the old grey matter and see what I can shake loose from the recesses of my own mind! This is all in fun, so please don’t take it too seriously.

The first thing that jumps out to me from this cover is the dark rips that seem to be closing in on the night class vampires. This could link to their relationship with Kaname, which leads everyone into darkness. It could also symbolise the dark nature of being a vampire. The immediate future is dark for all characters on this cover.

Each of the characters are facing us, giving us their full attention, except for Ruka. This could show that her mind is elsewhere, specifically on Kaname. She has no time or attention to give to anyone who isn’t Kaname. It could also portray the cold facade that she puts on for those she doesn’t know (or like, such as Yuuki). The others facing us, on the other hand, could show that these other characters have their own goals and needs that they wish to pursue alongside any loyalty to Kaname.

Furthermore, Kain is just in front of her, as though he is protecting her. Ruka’s positioning in relation to him could symbolise her inability to notice him thanks to her love for Kaname, and this could further be symbolic of his pure love for her.

Of all the students portrayed on this cover, Shiki is the only one to face us head on from his position behind Aido. This could symbolise that he is the most honest with the audience out of all the students, or at the very least, have the least to hide from the audience.

A tie can be seen as a representation of working hard, of wishing to progress in their work. On the other hand, a loose tie can symbolise relaxation, especially at the end of the working day. His tugging at the tie can link to Aido’s being able to settle down and relax with Yori after his hard work helping Kaname and Yuuki. It could also mean that he is relaxing into his role as one of Kaname’s closest companions. 

We can see that Takuma is holding his sword, linking to his duties as Kaname’s right hand man. He is the one who is sent to deal with level E’s who wonder too close to the academy and therefore pose a threat to Yuuki. Takuma is the only one holding a weapon, which could link to his desire to be useful to Kaname as a pureblood, as he states Zero to be to both Yuuki and Kaname. It could also link to his more dangerous nature that comes from his desire to be useful to purebloods. His position behind the other students could symbolise his status as a hidden threat, again due to this desire.

The colours that we see behind the night class students are a melding of pink and blue. Blue has a general symbolism of trust, loyalty, responsibility and aloofness. The aloofness can relate to all the night class vampires, at least in relation to the human day class members. The responsibility could link to their role as a bridge between the two species in the goal of coexistence. The trust and loyalty aspect could relate to their feelings for each other as fellow vampires with a secret to hide, and could also relate to their varying levels of respect for Kaname. Further to this, pink can symbolise love, tranquility, tenderness and a nurturing with safety and vulnerability. This could once more relate to their status as a bridge between species. 

The melding of the two colours could relate to their natural respect for Kaname and their desire to be a true friend to him, especially in the case of Aido and Ruka. It could also relate to the natural falling of day into night.

This one was a little harder to find symbolism in (the greatest symbolism is in the covers that include two or more of the main trio), but I think I at least found enough for a passing grade. I’m still open to alternate interpretations and views, and I hope you enjoyed this read.

I hope to see you again!

Part 2

Part 4

[vampireknightmusings]

First Impressions: Chapter 18

This post will be one that is written as I see the new spoilers coming out, which means that it won’t be published until all of the spoilers are out! What you are about to read is the result of my viewing the drips and drabs of new chapters as they release (or more accurately, as I see them release. I’m usually at work when the spoilers do fully drop!). It also means that first impressions will be written and left unmolested by future pages. For example, at the time of writing this intro and the first couple of points, we only have the title page and a single chapter page publically available on Tumblr. What you read about these pages are the unedited impressions I had while only this tiny amount of information was available to us. Sections will be cut into separate parts so that you know which session each part was written in. And maybe how many pages we had out at the time. I also don’t understand the language to read it, so the first impressions are based solely on the images. Enjoy!

