Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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4.0 out of 5 stars
I'm supposed to be a beautiful young MAN, 7 Jun 2009
Imagine if once Europe had been ruled by a powerful vampire lord, who was sealed away in a cross by a powerful exorcist. Cool story, huh?
Now imagine if that same vampire was brought back a century later... as a cute Gothic Lolita girl, and forced to work for his jailer's descendent. The concept of "Vampire Doll: Guilt-Na-Zan" is a pretty wild one, and Erika Kari seems determined to milk this delightfully weird vampire tale for all the gender-bending, gothy-clad humor she can wring from it.
The legendary vampire lord Guilt-na-Zan is brought back to life... but discovers that he's been stuck in a life-sized wax doll by the lecherous Kyoji. To make matters worse, the doll is the spitting image of Kyoji's saintly sister Tonae (whose blood temporarily gives Guilt-na his old form back), and his inept twin brother Kyoichi (or "Night Veil") is trying to steal Guilt-na (as the vampire has been renamed) to serve him.
Worst of all: Kyoji is forcing Guilt-na to be his own personal maid, complete with frilly GothLoli wear. As in, housecleaning day and night.
Tthings become more complicated when "Night Veil" resurrects Vincent, the naive man-bat who once served Guilt-na-Zan -- and unfortunately he's having trouble recognizing his old master. And as Vincent and Guilt-na navigate the daylight world, they have other problems to deal with -- including random transformations, a nasty cold shared by the obnoxious twins, and a demon who is somehow filling a local school with boys' love. Yes, boys' love.
"Vampire Doll: Guilt-na-Zan Volume 1" is full of elegantly exaggerated manga art, lovingly detailed goth-y clothes (lacy GothLoli dresses, frilly shirts, Guilt-na's angular spiky black leather clothes), and weird supernatural creatures. But don't let this fool you -- the entire story is a fun, frothy ride that basically exists to turn the usual vampire-human dynamic on its ear: the vampire is the hapless victim, while the moderately evil human is the one causing problems.
And Erika Kari has a lot of fun with the ideas in here -- she really crams it from beginning to end with comic relief, whether it's the ineptitude of "Night Veil" (who has a habit of falling prey to his own cursed items) or the innocent eccentricity of Vincent and Tonae. And of course, lots of fun is had with poor Guilt-na-Zan's gender-bending problems, especially when he has to go undercover at the local high school -- and transforms into his male form ("AAAAA! I'll be a cross-dressing character!").
Actually, Guilt-na-zan is a vampire who automatically gets your sympathy. The poor guy seems like a decent sort of bloodsucker, but he's gotten roped into a life of servitude, and his awe-inspiring powers have been reduced to conjuring cakes and stuffed toys. His batty sidekick Vincent is adorable ion his earnestness, and Kyoji makes a wonderful antagonist -- he's wonderfully amoral, lazy, and manipulative. And any character named "Night Veil" is worth reading about.
Smothered in gothic trappings and gender-bending difficulties, "Vampire Doll: Guilt-na-Zan Volume 1" is a delightfully comic little vampire story, and it promises to get even better after this.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
a good start, 22 Oct 2007
i first read about vampire doll in a preview book and it lived up to the hype. the story revolves around Guilt-Na-Zan a vampire who hundreds of years ago became trapped in a crucifix. he is later revived by the ancestor of the original exorcist that encased him in the crucifix. only he is revived into the body of a female wax doll.
the story in my opinion is very interesting and engrossing. it is also very funny at times.the panels are very well drawn and have a very interesting feel to them.
this is a great book but it isnt really a good place to start in manga.
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