Sep 19, 2018
I've read the 11 volumes available and I can't wait for the next one. This review has some spoilers because I wanted to actually cite evidence to what I'm trying to express.
This is not your typical manga. The opening is a slow build with intriguing bits. Here she is being walked home by the "nice guy" and yet he's spouting things that are beyond creepy. Add in that she feels like she's being followed at the same time and yeah...great opening for a vampire manga. Then, it rips it wide open for her... Vampires are real and my dear friend
...
of long standing is one and has been pushed to the wall all this time without my even being aware of it.
Sorry, but I knew exactly what I was about to read when the vampire basically asks the question from moral ethics. Do I kill a few, a single person, or myself? This is not light reading! This is going to challenge your perceptions of society and self. Sure it does it in the venue of vampires, but isn't it really talking about everyone that doesn't confirm to society's norms? How many times throughout our history...written or your personal history...have people who don't conform been driven to the wall? How many of you are otaku who are reviled and accused of immorality because normies can't understand your fascination with an art form they don't understand? *raises hand*
Tsukasa and Yuki met under crazy circumstances. Why are they drawn back to each other without understanding it themselves? Because that's how love works. It rarely makes sense to the people floundering through it, in my experience. If you look at it objectively, however, you find that it makes perfect sense. She gives him the unqualified acceptance that he desperately needs, since he can't accept himself. People say you have to love yourself first, but that's hardly the case. In the end, humans are blind fools about themselves and even children who are "pure" need parents to love them, so they can learn to love themselves. I'd even go so far as to say he tipped ove the edge when her friend is reaching for her and she apologizes to him. Heck, I fell for her a little right then.
But what about Tsukasa? Why would she fall for some guy like that? Really? He saved her from being raped and killed by her friend, which is a whole bother level of difficulty. Then, he blows off his boss and takes care of her, even going so far as to carry her home on his own back. She's already physically releasing chemicals to make her bond physically, but there is also the way Yuki is so gentle with her and then suddenly attacks because her mouth is scratched. Scared? You bet she had to be, but then he tranqs himself to stop himself. He was more scared than she was; how heart melting is that after just having the struggle all vampires go through rammed up in her face by her friend?
So there you have the foundation. This "forbidden love" is the anchor for the whole story. Even in later volumes as Tsukasa and Yuki move forward with their relationship, they are influencing the people around them.
I'd also like to state that the author does an amazing job of handling the sex issue. Consent and communication are handled amazingly well. I love that during the attempted rape scene the author had the characters come right out and say that silence does not imply consent. Yay! An author that is willing to tackle some serious society issues head on! Go get 'em! Then, to show that something like that leaves damage, by having Tsukasa having nightmares...excellent! PTSD is rampant in our society and people on a whole want to turn a blind eye to it. Wake up and smell the fear; minds are just as in need of health care as any other organ in the body.
Like I said, this is not a light read. If it's not touching you, you aren't understanding what's going on in the manga or the world around you. I'm sorry.
As for the art and such... Yeah, it can be improved. Now, go grab a first edition of most any manga and then compare it to the hundredth issue. Notice anything? Yeah, it's called practice makes perfect. I can't wait to see what happens next with the art as well.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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