- We have a Kaname title page this time around! His hand is on the book page as if he is about to open it, and his expression says to me that he knows how serious this is. I am left to wonder if he will follow through with this action. His expression also leads me to wonder if he will choose not to go through with it. Ai did give him the choice of whether he wanted to look through it or not last chapter. Has he still not quite decided what he’s going to do? Will he decide to leave the past in the past after all? Is this a test from Ai to see which path he will choose?

- I am actually surprised that we are still with Ai and Kaien where we left off last chapter. While the chapters have kept up an almost completely linear structure, I genuinely thought that we would stay with Kaname or jump to Yuuki hearing about what’s happened to Kaien. This means we’re hopefully going to see what Ai will do now that her strange but loving grandfather figure is grievously injured.  

- My thoughts are all over the place currently for this one. The tiny sliver of a previous page that we can see in this image looks like Kaien. He may be reassuring Ai that he has lived a good life or that he isn’t afraid to die in response to apparently rejecting her desire to turn him into a vampire (he never directly responded to it as far as I remember). On the other hand, I’m wondering if he’s one of those people who dies with their eyes open. This one is a minor one though and I do think he’s alive in that page.

Low quality spoilers have dropped!

I’ll start with first impressions from a point that @alldempretties brings up in the parts that she found interesting about the chapter. That of Kaname. I am ecstatic that he chose not to look at the photo album. I had a feeling that this would be what occurred, simply because this is the best possible route for his growth as a character. His downfall in his previous iterations has been his inability to move on from the past and an inability to listen to others. His arrogance has always limited him. There is hope for him now that his new self is not allowing his own selfish desires to dictate what action he takes. He is listening to what Yuuki is telling him, that he is better off not remembering. I have always felt that his character is moving towards being able to leave the past in the past, to stop repeating mistakes he made in his previous lives and I am so happy that this feeling has proven fruitful. This is a big step for Kaname in my eyes. I’m gushing over Kaname’s character growth and I'm not even a fan of his, what is happening to me, can someone send help?

- The preview image. Ren. Baby Ren is adorable.

- It’s so sad that Ai has to watch Kaien die like that, while being helpless to do anything about it. I can’t imagine how devastating that must feel.

- It turns out that we did cut to Yuuki finding out about Kaien. I mustn’t dismiss my feelings about what will happen in future chapters, it seems!

- I am very intrigued by the sombre tone with the Touma and Isaya portion. Touma seems to have recovered well from starving and seems to be playing his own little game.

- Yuuki attempting to put Kaien’s glasses on his face and having him promptly collapse into dust is actually pretty funny. I might have a broken sense of humour.

- The little girl and the scientist are back! Does this mean they are ready to move into a new phase of their plan? 

- Yuuki with her pregnant belly! I adore her expression as she cradles Ren inside her and talks to Ai. She looks like such a loving mother.

- Ren crawling to Zero. REN CRAWLING TO ZERO.

- These Zeki family scenes are too much. I’m so happy to see them so happy together raising their new baby together with her big sister! 

- Just what is Ai thinking when she’s holding Ren? Is she trying to hold back her darker vampire urges with the sibling that she has desired for so long? I’m so glad that she clearly loves her though.

- The last panel is so bittersweet. It’s a shame that Kaien couldn’t see Ren being born and the happy family unit that Zero, Yuuki and Ai are with Ren.

From being able to see all of the available pages, I am more than happy with this chapter. We get to see Kaname growing as a character I’m actually really proud of him and we get to see the family unit with Ren. Now that Ren’s been born, I am even more excited to see the happy family moments. Although I am now also full of trepidation because Ren will clearly be a target for antagonists to go after! At least we’ll get to see Zero and Yuuki being fiercely protective parents for baby Ren!

[vampireknightmusings]

Ramblings: When Did They Know?

Thanks to the summary of Vampire Knight provided in the first volume of Vampire Knight Memories, we know for certain that Zero and Yuuki were in love with each other before they initially parted in the series:

Following on from this, I asked myself the question. When did Zero and Yuuki know that they had mutual romantic feelings for each other? The conclusion I came to was that both knew around the end of the first arc, when they were forced to part from each other. I think Zero knew, or at least suspected, first. I found Yuuki’s area of realisation easier to pinpoint, so I’ll start with her however.

