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ヴァンパイア騎士 [Vampire Knight] #1-19 + Bonus
Vampire Knight Complete Box Set
Cross Academy is attended by two groups of students: the Day Class and the Night Class. At twilight, when the students of the Day Class return to their dorm, they cross paths with the Night Class on their way to school. Yuki Cross and Zero Kiryu are the Guardians of the school, protecting the Day Class from the Academy’s dark secret: the Night Class is full of vampires!
A new collector’s box set of the entire Vampire Knight series! Includes the Day Class planner and an exclusive art book!
A new collector’s box set of the entire Vampire Knight series! Includes the Day Class planner and an exclusive art book!
- GenresManga
3800 pages, Paperback
Published October 22, 2024
1 person is currently reading
17 people want to read
About the author
Matsuri Hino
104 books1,703 followersName in Japanese: 樋野 まつり
Matsuri Hino was born on January 24 in Hokkaido. She was a bookshop keeper who one day decided to become a manga artist, and all of nine months later, in 1995, she published her first manga title, Kono Yume ga Sametara (When This Dream Is Over), in Japan's LaLa DX magazine.
Matsuri Hino was born on January 24 in Hokkaido. She was a bookshop keeper who one day decided to become a manga artist, and all of nine months later, in 1995, she published her first manga title, Kono Yume ga Sametara (When This Dream Is Over), in Japan's LaLa DX magazine.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 23, 2025
As someone who has been getting back into manga and comics by reading multiple different series of different genres, this is easily the worst thing I have read so far. There is no contest. It's just the worst. Utter, reprehensible garbage only to be consumed by those either too young to understand that it's bad or too emotionally immature to care that it is, in fact, trash.
This is objectively terrible by every measure, and that's not something I'm willing to argue. Anything romanticizing and fetishizing incest and pedophilia is not open to discussion as something that just "might not be to my taste." It's just bad. If it is to your taste, great job, you likely have an incest fetish. And I don't respect your opinion or need to entertain it.
No one is entitled to be respected for having the opinion that romanticized pedophilia and incest are cool.
And that is what Vampire Knight is about.
But before getting into the dirty thick of it, what's the rest of the series like?
Does it have any merit outside of its bad messages?
Starting off as a cliché high school romantic drama, Vampire Knight eventually strives to be more ambitious and tackle grander stakes relating to a war between vampires and humans. This change of direction ends up being its downfall. The author proves herself incapable of handling the large cast of characters she created, and the bigger dramatic stakes fail to hit because her writing is clumsy. Exposition is constantly fed in a dull, clunky manner, and the characters do not have the charisma to hold reader attention through the slog that is the plot.
Regardless of whether it's about school or potential vampire genocide, the pacing is atrocious. Multiple volumes are completely worthless and feature zero plot beats or moments of character growth. These volumes could be thrown away, and nothing would be missed. However, even volumes with heavy plot importance feel meaningless because everything happens at a deliberate snail's pace. The author intentionally drags out all plotlines at an agonizing pace because that way, she can pump out more volumes. Why tell a cohesive story across nine volumes when she can spread it across nineteen for more money? Even people who genuinely do like the plot will be left bored at various instances and become frustrated waiting for things to happen.
The art is stereotypical romance manga with giant eyes, sparkly aesthetics, and long, exaggerated body proportions. Every character is meant to be beautiful, and the aesthetic also takes some gothic inspirations because of the themes. In the first few volumes, I considered the artwork to be pretty and decently skillful. However, with each volume, it got more repetitive. The series fails to give the characters any personality because emotional expression is traded for handsomeness. Most characters except Yuki can only make one to four faces, and even those changes are rather subtle. The art is stiff, and most panels tend to look remarkably similar to others. It becomes visually boring, and the pages blend together. The character designs also blend together, and it can become confusing to remember who is who when everyone looks similar.
The characters are all shallow if they're not part of the main trio, but all three people in that trio are horrible people. Zero is the least awful, but his character is boring, and for the entire series he has no noticeable growth or even an arc. He starts the manga off as broody and suicidal, and he remains both of those things until the very end. Up until that point, he rarely does anything that doesn't involve brooding over vampires or himself. It's the same point repeated again and again, and his personality is as stale as an unsalted cracker. He has as much depth as a puddle.
Yuki is intended to be the typical sweet protagonist who everyone (attractive) loves and wants to protect. She is intended to be kind and empathetic and unlike any other girl in the school due to her pure heart. I said "intended" because this isn't how she comes across at all, despite many characters praising her for those alleged qualities. Ironically, Yuki's writing portrays her as intensely selfish and narcissistic. She is a callous and often heartless individual who only offers the illusion of kindness when she stands to gain something from it. She rarely truly considers anyone other than herself or Kaname. This is especially true with Zero, her adoptive brother she claims to love, who she routinely emotionally abuses and neglects when she isn't implying she wants to sleep with him.
