This Vanitas no Carte review contains spoilers. If you haven’t seen the chapter yet, we encourage you to do so and then come back to read the review.
Chapter 14: “Chateau de sorciere”
Vanitas and Jeanne flee from the cold and injuries into a hut. In the warmth of the fire, they share a blanket while their clothes dry. There, the vampire confesses that the beast of Gévaudan could be Chloe, a childhood friend who should have been executed at the time. However, Jeanne didn’t have the heart and felt guilty for the victims of the beast. The next morning they find the dhampirs. Dante saw Chloe kidnap Noah and pick up the Vanitas book, but lost sight of her. Together they go on a search.
At the castle of D’Apchier, Noah wakes up violently: Chloe is sucking his blood. His servant interrupts them and hands him the washed clothes, leading Noah to think maybe they are people he should hear his story from. However, when he enters the dining room, he finds a row of jukeboxes on the table and, to his disbelief, Naenia hugging the young vampire.
Analysis: refuge and sensuality
Vanitas without a card has presented an overtly sensual and erotic romance practically from the start. It’s erotic in an elegant, romantic sense; it is not in the foreground of the story and its scenes are in perfect harmony and balance with the main plot and the rest. From what I’ve heard, and I can only agree, eroticism is delicacy, innuendo without graphic experience; everything beyond that is from the animal kingdom and gets a different name.
From the first stolen kiss, uninhibited and shameless, to the moment when Vanitas accepts Jeanne’s desire for blood, tears and fear, these two characters have starred in beautiful, sensual scenes, with an aesthetic eroticism and a spiritual, spoiled game limits and that grows, entangles with the emotions of the characters. Among all, for me, the love promise of Vanitas to kill Jeanne if she is devoured by the Malnomen and that of this chapter are the best – for now – in manga and anime.
Vanitas and Jeanne, love and hate
The relationship between Vanitas and Jeanne is complex, to say the least, although it can be summed up in the cliché of the fine line between hate and love. That’s clearly the direction the characters’ hearts are taking, towards a loving feeling. At this point, we’re not so much guessing about Vanitas’ feelings as his personality is presented as an enigma to the rest of the characters and to us viewers. With Jeanne, the contradictions are very obvious, her struggle against feelings that make her angry, but she cannot help it.
But this very episode brings to light a weakened, fragile and exposed vampire doctor. The plot twist tears up the roles between the two and Jeanne proves to be a strong woman, full of personality and initiative.
Finally
Vanitas without a card presents us one of the most romantic moments between Jeanne and Vanitas. The original value of this scene lies in the change of roles, in the breach of the vampire’s innocence, which is enriched as a multi-faceted character. On the other hand, as in other moments in the story, the obvious sensuality is at the same time delicate and elegant, daring and reserved; This is one of the defining characteristics of the series.
About Chloe, the aesthetic and the mysteries surrounding this eternal doll, we await the next chapter.
Leave a Comment