Sofie’s Reviews > The Case Study of Vanitas, Vol. 1 > Status Update

i usually stay away from the whole “x fell first, y fell harder” thing with ships bc there’s always more nuance than that BUT if i were to assign that label to one of my favorite ships it’d definitely be vanoé. vanitas fell first, noé fell harder (but only bc vanitas pushes his feelings down like his life depends on it)

(cont.)
it’s only when noé brings it back to the literal that vanitas is broken out of his daze and he can delight once again in noé’s innocent, clear cut goodness rather than contemplating his own

no i’ll never be over this panel of vanitas actually
he looks like a lost, abandoned kid finally being told that he’s good for the first time in his life. how could he NOT fall in love with the man who showed him that light??? i mean of course he’s also gonna deny it and push him away but that’s just more proof imo (cont.)

and this is the moment that flips the script from the other two!! what noé says here hits vanitas so much harder bc it’s basically validating his entire existence. even if the book (he) is viewed as corrupt and an abomination, even if it (he) is capable of great evil, it’s all about intent. and noé, who sees the world in straight lines of morality, has labeled vanitas’ actions as good

love vanitas’ little twitch here after luca suggests that he may be under the control of the book. he is absolutely conscious of his own actions but it is slowly rewriting his very being. one could argue that since he’s embarking on this mission to save vampire-kind as a twisted form of “revenge” on luna, is he really acting on his own accord? is his life really his? has it ever been?

(cont.)
which is a brilliant way to give us a taste of what this relationship will look like moving forward. vanitas is immediately drawn to him as if he’s an interesting specimen to examine (and maybe a subconscious way to safely reconnect with a bit of his inner child? that sense of wonder that was ripped out of him?) but as soon as noé starts examining him BACK, that’s when the dynamic begins to shift

god i just love how instantly fascinated vanitas is with noé. first it was bc of his wide eyed delight at seeing the book in action, and now it’s bc of his stubbornness in insisting that they are NOT working together. these moments of vanitas bursting into laughter at noé’s reactions create a pattern that mochizuki will break later on (cont.)

aw it’s so cute how both noé and vanitas are acting based on deep seated trauma and grief and intense feelings of regret and desire for salvation!!!! noé is the first to refer to them as a “we” and it’s after he’s triggered by the convo about amelia. suddenly all of his hang ups about working with vanitas are thrown out the window bc all that matters is saving amelia (bc he couldn’t save louis)

i really enjoy the fact that vanitas is the one to take a liking to noé first (even if he will become increasingly annoyed by him as they get closer bc for whatever reason he didn’t realize that by recruiting a curious sunshine man, said man would inevitably become curious and sunshiney about HIM) bc i feel like in these scenarios it’s usually the vanitas archetype that has to be persuaded to form an alliance

LOVE that noé asks “what are you” just like vanitas asked him before!!!!! and vanitas seems amused by the question, probably thinking to himself “i’m not even sure of the answer myself and you think i’m gonna tell YOU?? now that’s funny”