In 2006, Jun Mochizuki dazzled audiences worldwide with her first manga series, Pandora Hearts, a dark fantasy series about a demonic girl named Alice. She was void of her memories and trapped in a parallel world known as the Abyss. One fateful day, the young Oz Vessalius — banished from the human world for the crime of his very existence — stumbled across her. However, Oz truly doesn’t know how he deserves banishment to the realm of demons and is seemingly innocent of any crime. Confused and determined to find out the truth behind who they really are, Oz and Alice made a contract, break out of the Abyss and explore the human world as a team to discover themselves. When Pandora Hearts came to an end in 2015, like clockwork, Jun Mochizuki went directly into her next series, The Case Study of Vanitas.
Mochizuki’s second series (still ongoing) tells the story of Noé Archiviste. Fate thrusts him into the life of Vanitas, a human who’s supposedly a doctor for vampires. With the power of the Book of Vanitas, he is able to soothe and heals vampires of their compulsive madness, predatory urges, and hunger — a condition labeled “malnomen” in the series.
Unknown to Noé, the Book of Vanitas has a long history connected to the legendary Vampire of the Blue Moon. Vanitas I (the original bearer of the book) was hated by the Vampires of the Red Moon, a vampire who was from traditional Vampire society. To maintain the balance between vampire societies as well as humans, Noé and Vanitas team up to heal vampires across Paris, just as cases of malnomen spring up over the city. And so the Case Study of Vanitas begins!
On March 28th, this year, it has finally been announced that The Case Study of Vanitas is receiving a TV anime adaptation by Bones, Studio A (Wolf’s Rain, Gosick, Noragami, Carole & Tuesday).
With the announcement, the original manga author, Jun Mochizuki, had this to say:
The Case Study of Vanitas anime is possible thanks to everyone’s support. It’s a blessing to have a wonderful staff and there is pressure for me as the original author, but I am looking forward to seeing the World of Vanitas come to life thanks to Director Itamura!
Tomoyuki Itamura was announced as the series director. He had the following comments:
When you think of Paris you imagine the French Revolution, Napoleon, the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame Cathedral, Impressionists, Art Nouveau, and Goch for art, etc. There’s high fashion, baguettes, French cuisine. The story of Vanitas and Noe is exciting. They have an inseparable relationship like Sherlock Holmes and Watson. Both of them act cheerfully, but they have their past struggles. It’s a challenge for me to capture the subtleties of their hearts. The cornerstone of this story is 19th century Paris, vampires, and steampunk. Paris is a gorgeous city, with a little bit of gothic horror and dark fantasy in the atmosphere. I hope the fans can enjoy The Case Study of Vanitas.
Finally, Sasanomaly (ササノマリイ) was announced as the performer of The Case Study of Vanitas opening theme song. Regarding this, Sasanomaly said:
I’m grateful to have been chosen to perform the Vanitas OP! I’m really really happy. I love this series and all the characters. The art is very appealing. I really like the sense of distance between Vanitas and Noe, and the relationship between each person. The title of “空と虚”, derives from the Latin translation of “Vanitas.“ After all, the sky is empty, but I chose the title to read “Sora to Utsuro”. Vanitas also has meaning as a genre of painting meant to serve as a reminder of the emptiness and fragility in the world. I felt that kind of feeling in the original manga, so I tried to put those feelings into the lyrics. I would be happy if I could express a beautiful and ephemeral world. I’m looking forward to the anime!
The Case Study of Vanitas is set to air later this year. Check out the trailer below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvKlpeygXHw
