Monday, May 23, 2011

Manga Mondays (51): Vampire Knight vol. 9 - Matsuri Hino

Vampire Knight vol. 9 - Matsuri Hino

Summary

Cross Adademy is attended by two groups of students: the Day Class and the Night Class. At twilight, when the students of the Day Class return to their dorm, they cross paths with the Night Class on their way to school. Yuki Cross and Zero Kiryu are the Guardians of the school, protecting the Day Class from the Academy's dark secret: the Night Class is full of vampires!

Zero is imprisoned as Rido begins to revive slowly, and his army of Level E vampires approach the academy. Ichiru, fatally wounded, shoots Zero, and it is revealed that Ichiru was on Zero's side all along, and that he was plotting to kill Rido, the one who made Shizuka Hio murder their parents. Ichiru tells Zero to eat him to become stronger... (courtesy of Goodreads)

Review


*Warning: Potential spoilers. My manga reviews tend to be more of a summary than a review. I find it hard to review manga in the same way I do regular books.

I'm not sure how I feel about where Vampire Knight is going. Volume 9 exemplifies my ambivalence. It is a rollicking adventure. Rido Kuran, Kaname and Yuki's uncle, has been awakened from a deep sleep. He was in love with Kaname and Yuki's mother and killed their father. He is now intent on killing Yuki.

Zero has been imprisoned. His brother Ichiru visits him and shoots him with the vampire-killing gun, but it doesn't kill Zero. It turns out that Ichiru is dying and Zero devours his twin to increase his own powers. This sounds really twisted and disgusting, but it actually makes sense with the vampire hunter mythology. Twins of vampire hunters usually devour themselves in the womb and only one child is born. Zero partially devoured Ichiru in the womb, so he was born as a sickly, weak child. Now Ichiru encourages Zero to finish what he once (unconsciously) started.

The Academy is in chaos with Rido's awakening. Evil vampires are popping up out of the woodwork and scaring the day students. The Night students are now protecting the Day students. Headmaster Cross was once a great vampire hunter. Yet he now insists that not all vampires are bad nor should they be killed. He is protecting his school.

Finally, you have the big battles: between Yuki, Zero, and Rido and between Kaname and the Senate. It's all very dramatic.

My problem with this volume and the way the series is going is that it's become so complex. There are so many characters who look so much alike that it's hard to tell what's going on. I had to read the summaries in Volume 10 and read Volume 9 twice to really understand what happened. I also still find the fact that Yuki and Kaname are both lovers and siblings rather uncomfortable. I'm curious to see where Vampire Knight goes, but I'm not enjoying it quite as much.

3 comments:

  1. I found (still find) the siblings thing hard to accept as well but you'll find out more of the truth in the future that I think makes it easier to understand and its also a different world in terms of traditions.

    Incest is a taboo in our world mainly because it causes birth defects but with Pure Bloods that doesn't happen so its normal. But still even though I tell myself this its still hard to wrap my head around and be ok with it. So you're not alone! But I guess its the same with how its normal for Zero to devour his brother, disturbing to us but not so much for the Vampire Hunters.

    Sandy
    Manga Monday Post

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  2. At first I was kind of icky about the sibling relationship (Yuki and Kaname) but after I was fine with it when I found more about the truth.

    Still disturbed about Yuki's mom and dad being real siblings. Also with Rido in love with his own sister too.

    The part with Zero devouring his brother Ichiru didn't really bother me but to others it probably does!

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