by Christian LeBlanc, Staff Writer

I found the last book somewhat vile,
But this volume did make me smile.
Basketball, talking crow, 
The return of Jiro, 
And artwork made this all worthwhile. 

If you’re a human (as opposed to a vampire) and you live to be a certain age, you may find your doctor warning you about your blood pressure, and you may then find yourself looking at ways to lower said blood pressure. Proper sleep. A little exercise. Consuming less salt. 

Less salt, as it turns out, is a sub-optimal way of dining if you prefer eating food that is delicious. You can disguise the tastelessness, however, by adding other things to your meal: garlic, ginger, pepper, vinegar, lemon juice, etc. You may even find some recipes improved when you use these other seasonings. 

So, too, has Vampeerz, Volume 3 (by Akili, published by Denpa) improved, by making better use of its extended cast. We still have the tastelessness I complained about in my review of Volume 2 (14-year-old human girl Ichika is horny for vampire girl Aria, who claims that she has no interest in romance because she looks and thinks like a child). The hustle and bustle of activity in Volume 3 shifts the focus away from this, however, in favor of vampire power intrigues (Aria turns out to be an important vampire figure, and there are allusions to other vampire factions wanting to do something about that) and, of course, school hijinx. 

So, yes, we still get the odd panty shot or bath scene of self-described-as-child-like-Aria, but this is lessened by how she takes the initiative in her relationship with Ichika. And yes, while we may see someone popping a squat in the bathroom, we then also get hilarious moments like Khara in attack mode running full-tilt while wearing one of those whacky rubber horse masks.

Speaking of Khara (introduced last volume, along with her talking, size-changing crow, Jayanti) – Ichika initially (and hilariously) despises her as a rival for Aria’s affections, but soon friendlies up when they both realize that having someone to discuss Aria with is a lot more fun than staying hostile. Khara also joins the vampire intrigue with Jiro (Aria’s servant) and Sakuya (also Aria’s servant, whose cover is acting as school nurse, a position whose authority she abuses from go). It’s nice to see a larger cast interacting and bouncing off each other, and helps to make the book feel more ‘lived in.’  

In addition to some vampire faction business, Ichika’s and Aria’s relationship is moved along when Aria accidentally gets a girlfriend while she’s washing her hands in the bathroom, causing some hurt and jealousy with Ichika. It might be a thin excuse for drama (or even satirizing how these misunderstandings occur in romance manga), but it’s good to see some progression between the two.

Regarding the art, this volume has one of my favourite layouts in any comic, a two-page spread that initially got me interested in this series when I saw it shared on Twitter some time ago: Aria sinks a 3-point shot while the arc of the basketball forms the gutters separating some panels, with a close-up of her lining up her shot in the foreground with thicker linework. It’s a gorgeous setup that can only be done in comics, and adds a great deal of visual depth and immersion. 

Molly Rabbitt’s translation is mostly stellar, but could have used a second pass in a couple of places, as when a teacher refers to Paul McCartney’s song “Blackbird” as a poem that helped inspire the American civil rights movement, rather than having lyrics that were inspired by it. Clarity aside, the translation generally feels very fresh and authentic, particularly whenever the mood turns goofy.

Ratings:

Art – 9 I really enjoy Akili’s art style, and the kill-faces Ichika makes at Khara as she’s seized by jealousy made me laugh. 
Story – 6 I feel like we’re still just setting up the pieces, but I’m enjoying seeing things get set up at least. There’s really not much plot to speak of, yet.
Characters – 7 I don’t feel super attached to anyone, but they’re fine to pass the time with.
Service – 7 I might not mind the service if the characters were all coded as older than fourteen, so as it is, it just feels off-putting. 
Yuri – 8 Rivals for love! Bloody kisses! 

Overall – 7 A much more enjoyable entry than last volume’s creepiness. 

I’m hesitantly looking forward to Volume 4, which should already be out by the time you read this. I doubt that what I find unpleasant in this series is going away any time soon, but the artwork, humor and growing cast are the seasonings I need to keep me going.

But take that with a grain of salt, of course.