For me, this is the moment that Yuuki realised not only that Zero really was in love with her, but that she was also in love with him. As we see soon after this, she does try to stifle those feelings as nothing can come of them at this point and it takes her at least half the year to come to terms with the fact that these feelings aren’t going to go away. The reason that I think she knew at the latest was this point is what she apologises for on the next page:

She doesn’t apologise for being unable to return his feelings or because she’s in love with another, she apologises for not being right for him. The struggle she had in coming to terms with her vampire self was related more to the fact that she couldn’t be fair to Kaname because her feelings weren’t what she had thought they were when she was human, and she didn’t want him to be with someone who couldn’t love him back with her whole heart.

I think that Zero suspected that Yuuki was falling for him before she was revealed to be a vampire (whether he could accept that she would love someone like him or not is a different matter), mainly because of this:

Not only does this parallel the moment that Zero almost kissed Yuuki and then pushed those feelings aside (I fully believe he’s doing the same thing here), but it comes across as Zero reminding Yuuki that she’s supposed to love Kaname and not him. At this point, she is supposed to be Kaname’s lover, but she’s here making a confession of sorts to Zero.

My belief here is that Zero may have thought or hoped that Yuuki’s feelings for him were fleeting and had possibly developed because the two of them had been much closer since she found out that Zero is a vampire. He wouldn’t have accepted her feelings at this point because he still feels he doesn’t deserve them, and thought that Kaname would be able to make her happy. 

I think he knew for certain by the time the anguished kiss occurs in chapter 46. While there’s no way to tell whether he could taste her feelings for him in her blood (I do believe he was observant enough to realise that she was, at the very least, crushing on him even if she herself didn’t), I do have a couple of theories about Zero’s reaction to it if he had. These are as follows:

Zero tasted her feelings in her blood, but didn’t recognise them as love.

I can’t imagine that the taste of her blood would be the same regarding her feelings for Kaname and her feelings for him. As he has commented that he could taste that Yuuki liked Kaname in her blood, it is possible that the different taste to her feelings could prevent him from recognising them as such.

Zero tasted her feelings in her blood, but it was too late.

This theory is the one I hold most faith in, at least from the timing being wrong for their feelings to blossom. Zero and Yuuki couldn’t be together because she is a pureblood. While Zero is partly pushing her away because he is hurt and angry, he is also pushing her away because he thinks Kaname can provide a better life for her. Part of the reason that I believe this is this scene from the first chapter of Vampire Knight Memories:

Whilst the regret may mostly stem from how unhappy Yuuki became and the horrible things she went through, he must have realised that there was the possibility that she would have stayed with him. There would be no point in holding onto this particular moment as a potential diverging path if he hadn’t known that she returned his love for her, as she likely would have gone anyway if she had not.

Another moment that relates to the “it was too late” portion of the theory if not the tasting it in her blood portion, that makes me think Zero suspected, or knew, that Yuuki returned his feelings is this:

Yuuki very quickly seeks him out after regaining consciousness and taking the edge off of her ten years of built up thirst. The two are close, of course, but surely she would have spent more time with man she had claimed to love after finding out that, actually, they are suitable for each other after all? He has pushed her away every time she has put her feelings out there because he feels he is not suitable for her, either, but now that she is a pureblood? Those feelings must have intensified.

Zero tasted her feelings in her blood, but put them down to her inner turmoil.

Yuuki was in a state of confusion after finding out that she had been effectively living a lie for the past ten years of her life. If her feelings were in fact close enough to the surface for Zero to taste, he could easily put it down to her not yet knowing what her role is now or who she really is. After all, she does reassure him that she will be alright even if he isn’t with her and she has stated that she only wanted her big brother’s blood.

