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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
My dear bride,
This review is from: Bloody Kiss Volume 1 (Paperback)
An ordinary young girl moves into her new home, and immediately encounters a devastatingly handsome young vampire who falls madly in love with her. He also thinks she smells delicious.
"Twilight"? Thankfully, no. In this particular case, it's Kazuko Furumiya's sweet little manga "Bloody Kiss Volume 1," with its lush shojo artwork and hot bishonen vampires. It's a very sweet little series that is equal parts romantic high-school story and slapsticky comedy -- the characters are on the thin side, but likeable and fun to read about. After inheriting her late grandmother's run-down mansion, Kiyo decides to temporarily move in as she prepares to become a lawyer. There's only one problem: two kind, handsome vampires, Kuroboshi and his puckish servant Alshu, have been living for years with her grandmother. To make matters even more awkward, Kuroboshi makes no secret of how attractive he finds Kiyo, and even asks her to be his "bride" -- the only human he takes blood from. And Kiyo's new tenants may be the only thing standing between her and a corrupt real estate agent who is determined to raze and sell her property -- whether she likes it or not. Then Kiyo encounters some other problems that the vampires help with: she gets a part-time job to support her new household, but Kuroboshi is anxious about his bride working at a hostess club; and when she makes hundreds of paper flowers for a romantic school dance, some jealous girls destroy her handiwork. Only a "bloody kiss" and some vampire magic can save the day. Then there's a little extra story, "Angel Love Song," in which a young woman is trying to win a band contest, in hopes of getting back her ex-boyfriend. She hires a mischievous, angel-faced young man for her band, but unsurprisingly sparks start flying between them. Especially since her ex is a huge jerk. "Bloody Kiss" reads like the fluffy love child of "Fruits Basket" and "Vampire Knight," except minus all the angst and misery. It's basically a trio of charming little stories about Kiyo struggling to maintain a semi-normal life, while living with a pair of vampires who are VERY concerned about her well-being (and one of whom is constantly trying to have a sip of her blood). While the plots aren't except major drama, they are rather sweet as we see the feelings starting to bloom between Kuroboshi and Kiyo. She sprinkles it with some fun light humor (exploding miso soup) and some fun comic relief, usually between Alshu and Kuroboshi ("Now may I dine on this dish as well?" "Eat here and you eat pavement"), but there are also some bloodspattered eerie moments too (such as when Alshu shows his non-nice side). The artwork is also worth noting -- lush, elaborate shojo with plenty of roses, medieval-gothic party gowns, and a decayed old Victorian mansion surrounded by gardens. Niiiice. The characters are fun creations as well, although not too well fleshed out -- Kiyo hopes to become a lawyer because of her father's criminal past, and is trying to live a normal stable life despite her tenants. There's some hints of Kuroboshi's tragic past as a shunned dhampir, but mostly he just obsesses about protecting his bride from... well, everyone. Including Alshu, who is not only hot but delightfully flirtatious, kooky and puckish. "Bloody Kiss Volume 1" is a fun, fluffy little vampire romance, with some high school disasters and more than a little comedy. Very sweet if cloudweight.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
cute vampire story,
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Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Bloody Kiss Volume 1 (Paperback)
The beginining of a new tale for me. I picked it up on a whim and now I will have to get the rest. The artwork slips from time to time but the story is sweet and endearing. I can see a depth starting that should make this a good read for those of us who are older manga readers.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Feed the blood lust of fans without breaking the budget,
By
This review is from: Bloody Kiss Volume 1 (Paperback)
Kiyo, a poor girl who is determined to do well in school and eventually become a lawyer, inherits a mysterious, broken-down ruin of a mansion from her grandmother. She plans to sell the house and use the money for her education, but she doesn't realize that someone is already living there. Two vampires, Kuroboshi and his servant, Alshu, have made their home there and they aren't planning on leaving. In fact, Kuroboshi has decided to make Kiyo his bride--the only human he'll drink blood from--whether she wants him to or not!
Nowadays, any vampire title must fight hard against the host of other fangs-and-capes books that are being published. Furumiya's book might not stand out completely, and it won't win a ton of points for originality, but it is a fun addition to the genre. Three things make Furumiya's book work: humor, romance, and not trying to shove too many things into her story. The humor comes about mostly through Kiyo. She's a strong, independent girl. She tends to react to sneak attempts to suck her blood by beating up the vampire. She refuses to be scared of things that go bump in the night and doesn't see the need to have a boy save her from hard situations. That, of course, doesn't mean that the handsome Kuroboshi doesn't swoop in on a regular basis. This is a romance, after all. But he is willing to let Kiyo be who she is; indeed, that's what he finds so appealing about her. Alshu is mostly present to help complicate Kiyo and Kuroboshi's courtship as are some nasty bullies at Kiyo's school, but other than that, there aren't many secondary characters to clutter up the simple chapters. Unfortunately, the combination of overshading on the part of Furumiya and poor production quality on the part of TokyoPop makes the art muddy and uninteresting. Furumiya has a real knack for designing costumes, especially ones that look like real people would wear, and her characters are good looking, tough, or silly as needed, but she overuses screentones. Shadowy bubbles on top of and behind characters make the page look cluttered and dirty. She also doesn't seem to know what to do with Alshu's long hair. For the first half of the book, he has odd shading that makes his hair look two-toned or dripping wet. That stops halfway through, but by then it's harder to tell who he is. The large amount of tone might work better, though, if TokyoPop had been more careful with their printing. Pages are dark, the images almost fuzzy. The originally painted images at the beginning of chapters look as if they were printed on gray paper and details are lost. Throughout the book, lines appear unfinished and tones bleed into each other. The poor print quality almost ruins the book. In the end, though, the story is sweet and charming and vampire fans will find it a cute addition to the genre. There is some kissing and some bloodsucking, but nothing over the top for a book rated for teens 13 and older. A non-paranormal bonus story at the end is just as romantic, though slightly less swoon-inducing, and also offers a strong-girl-attracts-good-men storyline. The entire series is only two volumes long, which is a refreshing change from longer series. It also makes this an easy choice for libraries reluctant to buy yet another vampire title. This will help feed the blood lust of fans without breaking the budget. -- Snow Wildsmith
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