Blood Parade

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I read this in one sitting; I was suffering from the loss of having finish Vampire Knight and needed to read a vampire related manga with pretty art. I was immediately drawn to this particular manga because of the beautifully done cover page: two main characters, Gilles and Luna, with a gothic backdrop and colours, it screamed angst and misfortune. They looked so depressed it just needed my immediate attention.

Story 4/10: Reading the synopsis I was ready to read a supernatural, mystery drama. As I read the chapters there was not so much mystery – if there was it was too obvious or explained ... soon after – but it concentrated more on the vampire aspect with a bit of typical drama and some action. It was more of teenager drama - as in Gilles is angsting about his life - set in a more mature world of a vampire hunting company.

The basis of the story is very similar to any other vampire manga out there: vampire hunter society, a bishonen guy with a tragic past (which goes hand in hand with revenge), plus a good looking vampire girl; mix it with hormones and violence, and you have a teen vampire drama (oddly supposed to be a shounen). It's a bit case-by-case story-wise: traveling from one place to the other hunting vampires while stumbling (conveniently) on 'the truth' while on said hunt.

There’s a good amount of blood and violence for this type of manga, and there are battles that are somewhat creative if not a bit cliché (aka specialized weapons/powers). Some fights got too showy for my liking, with end results somewhat reminiscent of Bleach.

After plot twist number one is revealed, there’s a switch of attitude that happens very suddenly in the story that just seems too convenient to help work the romance angle. Which brings me with my main gripe: the plot twists are a bit obvious if not too cliché, things get a tad bit ridiculous as they are revealed, trying to be more elaborate then it probably should. It’s trying to borrow a bit from other vampire mangas.

I’m hoping that this is continuing because if it ends at chapter 12, well, that would be really abrupt with no real closure, like we’re supposed to accept that all the issues are resolved. There would be too much presumption and that would be how NOT to do an ‘open ended story’.

Characters 5/10: Gilles acts more like a boy his age then I would have expected, considering his past and the whole outline of the story. He’s not as revenged filled or angsty as normally expected from his kind of character, he’s more humble, kind-hearted, and somewhat easily flustered. He’s a bit contradiction when it comes to terms or usefulness, since he was supposed to be a genius when it came to his training – while understandable that it’s not always easily transferable to real-life scenario – he tends to easily get tossed around (but he never dies) for someone that’s supposed to be your main guy in a ‘categorized’ shounen/supernatural manga. Gilles tends to act very insecure about himself whether that be about girls (well a girl) or trying to justify his reasons for being an Apostle (elite vampire hunter). He acts more like your typical shoujo heroine.

Luna is your playful, aloof and serious partner that’s a bit of a mix bag. She acts very much like a needy girl but is able to hold her own in a fight and can be quite blunt, but of course she won’t show any full fighting potential because that would defeat the purpose of having Gilles are the main hero.

As of now, I feel no real connection or liking for either characters, even the side characters seemed to be trying too hard to fit their stereotypes.

There’s also an issue with having characters said and supposed to be ‘powerful’ yet they completely bomb when it’s their time to shine. Whether it was intentionally done so to drag out scenes or not make them too mary-sue esk (or outshine Gilles), it’s a bit irksome to have the story tell you one thing and then show you something else.

Art 7/10: The art is good, if not a bit similar to Toboso Yana’s Kuroshitsuji; however, I find it difficult to tell the age of the characters because one moment they look around 14-16 years old and the next they look like prepubescent kids. You also have younger characters that look so much older than they should be (unless that’s intentional which still wouldn’t make any sense story-wise).

Enjoyment 6/10: The action scenes are fun I suppose, and the story is so typical that you kind of wonder if it’ll continue down its mediocre road. The manga is well drawn with distinguishable drawn characters. If you squint you might be able to overlook the predictableness and flaws, and go with the narrative.

Overall 5/10: The cover is a bit misleading; I was expecting an angstier story with more depth to the characters. It’s a bit flat story-wise and the characters aren’t anything you haven’t seen done better elsewhere. For a quick read it’s alright, especially if you want your vampire fix.