Overall, from Zero’s side, I think he knew the feelings were mutual whether he could taste them or not, but pushed them down for Yuuki’s sake; at first, because he was dangerous to her and then because they could no longer walk the same path together. Thank Hino that they abolished that thought process!

Reading these scenes over with the thought that they knew they were in love with each other and shouldn’t be adds another heart wrenching layer of tragedy to the story. My heart aches for what these two had to go through before they could finally be together!

When do you think they knew the feelings were mutual? These have been my thoughts, and I'd love to hear yours.

[vampireknightmusings]

Looking Too Deeply Into Vampire Knight Covers

In this series, I pretend that I’m back in college having to over-analyse the use of the colour blue, except in image form rather than text! It’ll be fun to flex the old grey matter and see what I can shake loose from the recesses of my own mind! This is all in fun, so please don’t take it too seriously.

The main theme of this cover is the enmity between Kaname and Zero, both as rivals for Yuuki’s affections, and for being the worst kind of creature to each other. 

Kaname has the colour theme of black. His coat and shit are completely black, the gloves he wears are black and the wings on his back are black. This could relate to Kaname’s own words, in which he himself says that he had no metaphorical colour in his life until Yuuki. It could also relate more directly to his dark nature, and his continuing to hide his less respectable actions from Yuuki. The feather falling from his wing could symbolise his desire to be saved from his darker nature and to return to the light. 

Zero’s colour theme is white, hidden under a layer of black. The white undershirt symbolises his kind-hearted nature that he hides under a layer of brooding anger. He is removing the white glove, which is covered in blood, from his hand. This could relate to his becoming more honest with Yuuki, while Kaname’s gloves are firmly on because he never becomes completely honest with Yuuki for fear of her rejection. I know that he’s holding a hunter’s weapon that can hurt him, but we’re in the land of metaphor here so go with it.

We shall turn from Kaname’s glove back to Zero’s. Another interpretation of the glove could be that it represents his vampire self (the blood indicating a tainting of his innocence with the act of becoming a vampire) alongside his own wish to remove it. 

Kaname, as previously stated, is holding Artemis here. This hints at his future actions of handing the weapon over to Yuuki, therefore symbolising his bond with her. The scythe is also looped around Zero’s back, representing how Kaname has tied Zero to him with his previous actions. 

The background is again torn, this time with the carved precision of Artemis. This represents the barbs and jabs that Kaname throws at Zero every opportunity he gets. I know, I know, Zero isn’t innocent here either! It could also highlight his active aggression towards Zero when it comes to Yuuki. Zero is not holding a weapon at all, which compliments the fact that he isn’t willing to fight with Kaname for her affection.

For a little more colour symbolism here, the white is again being torn into the darkness. Kaname stands on the same side of this veil as Zero, who will be his attempted saviour later on in the series, but he has cut through to the darkness, which could hint at his failure to fight alongside Zero. It could also relate to this multiple choices which lead to his “jet-black” future.

Zero is wearing a collar and chain around his neck which ties into his feelings of being trapped by his vampire identity. He does not feel free for fear of hurting Yuuki or any other human who steps into his path while he’s thirsty. The chain seems to link around to the wrist of the hand with the white glove. This could represent the complimentary feelings of being trapped and wanting to be free from his vampirism.

Again, Zero is facing towards us while Kaname has his back to us. This represents Zero’s openness towards the reader, while Kaname’s motives are in the dark at this point in the story. At it’s core, Zero has nothing to hide while Kaname does.

This was all I could find, at least in this viewing. Not quite as much to say as the first ‘issue’, but enough to be interesting, I hope!

Again, if you guys have anything to add or a different interpretation, I want to hear it! Thank you all for reading and see you in the next one.

Part 1

Part 3

[vampireknightmusings]

Looking Too Deeply Into Vampire Knight Covers

In this series, I pretend that I’m back in college having to over-analyse the use of the colour blue, except in image form rather than text! It’ll be fun to flex the old grey matter and see what I can shake loose from the recesses of my own mind! This is all in fun, so please don’t take it too seriously.

