this scene has been on my mind for quite a while now. why is roland so attached to vanitas? out of the goodness of his heart? could be, but even olivier says it's unusual for him to get this attached to someone
then it dawned on me. what if vanitas reminds him of astolfo in a way? we as readers noticing their parallels is a given since we're being presented with all the information the story currently holds, but even noé – a character in the story – sees their similarities, so surely roland must have noticed them too, at the very least subconsciously.
yes, vanitas turned out differently to astolfo, aren't we all glad etc., but roland is right in the sense that vanitas is a volatile being, although, at least in my opinion, not quite as much as roland is making him out to be.
i think his past with astolfo exaggerates his emotional response to vanitas. i can't imagine him not carrying a crushing sense of guilt for not having been able to save astolfo – he tried but failed, resulting in casualties. the way he looks at astolfo with a stern yet pained expression tells me he not only hates how he turned out, he feels directly responsible.
so now he's presented with another teenager who has a hauntingly similar backstory filled with horrendous trauma and i think it makes sense that he'd get attached – he feels responsible! maybe if he can save this child, he can atone for the sin of having failed to save another.
So I have been recently thinking about needing to finish Dracula by Bram Stoker after stopping with reading it for about a month.
And I'm not sure how but I remembered that Dracula had THREE concubines.
Antoine, Veronica and Domi all have different mothers. There are THREE mothers in total.
My theory is that Count De Sade is in some manner in a polygamys relationship like Dracula.
In vnc people have picked up on references to other media.
Count Orlok in vnc was named after Count Orlok in Nosferatu.
Apparently, Count De Sade was a real man and the word sadist comes from his name.
And these are examples I remembered of the top of my head.
So if characters get named after different characters from different media, why can't characters also have some traits that as the reference to those characters.
Just remembered I downloaded Tumblr to talk about fandom so here is my very disorganized analysis of the VnC vol.8 cover (yes I’m only on vol. 7 of the manga but I watched the whole anime)
(Spoilers)
Pic for reference:
To make the whole analysis make sense, the first point has to be Louis. Judging by how the ripples look, it’s a mirror inside the frame and not a painting, but instead of Domi’s reflection being her own, it’s Louis. He is both facing in the other direction (which makes sense both logically and symbolically) and his eyes are covered, representing his death.
A lot of the meaning behind this cover is about Domi trying to change herself to be more like Louis, thinking that Noé always liked Louis better than her. Weather this would be the result or not, her reasoning for this is Noé’s happiness, not her own. This is shown by her arm being forcefully pulled into the mirror. It represents how she doesn’t really want to do this, but she feels like she has to. The cracks in the top of the mirror add to this by showing how this harms her.
While there are some differences in her design in the anime and the manga, in neither version does she have yellow hair, meaning this choice carries meaning. Her hair fully turns yellow around the area where she hid cut it previously to look more like Louis, showing that her and Louis are separate characters.
With Chapter 61.5 dropping today I was once again reminded of something that had been bothering me for a while now. And it's the way the dhams are referred to.
It gets lost in translation, but MochiJun uses a pretty dated term to refer to the dhams. One you might consider derogatory.
But why is that? How does the larger Japanese societal discourse around people of mixed race play into this? Is the term actually derogatory? And if not, why did they change it in the anime?
DISCLAIMER: I am a white cis-woman who's been born and raised in Germany. I major in Modern Japanese Studies and have lived in Japan for one year during which I attended a Japanese high school. I am currently attending university in Japan. This post is based on my personal experiences, as well as things I learned during my studies and research. This is not an academic paper and I will link sources for further reading, in case you find that you are interested in this topic. I am open to criticism and corrections.
Even in this age of globalization, Japan is what can be considered an ethnically homogenous society. According to the 2020 census, about 97,8% of the Japanese population are Japanese, and thus, only 2,2% (which amounts to about 2,7 million people) of the population consists of foreigners. The "Japanese" and "Foreigner" in the case of the census, however, refer to one's passport, one's citizenship - not ethnicity.
Japan does not recognize dual citizenship, requiring those who have had two passports since childhood to give up either one by the age of 20. This means that there might very well be people included in the census that were counted towards the percentage of foreigners, even if they are ethnically Japanese.
