 | | ▪ | RELEASED BY: | | DIGITAL MANGA PUBLISHING | | | ▪ | AUTHOR / ART: | | JUN SUEMI / HIDEYKI KIKUCHI | | | ▪ | FORMAT: | | WESTERN / B&W | | | ▪ | PAGES: | | 220 | | | ▪ | RATING: | | YA | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 02/17/2010 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 03/01/2010 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | SCOTT CAMPBELL |
After a devastating earthquake that left most of Japan in ruins, the district ward of Shinjuku in Tokyo has opened up a doorway into another dimension - becoming the halfway-house suspended between the mortal world and the supernatural. It has become a place where the living fight a losing battle with monsters and demons from the netherworld - a constant struggle for control on grounds which inevitably may plunge into the depths of Hell. Factory manager by day and moonlighting P.I. by night, Setsura Aki is no stranger to danger. Specializing in missing-persons cases and considered the best "man hunter" in the business, he allies himself with friend and rival, Doctor Mephisto, a wizard of physical and spiritual surgery. Together in battle, there is none that can compete with their combined wit and power - until now. Coming from the deepest and darkest parts of China, four immortal vampires, led by one of unmatched beauty who goes by the ubiquitous title "Princess," mystically sail into landlocked Shinjuku aboard an ancient ghost ship. She and her ancient undead entourage with powers never before seen of vampires, have surmounted four thousand years of space and time to seize control of Shinjuku and make it their own. It is up to Setsura and Mephisto to uncover their new formidable foes' true origins and to reveal the truth behind the Princess's dark plans for the city. Yashakiden: The Demon Princess is a novel that deals with a very popular subject matter at the moment: vampires! Right off the bat, if you’re a fan of the genre, you should really check out this novel. It’s interesting because it’s a different culture’s look at a subject that many North American’s enjoy – it’s not going to be like a lot of North American writer’s visions of what vampires are about. Try and think of the last story you read that involved Chinese vampires, and you’ll see where I’m coming from on this point. Beyond the whole genre craze, this is still a great book, and an involving read. It’s really quite odd and imaginative in most of what it does too – it’s “very Japanese”, which I can only say while smiling and shaking my head a bit. It will be total culture shock for anyone that isn’t too familiar with common Japanese subjects of interest in entertainment and the like – but most people reading something like this will know exactly what they are getting into! The book can be a bit oddly sexual at times, as well as violent – and at it’s oddest it can mix the too, but with such a strange dark humor to it that you can’t help but smirk, instead of being disgusted. This is a light read – not one to win any literary prizes for molding the minds of our nation’s youth or anything. It’s a pulpy romp through anything and everything demonic or undead – some quick entertainment, and a solid piece of entertainment at that. The novel is well-written, and flows at a pace that couldn’t possible bore anyone – it has a lot of action in the writing, so it feels like it moves quickly. The text size is nice too – it’s fairly easy on the eyes and helps the novel to read well. It should be said that the plot overall has depth to it, and has a history that you can really get into – but it balances this nicely by not taking itself too seriously, or getting too confusing. It’s just deep enough to retain interest, and that’s perfect. It’s very likely that the vampires in Yashakiden will appeal to fans all over the world – don’t pass up this premier volume if you too have a hankering for some varied Vampire reading experiences.
IN SUMMARY:
Yashakiden is a well-written, light entertainment read about vampires and demons from the Japanese perspective. It is raw and violent at times, favoring some quick and dirty action over some melodramatic fluff that seems to cloud a lot of other vampire genre stories of the day. This novel is a good mix of a number of things that make a great book – give it a try and see what you think! |
