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Added by gia manry on Nov. 20, 2009
See? They don't SPARKLE. They GLOW!
As it turns out, the month of November is full of vampire craziness, so I thought I'd showcase X releases for getting your vampire on without sitting in a movie theater with that most terrifying of monsters, the fangirl.
Vampire Knight
Bloody Kiss: The second and final volume of this short shoujo series hit shelves on the 3rd as well, and in terms of sheer story, it might actually be the closest proxy to Twilight. A young girl inherits a mansion that turns out to be inhabited by two vampires, with one of whom she begins to establish a relationship. The only problem is that if they kiss, she might become a vampire too.
Trinity Blood: For something a liiiiiiiiittle less girly-girl, Trinity Blood exists as both a bishounen fest and an intriguing sci-fi/fantasy/politics mash-up. The third novel, Reborn on Mars: Empress of the Night, was released by TOKYOPOP earlier this month, though I'm guessing you'll want to be pretty familiar with the series before picking that one up.
Record of a Fallen Vampire
Vampire Hunter D: Digital Manga Publishing has been near-simul-releasing this manga adaptation of Hideo Kikuchi's novels. Some fans may wish that illustrator Yoshitaka Amano was doing the art, but since he basically doesn't do manga, you may find you'll like Saiko Takaki's take, which retains much of the feel of Amano's work. Volume four came out on the 18th.
Dance in the Vampire Bund
Dance in the Vampire Bund: If all of the above is still just not enough to quench your vampire thirst, you'll just have to give Nozomu Tamaki's centuries-old vampire loli Mina Tepes a try. In an interesting move, the vampire princess bought off Japan by paying off its national debt in order to earn some land to create a "special district" for vampires. Volume 5 will come out on the 30th, and an anime version is also in the works, so you might want to get a sneak peek by checking out the manga.
If that isn't enough for you, then you're an addict and should consider checking into a 12-step program. Don't worry, I'm sure lots of people are addicted to fiction about sexy beings that suck the blood out of humans for sustenance...
Of course, this is just vampire releases for November. So if you have other recommendations, be sure to share them in the comments!
Filed under :
Vampires,
Vampire Knight,
Bloody Kiss,
Trinity Blood,
Record of a Fallen Vampire,
Hideyuki Kikuchi's Vampire Hunter D,
Blood: The Last Vampire (Live Action),
Dance in the Vampire Bund
36 Comments
Record of a Fallen Vampire is an excellent choice although the story gets kind of ridiculous but in an awesome way. I've only read up to Vol. 6 though still have to get 7. To elaborate a bit though as much as it's fairly shōnen starting with Akabara "Red Rose" Strauss being a super powerful vampire king from the destroyed Kingdom of the Night out for a thousand year long quest for revenge while battling dhampires (half vampires) and the Black Rose who get in his way. It's very much in a more mystery genre instead of the typical beat dudes up to get to some clear goal. Where many times what is presented as fact is actually revealed to be something entirely different when looked at in it's true context that and Strauss (who is actually a really nice dude who just has a very clear goal and won't let people stop him from achieving it) has many secrets some of, which the other cast don't even know about that are revealed throughout the manga. With the big one of course being why did the Kingdom of the Night fall with such a strong and intelligent king as the monarch and why are vampires just myth now along with a bunch of other spoilerific questions it poses. Than around vol. 3 or so there is a huge twist in the story.
Anyway I can't wait to get my hands on volume 7 and find out what happens next (It looks like more backstory on Strauss' mysterious past along with some of the other characters from 1000 years ago and what led up to the fall of the Kingdom of the Night [vol. 6 pretty much explained how it happened] and how vampires/dhampires became to be just myths) although it's kind of a bummer since it's only 9 volumes like another awesome series I finished in September called Yumekui Kenbun: Nightmare Inspector, which is kind of like xxxHolic but instead of a witch the supernatural aspect is he's a baku(mythological japanese creature that eats dreams and nightmares) that will help rid people of their nightmare who come to the tea house he resides in if he's able to eat their nightmare and what I mean by being like xxxHolic is that each chapter is pretty much a seperate story with some overarching plot and character development going on and has the be careful what you wish for thing going on where each patron usually ends up worse off than when they came in. For instance
Also it's the creator's first manga but the art just looks fantasticly done as if by a pro that coupled with a really visually interesting setting (Taisho era Japan) that creates this very interesting mix of Victorian and Gothic Revival style architecture with more traditional Japanese architecture (for instance seeing a multistory tall skinny hotel that looks kind of like a mini shirō with a neon or gas powered sign advertising the place that also has stain glass windows, or a turn of the century style tram that looks ripped out of London, U.K. riding past gas powered street lamps.) so, while not Giyōfū architecture exactly (the common architecture of this period in Japan that resembled Western architecture popular around the Meji era but based on Japanese construction techniques) the backgrounds seen in the city it's located in is it's own unique and interesting blend of popular architecture types at the time. The character design is very nice as well.