With such a broadly homogenous society, it is no surprise that people who look different stand out. I don't exactly mean the whole "don't wear flashy colors if everybody else at your company's party is wearing a suit" set of societal standards and unspoken rules. (Yes, that is a thing, too, but this is not the place to talk about that.) I mean the attitude the media and, by default, Japanese society has adopted towards people of mixed race.
I'm white, I speak pretty good Japanese and I would say I know enough about the culture to not make it painfully obvious that I'm a foreigner. But I am. People speak to me in English first (my mother tongue is German and yes, while it is safe to assume a white person would speak English, not everyone does, but anyway) and in touristy places you are just that - a tourist. And that's fine. I'm not Japanese, I can deal with being the foreigner. That's what I am, anyway.
But Japanese society manages to alienate people that aren't foreigners. People who are Japanese - either on paper or simply ethnically. The rule is relatively simple: If you don't look Japanese, you aren't.
People of mixed ethnic origin have been verbal about this issue for a long time. And the concept of being not entirely ethnically Japanese was not just introduced during the age of globalization. People with mixed roots have been around for a long time. But they continue to be othered just as much as they were back in the day.
You might or might not have heard of the period that is usually referred to as 鎖国 sakoku. Literally, it means "land in chains" and refers to a period of roughly 200 years (1639-1854, depending on who you ask) that saw immense trade restrictions. Japan essentially closed its borders, limiting trade to the Dutch (who lived on an artificial island close to Nagasaki) and China.
Children that were born between Japanese and foreign traders at that time were called 愛の子 (ai no ko; lovechild).
While sakoku lay the foundation for a Japan with relatively little outside influence (this is not entirely true, there was still quite a lot of foreign influence and after 1854 Japan practically Westernized itself - I'll link some sources for further information), the Meiji Restauration (1868-1912) saw a rise of nationalism and promoted Japanese ethnicity as something superior to other Asian ethnicities. Basically, Japan tried to be an imperialist European nation outside of Europe.
It was only natural, then, that a "clean bloodline" would be more and more emphasized and thus, ever new terms were created to refer to people who weren't, well, "ethnically clean".
During the 1930s the term 混血児 (konketsuji) emerged. And this term is important, because it's the one I'd like to focus on here. konketsuji literally translates to "mixed-blood child". See where I am going with this?
The term was originally used to refer to children between Japanese nationals and a citizen of Taiwan, China or Korea - countries that Japan colonized at the time. I think it's pretty obvious that the general stance towards these children was, um, pretty negative to say the least. They were outright discriminated against and seen as "inferior" to people of "pure" Japanese descent.
During the American Occupation (of Japan), the term was adapted to refer to the children of American soldiers and Japanese women. They were associated with the loss of Japan in the war and were generally portrayed in a bad light. Considering the reputation of the American military personnel during that time, it's relatively obvious that their children weren’t exactly beloved by society. The term konketsuji was also used as a derogatory term.
I already mentioned that it gets lost in translation, but interestingly enough MochiJun uses the term 混血 konketsu (mixed blood) to refer to the dhams. The first time Noé is introduced to the dhams during the Catacombs Arc, Johann introduces himself and Dante and Riche as "konketsu". We don't receive any broader commentary on the term, other than Noé being surprised that half-human-half-vampire people are a thing. (EDIT: In the English version I found Johann introduces himself and the others as "half-breeds". Idk if it's the official Yen Press tl or a fan tl, but yeah, half-breed comes pretty close in nuance.)
The term is used throughout the rest of the manga, for example when Domi and Dante spy on Jeanne and Vanitas' date or today, in Chapter 61.5. But both these cases are interesting. They do something that Japanese likes to do a lot.
While we are still shown the kanji 混血, this time the reading changes. Normally this combination of kanji would be read as こんけつkonketsu, as I mentioned above. But there is this thing in Japanese, I guess you could call it a play on words, where random readings get assigned to kanji. The readings don't have to have the same meaning as the kanji and they can vary from the original pronounciation.
