Sacrifice means we try to live.
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Yana Toboso
Translation/Adaptation: Su Mon Han
What They Say
At Millennium Academy, elite vampires are trained to maintain balance in a world where humans and vampires, who possess far greater physical strength than their human neighbors, coexist. When Aldred, the most distinctly un-vampire-like vampire to be found in the entire institution, meets Kei, a human transfer student to the school, their destinies become surprisingly intertwined, and the fate of the world as they know it comes to lie in their hands. Will the unlikely duo be able to break the vicious cycle of blood and chaos that comes every millennium on the ominous night of the Twin Moons?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
A narrator opens with a three panel set up informing the reader twin moons are parting and this will lead to some devastating end. Immediately we are introduced to the world of the story, Millennium Academy, a school established to train students to police vampire crimes. Humans make up this world’s majority population and vampires are a small minority, but their power is so great the “anti-vampire defense” task force exists to protect the population. Blood drinking has been banned, and vampires drink a synthetic blood with no more than one percent human blood present.
In the first scene, we witness vampire students sparring, using their bloodline weapons, magical weapons that originate in their vampire blood. Our hero, Aldred Van Envlio, makes his appearance wielding a wooden baseball bat with nails sticking out. He lacks a bloodline weapon, and that limits his ability to serve as a task force member against vampires who do have that ability. Since Aldred’s father is the headmaster, rivals believe that led to Al being made team leader. We learn that Aldred has physical talents that exceed his peers, but when faced with another’s bloodline weapon, he remains at a disadvantage.
Our hero can’t be complete without a weapon. Enter Kei Yosugara, a human. Kei’s physical abilities are limited, and it is not understood why he has been made a member of the team. But when the moons begin to part, fellow vampires storm the cafeteria and begin slashing and eating their vampiric kin. This violates the greatest vampire taboo, but the feast gives the perpetrators power. Without a bloodline weapon, Aldred soon lies on the floor severely injured, unable to protect his group. Kei offers to form a pact by allowing Aldred to drink his blood. Going against his natural aversion to blood and the shame of the act, Aldred feeds on Kei to survive and fight back. This feeding brings Aldred the power to hold his own weapon. After killing the perpetrators of the massacre, Aldred learns that Kei became his weapon.
Characters develop through slice-of-life scenes as they recover from the first battle and learn more about the coming conflict. The parting moons weaken a seal that has held rogue vampires prisoner for 1000 years, allowing a few to escape. The school’s job will be to protect the five buildings that form the points of the magical seal that keeps the vampires at bay. Aldred and Kei find their partnership destroys their bodies and minds, and soon the corrosive properties of using the weapon inside him leaves Kei in a wheelchair. When the team finally engages the enemy, Kei is nearly dead and Aldred’s personality has changed. The battle ends with a twist.
In Summary
As a fan of Yana Toboso’s Black Butler, I wondered how this story would develop. Themes of sacrifice, decay, and emotional stability permeate a generic shonen story, adding a depth to the protagonists and giving readers interesting perspectives on what a good friend and citizen might be. While those themes are common in shonen stories, the ending resonates. Aldred learns a history that reshapes his understanding of how he has been complicit in maintaining a horrific, almost genocidal separation of the vampires from the human world. Fueled by the blood feedings and confused by the situation, Aldred must either give over to barbarism or find a way to maintain the world of his friends. These themes made me a fan of anime, long ago. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is a new fan of shonen stories.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: B
Packaging Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: Older Teen
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: August 18th, 2015
MSRP: $13.00