As always, we should start at the beginning:

The first thing that jumps out to me is how Zero and Yuuki are separated from Kaname by a white veil. This is foreshadowing the series conflict of Zero and Yuuki attempting to stop Kaname from following out his plan after abandoning her. Further to this, Kaname is behind the veil in the darkness. This is the choice he makes by leaving Yuuki behind and not allowing her to save him, as he wanted. This choice can be seen in a positive light, however, as he does this so that he will stop making Yuuki miserable. He doesn’t want her to become disillusioned with life like him.

Kaname being behind the veil could be a nod to the fact that he is hiding core aspects of his personality from Yuuki, and hiding dark secrets from Zero. In contrast, Zero and Yuuki being in front of the veil could show that the two are more honest about their personalities. Of course, they aren’t entirely if you think about it, but neither of them have murderous secrets to hide.

I looked briefly very briefly into the symbolism behind cloth being torn, if there was any. What I did find in this sojourn was in relation to death and mourning. On Kaname’s side, this could relate to his previous “death” and his future “death.” For Zero, this could relate to his mourning of his family and the man he could have been if his world hadn’t been violently turned upside down and he transformed into a vampire. For Yuuki, it could relate to her mourning Kaname in the future, and the loss of her memories that we come to see are important to her.

Returning to the colour symbolism, the white that Zero and Yuuki are standing in front of could represent their honest intentions in their actions. The actions they take hold no deeper meaning, and they are not manipulative of others. Both want to help others, though they show this want in different ways. Kaname being behind the white and in front of the black could represent, in contrast, the sinister intentions that he hides from Zero and Yuuki throughout the first arc. His schemes will place others in unnecessary danger; something that neither Zero or Yuuki would approve of.

Kaname is surrounded by red roses, which often symbolise romantic love. This is a representation of Kaname’s desire to love and be loved, and, coupled with the torn veil, could symbolise his desire to be brought into the light by Yuuki’s love. The website teleflora states that a bouquet of roses represents an innocent love, which could be related to his more innocent intentions of simply stepping back and protecting Yuuki from afar. I may have missed some, but I could count ten roses on the cover amongst the various tears. From the same source, I learned that ten roses stand for someone’s love being “perfection”, again returning to the idea of Kaname seeking salvation from Yuuki’s love.

Zero and Yuuki standing together on one side of the veil could also highlight their unbreakable bond, and puts emphasis on Yuuki’s statement that she will be on Zero’s side even if they are enemies. Furthermore, Yuuki is the one to hold Bloody Rose on this cover, the chain wrapping itself around her arm, highlighting this even more strongly. She is also holding it up and to the right, just placing the angle of the bullet’s trajectory away from Zero’s head. This could symbolise her refusal to kill Zero in direct correlation to her wish to save him. Her holding the gun instead of Zero could also relate to her actively stopping Zero from ending his own life. 

Furthermore, the Bloody Rose is a hunters weapon which can be linked to Yuuki’s decision to become the ‘angel of death’ to pureblood vampires later on in the series.

Zero is covered in blood, which relates to his bloody past and foreshadows his bloody future. It also links to his true nature as a vampire. He is also lightly clutching his throat, a gesture associated with vampires who are trying to control their thirst. Blood is symbolic of someone’s life force, so this could symbolise the 'death’ of Zero’s identity as a human; him being born anew into the bloody world of vampirism.

Yuuki is also lightly covered in blood, the majority of it on her neck where she will be bitten by Zero. This relates to her offering her own blood as a means to keep Zero alive. There is also a small amount of blood on the hand she is using to hold Bloody Rose, which indicates the secret that her blood letting creates between her and Zero.

A final point I want to make is that Zero and Yuuki are facing towards us, which again relates to their honesty and openness, at least to us as readers. Kaname appears to be turning away, relating to his hidden intentions and his hiding his deeper plans from us as readers alongside Zero and Yuuki.

