After the revelations in volume eight, the world of Vampire Knight goes—please pardon my indelicacy, but this is really the only way to put it—batshit crazy. Pureblood vampire Rido Kuran (our villain) completes his resurrection and summons his followers to him. Said followers feel no compunction about snacking on the day class students of Cross Academy, so the noble vampires … [Read more...] about Vampire Knight 9 by Matsuri Hino: C+
Shoujo
Kaze Hikaru 9-11 by Taeko Watanabe: A-
Beware: spoilers ahead. I have come to the conclusion that Kaze Hikaru is not only worth owning—as opposed to borrowing it from the library, which is what I’ve been doing up until now—but is also pure evil (in the very best way, of course). Volume nine begins with a reorganization of the Shinsengumi that sees Sei reassigned from active patrolling to a position taking care of … [Read more...] about Kaze Hikaru 9-11 by Taeko Watanabe: A-
Alice in the Country of Hearts 1 by QuinRose and Soumei Hoshino: B-
From the back cover: Wonderland is officially at war! And Alice is trapped in the middle of it all. Will she make it out alive? A little arrogant, stubborn, and determined to get back home, Alice isn't fazed by these challenges... until she discovers that every man is gun crazy and weirdly in love with her. What's going on in Wonderland?! Review: Based on a “female-oriented … [Read more...] about Alice in the Country of Hearts 1 by QuinRose and Soumei Hoshino: B-
Stolen Hearts 1 by Miku Sakamoto: B+
The basic plot of Stolen Hearts is summed up succinctly on its back cover: “a mismatched pair finds romance through a kimono shop.” Though the premise has some things in common with other shojo series—a significant difference in height between the two protagonists (Love*Com), a girl who attempts to familiarize her classmates with the finer qualities of her scary-looking love … [Read more...] about Stolen Hearts 1 by Miku Sakamoto: B+
Karakuri Odette 2 by Julietta Suzuki: B+
In this gentle and episodic comedy, teenage android Odette has just entered her second year of high school and is joined by fellow android Chris, a former attack bot now reprogrammed by Odette’s creator, Hiroaki. Although Odette has learned much from being among humans, some concepts still elude her, like why a girl’s heart would beat faster near a particular boy or why some … [Read more...] about Karakuri Odette 2 by Julietta Suzuki: B+