Yuki was never a good person, and by the ending she becomes such a bad person that if she were not the protagonist, she would be a villain.
Most frustratingly, perhaps, is her treatment of the love triangle that is the core of the series. Yuki is "intended" to be dense and oblivious to how Kaname and Zero feel about her, thus causing her to drag her feet in the sand and not pick a boyfriend until late in the game. However, she doesn't come across as clueless. Yuki deliberately toys with the feelings of both men and by the finale has acted willfully unfaithful to her boyfriend. She refuses to choose one boy over the other because she wants to keep both of them under her thumb. Her carelessness with their affections only contributes to her selfish personality and makes the love triangle unbearable for reasons even beyond the toxicity of the potential pairings.
The romance is terribly written, and the ship baiting is so nakedly obvious it's annoying instead of alluring as intended. Characters will get on the verge of confessing their feelings only to be stupidly misunderstood or unfortunately interrupted. Romantic or sexual gestures will be brushed off for the most baffling reasons, and it's all because the author wants to convince the reader to keep reading by refusing to give any conflict resolution.
The ending of the manga is abrupt and absurdly rushed. The story wastes so much time tediously building up to the ending that the ending itself has zero time to linger. Worst of all, the love triangle that has spent 18 volumes being discussed is ultimately dealt with in the laziest, most inconclusive way possible that is bound to make fans of either ship unhappy if they're not so easily pleased as to be content with their ship becoming canon only for a brief moment.
And now that I've gone over the multiple other problems with the series, let's finally tackle what makes it unforgivable. The fetishization of incest and abuse.
There is no way to beat around the bush with this, so here is a warning for both spoilers and in-depth discussion of inappropriate, triggering content ahead.
The author has an incest fetish, and the core romance relies on the reader also having one.
This is most prevalent in the relationship between Kaname and Yuki.
Some readers may jump at the chance to point out that a very late plot twist reveals the two aren't actually siblings like they thought. However, that doesn't matter.
For the entirety of their romantic and sexual relationship, Yuki believes Kaname is her older brother. That is her reality, even if it's later disproven. Despite believing him to be her direct relative, Yuki continues to pursue him both sexually and romantically, and the story goes out of its way to present the incest as an appealing aspect of the relationship.
Every single time anything intimate happens between the two, one of them gleefully points out that they're brother and sister. Do they kiss? You know Yuki is going to mention how they're siblings. Do they go to a dance? Everyone is going to address them as brother and sister. At every opportunity, the narrative insists on reminding the reader that what is happening is, in fact, incest. It's important we know that because it's intended to be sexy. If it wasn't intended to be sexy, it would not be constantly brought up during scenes with obvious romantic tones. That doesn't even go into how Kaname desperately tries to justify the incest by arguing that ANIMALS screw their parents and siblings all the time. So it's fine.
Then there is the fact that Zero, Yuki's other love interest, is her adoptive brother. Both of her crushes are her brothers. This didn't need to be the case, but it is because the story is deranged.
Beyond the blatant incest fetish, the story also fetishizes abuse in all forms.
Kaname has been sexually and romantically interested in Yuki since she was six years old. He was already fully grown, mind you. Having that sexual interest in mind, he helped to raise Yuki from childhood with the goal of courting her when she became old enough to be his girlfriend.
Until then, he watched her longingly and manipulated her into thinking he was the only man for her.
This is grooming. That isn't any kind of exaggeration—prepping a child to be your future lover through means of manipulation is actual grooming.
He tells Yuki, a child, that she should depend on him and that seeing her with other "guys" makes him jealous. He acts possessive of Yuki frequently and acts controlling over her life, ignoring her own decisions in favor of forcing her to act as he wishes. When they start dating officially, he demands he gets to decide what she wears every day and even how she cuts her hair because he says that he wants reassurance that he has power over her.
Kaname threatens to kill Yuki if she tries to leave him and also threatens Zero, who again is her adoptive brother, in front of her.
He treats their relationship as inevitable and guilts Yuki whenever she expresses any kind of doubt.
Even the moment where they get together is abusive because Kaname forces Yuki into it, demanding she agree to date him with no other choice.
Kaname has no redeeming qualities and is written to be so flagrantly abusive and evil that his continued presence as an object of desire for the reader (and Yuki) is disgusting.
