Is there a term for vicarious sexual frustration? Just shut up and do it already!
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Hotaru Odagiri
Translation/Adaptation: Melissa Tanaka
What They Say
Welcomed into the arms of the Giou clan and the Zweilt, Yuki reaches out to his comrades even as he is drawn into their war with the darkness. But the demonic Duras continue to spread their malevolence around Yuki, and the members of his new family are not impervious either, as one of their own vanishes without a trace and yet another is cornered by a sudden ambush. In the Zweilt, Yuki may well have found the long-sought-after place he belongs, but the enemy seems intent on stealing it out of his grasp forever.
And when the shadowy figure of “Reiga,” the nemesis of the Giou, finally steps into the light, will Yuki find himself utterly alone, crushed by the weight of the truth?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Yen Press is doing a smart thing releasing The Betrayal Knows My Name in omnibus format. As it stands, each individual volume doesn’t have enough plot movement to make anyone think they’re getting their money’s worth out of it.
The entire focus of this massive volume is on Hotsuma, the brash punk of the Giou clan, and Shuusei, his quiet Zweilt partner. It starts with a series of student kidnappings and progresses to a kidnapping of Shuusei, the rescue mission that follows, and fallout from it.
The enemy they face is another of the demonic duras, and a female one at that. However, she’s basically nothing more than a monster of the week and isn’t particularly interesting. Sadly, there isn’t much depth to any of the characters in this series. Right now you can break all of the main characters down into the usual stereotypes; the tall dark stranger, the bleeding heart, the space case, the punk, the quiet one, and the girl. Oh yes, I forgot the cute mascot and crazy doctor. Four volumes in I was hoping for some more depth, especially after so much internal dialog. The blatantly obvious identity of Reiga is finally revealed, and no one should be surprised at all to discover who it is. The author admits in an aside that it was never supposed to be a huge secret and a rough reader poll gave her a 60-40 split on those who saw it coming and those who thought it was a shocking twist. I suddenly feel very sorry for her, in an odd way.
The real problem with this series lies in the fact that I’ve seen all of this before. The hook wasn’t exactly original, and anyone who’s been reading manga as long as I have has been exposed to this sort of story before. Older dark fantasy shoujo with a boys’ love tease weren’t afraid to go very dark or very weird, it’s part of why X and Descendants of Darkness were so popular. (And still are, despite both being unfinished!) This is a series that should be taking chances, but instead plays it far too safe. There were several moments during this volume with Shuusei that could have taken a different, far more interesting path, but those options weren’t explored. Newer readers to manga might be exposed to this sort of story for the first time and find it all new and exciting, but I can only wonder how long their excitement will last with with nothing notable happening.
In the last half of this volume there’s a glimmer of hope in this sea of conventionality. There are several interesting conversations among the cast about fate and their affection to each other. The hints of boys love are not so much hints as they are extremely repressed sexual frustration. How much of their love is just a construct of being reincarnated Zweilt? Does that mean that it’s just false feelings imprinted in their very existence? Yuki doesn’t like the idea that Luka might just be sticking with him because of some contract, but what about the others? The philosophical bit doesn’t last long, the characters accept it all because they’re lonely and companionship draws them together. There also seems to be hints at a larger conspiracy, a secret past and a reason for why these two groups are struggling to begin with, the “betrayal” hinted at in the engrishy title of this series. At the end of this volume Yuki is summoned to the main house of the clan, hopefully for some solid answers.
The art is the series is still just as advertised. Do you see the cover image of this book? It’s half dressed Hotsuma, spattered with blood and licking a knife, chained to Shuusei. If you’re making squee noises there’s probably nothing I can do to dissuade you from picking this book up. And if overwrought teen drama is your thing then, by all means, dive right in. To the discerning reader, you’ll probably want to take a step back and get your fix in the form of something with a bit more depth.
In Summary
How long have you been a reader of manga, and how much do you love teen angst? If he answer is not very long and you love it, then by all means, jump right in. Inside you’ll find Hostuma and Shuusei’s backstory and all the smoldering looks and bloody angst that comes with it. To anyone hoping that the overall plot picks up, you’ll have to keep waiting. Reiga’s reveal does little to advance matters, except to place doubts in the readers mind about this centuries old conflict of necromancers. Pretty art can only carry a book so far, and Betrayal seems to be stalling for time while it searches for some plot twists.
Content Grade: C
Art Grade: B +
Packaging Grade: B +
Text/Translation Grade: A –
Readers Rating: [ratings]
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: December 31st, 2012
MSRP: $18.99
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