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THE RECORD OF A FALLEN VAMPIRE VOL. 1 (ADVANCE REVIEW) |
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Reviews
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Wednesday, 07 May 2008 |
 | | ▪ | RELEASED BY: | | VIZ MEDIA | | | ▪ | AUTHOR / ART: | | KYO SHIRODAIRA / YURI KIMURA | | | ▪ | FORMAT: | | JAPANESE / B&W | | | ▪ | PAGES: | | 192 | | | ▪ | RATING: | | T+ | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 05/13/2008 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 05/07/2008 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | HOLLY ELLINGWOOD |
An immediately engrossing tale about a vampire in modern Japan fighting for his beloved queen and dealing with a millennia long curse is only the tip of the iceberg in the supernatural epic Record of a Fallen Vampire. Long ago a war within the vampire kingdom destroyed it and set into motion a terrible legacy. The vampire king, Akabara was dealt a terrible blow when his queen was taken and sealed away somewhere in secret. The humans and dhampires have set up thousands of fake seals and over the millennia, Akabara has suffered through an eternity of searching to free his queen, discovering each of the seals he comes across is still not the real one. To make the nightmare worse, a curse was placed. Every fifty years a human will be host to the Black Swan, a powerful curse set to do one thing: destroy Akabara. The price of this revenge? The cost of the innocent girl’s life of the one who is inhabited by the Black Swan. It is a tragedy compounded when a dhampire falls in love with the 49th Black Swan only to see her murdered at Akabara’s hands. Sworn to revenge, the damphire Renka will stop at nothing to kill Akabara. But when the 50th Black Swan appears and sides with the vampire king, what will the vampire’s enemies do then? Followed by an abandoned dhampire child and oddly allied with the Black Swan, Akabara may have just made his enemies closer. What the Black Swan is truly up to, no one knows. But Akabara must continue his search to free his queen, no matter the cost. It is an immediately riveting tale filed with suspense. Akabara is the tragic wonderer, forever searching for the woman he must free and faced with countless enemies. The dhampires are a volatile lot with fascinating powers. The illustrative imagery of the acting scenes are splendidly eye catching full of rich imagination and fluid sequences. The Black Swan’s power manifestations in particular are visually striking. Akabara is not a vampire who kills lightly, but will do what is necessary to survive. He places the burden of sin and blame on his shoulders and his shoulders alone. Each death is another stain upon his hands, each failure to find his queen another day he has failed his love. But there is no character seen in this first volume without tragedy. In depth story telling, layered characters, and an involving plot make this a must read for manga fans of suspense and supernatural action series.
IN SUMMARY:
The Record of a Fallen Vampire is a supernatural epic rich with imagination and dramatic storytelling. |
