The Case Study of Vanitas

Plot

During an airship ride to Paris, the vampire Noé Archiviste meets Vanitas, a human claiming to be a vampire doctor who cures vampires of the malnomen, which causes them to behave predatorily against their will. The book with which he heals, The Book of Vanitas, is connected to the original Vanitas, the Vampire of the Blue Moon, hated by the Vampires of the Red Moon who form the traditional vampire society. Noé and Vanitas join forces to heal vampires, but there lurks a threat of some unknown force named Charlatan, which may be responsible for corrupting the sick vampires.

Production

Following the completion of her manga Pandora Hearts, Jun Mochizuki expressed a desire to create a work featuring vampires in a high school setting. The character Vanitas was the first she conceived, during a trip to France. While visiting Mont Saint-Michel, she considered the premise of a solitary vampire who had watched over an island for a hundred years; this initial idea subsequently informed the development of the series and the general designs of Vanitas and Noé. Mochizuki had several intentions for her post–Pandora Hearts work, including an increased emphasis on romance and battle elements, though her head editor advised her to reduce these aspects due to her perceived inexperience with them. She resolved to continue drawing them, believing that practice would improve her skill. The steampunk setting was chosen because the author had long been a fan of the genre and wished to create a contrast with her previous work.

One of Mochizuki's influences for a vampire narrative was the 1994 film Interview with the Vampire, itself based on the novel by Anne Rice. Upon viewing it, she was captivated by the tragic and ephemeral nature of vampires and their blood-sucking scenes, impressions that became firmly established in her mind. The film also reinforced her preference for stories centred on the dynamic between a young man and a girl, which influenced her handling of the protagonists. Paris was the first foreign city she visited, and it left a strong impression; she had been invited as a guest to Japan Expo, and her fondness for the city influenced Noé's own attachment to it, ultimately leading her to set the manga in France. The Paladins of the Catholic Church are based on the legend of Charlemagne; while the characters in Vanitas are not intended to be the same figures from the legend, Mochizuki enjoyed exploring shared relationship dynamics and character traits. She acknowledged that vampire stories had been extensively explored and sought to distinguish her work by examining vampire weaknesses, which she believed could offer a fresh perspective.

In the initial conception, Vanitas was a vampire and Noé was human. Drawing inspiration from Sherlock Holmes, Mochizuki assigned Vanitas the role of Holmes and Noé that of Dr. Watson. However, her supervisor criticised the concept as generic, a view she ultimately shared; a suggestion to swap the protagonists' roles resulted in a more striking dynamic. A friend's criticism of Vanitas's design led to the addition of his two-level side bangs. Noé's design also underwent significant changes from the early drafts; he originally wore glasses and was conceived as the straight man of the duo, but these and other ideas were abandoned. Because of the leads' contrasting natures, Mochizuki wrote them so as to avoid developing a friendship. While she had no specific fixations regarding facial expressions, she often redrew panels multiple times to achieve the desired effect. Rather than creating villains, she aimed to make all characters relatable, and sought to address flaws she perceived in Pandora Hearts, including the inclusion of meaningless deaths.

Adaptation

For the anime adaptation produced by Bones, producer Naoki Amano oversaw all aspects of production. During script-writing, series composition writer Deko Akao divided the story into episodes. In the storyboard phase, which functions as the blueprint for the final animation, director Tomoyuki Itamura aimed to replicate as many of the manga's poses as possible in order to remain faithful to the source material. Nevertheless, the team sometimes took liberties, such as portraying a fight scene using silhouettes in the first episode. Itamura was careful to ensure that the storyboards for action sequences were visually appealing. When Vanitas uses his book, the colour artist Izumi Takizawa employed 3D animation with vivid colours to remain faithful to the manga.

Itamura noted that although a general distinction was difficult, he considered "shōjo manga-like" elements to occupy a significant portion of the series. He aimed to make scenarios and characters stylistically beautiful, which he considered necessary. To animate the setting accurately, the staff conducted research during a visit to Paris. He wanted to preserve the darkness and horror atmosphere of traditional vampire films in the anime. Because of their contrasting personalities, Vanitas and Noé were often kept apart and rarely framed together; Itamura was careful to avoid diminishing their charm by portraying them as too familiar with each other.

The protagonists Vanitas and Noé are voiced by Natsuki Hanae and Kaito Ishikawa, respectively, and their performances received positive responses. Itamura observed that both actors' performances complemented each other's characterisations: Hanae fully employed the cool, uncool, and sexy aspects of Vanitas, while Ishikawa excelled at conveying the reactions of the natural boke (straight man) character. Hanae was cast for his extensive experience and his ability to convey sex appeal even in simple lines such as "It's a secret". Inori Minase, who played Jeanne, noted that her character was unusual for her, as she had previously portrayed many protected characters rather than a defender. The scenes where Noé takes Dominique's blood and Jeanne takes Vanitas's blood were designed to emphasise sex appeal despite the characters being clothed, and music was used to convey an erotic atmosphere.

Themes

The series explores themes of existence and identity, which Mochizuki considered more central to Vanitas than to Pandora Hearts or her other work Crimson-Shell, both of which also employ these elements. She intended to gradually reveal what lay hidden in her characters' hearts, and as she explored these depths, the questions of identity and the meaning of existence inevitably arose. From the outset, Vanitas was conceived as a character who exuded freedom and eccentricity, acting on whatever intrigued him; this provided a balance with Noé, who is pure, kind, and possesses a strong sense of justice and responsibility. Ultimately, she saw the two as complementary. Possessing a grimoire capable of saving cursed vampires, Vanitas's duties are central to the manga, as Mochizuki intended to portray themes of identity that could be lost and recovered.

