Hello to the world of WordPress. Here is my first review after my long hiatus. It’s also my first review to appear on the Pullbox, but I’m sure it won’t be the last. (Or so I hope 😉 ). In this review I cover my evaluation of the manga titled The Record of a Fallen Vampire Vol. 1. I invite you to read my SPOILER-FREE review after the jump.
Title: The Record of a Fallen Vampire (Vol. 1)
Story By: Kyo Shirodaira
Art By: Yuri Kimura
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: T for Teen [Due to themes of Death and Violence]
Manga Synopsis: Thousands of years ago, Vampire King Akabara “Red Rose” Strauss lost both his kingdom and his queen. Since humans were unable to kill the queen, they sealed her away, erecting thousands of fake seals so that the king would never find her true location. Despite being pursued by relentless dhampires, Akabara continues to search for his queen to this day…
Volume One Plot: Akabara’s quest takes a sinister turn when an entity called the Black Swan appears. The Black Swan inhabits the body of a young human girl every 50 years, giving her the power to destroy the Vampire King and his queen. With each incarnation the Black Swan grows stronger– will the 49th Black Swan mean the end of Akabara?
To prevent confusion, let me clear up two main points.
As you read this manga, please note that this story does not center around the 49th Black Swan, but rather it focuses on the vampire king Akabara.
Also, these are not your conventional vampires. They are confined to only travel by night, yes, but they do not feed off humans, and they cannot be killed with a steak to the chest. These are magical beings whose powers are the real threat. To kill them you have to fatally wound them with magic and/or weapons.
Keep those two points in mind, and it’ll be an easy read.
In an effort to stop him, both humans and dhampires alike hunt after Akabara — hoping to kill him before the queen is released. Dhampires are humans with vampire blood and so they also have magical abilities, including the ability to heal severe wounds. But their forces combined have still not been enough to kill the King.
I picked up this manga a couple of weeks ago when the storyline caught my eye. I fount it all makes for a very interesting plot and as I learned more details about the story I grew to enjoy it more and more. The quick progression in the beginning was necessary to move the story along appropriately, and then from there it continues at a normal pace. And just when you think it all might get repetitive with Akabara fighting against a dhampire from seal to seal, Shirodaira throws in a surprising twist!
This is Shirodaira’s first time writing a vampire story so I’m really impressed about how he made it his own. It’s definitely different, but not necessarily bad. Some of the dialogue seems a bit… off by word choice but he was still able to establish a great foundation for all the characters. It allows the reader to be really stumped by the sudden twist in the story. Kudos to him because thanks to that cliffhanger I will definitely continue to read this series.
All in all this manga is definitely worth looking into. I’ve already started reading its second volume and I’m sure it wont be my last.
The Record of a Fallen Vampire 4 out of 5 stars.
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