"Vampire Knight, Volume 1" by Matsuri Hino

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Read: 2/22/09

5/5 stars

This is a highly amusing and momentous occasion for me. This is my very first manga book! Why did I buy it? Well, first, someone at Play Book Tag kept raving about it and I think I noticed that both of us liked the same sort of books. Then, I was a bit bored while I was waiting at the mall earlier. And when I entered Comic Quest and asked about the book, lo and behold, there it was and i still had some money left. So, I bought it. Truth to tell, I was also a bit curious about the right-to-left reading orientation.

Oh, did I mention it's about vampires?

Think Twilight, but set in a European high school boarding school where the Day Class is composed of humans and the Night Class of vampires. Then, think of Bella as a disciplinary wcommittee member who keeps the vampires in line, but also protects the humans from knowing that their Night Class counterparts are vampires. Next, think of Edward as still a brooding and powerful vampire, but WAAAAY hotter than Robert Pattinson. Oh, and with more power, charisma, and personality. Finally, think of Jacob as, no, not a werewolf, but the other disciplinary committee member--a human who also has a troubled past and possibly an even more troublesome future.

Actually, forget about Twilight. Their names are Yuki, Kaname, and Zero. As manga characters, they look damn beautiful and cool. And this series, also targetted for older teens, seems to show more promise and the characters more depth. Which is not to say that this story has been done before. It has. But I remain in my contention that vampire literature is fun because it is familiar.

The other new experience was reading from back to front. In the English translation of Vampire Knight, they retained the original Japanese format in order not to redo and possibly ruin the layout of the frames. I have to admit, it is fun trying to read with this new orientation, but apparently it's not so difficult. It just takes a bit of getting used to.

Also, once in a while, Matsuri Hino, the author, has little authorial notes appearing in a lengthwise bar in at least one page of each chapter. She talks about her process of creating the characters, names, and even their uniforms, all in informal, gossipy language. Initially, I found it annoying, but on second thought, I figured what she was trying to do was interact more with her readers. Vampire Knight, it seems, is currently serialized in Shojo Beat magazine. I suppose by having these small notes, she can instigate further comment into her work, which in turn might help her enrich her later chapters, or at worst, be able to pander to what her audience would prefer.

And though I was just looking for my vampire fix for this month, apparently, I stumbled into a new series that I'd like to keep acquiring. Unfortunately, this is one series which I doubt I'll find easily in the second hand book shops I frequent, so collecting it might be a bit pricey. Sure, there's this site that has scanned pages of Vampire Knight until Chapter 48, but I'm old school. I still want the pages. Besides, I noticed that the translations in the site are different from my copy. Different spellings and the language is more awkward. Then again, it's still nice to know it's there.

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