All in all, this cover has a lot to say about the character’s relations to each other and about roles they will take in the story. If you guys have anything you want to add, or if you have alternate interpretations, I’m always willing to hear it!

I hope you enjoyed this read and will stick around for the next installment!

Part 2

[vampireknightmusings]

Let’s Discuss: The Rose In Resin

In this post, I’d like to discuss the rose in resin, and more specifically, the symbolism contained therein. I find that the rose in resin is incredibly symbolic of Kaname’s and Yuuki’s relationship in more ways than one. The main theme that I relate to the rose in resin and the relationship between Kaname and Yuuki is that of being frozen in time. Beyond that, the rose in resin can symbolise Yuuki herself, in that she is stuck in time unable to progress with Kaname (and this is where I’ll place my focus).

This post will not portray Kaname’s and Yuuki’s relationship in a positive light, so I would suggest skipping this one if you don’t want to read that.

“I saw a rose that blooms only once every ten years, Yuuki. But I couldn’t bring it back with me. When you pick it, it withers right away. The next time it blooms, I’ll have it encased in resin and...”

Let’s start with the very basics of what a rose in resin symbolises. A rose, (I presume it is a red one, though I’m not sure. If there are any colour illustrations that capture the rose in resin, please link me so I can see it) represents love. A rose that is encased in resin is therefore a love that is stuck in time, eternal but unable to move forwards and grow. If it is removed from the resin, it will quickly die. The act of encasing the rose in resin represents the need to keep this love alive, to not let it wither and die. Unfortunately, this need does come with the downside of being fixed in a single point in time. In itself, it becomes a relic of the past; the symbol of how Kaname’s relationship with Yuuki used to be.

From this and the quote above, I would like to discuss the rose as a symbol for Yuuki as this is fantastic foreshadowing to how the relationship and her personal growth will turn out. The series connects Yuuki to the rose two times, the first of which is her being awakened as a vampire after ten years as human. The second way that the series relates Yuuki to the rose is a quote from Rido as he taunts Kaname:

“This flower was about to bloom just for you.”

If the rose blooming once every ten years is a metaphor for Yuuki’s awakening after ten years, then having to encase it in resin is the metaphor for Kaname attempting to keep Yuuki as the girl he thought she was; a girl who was so deeply in love with him that she would focus her every waking hour on him. In reality, however, Yuuki begins to metaphorically wither. She is stuck in time, unable to move forward and trying to bring the relationship to the platonic one she knew when she was a child. As the rose is frozen in a fixed point in time, so too is Yuuki. 

Yuuki is restricted in many ways as she grows up, much like the rose is restricted within the resin. She is raised in a room without windows in the midst of a snowy mountain with only her immediate family for company. As she grows, she is restricted in the amount of friends she is able to make, preventing her from making any social progress (it can’t be healthy for a growing girl to know only two people in a meaningful way, at least until Zero arrives). To deny her the ability to make meaningful relationships is to deny her the option of developing feelings for someone else, thus freezing her in time metaphorically. Once she is reawakened, she is restricted in where Kaname allows her to go, if he allows her to leave the house at all. 

A further thing that the resin does is prevent outsiders from approaching the rose. As Yuuki grew up, she only really had Kaname (the resin) as a friend that she could rely on. Whether it was Kaname’s physical presence or just Yuuki’s deep devotion to him, we know from Vampire Knight Memories’ first chapter that Yuuki had trouble keeping friends due to Kaname. We also know from a side chapter that Kaname actively repels people who attempt to pursue Yuuki romantically. However much Kaname wanted to protect her, the way he ended up going about it ultimately harmed her.

