*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.
This manga is a horror collection featuring creators Ryo Hanada, Aki Shimizu, and Shima Shinya with cover art by Junj Ito. It features doppelgangers, evil mirrors, demon cats, ghosts, and spirits. It’s pretty solid and varied with some great art. It’s perfect if you’re looking for a quick jolt of some spooky stuff, this isn’t a bad book if not very memorable. 3.9 out of 5.
After all the fighting and revelations of the previous volume, all our characters are taking some time to heal up and regroup. Anzai is searching for more answers about his past, Hans Lee is using his time to save persecuted devils, Eleven is dealing with her family while Makimura heals from his wounds. All the while, the general climate towards devils is increasingly hostile, making it harder for Anzai and his group to do their jobs.
I have to say my favorite bits of this were Eleven, or Mayu rather, and her family. I’m not so sure about whatever romance between her and Makimura since he seems smarmy but I like how Mayu’s character is developing. She’s more than that dolled up, flat, bitchy character from the beginning and her progression is realistic and fun for me to read.
Anzai and his group collect Zero Eleven into their group and all of them seem to have suspicions about their Ishimaru’s real loyalties now that he’s the new leader. But, they keep going with their raids on the CCC. However, the CCC is one step ahead of them.
Watching this group in action despite how the CCC always ups them is amazing. Anzai and Ishimaru kick major ass when they need to. There needs to be more of that and less of the lingering glances between Tsukasa and Anzai. And Zero Eleven is annoying but I think her character is designed to be annoying. When the plot is moving, this series is good. 3 out of 5.
The new guy, Ishimaru, is working on getting Zero Seven and Zero Nine to join up with Anzai and his group in exchange for information on Kikuhara. Zero Seven only agrees if he will exchange for details about the devil who killed her mother. But with the existence of devils now public knowledge, tensions are high and man known for advocating devil rights has a ‘mysterious’ house fire. When Anzai arrives at the scene, Kikuhara needles Anzai about his lost memories.
Zero Seven’s backstory is messed up and I still get this feeling that anyone who tells her about the devil that murdered her mother won’t be telling the whole truth; much like how everyone keeps dancing around what Anzai can’t remember about his childhood. I hope these reveals turn out to be worth is in the long run since there’s so much build up. 3.5 out of 5.
Anzai is able to get Tsukasa safely back to Bar Sakaki. But with all the devil activity lately, the R2PC (Redeye’s Rights Protection Committee) has decided to meet up; including people from the Obihiro National Laboratory Orphanage. The conference meets to discuss the intricacies of human/devil relationships. We also get to know more about Johannes’ life in captivity as a child.
The crux of this volume seems to be getting Tsukasa and Anzai to bone without Anzai losing control of his bloodlust. That’s it. Yeah, we meet Anzai’s mother, we see Anzai’s father, and we get some plot moving forward. But you can tell that the biggest deal is our main couple having sex.
Yay for them?
And the training they have to do is to make out while being monitored. Oookay…
Anzai does end up on suspension because he went after Tsukasa without clearance from his team. We’ll see how well that works out in the next volume.
Zero Seven escapes from Anzai and his comrades and takes Tsukasa hostage to ensure she can get away. However, Zero Seven’s interest is only in saving her friend, Zero Nine, from the agency that betrayed her: the Chosen Civil Community. Zero Seven tells Tsukasa there’s a spy in Division 5 who will kill her to keep his secret. But Anzai is on the way to rescue her despite his fraying control of his bloodthirsty nature.
The most interesting things for me in this volume are Zero Seven’s story arc and the R2PC: Redeye’s Rights Protection Committee. It is interesting that the devils have someone advocating for them. However, I am getting nervous about how many different organizations all competing in this series. I have the feeling I’m going to get them all mixed up if they add any more.
I’m still gonna keep reading, though. I want the low down on Anzai’s infamous father and the ONLO orphanage. This deep into the series and I’m still curious and entertained. Good stuff.
This volume is really focused on bringing the story forward. We learn about Anzai’s father, some program called a Hybrid Birth Plan that Anzai and Hans were a part of, Hans’ real name is revealed (but I like ‘Hans’ better), and the Devils are being hunted whether they’ve been attacking people or not.
I do love that a trans character in this manga isn’t treated any differently from anyone else; aside for being a Devil. And try as they might, the romance is still the least interesting part of this. Every time the story shifts to that, I start flipping through pages to get to the fun parts. It’s funny to see other reviewers say there’s not enough romance but for me, Anzai is pretty much a typical brooding bloodsucker so I think what’s going on around him is MUCH more interesting. I like this take on the vampire genre and look forward to seeing where it’s going next.
With Zero Seven’s organization working behind the scenes, they engineer a public devil attack to expose the existence of devils and cause a panic. Anzai and his group try to deal with the fallout and we are also introduced to a new character; Hans Lee: another half devil who befriends Tsukasa.
The competing organizations had to collide sooner or later but in the meantime, slashing someone on live TV to incite a vampire attack innocent people was a dick move that is sure to backfire.
We also learn that Hanz and Anzai were both half-breed orphans from the same orphanage; ONLO: Obihiro National Laboratory’s Orphanage. From the few flashbacks we’ve seen, it doesn’t look like a very nice place.
This series has an interesting setup and story so far but as far as the romance between Anzai and Tsukasa goes, it’s forgettable in comparison. It’s ok and all but everything else around it is SO much more entertaining. Overall 3.7 out of 5.
Tsukasa is attacked by a vampire on her way home from college and is saved by half vampire, Anzai. Anzai works for an organization that hunts and captures vampires that break the rules and tries to reform them. After saving her once, Anzai becomes attached to Tsukasa; continuing to watch over her but his lust for blood tests his constantly fraying control. Could his attachment to Tsukasa be the undoing of his vow not to drink from humans?
One thing I noticed immediately is the rating (13+) and the naked boobs. There’s no overt sex to get a full on M rating but maybe a little higher? 16+ perhaps?
As for the story, Anzai and Tsukasa are cute enough but the plot doesn’t really kick start until the last third of the volume with this other organization wanting to exterminate all vampires no matter what. So far, this first volume hits all the common manga tropes; including the instantly in love for no reason thing. And I was a little surprised at how light the tone is. Based on the premise and the cover art, I expected this manga to be much darker. We’ll have to see if it gets darker as the series goes on but an ok start.