Yuki herself doesn't make it any better. She isn't oblivious to the abuse. No, actually, she encourages it. She directly states that she is alright with Kaname abusing her in any manner he wishes because she simply likes him so much that it doesn't matter what harm she endures. She later says that if he is corrupt, he should corrupt her too. It's okay! As long as they're together.
By the end of the story, Kaname becomes the villain, but not because of his abuse. His villainous actions and his crimes against Yuki are distinctly separated, and ultimately their relationship is something the audience is meant to root for, unless they favor Zero.
This series is disgusting. When it's not being disgusting by actively justifying every sexual crime under the sun, it's dull as sin. Most volumes will bore you to tears, and anything that is interesting is only so because it's ridiculously problematic. I hated this. Any rational person should hate this "romance," and the story outside the romance isn't near good enough to hold anyone's attention either.
It's just a steaming pile of garbage from start to finish.
And if you do think Kaname is boyfriend material, after everything I just pointed out, seek a therapist.
This is objectively terrible by every measure, and that's not something I'm willing to argue. Anything romanticizing and fetishizing incest and pedophilia is not open to discussion as something that just "might not be to my taste." It's just bad. If it is to your taste, great job, you likely have an incest fetish. And I don't respect your opinion or need to entertain it.
No one is entitled to be respected for having the opinion that romanticized pedophilia and incest are cool.
And that is what Vampire Knight is about.
But before getting into the dirty thick of it, what's the rest of the series like?
Does it have any merit outside of its bad messages?
Starting off as a cliché high school romantic drama, Vampire Knight eventually strives to be more ambitious and tackle grander stakes relating to a war between vampires and humans. This change of direction ends up being its downfall. The author proves herself incapable of handling the large cast of characters she created, and the bigger dramatic stakes fail to hit because her writing is clumsy. Exposition is constantly fed in a dull, clunky manner, and the characters do not have the charisma to hold reader attention through the slog that is the plot.
Regardless of whether it's about school or potential vampire genocide, the pacing is atrocious. Multiple volumes are completely worthless and feature zero plot beats or moments of character growth. These volumes could be thrown away, and nothing would be missed. However, even volumes with heavy plot importance feel meaningless because everything happens at a deliberate snail's pace. The author intentionally drags out all plotlines at an agonizing pace because that way, she can pump out more volumes. Why tell a cohesive story across nine volumes when she can spread it across nineteen for more money? Even people who genuinely do like the plot will be left bored at various instances and become frustrated waiting for things to happen.
The art is stereotypical romance manga with giant eyes, sparkly aesthetics, and long, exaggerated body proportions. Every character is meant to be beautiful, and the aesthetic also takes some gothic inspirations because of the themes. In the first few volumes, I considered the artwork to be pretty and decently skillful. However, with each volume, it got more repetitive. The series fails to give the characters any personality because emotional expression is traded for handsomeness. Most characters except Yuki can only make one to four faces, and even those changes are rather subtle. The art is stiff, and most panels tend to look remarkably similar to others. It becomes visually boring, and the pages blend together. The character designs also blend together, and it can become confusing to remember who is who when everyone looks similar.
The characters are all shallow if they're not part of the main trio, but all three people in that trio are horrible people. Zero is the least awful, but his character is boring, and for the entire series he has no noticeable growth or even an arc. He starts the manga off as broody and suicidal, and he remains both of those things until the very end. Up until that point, he rarely does anything that doesn't involve brooding over vampires or himself. It's the same point repeated again and again, and his personality is as stale as an unsalted cracker. He has as much depth as a puddle.
Yuki is intended to be the typical sweet protagonist who everyone (attractive) loves and wants to protect. She is intended to be kind and empathetic and unlike any other girl in the school due to her pure heart. I said "intended" because this isn't how she comes across at all, despite many characters praising her for those alleged qualities. Ironically, Yuki's writing portrays her as intensely selfish and narcissistic. She is a callous and often heartless individual who only offers the illusion of kindness when she stands to gain something from it. She rarely truly considers anyone other than herself or Kaname. This is especially true with Zero, her adoptive brother she claims to love, who she routinely emotionally abuses and neglects when she isn't implying she wants to sleep with him.
Yuki was never a good person, and by the ending she becomes such a bad person that if she were not the protagonist, she would be a villain.
Most frustratingly, perhaps, is her treatment of the love triangle that is the core of the series. Yuki is "intended" to be dense and oblivious to how Kaname and Zero feel about her, thus causing her to drag her feet in the sand and not pick a boyfriend until late in the game. However, she doesn't come across as clueless. Yuki deliberately toys with the feelings of both men and by the finale has acted willfully unfaithful to her boyfriend. She refuses to choose one boy over the other because she wants to keep both of them under her thumb. Her carelessness with their affections only contributes to her selfish personality and makes the love triangle unbearable for reasons even beyond the toxicity of the potential pairings.