Imagine this: a manga is set in the US and the characters are having a discussion about global warming. Character A says 「まあ、地球温暖化を無視する人もまだいるけどな」 (Well, there are still a bunch of people who just ignore global warming.) Now, we have these kanji 地球温暖化 (chikyuuondanka) that translate to "global warming". But the author might want the characters to sound cooler - more American, whatever. So the author might decide to assign the reading グローバル・ウォーミング (global warming in katakana) to the kanji. It would look somewhat like this:
Doesn't this just complicate things? you might ask. But, no, not really. If you know kanji, you'll have one look at them and know what it means. But now you know that what the character would actually say out loud would be the English version.
Why would anyone do this? you ask. In this case, it might just be a stylistic choice. As I said, the author might want the characters to sound "cooler". But average Japanese audiences might not be familiar with the English term, and so, by choosing to put the kanji term there, the author will know that everybody understands what is being said, while also getting to change up the character's speech and make it more characteristic.
MochiJun does something similar. She gives us the kanji for 混血 konketsu and gives us the reading ダム damu (Dham -> Dhampir). So it's safe to assume that what she actually wants the characters to say is "dham" ダム. If we had voices for the characters, like in the anime, they would probably be saying "damu" and not "konketsu".
Again, you might ask: why? My bet here is that Mochizuki wanted to emphasize just how hostile everyone is being. She wanted to highlight that people aren't being friendly or objective when saying "damu" (or, dham). Obviously, Japanese people aren't stupid. Readers would understand that this is racism. But this has more impact. It's a visual aid, a clear sign that vampire society's hatred towards dhams has manifested in hateful language.
I remember re-watching the anime recently and coming across the scene in the Catacombs Arc where Noé first learns about dhams. And, they changed something significant about the scene.
(I wanted to take a screenshot of the episode but it wouldn't capture the subs so please believe me or go check out the Japanese dub for Episode 8, thank you.)
They have Johann say ミックス mikkusu (mix or mixed, short for mixed roots). He doesn't say konketsu. He doesn't say damu. Instead he uses the term that is nowadays considered to be the least "problematic" or at least the one that a lot of people seem to feel comfortable with.
Mikkusu has become the term currently prevalent in the public discourse and it's the successor of another English term: ハーフ hāfu (half). This one is probably the most well-known term, even in the English-speaking sphere.
(The amazing band Queen Bee has a song called "HALF". It was used as an opening for Tokyo Ghoul, but if you look up the lyrics it describes the singer's life, i.e. their struggles growing up in Japan as a person of mixed roots.)
It was used for a long time and still is. It's the term I've become used to, too. But people are trying to use it less and less, although this is an on-going debate. Some people who have mixed origins themselves don't mind the term and say that not the word is the problem, but society's stance on the matter. Other people want it gone and advocate for the usage of terms such as ミックス (mixed) or ダブル daburu (double).
I've read different takes on the origin of the word hāfu, but the most popularly known one is that it is said to originate from the word "half-breed", which, well, I suppose it is pretty obvious why we should not use that word to refer to humans.
And yet still, Mochizuki uses the word 混血 konketsu, albeit with a different reading. Volume 3, the one where the word first appears, was released in 2017. The hāfu debate was already happening back then and anyhow, people of ethnically mixed descent did not just pop out of the ground yesterday.
And the term konketsu has not really been used in a positive way since at least the Second World War. So, no, it's not an accident. It's not that Mochizuki "didn't know better". This was a deliberate choice.
So, does this make her racist? No.
It's a clever use of language. If she wanted to be racist in her work, she would be. And yes, there are probably some things to be said about "clan with strange powers that all have dark skin and are apparently all dead with the exception of two people", but, that is not my debate to lead. And the dhams aren't portrayed in a harmful way. The narrative doesn't "other" them, they aren't any more the laughing stock of the plot than any of the other characters.
And Chapter 61.5, if anything, spoke up for them. Noé spoke up for the dhams and called the vampires out on their bullshit. A discussion is being held and interestingly enough, it's a discussion that is still on-going in present-time Japan.
Vanitas mentions that the dhams happen to stand out because of their eye color. Well. People with mixed origins stand out in Japan, too. And like I mentioned, it is mostly because they "don't look" Japanese.
As much as the dhams are being treated differently simply because people judge them based on their looks, people who might have been born and raised in Japan will get questions about their origin and their Japanese skills on a daily basis - simply because they don't "look Japanese".
