Just for me to collect my thoughts on anything noteworthy or suspicious. I forget a lot of things in the series so this should help me keep track and anyone else who wants to look back without rereading the whole series.
As a fan of a lot of shounen anime and manga I'm used to female characters being underwritten and frankly disappointing. Luckily, vnc has a remarkably well-rounded cast and both its minor and major women are treated with respect. While vnc has more male characters the gender imbalance is somewhat rectified by the fact that any arcs not driven by Noé and Vanitas themselves are driven primarily by the female cast.
So today I want to discuss the three most important women of vnc so far: Jeanne, Domi and Chloé, touching on their individual character arcs and also their relationships to the men in the series. A lot of criticism is rightfully thrown at female characters whose motivations are defined by men but I think the way the relationships in vnc are constructed makes it an unfair criticism to level at Mochijun, even though at a surface level these characters may appear to fall into those traps.
I'll start with Chloé as she has completed a character arc and is a lot easier to look at in general. Chloé takes up the mantle of main antagonist during the Gévaudan arc, the longest story arc in vnc so far, in doing so becoming one of the most fleshed out side characters in the series. Although Naenia is also a presence in the same arc (and certainly more evil) it's hard to argue she usurps Chloé's position. It's Chloé's actions that kick-start the arc and ultimately she is also the final boss that had to be defeated by the end of it.
Chloé's also interesting in that she becomes the protagonist of vnc for the chapters that focus on her backstory. I believe there are three chapters that forgoe showing both Vanitas and Noé in favour of taking time to explore Chloé's backstory (memoires 31, 32 and 36) as well as a few others that barely show them outside of a few beginning/ending panels. I also believe these are the only chapters in all of vnc to do so, setting Chloé apart as particularly significant.
To give a comparison of a female character who serves a similar role to Chloé in her own series let's talk about Daki from Demon Slayer. These two aren't completely analogous but they're close enough that I believe it's a comparison well worth making. Daki is the apparent main villain of the Entertainment District arc, the longest arc in Demon Slayer when it first released, spanning 28 chapters and approximately 3 volumes. This would make it a little shorter than Gévaudan, which spans approximately 3 volumes, noting that vnc volumes tend to be rather large and chapters longer. Gévaudan is about 19 chapters long if we tentatively define its beginning as 23 and end as 42.
At the start of her arc Daki is presented in a similar manner to Chloé, a cold and competent woman, though her personality is rather more abrasive than even Chloé's. In all of her early appearances she radiates power, obviously meant to be perceived as a very serious threat.
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I will mention that like Chloé she received her power from another more powerful entity. Similar to how Naenia is the progenitor of curse-bearers, Muzan is progenitor of the demons. I wouldn't call this a misstep on DS's part but it's worth noting that while Chloé is framed as a bigger threat than Naenia, Daki is placed in a submissive position to Muzan. I'm not criticising this decision, making a large threat bow to your main, series spanning villain is a great way of giving that villain more fear factor. However, I think it makes Chloé's starting position a tiny bit stronger than Daki's in terms of immediate impact. I remember when the "Let's all dine together" cliffhanger first came out, believe me it garnered an insane amount of intrigue around Chloé. So, no criticism to DS, just praise for vnc on that choice. I adore Chloé.
