Vanitas no Karte
The Case Study of Vanitas

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I saw there were no reviews about this manga (no surprise, only two chapters are out right now and they are very hard to find for free), and I wanted to say what I thought about it so far..

Story : 8

Those first chapters were… Confusing. Like, really. There are a lot of informations, this is not a bad introduction but you can’t tell exactly where the story is going to go, even though you know the end at the beginning. There is a good background universe : steampunk, vampires, early 1900, Paris. I’m curious about the way Jun is going to put all these ... ingredients together. As for the first chapter, action begins very quickly and the main characters are both introduced right from the start. There is humor as well, and mystery starting the very first chapter, and the end of a chapter makes you want to read the next chapter. To put it clearly, the story is confusing BUT it is catching. You might need to read the chapters again to understand the point of some things, but this is okay. There are more good points than bad points and I noticed a few things when I read it for the… 3rd, 4th time ?

Art : 10

This artwork is simply amazing. Details, colors, for the colored pages, character’s outfits… everything is gorgeous, you can see it for yourself on the pictures given !

Characters : 9

This is only the beginning of the story and we can already see the main character’s personalities, be it Noé or Vanitas and I think this is good. Plus, there is a special relationship that is already being developped between the characters and we can see, by ourselves, that this realtionship is going to evolve into a veeeeeeeery complicated relationship, you understand it right at the end of the first chapter !

Enjoyment : 9

I didn’t wait months for a new manga of Jun for nothing, the story is still a little bit confusing, but this is probably going to become great, reading such a beautiful manga is a gift and I can’t wait for the first volume to be published !

Overall : 9

I’m very curious about how the story is going to evolve, but I think these first chapters have a good potential to make a great manga. So overall I give a 9, because being able to master so many things with so few chapters is just amazing.

When I read the first chapter of Vanitas no Carte, I was instantly hooked. Action sequences, incredible costumes, everything was drawn with extraordinary attention to detail and with a good deal of style. The relationship between the main two characters was funny and felt real to me, and the mangaka has some serious guts to reveal how the entire manga will end at the end of the very first chapter. It sunk its teeth into me as soon as I read that.

In short, I think it's one of the best opening chapters I've ever seen. Which is why I'm mystified how it all got so ... muddled so quickly to make me drop it. I think too many plot points and too many characters were introduced too quickly, until it reached a point at which I started flipping back pages to try and remember who was who. The art often has style overpower substance to the extent that I can't figure out what's happening, only that it's being done with great panache, until reading the manga feels like riding a very attractive but still out of control roller coaster.

Secret organizations of vampires operating in steampunk turn-of-the-century Paris should be a slam dunk, but in the end not even Vanitas' pretty smirk can save this.

Vanitas No Carte is an "overrated" manga series and is only good for its art.

That Paris scene Mochizuki has put quite a lot of effort into depicting the atmosphere of Paris which shows her determination.

But my problem when reading her series is that the chapters are not evenly distributed like an amusement park. It is a very clear example. And she chose to push the most interesting female character in the series, Including Vanitas' relationship with Jeanne that was strangely skipped.

Sometimes roles that should be focused on get pushed too much to main characters like Vanitas and Noè. To the point that ... sometimes it doesn't seem necessary, like Chloé's role, which should have a scene that reveals a conversation after a terrible event and Jeanne's comments Instead, it was unnecessarily pushed to two partners.

Compared to "Pandora Hearts", it's not the best manga series but at least it has well-written character relationships, but "Vanitas No Carte" didn't make me connect with any of the characters. (both Vanitas and Noe and Jeanne) except Vanitas and Luna's relationship And only Domi and Vanitas.