Vampire Game Vol. 1 Review

Author: Judai

Release Date: January 13, 2009

Pages: 200 (Even though I thought it was a few more...)(Paperback)

Publisher: Tokyopop

Most Appropriate For Ages: 13+

In an epic battle, King Phelios defeats the Vampire King Duzell, but both monarchs are mortally wounded. As the two lay dying, Duzell prophesies that the two will meet again after their death, and vows that he will be triumphant. At least half the prophesy is proven true when Duzell is resurrected 100 years later, as a baby wildcat who is rescued and adopted by Ishtar, who just happens to be the great-granddaughter of his nemesis, King Phelios. Ishtar is a playful girl with an iron will and a penchant for pranks, a trait that distresses her caretaker, Sir Keld, and the dashing, but often bumbling, imperial guard, Captain Darres. Ishtar is not, however, the reincarnation of Phelios, leaving the now feline Duzell to continue his quest for revenge...with the surprisingly cooperative Ishtar as his companion!
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Vampire Game was something that my sister had, and it was the only thing for me to read after I'd finished The Dust of 100 Dogs, but it was better than I'd originally thought it would be!

The plot is somewhat juvenile- I mean, come on, a cat and a princess? And, it was too low on action for my manga tastes. But, other than that it wasn't bad. Definitely original.

The characters were really good! The main character, Ishtar, was pretty much a rude brat. Yet, I still loved her! Duzell provided some good laughs with his sarcastic comments that made me love him too. We didn't hear much from her body guard, Darres, who's past I'm anxious to find out since it really didn't go into much detail about his past in the first volume.

The animation, kinda like the plot line, was juvenile. I'm hoping it evolves throughout the series, because it didn't impress me very much. The dialogue wasn't too bad, though.

I didn't think I would care about the sequel until the ending of volume one, which was a nice little cliffhanger. Overall, this wasn't exactly my type of manga, but I enjoyed it. Definitely one for comedy and fantasy manga fans.