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Reviewed by Park Cooper It’s a bit of a shame that I didn’t get ahold of volume 1, but what the heck. Well, here we are, another week, another vampire book or four or five. Today’s fare, with a separate writer and artist, which is unusual in manga but not as unusual as most people think, involves the king of the vampires, one Strauss by name (he has other names but that one is best), who once threw it all away for love... and he still wasn’t happy, because things didn’t work out (I’m fuzzy on the details—I just got here and there’s no recap in the front). So, in classic immortal-monster style, he’s wandering around looking for his love, so he can revive her... but her resting place was hidden away from him, and hundreds of fake resting places were set up around the world, just to mess with him and make him wander fruitlessly. Now, understand that instead of regular old good and evil, there are three groups running around... --First, the king of the vampires and his little pet attack girl, --Next, the dhampire/warrior agents of the land of the vampires he abandoned long ago, which will do anything to survive—they have a very strangely Israeli vibe-- you know, the whole everyone-wanted-us-not-to-survive-so-we-had-to-toughen-up-and-get-militaristic thing... --And finally, the Black Swan and her grandfather. The power of the Black Swan seems to be a sort of failsafe to take down anything magical, and it’s incarnated in this beautiful girl whose grandfather happens to be, um, basically the head of what amounts to the Illuminati—the organization that secretly runs everything in the human world. So. As we start this volume, the Black Swan has nearly taken Strauss, the king of the vampires, apart at the seams... he’s practically made of magic, after all, and that’s what she’s made to fight... but now she and granddad are teaming up with him... apparently Granddad needs Strauss around to help stave off the end of the world or something. The dhampires don’t trust their old king who walked away and let everything fall apart, but when grandfather shows up, they have no choice but to back down and leave instead of dispose of the wounded Strauss— Grandfather could set the human world to total war against the secret vampire nation, and they know it, and they can’t risk that. So. Grandfather has promised to help Strauss find his lover’s resting place, and is working on it now, as long as Strauss helps with this end-of-the-world thing coming up. Strauss doesn’t really trust anyone, but he’s got to go along for now. The dhampire agents are frustrated... first of all because the Black Swan seems like she might be the reincarnation of one of THEIR agent’s lost love, and second of all because their leader, Bridget, knew Strauss back in the Kingship days and seems to have had a thing for him... It’s supernatural politics, lost loves, and fighting all wrapped up for you in this very dramatic tale. ...What can I say? These elements have all been done a lot before (cough cough REBIRTH cough), but if you like stories of noble vampires (and you aren’t tired of them yet), you’ll certainly like this one too. I guess I’ll give this an A-. I’m very tempted to give it a B+, but I’m putting myself in the shoes of a potential audience member who would even pick up something called “The Record of a Fallen Vampire” for a split-second of non-ironic curiosity in the bookstore. I predict you will like this about an A- worth. But for anyone who’s a little burnt out on such fare... this isn’t the book that’s likely to re-stoke your fires. Interested in writing for MangaLife? We're always looking for talented reviewers and columnists, so drop us a line! Charles Webb Editor-in-Chief, MangaLife.com |
1 September 2010
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