Although Nightmare Inspector doesn't have any vampires in it really unless you count having to eat nightmares as a kind of version of vampirism. One thing though is I wouldn't really recommend vol. 9 (the last one although wikipedia say's it has 10 for some reason) since vol. 9 breaks from the collection of short stories to explaining and finishing the plot that has slowly been developing through volumes 1 to 8 and taking care to wrap up every little thread in a neat bow that is completed with some unnecessary exposition to make sure there isn't any holes or questions to be left answered, which is disappointing.
@Nerx: That's okay, most of this stuff ripped off Bram Stoker and Anne Rice anyway ;)
So much Vampire Knight at Eirtakon last weekend..
Heard some good things about Trinity Blood, might give it a look.
Heard some good things about Trinity Blood, might give it a look.
@Nerx said:
No honourable mentions? I can understand R+V since it isnt nearly as good as anything on your list. But when the retarded people mention the Twillight cr@p the smart people mention Hellsing or Chibi Vampire most of the times lol
And did a real sh!tty job at it" Twilight ripped this sh!t off "
No honourable mentions? I can understand R+V since it isnt nearly as good as anything on your list. But when the retarded people mention the Twillight cr@p the smart people mention Hellsing or Chibi Vampire most of the times lol
l prefer the True Ancestors from Nasuverse and Shiki
Arcueid & Shiki > Crap > Edward & Bella
Arcueid & Shiki > Crap > Edward & Bella
@gia:
Speaking of Blood: The Last Vampire. I've never been into the whole live action versions of animes. They never work out right. It almost always seems like a practice in certifiable insanity. The effect and acting are always to a silly degree. If something is based off animation, then why not just make an animated movie?
They can't even call themselves "so bad it's good".
Speaking of Blood: The Last Vampire. I've never been into the whole live action versions of animes. They never work out right. It almost always seems like a practice in certifiable insanity. The effect and acting are always to a silly degree. If something is based off animation, then why not just make an animated movie?
They can't even call themselves "so bad it's good".
Yes Dio is the best vampire ever. Those who disagree are going to get their ass run over.
I would like to add non-anime franchises to this "fuck Twilight "thing, namely Interview with the Vampire (best vampire movie EVER) and the Castlevania games ^_^
@Kelleth: This isn't a list of the "best," only a list of what happened to come out the same month as Twilight. No more, and no less. So if it didn't have a release in November, which R+V didn't, then it wasn't mentioned. :)
@FoxxFireArt: Hm, I feel like we've discussed this before (you should check out this week's question on the forums), but there have been quite a few strong live-action movies in Japan based on manga and anime, at the very least (see also: Crows, Death Note, Mushishi, Dororo, to name just a few recent ones). So it's not hard for me to imagine that Hollywood could do one-- they just haven't done one YET. (That said, I will defend that Dragon Ball Evolution can be a perfectly fun movie to sit with your friends and watch while drinking and making fun of it, and that I straight-up liked Speed Racer.) :)
@FoxxFireArt: Hm, I feel like we've discussed this before (you should check out this week's question on the forums), but there have been quite a few strong live-action movies in Japan based on manga and anime, at the very least (see also: Crows, Death Note, Mushishi, Dororo, to name just a few recent ones). So it's not hard for me to imagine that Hollywood could do one-- they just haven't done one YET. (That said, I will defend that Dragon Ball Evolution can be a perfectly fun movie to sit with your friends and watch while drinking and making fun of it, and that I straight-up liked Speed Racer.) :)
@GodLen: ZA WARUDO
WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
I've always preferred my vampires gay. None of this hopes and dreams of a teenage girl BS.
Suggesting Vassalord as having its "moments". : 3
(Not actually sure about the plot. Haven't figured out if there IS one, yet.)
[edit] I'm a total whore for vampire anything, and, yeah, I read all four of those Twilight books. I almost didn't make it through the last one, and overall wish I could have that time of my life back. I could read The Vampire Lestat again. (In French, for all the time wasted.)
Suggesting Vassalord as having its "moments". : 3
(Not actually sure about the plot. Haven't figured out if there IS one, yet.)
[edit] I'm a total whore for vampire anything, and, yeah, I read all four of those Twilight books. I almost didn't make it through the last one, and overall wish I could have that time of my life back. I could read The Vampire Lestat again. (In French, for all the time wasted.)
This is vampire in original story telling done right. While Vampire Knight is close to Twilight it does a better job.