Finally, we come to Yuuki accidentally cracking the resin surrounding the rose. The most immediate meaning of this is the cracks beginning to show in their relationship as Kaname begins to show his true self to her. It also highlights Yuuki’s own desire for freedom; Kaname has her keep her hair long and wear clothes/ shoes that she would not choose for herself, and when she expresses her individuality and her need for freedom, he restricts her through manipulative language and sometimes even physically stops her. It symbolises Yuuki’s need for more; Kaname is just not enough for her to be happy.

In conclusion, the rose in resin becomes a reminder for Yuuki of her stagnant relationship with Kaname as well as the time that she allowed herself to become frozen in time with him, to the point of being unable to save him. Beyond Kaname, she has bloomed and moved forwards in a way that the rose will never be able to do.

I know that my writing structure can be clunky and doesn’t always flow all that nicely, but I hope you were able to endure it until the end. Thank you for reading, and if you have an alternative interpretation you’d like to share, or you’ve seen something that I’ve missed, I’m more than happy to hear it!

[vampireknightmusings]

Musing About Chapter 17

The following musings may well be the result of not paying enough attention, over thinking and simply forgetting the details given to us in previous chapters. I’ll freely admit that I read the scanlations once and then wait for the official English release to read the chapters again.

My Chapter Highlights

 - Yuuki would seem to be pregnant. It came about fast, but this series is Ai telling Kaname about Yuuki and the people around her, so there’s nothing wrong with jumping ahead to begin another story (or to continue one she took a pause in!).

 - Zero’s protectiveness of Yuuki is adorable. It makes perfect sense for him to prevent her from putting herself into obvious danger, not only because he doesn’t want her to get hurt, but because he doesn’t want anything to happen to the child. The combination of Zero’s words and Yuuki acquiescing to him is what confirmed to Kaien that she was pregnant, I believe. This is the point that he begins to ask the question. Kaien also has first hand knowledge in the ways that Zero and Yuuki interact with each other. 

 - Zero’s and Yuuki’s protectiveness of Ai is also adorable. Their faces when they told her she couldn’t go in Yuuki’s place were gold.

 - Speaking of faces, I loved Ai’s when Kaien tells her she’ll be getting a sibling soon.

 - Seiya is just like his father. In appearance and mannerisms.

 - I also loved how close Ai and Seiya are even though she’s been effectively asleep for years.

 - Ai wanted to be arrested by Zero. That amused me greatly. (”Also, if I thoughtlessly did something like that I would be arrested by father Zero. I won’t do it though.”)

 - I am so glad that Aido hasn’t wallowed in despair. He cherished his time with the one he loved and is now putting his time into helping people by chasing up Kaname’s cure. A part of me was worried that he wouldn’t be able to move past her death, as irrational as that is!

General Musings And Questions (In No Particular Order)

 - It’s ominous that the Vampire King has seemingly disappeared for many years. It intrigues me about just what this will mean. Does he have what he needs for his schemes? Did he just intend to sow the seeds of fear and let the populace reap the ‘rewards’? Is the anxiety at a peak for him to act again, or will he let it fester further?

 - Did Touma really refuse to drink blood offered to him, or was it withheld completely? Letting those who are already anti-vampire see that their leaders can be reduced to bloodthirsty monsters at any time would bolster his popularity with those voters.

 - I refuse to believe that humans can contain a pureblood, and the last I recall seeing Touma, he was recovering at the hunter association under their protection. So does the mayor have access to vampire hunter technology? And how? Are there treacherous hunters under Zero after all? No matter how respected one person is, there are always dissenters.

 - Ai seems to be leading Kaname down the ‘regaining his memories’ route that I think we all knew was coming. But is she certain that his regaining his memories won’t lead to his despair all over again? That he won’t repeat the same mistakes he made twice before? Is there another safeguard beyond the fragment of Yuuki that we don’t know about that will keep him from regaining his memories? Ai is privy to a lot of information that we aren’t; is this a part of that knowledge?

 - On the other hand, does she trust him to decide against looking through the album and to move towards the happiness that Yuuki wanted for him?

I do wonder how long it will take to get any answers. I eagerly await them!