I think the reason 混血 konketsu is being used is, firstly, yes, Mochizuki wants to let us know how hostile everyone is being. And I guess you could say that perhaps she is using the word to translate the dhams' situation into Japanese historical terms, into something that the Japanese society has been through and can relate to.
But I also think that another thing we need to consider is this: there might just not be any other word.
This theory only works for the manga, because the anime went ahead and gave us ミックス mikkusu. But in the manga, we only ever see 混血 konketsu and ダム dham. (Correct me if I'm wrong.)
The reason Johann introduces themselves that way might simply be because there isn't really any other word he could use. We haven't heard anything about a "Dhams Liberation Movement" and it is highly likely that there is none.
These English loan words that are being used in Japanese had to develop. They had to spread and take root in society. It might be the same for the dhams.
Perhaps future chapters will use a different language. Perhaps Johann, Dante and Riche themselves will find a different term that feels a bit more - them.
Congratulations for having made it this far. As promised, here are some links with further information on the matter. I'm open for criticism, corrections and just further discussion on this matter, but please, stay respectful.
Lawyer Yuri Kondo decided to naturalize as an American citizen. What followed was a mix of ambiguity and the feeling of a loss of identity.
By David McNeill Last year, a registered package arrived at our door so our son went to sign for it. When the delivery man saw Luka, 10, h
Many Japanese people rose up in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, but experts argue Japan needs to address issues of discriminatio
Bullying in Japan seems to have taken a new twist -- the targeting of Japanese children of culturally mixed parentage. The harassment is lea
Why does Japan elevate half-Japanese people (or hafu)? And what do half people think about it?
Meiji Restoration, political revolution in 1868 in Japan that brought about the end of the shogunate and ushered in the subsequent era of ma
The Origin of Japan’s Modernization / The Government of Japan - JapanGov -
ok so i've just recently gotten around to reading two of poe's dupin stories (murders in the rue morgue and the purloined letter) and like wow i never realized how much inspiration vnc took from these older detective stories! my only exposure to holmes has been, unfortunately, through movies and tv shows, so reading the works the directly inspired doyle and the genre in general was completely new to me. not only do the dupin stories feature a genius detective and a narrator living together in paris solving strange and otherwise unsolvable mysteries, but i found so many similarities between vanitas/dupin and noé/the unnamed narrator!
i mean, for starters, both vanitas and dupin are complete and total assholes. they possess this superior intellect and, while they're applying it for a good purpose within their respective stories, the reader is made aware that they can, and often do, use it for their own personal gain. and i would definitely go out on a limb to say that vanitas is a better written character than dupin (i don't think this is very controversial at all really) revenge, both for petty slights and the extreme poor fortune that has befallen both of their characters is a pretty large theme for both of them. i also noticed that they both play a similar role towards the narrator, in terms of guiding him through paris, as well as their respective mysteries.
speaking of the narrator, i think that noé is an elaboration on the trope of the unnamed narrator. i talked a bit about it in a post here, but they're both assistants to the genius's work, as well as the reporter of this story to us, the viewer. something about the work of the genius is so important to the narrator that they need to write it down and tell the story.
anyways. that was a fair bit of rambling. most importantly, of course, they're both super close friends that live together and spend all their time together.
he knows exactly what he's doing when he says he likes roland right after roland tries to kill him, look at the little angry vein symbols 💢 on vanitas, noé's definitely trying to make him jealous (especially after the whole jeanne thing and... it looks like it's working). i mean it's a direct parallel of vanitas saying he likes jeanne right after she tries to kill him.
(you could say vanitas is pissed because he doesn't like the religious stuff roland says but personally i think the reason he still dislikes him is that noé insists he likes roland. just look at noé's face and tell me his intention isn't to piss vani off.)
Ok, so Noé and Vanitas exist in two different types of Vampire Novels. Explained below the cut, because it's long.
Starting with Vanitas:
This man is in a tragic romance novel. He is the hero of the day, he is a charming and handsome doctor, he is the savior of all the beautiful people. He choose a strong handsome man to always be ready to rescue him and for him to always be ready to rescue. The entire time we see him he never asks anyone else to join him in his quest--just Noé, at the beginning of the story, immediately upon meeting him. And Noé lives up to his role. He is reluctant but starry eyed, strong and handsome and pure, 110% behind Vanitas's cause.
