Creative Staff
Story/Art: Yuuki Kodoma
Translation/Adaptation: Melissa Tanaka
What They Say
Unwilling to let anyone just waltz away with her little girl, Neyn sends Team Fearless, a crew of vampire slayers, after Staz and Fuyumi as they make their way to Demon World South. Team Fearless has never actually taken down a vampire, but they’re looking to make good on their name and “save” Fuyumi. But for a hostage, the girl seems awfully eager to stay at the vampire’s side… Has she fallen for the vampire’s charms – or just for his blood?!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Vampires generally sit on top of the heap when it comes to power rankings in relation to the various inhabitants of Demon World and so those who can stand against and beat the fearsome creatures tend to make quite a name for themselves…though others may use the name of vampire killers as a kind of ‘power of positive thinking’ to try to attain an incredible goal before they have accomplished it. Unfortunately for Staz and Fuyumi while the team sent after them- Team Fearless- may fall into the latter category it isn’t by any means because they lack the talent as the team is frightfully skilled and almost perfectly balanced to be able to take down the strongest of foes and as Staz and Fuyumi make their way to try to get to Braz the way will be perilous indeed when these opponents set their sight on the duo.
The pair’s first challenge comes when an overconfident Staz gets thrown completely off his pace by an enemy that looks to be able to both predict his moves as well as see through his weaknesses in fighting style to kidnap Fuyumi and then seriously wound an over confident Staz who has never encountered people capable of preying on a vampire’s inherent weaknesses. With his back as far against the wall as it has ever been will Staz figure out how to keep this crew of vampire hunters from notching their first marks on their belts and even turn the tables and use them to his own ends in order to get into the higher demon world where his brother sits…and maybe get a chance to indulge in his personal weaknesses as well as he tries to fill a hole in his memory in the place that helped create his consuming addiction?
And at the same time Staz is fighting for his life and otakudom the rest of the cast isn’t just sitting around cooling their heels as Wolf runs into a somewhat pouting Bell who is still a bit hurt that Staz ran away with Fuyumi…but why is that encounter in Japan in the human realm? Bell’s curiosity peaked she decides to travel with the more than a little out of place, overwhelmed and directionless Wolf in order to find what treasure has brought him so far from home but will it the reason something that she can steal when found and just what is the reason behind King Wolf Daddy having set this trip in motion?
And speaking of motion, Braz scheming looks to have paid off as he has finally managed to complete the tasks that he has been working toward for the last ten years which included much of what he did to Staz as well as his previous work to help animate the dead. With his plan fulfilled will Braz find that he is able to live with the costs that he has piled up over the years or will that guilt eat into him going forward causing him to make a rash action? And will his success bring chaos to the Demon World as some of the most powerful members gather before a mysterious mechanism looks to be counting down to something capable of striking fear into the hearts of the strongest of Demon World inhabitants?
The adventures of the cast of Blood Lad continue and the book proceeds to make great leaps forward in terms of character interactions and development as well as richness of introduced characters with this latest release as the author doesn’t skip on character interactions that can help deepen relationships as well as provide more than a little silliness and humor at times to help balance things out and give a sharper juxtaposition between silly and serious. In particular it is kind of amazing at how far Staz progresses in the book both in terms of realizing his own true abilities but also in recognizing how many of his attempts to do what he thinks is right with Fuyumi actually are due to his own self centeredness and which can take a large number of volumes in other series- assuming the characters even get that far. But like anyone else total change isn’t instantaneous and there are still moments for him where he tries to use her as an excuse for his own actions but he listens if not completely goes along with Fuyumi when she points this out causing her to indulge him at times to protect his ego which really helps to establish him as a full character with some depth to him.
It isn’t just Staz that grows either as Fuyumi gets an extra layer to her personality as she learns that her need for Staz’s blood has gone beyond just being to something needed to survive lest she fade away and has become a full blown addiction that has a pretty negative consequence for her if she indulges it- even while she needs it to survive. This provides for some implications and possible future direction as all the possible consequences aren’t exactly tackled head on in this manner but is notable in that even some adult manga don’t do more than dance around the edges of either with drugs being a subject that appears a bit more taboo in Japan then it has been even in the US for the last couple decades.
But the author doesn’t just stop there as the revelations of Braz achievement leave him both with success but also with a feeling of regret over just what he has done to get there, particularly with how it means he has emotionally- and even physically recently- abandoned his younger sister Liz in his obsessive drive to complete the task he set up for himself. Throw in Wolf attempting to find something in the human world and Bell having to cope with Staz and Fuyumi leaving her behind and the volume is one that packs a ton of emotion into its pages along with an amazing amount of action, interesting new characters and the humor that Blood Lad has been refining from the start and the volume is one that actually feels far too short as the author presents and then moves forward with ideas that most other authors in the genre seem to milk for multiple volumes worth of chapters and which could have been expanded here somewhat with seemingly little problem to extend some of the more fantastic moments and really sell them with few finding them stretched.
In Summary
Now that Fuyumi has made the decision to be revived Staz is going to give his all to see it through- well, in his own way anyway which may include a few instances where he does things more for his convenience without taking her comfort into mind and a bit of going off track to indulge his hobbies anyway but still doing so- and the pair now are on a much more even ground in their relationship which presents the opportunity for some honest and open dialogue to some extent when not dodging those out to kill Staz. And while Staz and Fuyumi are trying to get to Braz for him to revive her, Braz’s own experiments into reanimating the dead have at last born fruit and the Demon World itself may quake at the implications that will come from this event as ominous clouds look to be heading toward all of the otherworld at rapid speed.
Content Grade: A
Art Grade: B
Packaging Grade: A-
Text/Translation Grade: B+
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: February 18th, 2014
MSRP: $20.00