Record of a Fallen Vampire is an excellent choice although the story gets kind of ridiculous but in an awesome way. I've only read up to Vol. 6 though still have to get 7. To elaborate a bit though as much as it's fairly shōnen starting with Akabara "Red Rose" Strauss being a super powerful vampire king from the destroyed Kingdom of the Night out for a thousand year long quest for revenge while battling dhampires (half vampires) and the Black Rose who get in his way. It's very much in a more mystery genre instead of the typical beat dudes up to get to some clear goal. Where many times what is presented as fact is actually revealed to be something entirely different when looked at in it's true context that and Strauss (who is actually a really nice dude who just has a very clear goal and won't let people stop him from achieving it) has many secrets some of, which the other cast don't even know about that are revealed throughout the manga. With the big one of course being why did the Kingdom of the Night fall with such a strong and intelligent king as the monarch and why are vampires just myth now along with a bunch of other spoilerific questions it poses. Than around vol. 3 or so there is a huge twist in the story.
Anyway I can't wait to get my hands on volume 7 and find out what happens next (It looks like more backstory on Strauss' mysterious past along with some of the other characters from 1000 years ago and what led up to the fall of the Kingdom of the Night [vol. 6 pretty much explained how it happened] and how vampires/dhampires became to be just myths) although it's kind of a bummer since it's only 9 volumes like another awesome series I finished in September called Yumekui Kenbun: Nightmare Inspector, which is kind of like xxxHolic but instead of a witch the supernatural aspect is he's a baku(mythological japanese creature that eats dreams and nightmares) that will help rid people of their nightmare who come to the tea house he resides in if he's able to eat their nightmare and what I mean by being like xxxHolic is that each chapter is pretty much a seperate story with some overarching plot and character development going on and has the be careful what you wish for thing going on where each patron usually ends up worse off than when they came in. For instance
Also it's the creator's first manga but the art just looks fantasticly done as if by a pro that coupled with a really visually interesting setting (Taisho era Japan) that creates this very interesting mix of Victorian and Gothic Revival style architecture with more traditional Japanese architecture (for instance seeing a multistory tall skinny hotel that looks kind of like a mini shirō with a neon or gas powered sign advertising the place that also has stain glass windows, or a turn of the century style tram that looks ripped out of London, U.K. riding past gas powered street lamps.) so, while not Giyōfū architecture exactly (the common architecture of this period in Japan that resembled Western architecture popular around the Meji era but based on Japanese construction techniques) the backgrounds seen in the city it's located in is it's own unique and interesting blend of popular architecture types at the time. The character design is very nice as well.
Although Nightmare Inspector doesn't have any vampires in it really unless you count having to eat nightmares as a kind of version of vampirism. One thing though is I wouldn't really recommend vol. 9 (the last one although wikipedia say's it has 10 for some reason) since vol. 9 breaks from the collection of short stories to explaining and finishing the plot that has slowly been developing through volumes 1 to 8 and taking care to wrap up every little thread in a neat bow that is completed with some unnecessary exposition to make sure there isn't any holes or questions to be left answered, which is disappointing.
@gia said:
" (That said, I will defend that Dragon Ball Evolution can be a perfectly fun movie to sit with your friends and watch while drinking and making fun of it, and that I straight-up liked Speed Racer.) :) "The fact that you need to be drinking to enjoy something is an example of how poor it is. That you need you perceptions impaired.
@Kelleth: That's weird-- all of my release lists say that Rosario+Vampire *9* just came out October 6th, no mention of #10 in November, and it looks like ANN's release calendar says the same thing, though I do see that R+V #10 came out that day on Amazon...very weird. I'll have to keep an eye on that.
@FoxxFireArt: It's not necessarily about the alcohol, it's about the mood of the room. So yes, your perceptions need to be altered-- by being in a goofy, casual setting, not by killing off your brain cells. ;)
@FoxxFireArt: It's not necessarily about the alcohol, it's about the mood of the room. So yes, your perceptions need to be altered-- by being in a goofy, casual setting, not by killing off your brain cells. ;)
Hellsing is better than pretty much everything on this list. Shame on you Anime Vice. Shame on you...
Also, everyone needs to watch Let the Right One in.
Also, everyone needs to watch Let the Right One in.
@gia said:
I believe you can do that by watching the film in the first place.
" @FoxxFireArt: It's not necessarily about the alcohol, it's about the mood of the room. So yes, your perceptions need to be altered-- by being in a goofy, casual setting, not by killing off your brain cells. ;) "
I believe you can do that by watching the film in the first place.
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Anime Vice is Whiskey Powered with Django
on Nov. 20, 2009