by Christian LeBlanc, Staff Writer

It’s not mentioned in the review,
But Volume 4 does something new:
There were a few bugs
Who drank vampire blood,
Now there’s vampire ants in the school.

Before you start reading your latest volume of manga – and I’m talking physical copy, because you like that it came from trees and you still lie about how much you love the smell of ink or whatever – have you ever flipped through it first so you can get a glimpse at all the cool scenes and pictures and get all excited to read it? Conversely, has the opposite ever happened?

On my initial flip-through of Vampeerz, Volume 4 about a year ago, I saw the book open on some standing doggy-style alley-sex, saw a naked dude standing threateningly in front of a tied-up Khara a few pages later, and at the end of the book, beheld Aria asking Ichika to massage around her groin before a child knocked a fart out of her. At least the ink still smelled good.

I will admit, that all knocked the wind out of my sails (no pun intended). Vampeerz, Volume 5, however, had a much better flip-test.

Vampeerz, as you may remember, is a vampire Yuri manga by Akili, published by Denpa, and more than ably translated by Molly Rabbitt, about Aria (ageless vampire, can pass for 14) and Ichika (14-year-old human). A small entourage of vampires have joined the cast, giving the book a more ensemble feel. And as enjoyable as the book can get (amazing art, sweet Yuri moments, sometimes hilarious comedy), there’s usually a bit of skeeze. A little sketch. Maybe not enough to stand out if you’re just reading for fun, but if you’re taking the extra time to do a review, it becomes that much harder to ignore.

Plotwise, Volume 4 introduces Lord Arthur, a bisexual vampire who drops literary quotes in between doggy-styling it with the ladies in alleys and hot springs. He figures into the Vampire Intrigues, claiming to be on Aria’s side amongst a power struggle coming from rival vampire royalty – mostly for the sake of protecting his ex-boyfriend Jiro, who is part of Aria’s camp (and wants nothing more to do with ol’ Art, who he warns is “a licentious man!”). I will admit, the Intrigues are fairly hard to keep straight, and referring to them in flashbacks later on certainly doesn’t help in terms of clarity. Arthur is all but absent in Volume 5, though, as a school camping trip takes priority over politics.

This camping trip leads to a touching story involving Ichika’s childhood friend, as the pair find themselves drifting apart after gravitating towards their respective love interests. Akili’s ability to portray such tender emotions right after a chapter that should have been titled Boobapalooza still makes me dizzy.

And that’s the really confusing thing about this series: yes, Volume 5 opens with Ichika sitting on the toilet as she hears Aria and her vampire entourage coming home, but we also spend 76 pages at the end of the book in a single chapter detailing Aria’s touching history with Ichika’s grandmother, Chiro. There is honestly heartfelt writing in Vampeerz, but Akili can’t help but toss in that little bit of sketch like it’s a secret ingredient. Perhaps Volume 6 (currently due out in English in October) will finally flip my opinion on this book one way or the other. 

Ratings:

Art – 9  Still my favourite thing about this book. 
Story – 8  The fifth volume in particular really stepped things up.
Characters – 7  I’m still on the fence about Arthur, but so is everyone in the book.
Service – 7  I mentioned Boobapalooza, right?
Yuri – 8  The second half of Volume 5 makes for a brilliant stand-alone story.

Overall – 7