Vanitas no Carte Volume 9 covernalysis
VnC volume 9’s cover has been revealed and it’s incredibly beautiful and I love it. What does this cover say about Mikhail and the story of VnC…? Let’s try and find out!
Volume 9’s cover features Mikhail, grinning widely at something behind him while holding a golden frame. Inside of the frame is a sleeping Vanitas, who is surrounded by a bunch of butterflies. We’ll get back to the butterfly thing later but first let’s talk about the frame.
Mikhail’s frame is designed like a butterfly pinning board. Its borders feature butterflies in various states of distress— some of them are whole, but most are destroyed in some way. Some are torn in half, others are missing part of a wing… could these be the butterflies Mikhail destroyed before pinning his prize butterfly (Vanitas) on the board? Mikhail’s frame is also tied with chains, keeping Vanitas trapped inside of it. Interestingly, while the butterflies on the frame are all right- side up, Vanitas alone is upside down. I have no idea what this means but it’s probably important
This frame seems to be a representation of Mikhail’s desire to go back to the time when he, Luna, and Vanitas lived as a happy family. Vanitas isn’t the only person in Mikhail’s frame— there’s a strand of long white hair next to Vanitas, suggesting that Luna is also part of this picture. Mikhail wants to pin Vanitas on a board, wants to lock him up so that they can be “happy” again… and he’s willing to destroy anything that gets in the way of his goal, including Vanitas’s mental state. I don’t think Luna would be too happy about being reincarnated by some very sus benefactor, either.
My insane overanalysis spidey senses are tingling at the placement of the pins on Mikhail’s butterfly board frame. Some of them are holding the chains in place, but others are pinning the butterflies on the frame. I feel like the two pins on one butterfly in the upper right corner are distinctly sus, but have no idea what they represent, or if they represent anything at all… so until further notice I think the pin placement is probably just an aesthetic choice.
Mikhail’s posture on the volume 9 cover makes it look like he’s been staring at the frame of Vanitas, but has noticed someone standing behind him and turned around to look at them. He could potentially just be looking at the viewer, but the weird shadows on Mikhail’s face and the frame make me feel like there’s someone there behind him, just out of view. Or he could just be in a gallery with harsh lighting or something.
Now, moving on to the butterflies inside of Mikhail’s frame. In the frame we can see Vanitas surrounded by a bunch of blue butterflies and a single glowing magenta one. This is a very cool parallel to some older official art that was on the cover of chapter 34.5… (this image was cropped)
Both the volume 9 cover and the chapter 34.5 cover feature one of our protagonists lying (or sinking) upside- down, surrounded by a bunch of butterflies of one color and a single glowing butterfly of another— a copper sulfate blue butterfly hovering above Noé, and a magenta butterfly next to Vanitas. Based on the colors our two protagonists have been associated with throughout vnc, we can assume these butterflies symbolize each character’s respective partner protagonist.
What does this mean for Volume 9? Wellll……
Firstly, butterfly Noé is looking at Mikhail’s frame— similar to how he looks into Mikhail’s memories during the chapters of volume 9. I’m pretty sure that he’s outside of the frame (based on the sparkle effect and the reflections on the frame and chains)— Noé isn’t part of Mikhail’s memories, he’s just looking in. He can’t reach Vanitas, he can only look.
Butterfly Noé is trying to approach Vanitas, but he’s separated from him by the frame— Mikhail’s presence and memories are keeping them apart. Noé wants to rescue Vanitas (just like how Vanitas saved him in chapter 34.5), but Vanitas is asleep in the frame. And Mikhail? Mikhail is so confident that Noé isn’t a threat that he’s letting Noé look.
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