We can see this intent in the way Vanitas, multiple times, flings himself into Noé's way. He makes sure Noé is watching when he kisses someone else (just to tease her, he says, fully aware that Jeanne as she is will never actually return those feelings.) He is listening at the door when his chosen lead has a "dalliance" with someone else. He immediately retaliates against this by allowing Jeanne to drink his blood, both discovering what exact experience Noé was having with Domi and furthering Noé's interest in him (I don't kiss and tell, with a hand over the wound.)
He has only a few purposes to his life at this point: Be a hero (save the vampires), fall in love and be loved (as stated by Luna and his own desire for salvation. What is salvation for a man who is unlovable? Those two scenes are placed where they are for a reason.), die.
That's why he is acting all the time, that's why he says he'll do as he pleases, that's why when he saves someone it is theatrical and handsome and romantic. He's living out a romance novel in the time he has left and I truly think Noé is his leading man. He has allowed himself to be the leading man for someone else in Jeanne. He's willing to (and I suspect may actually be faced with the task) kill Jeanne, but he cannot and will not kill Noé. In fact, he plans on Noé being in his final act--the tragic part of his tragic romance. To die by the hands of the one he loves, to die knowing he is loved by the person who kills him. That he died himself, and with mercy.
But this leads into Noé, who is NOT living in a tragic romance.
Noé is living in a horror novel. He is afraid, and the people he cares about are hurting, and it has been placed on HIS shoulders to save as many people from the Horrible Terrifying Creature who Twists People before they can be twisted too far.
We can see this in the fact that Teacher gives him instructions--these are not whimsical well wishes. There is not the kindness or love in Luna telling Vanitas he will find someone to love him, if he only opens himself to it. This is Teacher telling Noé on no uncertain terms: Do not give up your name--it is everything you are. Find the book of Vanitas and study those who interact with it, become enmeshed in their lives. Decide how this book is being used and what it means.
For Noé, people he loves are already gone due to the monster that is Charlatan. And he tries to destroy it every time he sees her. And he even almost falls to it! (But Vanitas, in his romantic gestures, saves Noé before he can be taken, until he doesn't, because Ruthven obviously has a large hand in this corruption.) Noé is a consistent victim of this monster--first Louis, but also it is Amelia who we first see bite him without his permission, draining him of power that he NEEDS to save her, because his instinct (despite knowing, he has to know, he's seen it before) is to save her anyway.
And he's got psychological trauma. He's got ptsd that results in bursts of anger and fear and causes him to act without thinking. His only weapon against this monster that could destroy him and his entire world is a man who doesn't seem to understand the extent to which Noé NEEDS him to succeed as often as possible. And so he's stuck trying to figure out his ONLY defense against this monster that twists people into shells.
And then he finds out his teacher is also a monster. A different kind, but a monster nonetheless. And you have to wonder, seeing Misha, does he not wonder about his own upbringing? About the things his teacher has told him? Noé constantly has the rug pulled out from under him, is constantly getting blood taken from him without his permission, constantly having to drink blood because of his abilities without his permission, constantly being taken hostage.
He's the protagonist of a horror novel who knows nothing about the monster except that it's terrifying and a threat to everything he cares about and he's been told by another monster that he's the special guy who has to figure out how to save everyone.
And again, he's faced with someone he loves, someone he clearly is IN LOVE WITH, telling him that it's him who must kill them. Before they become a monster. Before they become someone other than themselves. His literal worst nightmare, coming around to repeat itself again.
See, different genres.
And it works best like this. If Noé was the one living in a romance novel, Vanitas wouldn't have lasted two seconds before he was swept off his feet.
If Vanitas was living in a horror novel. Well. He already did. He'd collapse under the weight of another one.
One of the thing i love in Vnc is the parallels between characters. I love how Misha is the opposite of Vanitas when it comes to way they deal their trauma and of course, it will be different cause their trauma is really different.
Misha is the cheerfull, optimistic type. He smiles, even in worst situtions. He easiely attachted to people to the point he will easiely trust strangers and be manipulated by them (teacher).
