Darren Shan
Cirque du Freak

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I have extremely mixed feelings on this series, mostly because I'm not trying to be blinded by nostalgia while writing this. Reason being that this is the first manga series that I ever read, and currently one of the only titles that I have completed. I will also not be comparing this series to the books as I have not read them and am honestly not planning on doing so. Anyway, the structure of this review will be in the order of what you rank before writing a review (this is my first review, so I apologize if it's a bit wordy!)

Okay, prepare yourself, because ... this is going to be a long section.
I have mixed feelings about the story. On one hand, I find it to be very cohesive, and there are some sudden realizations (especially by the end!) and some unexpected character moments that nearly left me in tears. Aside from those, however, there were some points in the story that I had to cringe through because of second hand embarrassment, and some sections that seemed to go on for too long. While I understand why the artist chose to shorten many conversations to keep the pace up, at the same time many conversations went like this: "Here's this crazy story about this vampire war, things called vampaneze, how I almost died (and kinda did), and how I know none of this makes any sense" and then the person hearing this for the first time says, "Oh ok understood i'll fight with you now lol" so that's pretty frustrating. Apart from these couple of instances I think the story flows pretty well from one event to the next, aside from some unusually large time skips. Honestly, it's probably 7/10 because I'm sure many people who aren't new to manga could see a lot of the twists coming and some of the things I described very annoying.

The art portrays these characters extremely well. There are many gorgeous panels that really convey a sense of space, and how vast an area is. Something else that I noticed is the artist's improvement through out the 12 volume run. Some panels in the first few volumes are a bit wonky but it really evens out towards the end and gives some amazing fight scenes. Honestly, the art was probably my favorite part about this manga, and is why I keep going back to it.

The characters are pretty developed by the end, especially the main cast. Their designs are good and instantly recognizable, however some of the supporting cast doesn't get nearly the same amount of development. Some characters seem to have only one trait, like being evil or loving the main character and that's it, while some others are focused on and explored, showing different sides to them you wouldn't expect. Some are better than others, but I did enjoy reading about them.

Like I said in the intro, this was the first series I ever read/finished, so I absolutely adored it, and I still like it.

Honestly, if you want to immerse yourself in a world inhabited by vampires and other creatures that's mostly aimed toward a middle school demographic, then you'll probably find something to enjoy. If that doesn't interest you, then I'd skip it or read it online. (Or, wait until the omnibus comes out this month and read the first couple of volumes in it).

This manga is great, don't get me wrong.

The only thing I would say to anyone looking to get into this is that the books are 100 times better, and the manga should only be read once you have read the books imo.

I gave the story outstanding because after all, it is a masterpiece. Darren shan is an amazing writer and having read all the books myself (as well as the saga of larten crepsley), I can say that having this level of art gives a bit more context and value to the story.

This is my 1st ever review so don't judge. thx =)

for those who do not know, the darren shan manga adaption is derived from a series of english novels known as cirque du freak. the original author shares the name of the main character, while the manga art is done by takahiro arai.

story:
[spoiler free]
the story starts off with two young boys, darren shan and his friend steve leonard. darren has an infatuation for spiders, while steve is obsessed with vampires. the two of them wind up going to a traveling circus known as the cirque du freak. within this circus is a vampire by the name of larten crepsley, whom steve recognizes. steve wants to ... become a vampire, but is rejected due to his 'evil blood', foreshadowing his destiny. in the end, darren ends up becoming a vampire in order to save steve, but is forced to leave him and his family behind.

however, this is only the prologue to the story. i am leaving out some details to avoid giving too much away, as the story takes many unexpected turns. what you can expect from this point on, however, is darren's journey as mr. crepsley's assistant. there are also a handful of time skips, so you'll be able to see the characters as they age and mature.

now, getting into some nitty-gritty stuff
in essence, darren shan is a story about vampires, which can either be an automatic interest or turn-off, depending on who you are. however, i can assure you that this manga takes an interesting perspective when it comes to the supernatural.

for starters, vampires in this series are fairly docile, and only feed when they need too. however, there are some cliches, such as them being unable to withstand sunlight. the great part about this series, though, is that the existence of vampires is not the focus - you'll find yourself forgetting that the main character himself is no longer human, except for when he mentions it directly.

however, there is a subdivision of vampires known as the vampaneze. vampaneze are rogue vampires who prefer to kill humans they feed off of. although their customs may be similar to regular vampires, they are much more aggressive and hostile. their appearances are also very different, as they are most commonly described as having purple skin and black-red eyes.

along with a cast of vampires, there are also several 'freaks' that darren befriends at the circus. many of these characters play important reoccurring roles in the series.

character + art:
now, the art for this series is far from top-notch, and can be VERY wonky at the beginning, but this improves drastically over time. if the art style is not favorable to you, you'll have to sit through it for a few books - or perhaps the entire series. i personally liked the artwork from the beginning, and loved it towards the end.

in my opinion, the last 6 volumes have amazing artwork. expressions are on-point and dramatic, and the shading of panels adds a horror-esque feel. a lot of the mediocre anatomy and fighting sequences are heavily worked on, and you can see the effort the artist has put into the series.

the characters, although not being written by the artist himself, are also very well represented through the artwork. i absolutely loved the designs, as i thought they fit the personalities of each character perfectly. takahiro arai has successfully retold a story from his own perspective, making it much more interesting for those who prefer to visually experience a novel. the main characters have obvious flaws and realistic qualities. the cast overall is varied, from personalities to appearance. i found myself becoming attached to the characters for this very reason.

overall:
i'd recommend this series to anybody, as i have enjoyed it immensely. it breaks away from typical vampire and shounen stereotypes, and introduces a variety of characters in a refreshing art style. although the original novels appear to be aimed towards children/teens, the manga adaption adds much more emotion. the art progresses along with the story, and main character is constantly thrown into new environments, meeting new friends and enemies along the way.

i'd honestly love to see more people read this. its a shame that most people don't know about this manga - or the artist behind it. takahiro arai has also written and drawn his own manga known as arago, which is heavily influenced from his work on darren shan. both are great reads, and deserve more recognition.