Regarding the concept of vampires' true names, Mochizuki acknowledged that this idea appears frequently in Japanese video games, anime, and fantasy manga, and was not her own invention. However, she introduced it for specific narrative reasons. The concept of Vanitas as a vampire saviour had already been established, but she needed a method to visually depict his healing of vampires; performing conventional medical procedures did not interest her, and she doubted her readers would find it appealing. She therefore sought a more conceptual approach, leading to the use of the true-name concept. Vanitas also wears an hourglass-shaped earring. Upon first seeing it, writer Deko Akao inferred that it had a significant history, a notion that was later confirmed by Vanitas's backstory in the manga. Anime News Network observed that the earring reflected his mortality and short lifespan, which also conveyed the author's intended message.

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by Jun Mochizuki, The Case Study of Vanitas started in Square Enix's Monthly Gangan Joker on December 22, 2015. In April 2020, Mochizuki announced that the manga would be on hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic; it resumed publication in November of the same year. It went on hiatus again in June 2022 and is set to resume in May 2023. Square Enix has collected its chapters into individual tankōbon volumes. The first volume was released on April 22, 2016. As of April 22, 2024, eleven volumes have been released.

On December 3, 2015, Yen Press announced on its official Twitter account that it would be publishing new chapters of the series concurrently with Japan.

Anime

On March 28, 2021, it was announced at AnimeJapan that the series would be receiving an anime television series adaptation by Bones. It was directed by Tomoyuki Itamura, with scripts overseen by Deko Akao and character designs by Yoshiyuki Ito. Yuki Kajiura composed the series' music. The series is a split-cours anime, with the first half airing from July 3 to September 18, 2021, on Tokyo MX and other channels. The second half aired from January 15 to April 2, 2022. The first opening theme is "Sora to Utsuro" (空と虚; lit. 'Sky and Emptiness'), performed by Sasanomaly, while the first ending theme is "0 (Zero)", performed by LMYK. The second opening theme is "Your Name", performed by Little Glee Monster, while the second ending theme is "Salvation", performed by Mononkul. Funimation licensed the series outside of Asia. On August 5, 2021, Funimation announced the series would receive an English dub, which premiered the following day. Plus Media Networks Asia has licensed the series in Southeast Asia and released it on Aniplus Asia and IQIYI.

Reception

Manga

By June 2021, The Case Study of Vanitas had over 5.5 million copies in circulation. Upon its release, the Japanese volumes appeared in charts from Oricon. Critics enjoyed the handling of Vanitas and the setting, praising the mix of action, humor and adventure, as well as Vanitas's relationship with Noé. The Fandom Post praised the first manga volume, which exceeded the reviewer's expectations. Melina Dargis from The Fandom Post also wanted the manga to be adapted into an anime in 2017. The focus on romance between arcs was praised for its handling of Vanitas as a hilarious character considering how poorly he reacts to his feelings towards Jeanne. Manga News praised the handling of Vanitas through his tragic backstory, and noted that Mochizuki's handling of narrations is hard to follow. In a subsequent review of the seventh volume, The Fandom Post praised the volume's dense mix of action and backstory, noting that while the artwork was less detailed than in previous volumes, the action scenes remained highly dynamic. El Palomitrón said that while there is no boys' love between the two leads due to the focus on other, more explored relationships, the reviewer found the connection between Vanitas and Noé to be deep and comparable to the one between Vanitas and Jeanne.

The art was praised by Otaku USA for its handling of a steampunk setting as well as the characterization of the title character. Manga News enjoyed the multiple character designs, spanning from bishonen types to built bodies who interact together. Although the manga is published in a shōnen magazine, the art was compared with "beautiful shojo-esque art style" by Comic Book Resources, making it equal to Pandora Hearts. The Fandom Post claimed the art was "stunning", praising the details of every page, including the fight sequences. Anime News Network felt that the artwork was inspired by folklore and found the artwork appealing, due to the multiple designs and setting but sometimes it was hard to follow.

Anime

The series was listed twice by Anime News Network as one of the best anime from 2021, while IGN featured it in their own list as well. The handling of vampirism between Jeanne and Vanitas as well as Dominique and Noé was listed by Caitlin Moore from Anime News Network as the best moment in anime from such year due to amount of sex appeal they portray directly. The Fandom Post agreed in regards to the sex appeal featured during the episode where Jeanne sucks Vanitas' blood, comparing it directly to sex, hinting it as an example to why their misrelationship could progress in following episodes of the series.

The Fandom Post found the early fight scenes of the series were the most appealing parts of the series based on how unpredictable Vanitas was, especially when dealing with Jeanne, but the series was less eventful in other areas where there was criticism over the handling of science fiction elements. Several reviewers focused on Vanitas' relationship with the vampire Jeanne. Vanitas forcing a kiss with her was criticized as being inappropriate as comedy. The massive violence displayed in the series' fifth episode resulted in Funimation warning sensitive viewers to avoid watching it. Bones' animation has been generally praised for making the settings and character details appealing alongside Yuki Kajiura's music. Natsuki Hanae's performance as Vanitas brought major praise from Anime Feminist for how he conveyed different sides of Vanitas' twisted personality to the point he comes across as "peak trash". The Fandom Post noted that Vanitas and Jeanne's comical date is more enjoyable than the main plot which is later foreshadowed. The series' second half also earned a positive reception from Anime News Network writers due to the character arcs of the main cast as well as the production value, to the point that they considered it to be one of the best anime of the Winter 2022 season.

In 2022, the series was nominated for the 6th Crunchyroll Anime Awards in the category of "Best Fantasy". The characters of Vanitas, Noé, and Jeanne were popular on Anime Trending, with Vanitas and Jeanne being nominated in the couple category in 2022. The series was also nominated for the 7th Crunchyroll Anime Awards in the "Best Fantasy" category in 2023.