Kei ToumeRecensioni

…and darker. Makes one wanna breaþ.

Very well told, and sad.

Never liked a vampire support so much. Guess it is more understated than most.

Getting darker...

黒髪ストロン最高。『キングダム』とか好きな人はこれも好きだと思う。

冬目先生の作品ということで期待して手にとったが、期待はずれ。
単なる恋愛マンガを自分が今求めていないことに気づいた。

後日に2巻と3巻も試し読みすることができた。単なる男女の恋愛と思っていたが、誤りがあったことに気づけた。1巻だけではわからない登場人物の魅力がようやくわかってくる。星の数をみなおした。½

This felt like it should have been better than it was. The basic story of a high school student meeting his older sister who he only barely knew existed and discovering he is something like a vampire is promising. Unfortunately, due either to the original writing or the translation, his reactions felt off, as if he were dealing with minor day-to-day annoyances rather than life-changing (and life-threatening) problems.½

A Graphic Novel/Manga Series of 7 books. Genre is Horror/Drama with a bit of mystery thrown in.
Enter Kazuna, a young teenage boy just discovering his first love. Unknown to him he has a dark past which is about to disrupt his life completely. He is the carrier of a rare blood disease which causes him to crave the blood of humans. While struggling with his dark desires he is reunited with his older sister, Chizuna and discovers his long lineage to a family that that has given in to their darker desires and proclaims themselves Vampires. Can Kazuna stave of his dark desires long enough to save his older sister and find a cure for their disease? Well you will just need to read the books to find out.

My Thoughts:
I found the series over all a good read. Each of the books had a good tie in with each other stopping just at a point that makes you want to read on. There is a subtle hint of darker love between the two main characters which intrigued you to wonder where it was going. The art work was very lifelike and beautiful to study. I found the story ending to be very satisfying and it did not end the way I thought it would, which pleased me since i don't like predictable. Though I thought their fear of prosecution and fear of others turning on them to be a bit unbelievable since it took place in modern times where medical rarities are not reasons to be killed but researched. I don't think people would react as badly as they eluded to in the book. I mean I could see them being prosecuted if they went out and killed for the blood but the way they were handling their blood thirst it would probably not caused much more of a stir then a raised eyebrow and maybe a bit grimacing from the thought of craving blood. Weirder things are happening everyday.

Typical manga, a bit creepy, but typical.

Kazuna has been feeling ill lately, and upon running into his long lost sister, discovers that the family has a blood disease which basically makes them vampires. Kazuna must deal with his new urges, the draw he feels toward this mysterious, icy sister, and how all this will affect the people in his life, the somewhat austere girl he has been hanging out with alone in the art club recently, and his “aunt” and “uncle” who raised him and hope to adopt him.

The art is rather rough sometimes, particularly in the beginning (I was sure one of the females was male for a bit), and the dialog was slightly confusing in parts (which may be a fault of the translation), but other than that, this volume barely makes a misstep. This manga takes the concept of vampirism, drops the hokey gothic romanticism so many vampire stories seem to take as obligatory, and tells instead a slowly paced, atmospheric horror/drama filled with the main character's confusion, suppressed urges and feelings of isolation. Haunting...and refreshing ^_^; Characters are sympathetic and their relationships and development believable (besides the rather too quick inner “I love you” utterance, but that's easily ignorable, and it's the only time it really takes that trip to the left field).

But I'll admit, start horror stories aren't usually my kind of manga. So, for me to actually want to invest the time (much less all the money) to continue on for more than a few volumes (and I believe it's 7?), it needs something that REALLY hooks me, something I can fangirl over. It would have to be really exemplary, at least in parts (see: something like Death Note), or have certain kinds of characters I like, a sense of humor I liked, some action, a particularly intriguing setting etc. But it doesn't, so though I admit I'm interested how this turns out, I won't be continuing with it. Still, I'm sure it's great for fans of this kind of genre, and probably others as well who just aren't as finicky as me.