A good friend of mine turned me to the manga/anime, Vampire Knight and though it’s not entirely enticing (those slow narratives), it was different enough to captivate me to watch all available episodes and scanlated chapters. I’m usually turned off by mangas about vampires. I’m not entirely sure why. I mean…I liked the movie “Interview With a Vampire”…Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise were hot…but…now I’m more open to vampire-ness now. It’s pretty hot.

In this series, there are two main guys who like the girl. Typical, except they want to suck her tempting blood. One of them is a vampire hunter who’s turning into a vampire, so he’s trying not to suck her blood, while the other is a prestigious vampire of old blood and enjoys teasing her with his good looks and mysterious charm. The girl has known both men since she was little but favors the old-blooded vampire. I’ve never felt that sucking blood could be so erotic.

It’s a little weird though, when she is bitten (she finds out her friend is turning into a vampire and allows him to use her) she doesn’t even show that it hurts. This is a little bothersome because at this point, I don’t see the problem with vampires sucking at my blood anymore. If it doesn’t hurt in anime, it shouldn’t hurt me right? Hah.

Along with the story, after you watch a chapter, you are treated to this amazing song that seems to fit the genre perfectly. I loved it so much I looked the singer up, and it turns out that she plays the cello too! Since she was three, not some “I’m a professional so I’m going to pick up an instrument to play in my video”. Very impressive stuff. Her name is Kanon Wakeshima. What an awesome name right? Apparently when she was born, her parents were set on making her a musician so they named her Kanon (think Canon in D, but I’ve seen it spelled with a K too). She also draws really well, you can see at her website.

Here is her actual music video for the ending song, Still Doll. I’ve always been fond of gothic lolita stuff (browsing the pretty and expensive clothing on ebay)…but there really isn’t a place for that here. Maybe in Japan! 1:25 for the cello part.

And here is the same song, but a fanmade video with clips from the anime. I screened through a lot to find the best one.

I’ve been reading a lot of manga lately, because I have time to and I’m sadistic. Why is this sadistic…because girly manga is so heartwrenching. I can feel my heart tear sometimes when I read these. Boy mangas are so easy to read. Fighting, comical scenes…they pass by…in through the eyes, to the brain…and that is it. Girly manga? Noo…..in through the eyes, to the brain, to the heart, to the eyes…and out as tears.

Anyway, I didn’t cry reading/watching this manga/anime. But I have cried before…I just can’t remember what it was. Oh I remember…Tsubasa: Resevoir Chronicles. Just the first few chapters…but that is for another post.

This manga is about a boy and a girl. You find out that the boy’s old girlfriend died in a car accident and his relationship with her, and her dead, had a big impact on him. The boy and the girl start a relationship and she has to cope with his problems and her insecurities. There are long panels of thoughts…the kind that make you want to either pull your hair out or skim through. The art is amazing though, and that’s what led me to be interested in this manga in the first place. I saw the Chinese version of it at the bookstore and fell in love with the art.

You can also watch the anime on Youtube and Crunchyroll. The ladder has more episodes and they are full length. Her voice does take getting used to…..if you don’t like the stuffed-nose cutesy Japanese girly-but-depressed voice -__-”. The funnier episodes are the ones when they are …er….trying to…..do it…

What was that?? You want to know which episode that’s on?…..mmm….episode 9.

While I wait for this movie to be subbed, I was able to download the soundtrack to the movie…well..I only downloaded the first one, and it’s really good! I can tell it’s exciting stuff. @_@ It gets really good around 1:00.

hm….it kind of sounds like Yanni now that I think of it.

Download audio file (shippuuden.mp3)