WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Case Study of Vanitas, Episode 5, “Friends,” now streaming on Funimation.
Despite the existence of highly popular titles like Hellsing and Black Butler, gothic horror is not an incredibly prolific subgenre within anime. In fact, unless western animation such as Castlevania is included, the most recent gothic horror anime series released before this year may be Black Butler Season 3, which came out in 2014. Part of the summer 2021 lineup, The Case Study of Vanitas may not fall directly into this subgenre as a whole, but Episode 5’s darker tone and storyline, specifically, fit the bill very well.
The defining elements of gothic horror -- the dark aesthetic of terror and melodramatic character relationships -- are on full display in The Case Study of Vanitas Episode 5, a flashback episode in which Noe reminisces about his childhood friend Louis, Dominique’s older brother.
They are also the grandchildren of Noe’s mysterious teacher. When the Teacher adopts Noe and takes him back to his castle, Louis and Dominque naturally became Noe’s friends. They grew up together seemingly happily, but the others have no idea that Louis is hiding a dark secret.
Louis was sent away from his family because he is a curse-bearer, someone whose name is cursed and will eventually lose sanity. Their grandfather deliberately clues Louis in on this secret to observe how he would react. Louis is left preparing for his own death alone, carving out stakes that he hopes will eventually pierce his heart.
When the day finally comes, Louis kills all of their other friends as well as another curse-bearer, Mina, in an abandoned church. He then attacks Noe, but with his last shred of sanity, he asks Noe to end his life. Noe, however, cannot bear to kill his best friend so Louis starts to suck his blood. Fortunately, the Teacher arrives just in time to behead Louis and save Noe’s life.
The church scene is incredibly bloody and gruesome -- completely worthy of the episode's disclaimer -- and it’s a great climax to a gothic horror story. In fact, all of Episode 5 has the subgenre's tonal signatures, especially the architecture. The Teacher’s large, empty castle under the ominous blue moon as well as the abandoned church that screams the symbolism of “the forsaken” are both grandiose and classical settings that are typical of gothic horror.
That said, where The Case Study of Vanitas really excels is portraying Louis’ descent into darkness. He is already a brooding character to begin with, having been abandoned by his family. But the moment his grandfather lets him find out his own secret, it’s essentially his death sentence. Yet he has no idea when this day will come or how he will meet his end, making this prospect all the more horrifying.
Not only does Louis have to worry about his own death, but he also doesn’t want to harm the ones he loves. Over time, he feels the darkness slowly closing in on him and thus grows more and more desperate without anyone to help or comfort him. He struggles between hoping someone will save him and wishing not to hurt others, making his attitude more isolating and frantic at the same time.
Episode 5 uses a lot of visual details to convey Louis' desperation, such as his eyes completely losing focus (no pupil) as soon as he finds out his real condition. Though the lack of pupil is often used to convey insanity in anime, it is actually Louis' sanity that’s driving him mad. The next time he regains focus in his eyes, he is consumed by the curse, losing control with only bloodlust remaining.
Yet even in the depth of the curse, Louis still wants Noe to end his life, showing how important Noe is to him. Noe’s obliviousness to his friend's condition only adds to the situation's tragedy. Louis’ desperate cry for help is ultimately not heard, so he cannot even die the way he wishes. Unrequited feelings are also a common element within gothic stories, and Noe has no idea what Louis wanted until Dominique shows him the chest full of wooden stakes Louis was crafting.
Louis’ abrupt demise is when the horror truly sinks in. Though the Teacher in this scene is visually similar to the Charlatan, that might be a misdirection. Noe’s own shocked state of mind now sees the Teacher as the villain because before he shows up, there was no real villain in this story. Turning something familiar into something unknown and terrifying is another common trope in gothic horror. The Case Study of Vanitas Episode 5 uses this approach in several different layers, all very effectively.