The romance is terribly written, and the ship baiting is so nakedly obvious it's annoying instead of alluring as intended. Characters will get on the verge of confessing their feelings only to be stupidly misunderstood or unfortunately interrupted. Romantic or sexual gestures will be brushed off for the most baffling reasons, and it's all because the author wants to convince the reader to keep reading by refusing to give any conflict resolution.
The ending of the manga is abrupt and absurdly rushed. The story wastes so much time tediously building up to the ending that the ending itself has zero time to linger. Worst of all, the love triangle that has spent 18 volumes being discussed is ultimately dealt with in the laziest, most inconclusive way possible that is bound to make fans of either ship unhappy if they're not so easily pleased as to be content with their ship becoming canon only for a brief moment.
And now that I've gone over the multiple other problems with the series, let's finally tackle what makes it unforgivable. The fetishization of incest and abuse.
There is no way to beat around the bush with this, so here is a warning for both spoilers and in-depth discussion of inappropriate, triggering content ahead.
The author has an incest fetish, and the core romance relies on the reader also having one.
This is most prevalent in the relationship between Kaname and Yuki.
Some readers may jump at the chance to point out that a very late plot twist reveals the two aren't actually siblings like they thought. However, that doesn't matter.
For the entirety of their romantic and sexual relationship, Yuki believes Kaname is her older brother. That is her reality, even if it's later disproven. Despite believing him to be her direct relative, Yuki continues to pursue him both sexually and romantically, and the story goes out of its way to present the incest as an appealing aspect of the relationship.
Every single time anything intimate happens between the two, one of them gleefully points out that they're brother and sister. Do they kiss? You know Yuki is going to mention how they're siblings. Do they go to a dance? Everyone is going to address them as brother and sister. At every opportunity, the narrative insists on reminding the reader that what is happening is, in fact, incest. It's important we know that because it's intended to be sexy. If it wasn't intended to be sexy, it would not be constantly brought up during scenes with obvious romantic tones. That doesn't even go into how Kaname desperately tries to justify the incest by arguing that ANIMALS screw their parents and siblings all the time. So it's fine.
Then there is the fact that Zero, Yuki's other love interest, is her adoptive brother. Both of her crushes are her brothers. This didn't need to be the case, but it is because the story is deranged.
Beyond the blatant incest fetish, the story also fetishizes abuse in all forms.
Kaname has been sexually and romantically interested in Yuki since she was six years old. He was already fully grown, mind you. Having that sexual interest in mind, he helped to raise Yuki from childhood with the goal of courting her when she became old enough to be his girlfriend.
Until then, he watched her longingly and manipulated her into thinking he was the only man for her.
This is grooming. That isn't any kind of exaggeration—prepping a child to be your future lover through means of manipulation is actual grooming.
He tells Yuki, a child, that she should depend on him and that seeing her with other "guys" makes him jealous. He acts possessive of Yuki frequently and acts controlling over her life, ignoring her own decisions in favor of forcing her to act as he wishes. When they start dating officially, he demands he gets to decide what she wears every day and even how she cuts her hair because he says that he wants reassurance that he has power over her.
Kaname threatens to kill Yuki if she tries to leave him and also threatens Zero, who again is her adoptive brother, in front of her.
He treats their relationship as inevitable and guilts Yuki whenever she expresses any kind of doubt.
Even the moment where they get together is abusive because Kaname forces Yuki into it, demanding she agree to date him with no other choice.
Kaname has no redeeming qualities and is written to be so flagrantly abusive and evil that his continued presence as an object of desire for the reader (and Yuki) is disgusting.
Yuki herself doesn't make it any better. She isn't oblivious to the abuse. No, actually, she encourages it. She directly states that she is alright with Kaname abusing her in any manner he wishes because she simply likes him so much that it doesn't matter what harm she endures. She later says that if he is corrupt, he should corrupt her too. It's okay! As long as they're together.
By the end of the story, Kaname becomes the villain, but not because of his abuse. His villainous actions and his crimes against Yuki are distinctly separated, and ultimately their relationship is something the audience is meant to root for, unless they favor Zero.
This series is disgusting. When it's not being disgusting by actively justifying every sexual crime under the sun, it's dull as sin. Most volumes will bore you to tears, and anything that is interesting is only so because it's ridiculously problematic. I hated this. Any rational person should hate this "romance," and the story outside the romance isn't near good enough to hold anyone's attention either.
It's just a steaming pile of garbage from start to finish.
And if you do think Kaname is boyfriend material, after everything I just pointed out, seek a therapist.
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