Vanitas is the cold, pessimistic type. He always put distant between himself and others to the point he will call Noe as stranger even after everything they had been through together.
Misha presents himself as cute, fragile, defendless little child. Most likely because 1- he was raised as prostitute so he was raised to act as cute 2- he wants people to like him, if he be adroable enough, he thinks people will like him 3- he doesnt want other people to hurt him. Acting defendless child will at least work on some people so they will pity him and wont hurt him. (Though, he is still a child).
Unlike Misha, Vanitas is more pridefull type so he will always present himself as cool, independent and strong, even when he needs help. Misha wants people to take care of him, he is too independent and he is a child so he is honest with himself. For little affection, he would do anything while there is nothing Vanitas would hate more than being pitied.
If Misha is always honest about his feelings and say whatever it is in his mind, Vanitas always hide it. Misha is very simple, he simply likes warm things and hates pain while Vanitas is always complicated.
How ironic that we still doesnt get Vanitas’s full story even though he is main character but the moment Misha come, he throw his backstory to the audience. Its also interesting that Misha’s desire is a lot look like typical protagonist’s desire than Vanitas’s while he is the antagonist.
Vanitas is obsessed with revenge, he will ignore his all relationships for the sake of it. Misha is opposite, he said he wont forgive his brother but he still cant even properly get his revenge cause he still love is brother. His relationships is far more important for him than anything. He is obssesed with his relationship to do point he will do anything for it.
Even their purpose is opposite. Misha wants to rewrite Luna’s existence while Vanitas wants to erase every single part of it.
Misha’s unable to let go of Luna is similar to Jack (From Pandora Hearts). They both couldnt let go of their loved ones and they try to bring them back to the life. They both became prostitute, they both didnt have father figures, they had unhealthy relationships with their mother etc etc. They are similar characters. But here’s the difference; Misha is child when all of those things happen while Jack is an adult.
Jack had friends and he could move on but rejects it until the end while Misha cant. Because he doesnt have friends. He doesnt have a family to return. Vanitas says ‘I cant come with you’ but he also doesnt say ‘You can come with me’. He is rejecting to be Misha’s family in a way and Misha knows it.
Unlike Jack, Misha is also capable of opening his hearth to the others so there is hope for him. His interaction with Domi is proof of it. ‘I love kind people’.
And we still not fully know Vanitas’s story but he is character who always lives with grief. For Misha, this was the first time he actually had family so its first time he is dealing with grief while Vanitas had family at some point before Misha and Luna.
First mother’s death, later father’s death, then Luna’s and Misha’s. He thought Misha was dead. Because of all this grief, he hates himself cause he blames himself for all of it.
This is why when No 71 was mentioned, Vanitas looked broken.
I think, for Vanitas, Misha is like shackles, something that holding him back cause he is not responsible for him but he feels he is. Misha symbolise everything Vanitas wants to escape and he doesnt want to face and by not facing with past, Vanitas knows he is leaving Misha behind and thats mostly likely why he looks so broken whenever he thinks Misha ad his pain. He feels guilty. Though, i do believe that they both like each others as siblings but it became painfull for both of them.
Vanitas’s biggest fear is loosing someone he loves cause of himself while Misha’s biggest fear is being alone forever.
Their relationship is also similar to Gilbert and Vincent from Pandora Hearths so most likely, they will face with each others again and hopefuly solve the conflict. Because chapter 55.5 wasnt enough.
I think Misha will eventually understand what Vanitas means. ‘Deads wont come back’, ‘It will not be the same’. Misha mostly likely will experience with hard way and he wil realize that this is not the same warmth he felt and he will need help.
We dont know why Vanitas is so desperately try to erase all ot if (i think there is more to do than what Vanitas says to Misha in chapter 55.5) but i think at some point, he might give up on this. Instead of constantly dealing with revenge and guilty or erasing to past, he might decided to face with it. So he will face with Mikhail properly. He will accept that he was trying to run away from Misha all this time and hopefully stop doing it.
I think its really important for both of them. This is how they resolve the conflict between them and heal from their trauma. This is something they both needs to do, i think. Well, we will see. I love them, especially Misha.
