We find truth at the seat of the soul.
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Setona Mizushiro
Translation/Adaptation: John Werry
What They Say
Dimitri Lewandowski is a celebrated tenor in early 1900s Vienna. When he is killed in an accident, his corpse is colonized by the seeds of a vampire master. At first, Dimitri denies that anything has changed, but as the people around him start dying, he is forced to accept the ghastly truth.
Flash-forward to modern-day Tokyo. Alice has been living with the vampires for a few years, and while she pays lip service to the idea of choosing a propagation partner, she’s no closer to a decision now than when she first entered the mansion. But recent events are forcing her to abandon her happy interlude and make the final, fatal judgment…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Setona Mizushiro creates worlds where tones of emotion, confusion, and dread all resonate from what could pass as a little corner of the real world. The last volume of Black Rose Alice ended with Dimitri leaving the nest and Reiji recovering a lost memory of his life before becoming a vampire. Dimitri left town threatening to find another woman to be the vampire bride. This final volume marks the end of part 1 of the series, and while not resolving the story, the characters come to terms with themselves.
These chapters show the horrible behavior of all the characters except Dimitri, who becomes a more human and likable figure than in the previous volume. Maybe that is the problem, everyone is human even though they have been separated from their human lives. While the previous volume presented most scenes with the vampires blank-eyed and emotionally dead, this volume has wide-eyed horror and chibi style representations of embarrassing emotions. This volume demonstrates how screentones can cause dissonance, an uneasy feeling, between the image and your perception. More than once I considered putting the book down only to turn the page and have my sense of frustration or anxiety shape the rather mundane aspects of people standing in a room or seeing only the back of a head staring away into nothing. Once again, the trope of rape establishes two stories that end in the death of the rapists while creating lasting negative interactions.
Volume 6 opens with Alice feeling isolated by the silence around her in the nest, so she dwells on her tendency to fall for abusive men while trying to understand where her loyalties and heart direct her. Alice still has not come to terms with her tendency, but in a character shifting moment, she goes back to her ex-boyfriend Koya’s apartment. Acting in a way that will force him to disconnect emotionally from her, she invites Koya to be part of her harem. Disgusted, Koya rejects her, and she goes back to the nest to decide which vampire will be her mate. While trying to decide, she continues to fight the memories of friends chastising her former self about her tendencies to enter negative relationships.
Much of the volume is Reiji acting bitter and mean toward Kai and Alice. In the past, a young woman named Akane takes care of sickly Reiji. Reiji confesses his love to her and promises to get better and marry her. His healthy brother Kai has his own motives and desire. When Akane confesses to Kai how scared she is that Reiji is dying, Kai grabs her and pulls her to his chest. Later, he decides the best way to show his feelings is to rape her while telling her that he will do everything for her that Reiji cannot. While Akane remains distraught and crying throughout, Reiji walks in and sees them. Fired by jealousy, Reiji disappears only to return a little later. As Akane tries to apologize, Reiji shoots her in the stomach. Then he shoots Kai.
Within this volume, Dimitri may be the only character to gain any sympathy from the reader. We see a scene from the past where he hears a girl scream, and finds her under an adult male who is telling her, “You got the body for it.” Dimitri intervenes and, using his vampiric powers, sends the man to his death. This girl wants to leave with Dimitri, but he tells her to “grow into a fine woman” and he will come back for her. So, they meet again. The artwork becomes more exaggerated and with hyper-stylized emotions that leave the girl looking like a fast food clown in most of her adult scenes.
While things seem complicated when Dimitri returns, the main story arc begins to find resolution. What looks at first like a competition for Dimitri becomes a moment that allows Alice to decide who she really is and act with the understanding that unless emotion drives her, she does not want to be in a relationship. In the night, Dimitri enters the seat of her soul, a place where no false barriers exist between people. As their spiritual bodies act out their true feelings, they find resolve in their fate.
In Summary
According to the author’s closing cartoon, this volume ends the first part of a continuing story. While it leaves the narrative open-ended, it resolves some of the character development by stripping the innocence of all characters. While the female protagonist searches her soul for her true self, the male side characters unravel exposing the archetypal sibling rivalry. The trope of rape is once again introduced in an effective way that may change the reader’s impression of the male characters. This series reshapes the Gothic, romantic vampire tales to make way for the neuroses of characters facing their impending existential end. This volume may have many shojo tropes, but it resonates more like a ponderous Bergman film, morbidly searching the extremes of our souls for anything human.
Recommended for readers looking for a subtle experience in a storm of violent emotions and painful mistakes.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: A-
Packaging Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: Older Teen
Released By: VIZ Media
Release Date: November 3rd, 2015
MSRP: $9.99
