Ciel-Noel post
Revenge is bad, actually. Simple revenge in stories is boring and uninteresting and Kill Bill is a bad movie.
I dislike the idea of punitive justice in stories to begin with, at least in stories that don't look critically at it. However, I also think people often get punitive justice (a branch of moral philosophy) with the idea of narrative punishment (actions have consequences in stories). I'm not against narrative punishment at all, well-written stories should have direct consequences for all the important characters actions. If a character is a noble gas and no one reacts to their actions, then they are stagnant and unchanging. A character who is constantly reacting to other people, and provoking reactions in return, is a dynamic character.
Now that I've thoroughly buried the lead six feet under, let's get to the main event. Ciel and Noel is a tightly written tragedy in the horror genre. If you've ever watched a slasher movie before, horror operates on like, an extreme kind of narrative punishment. People always joke that if you have sex, or do drugs, or drink alcohol in a horror movie the slasher will kill you and yeah, that's basically it. Horror movies are relenting and unforgiving, you basically take one step out of line and get stabbed in the back for it. So, it's not at all surprising that in the same story where Ciel experiences a change of heart and goes from seeing Shiki not as a victim but another vampire to kill, to being willing to sacrifice everything to save him, Noel does not get saved. Doesn't that make Ciel a huge hypocrite going the extra mile to save her boyfriend, but putting a bullet in the head of the partner she's known for years to put her out of her misery? Why, yes. Yes it is. That's also the point.
Ciel (and Noel's) route in the Tsukihime remake are about two girls who are the victims of the same tragedy. One gets saved, one does not. One finds a person who will do anything to reach and redeem their humanity, the other does not. They both get worse and worse, but one is given a helping hand at their lowest point, and the other gets a bullet between the eyes. This is unfair, and cruel, and again the point. Nasu in the remake turned one of the routes with the happier ending into a bitter tragedy no matter which of the two endings you pick and it's great.
This is a really good post and brings up a lot of valid points, and to be honest, when I first read the Ciel Route, I kind of came to the same conclusion about Ciel not being a good person and blaming her for Noel's death. There's a lot more reasons to draw that conclusion than what the OP mentioned as well. You have to remember, Ciel is absurdly strong, fast, smart, and more knowledgeable of what's going on than Noel at any given point of the story. Ciel could have saved Noel from being bitten by Vlov, but instead stood there and did nothing while Shiki, who is much slower than Ciel, went to try and save her instead. Ciel could have told Noel, like she told Mario, that she is probably not turning into a vampire despite being bitten, but she instead left Noel to her own devices, allowing Noel to become more unhinged and paranoid. Ciel could have subdued Noel in a non-lethal way when defending Shiki, but instead chose to stab her with a black key, despite knowing Noel would likely not go get treatment for it. I've spoken to a few people in the Type Moon fandom about this, and I ultimately came to the conclusion that Ciel isn't necessarily a 'bad' person, but she's not entirely a good one either. Again, the OP correctly asserts that the Holy Church's influence on both Ciel and Noel are hugely toxic and negative, but there's a couple specific things missing from this analysis that are tied to that influence. According to the Holy Church, if you find yourself to be in the presence of a Dead Apostle Ancestor (or Dead Apostles in general, but Ancestors especially) your soul is essentially 'contaminated' and a marker for vampirism, and therefore you must be quarantined from the general populace indefinitely. The only way to avoid this quarantine is to become an Executor, where you will be able to go on missions. Noel, being a survivor of the French incident, is one such example of a supposedly 'contaminated' person. She makes the decision to become an Executor so she can leave the Monastery she would otherwise have been quarantined in. Her stated goal is to live a normal life, and her demeanor as an Executor reflects this desire. Instead of training or getting stronger, instead of being an efficient and responsible agent, she spends the Church's money on shopping, posts on social media, and eats fatty snacks while watching TV; things she would not be able to enjoy while quarantined. Noel is effectively a kidnapping/trafficking victim and is exploiting a loophole in the Holy Church's Executor system in order to live a facsimile of a normal life. She is the baddest bitch in fiction, and I love her so fucking much for this. THIS is why she is my favorite character of all time, and why I am so obsessed with her. And moreover, to kind of refute OP's point about her, while there is a lot of parellels between her and Ciel, I think this, more than anything, is why she is different from Ciel. In fact, i would go as far as to say she is Ciel's foil. Because while Ciel goes out of her way to be as professional as possible and drown herself in her job out of guilt and duty, Noel goes out of her way to live and be as free as she is allowed to be.
But there's something else that is KEY to understanding Noel as a character, and I admit that this is delving into theory territory, but I'm pretty confident in the assertion I am about to make. That thing about people who bare witness to Dead Apostle Ancestors being 'contaminated'? Yeah, no, I'm pretty sure the Holy Church made that up. It's almost certainly complete bullshit, as a matter of fact. Think about it for 5 seconds and it immediately makes no sense. Tohno Shiki literally came into contact with Vlov twice, once in the Hotel with Arcueid, and again in the city where he assists either Arcueid or Ciel in killing him. Is Shiki 'contaminated'? Is there any evidence to suggest this?
And before you mention anything regarding Roa and his possession/connection to Shiki, keep in mind Roa is technically not an Ancestor himself, it's just a formality/technicality that he's considered one. And even then, Shiki is able to overcome all of that through willpower alone, more or less. And yet Noel is contaminated???
Bullshit. There isn't a single thing wrong with Noel that couldn't be addressed, treated, or even possibly cured, with therapy and support. All of her unhinged behavior is meant to make you think she's turning into a vampire, or that she's contaminated and just evil, but once Arach pulls the rug on that idea, you are meant to retroactively go back and realize "oh, she was just horribly traumatized and was just trying to survive."
So, to be clear, the Holy Church teaches both Noel and Ciel that they are contaminated and must live either in isolation or as sacrificial soldiers. Ciel accepts the role of a soldier and lives in order to kill vampires, kill Roa, and then die as a human, while Noel does NOT truly accept this at all and chooses to LIVE as a human.
And this is why, in my opinion, Noel is the best and most compelling character Nasu has ever written. In an interview, he said he was 'drawn to her' while writing her scenes, and it's really easy to see why. Noel is just such a dynamic character. Her disposition and personality make it so that you never really know what you're going to get from her. She is extremely dynamic in this sense. She can be a silly goofball in one scene, unhinged in the next, genuinely cool and badass in another, even tragic and pitiable. She's the only character afaik that Nasu requested a specific voice actor, Ai Kayano, to voice her. He was that particular.
Anyway, I could go on and on about Noel, Ciel, their setting, and even about other characters like Mario, Shiki, etc... but rather than writing a Tumblr post or a tweet thread about it, I am instead working on a Noel Route Fanfiction, part 1 of which you can read on AO3, featuring art of key scenes from various type moon fan artists. Please check it out if you've finished TsukiRE and want more, and let me know what you think of it in AO3 comments section! https://archiveofourown.org/users/BerserkChip/works