Book Review- Chibi Vampire Airmail by Yuna Kagesaki

Title: Chibi Vampire Airmail

 Author: Yuna Kagesaki

Series:  Chibi Vampire side

Published:  2010 by Tokyopop

Length: 180 pages plus lots of bonus material

Warnings: (tokyopop’s view)Older Teen. (My view) Vampires, occult, cannibalism

Source: Tokyopop’s “Get rid of everything” stall at Expo

Other info: Chibi Vampire/Karin is a semi-popular manga/anime that you may have heard of. I reviewed some other related things earlier.

Summary : A collection of touching manga stories that follows the con;tinuing adventure of our favourite vampire, in these sweet tales and scary legends, discover what happned to Karin and her friends all while getting aglimpse of some mysterious vampires from the Marker family that were never befor9e seen in the main series. Also included are special bonus manga strips detailing Yuna Kagesaki’s trip to Seattle’s Sakura-con.

Review: I really enjoy this series, and before I’d heard of this Airmail book, without really understanding what it was/what the point was/what would be in it/many other things that you tend to find out before reading it. So when I saw it on sale, I just thought “get that! Why not?”. And so I did.

The first two stories I weren’t expecting at all, because I’d thought it would be entirely featuring Karin and her motley crew. It wasn’t a bad thing, and who knows? These characters might have featured at some point in the manga. I read volumes 1-4, and then 11. So I didn’t get the best idea. Anyway, story one features Marimo and Takuma, the second of which unexplicably regresses to baby-personality (explained by end) and their friendship. The next story features a fortune  teller who is asked to look for a missing girl by her boyfriend, and her shocking discovery by the end of it. Both of these stories are interesting, sweet with characters I feel somewhat attached to by the end of their 40 page stint of fame.

The second two feature the Markers, one being the tale of Friedrich Marker and his friendship with an otherwise solitary nun built on shared love of manga, and the other chronicling Maki and Kikuchi’s romance, and a little of Kenta and Karin too. Both were incredibly cute and gave a good sight to the world of Chibi Vampire. The family tree that was included was very helpful, and also reveals that Karin and Kenta had a child, something I wasn’t really expecting.

All the plots included were woven well, which is saying something considereing they each take less than fifty pages. Especially with Friedrich and Ren, the family resemblance was distinct, which I think says a little more about the art, and with Friedrich and Rosary and the fact their relationship goes back further than she knows, it adds a little something.  

Overall:  Strength  3 tea to a lovely collection of sidestories.

Japanese YA Week review- Vampire Hunter D by Hideyuki Kikuchi

Title: Vampire Hunter D

 Author: Hideyuki Kikuchi . Illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano

Series:  Vampire Hunter D

Published:  2005 by Dark Horse Publishing

Length: 268 pages

Warnings: Profanity, moderate sex content, vampires, violence, 16+

Source: Library

Other info: This has spawned an anime, manga, animated films, live action film, and video games.

Summary : It is the year 12,090 AD. The world has ended, ravaged in a firestorm of man's wars and madness. But from the wreckage a few humans manage to survive. A few humans...and something else. Doris Lang knew what her fate was when the vampire lord Count Magnus Lee bit her. An agonizing transformation into one of the undead, to be stalked by her fellow villagers or cursed to become the bride of the unholy creature and face an eternity of torment, driven by the thirst for human blood. There was only one chance, and as she watched him ride in from the distance she knew there was hope. Salvation...from a vampire named D.

Review: Some of you may have heard of Vampire Hunter D, some of you might not. It's post-apocalyptic, set 10,000 years in the future and a few humans are still alive. And there's some other things out there that aren't exactly human and aren't exactly alive either.

Vampire lord Count Magnus Lee has bitten Doris Lang, cursing her to transform into a vampire, be fought by her neighbours or marry this vampire. Not a bright outlook. But Vampire Hunter D is able to save her. Add in Rin-Ginsei, rogue who I can't really figure out the point of,  and you generally get the plot...

Some time ago, everyone seemed to have read or seen VHD, apart from me. So I got the library to buy it. I then got put off it at the content in the first chapter. Which looking back on it wasn't too bad, but to a young and somewhat innocent twelve year old was quite bad. So now I'm older, I went back to it to have another go.

 The set up is good, with a clear idea of where it can go if Doris doesn't get the help.

Doris was a fairly strong female main, able to stand up for herself and handy with a whip,  but does rely on D for help. As I said, I didn't see the point of Rin-Ginsei other than as a character to oppose D, but oh well.

The vampires in this are traditional ones, with   laws and ceremony surrounding wives, and biting and other things like that.

The writing was third person and seemed distanced from me through most of it. However, the action scenes were incredibly well written.

Overall:  Strength 3 tea to a book that I can understand why it spawned a huge franchise, but it just doesn't do it for me.