Customer Reviews

Lament of the Lamb, Vol. 1

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Lament of the Lamb is a haunting and atmospheric manga by Kei Toume, one of Japan's hottest manga artists. With this first volume of an unusual vampire series, Tokyopop has brought Kei Toume's work and artistry to the North American audience. Kazuna Takashiro is a young high school student who is haunted by a mysterious past, and the secrets of the family who left him behind. Now, his long-lost sister has returned, just at the time when Kazuna discovers that he too bears the curse of the Takashiro clan, and only his sister can help him. For the Takashiros . . . are vampires.

Kei Tome has created an intense and unusual story of two vampire children, trying to cope with their condition and the bloodlust it causes before it can destroy them. This horror/fantasy manga deals with the curse of vampirism differently than many other versions. Kazuna and Chizuna live in the modern world, and Kazuna has grown up an ordinary teenager, dealing with school and his adoptive parents-the intrusion of this strange family curse into his life is met with confusion, and skepticism. The story arc encompasses Kazuna's struggle as he tries to understand who and what he is, and reconnect with his long-lost sister. Highly emotional, serious, and intense, this manga focuses on the variety of relationships existing between brother and sister and those they care about. The action remains low-level, taking a back seat to the emotional exploration and internal battles. While I enjoyed reading this manga, as I am a fan of vampire stories, I found the pace dragged a little, and the text sometimes didn't clarify what was going on. Perhaps this was a problem of translation. This is a fairly adult manga, there are some instances of violence, mostly involving blood, but nothing terribly graphic, and there is no nudity or sex.

The artwork is elegantly drawn, with clear lines, Spartan backgrounds and fairly contemporary looking characters. Rather than the outlandish hairstyles and art of many shoujo, the look is basic, but dark. Sometimes this works to the artist's benefit, allowing the story to maintain a very serious and shadowy feel. However, at times it is difficult to discern the differing characters-the hair styles are so similar that it can be difficult to figure out which character is talking, which makes the story progression harder to follow. There are no "chibi" moments to this manga intended to lighten the mood there are no comic or funny scenes-the mood remains dark and angst-ridden.

If you enjoy vampire stories such as Vampire Princess Miyu, this series may appeal to you. But those who prefer action, magic, or mecha will probably not find this story line to their liking. A decent, if somewhat limited first volume of a new vampire series, you may want to check this manga out prior to buying to see if it will appeal to you.

Happy Reading! ^_^ Shanshad

I will admit I am pretty big fan of vampire stuff, and I used to condemn anything with vampires, but being the horror fan I am, I was gradually drawn into them. So when my brother purchased "Lament of the Lamb" and told me it was a "different" take on vampires, I had to check it out. Of course I'm no vampire expert, but I have seen enough to know that I've never seen it done like this before. haha

Most the time vampires are often glorified, but anyway you look at its more of a curse then a blessing. In this manga however, there is no immortality, no people biting you and turning you into a vampire, no in this, vampirism is a genetic disease/curse that will eventually kill you, possibly drive you mad if you resist it.

Kazuna is your typical high school student, he's not sure what to do with his life after he graduates, he has no plans. One day he finds himself reacting strangely to blood, he passes out at the sight of it while sitting in as a model for a friend whom is painting him. He has no idea what is going on and can't figure out why he'd react to it like that. He soon finds himself having strange and terrifying dreams, he is drawn to his old house, and there he discovers many hidden secrets.

I really enjoyed the art style and story in this. It was very well-drawn and very well-written. I look forward to the next volume, I think it will only get better because things can only get more complicated as it goes on. :D

So, I hope this intrigued to and encourages you to check out "Lament of the Lamb", especially if you're tired of the same ol' vampire tales that litter media.

God Bless & *enjoy* ~Amy

I read 3 of the books in this series before I realized that nothing was ever going to happen.
You could say that Lament of the Lamb is a slow-paced story, but it takes 3 books just to get any half-decent character development! In those three books practically nothing happens except for loads of flashbacks that hint at events but never actually paint a complete back-story. For every five flashbacks there is only one, tiny plot advancement.

There is a lot of ambience in the books and "ooh, how nice, isn't this gothic" kind of vampire-fits for the main character. These fits get pretty repetitive after the first time, and the main character seems to take forever (three entire book lengths) to reach any consensus about burning questions such as:
"Am I going to turn into a vampire?"
"Should I take this weird (unidentified) drug my sister gave me?"
"Am I going to turn into a vampire?"
"Should I keep meeting with the artsy girl I have a crush on even though her red paint gives me bloody fainting-spells?"
"Am I going to turn into a vampire?"
"Do I want my foster parents to officially adopt me?"
"Do you think, maybe, I'm going to turn into a vampire or something?"

The genre is one of the -characters aren't what they seem, plot is progressed by figuring out what is going on- that you see often in anime and manga. The manga deals a lot with why we have relationships (whether it be selflessness or not) as well as a general 'coming of age' theme. No action so far, and some romance. One of handful of mangas thats not just a load fanservice and/or gore, it is worthy of note for this alone.

In this world, vampirism is a kind of hereditary disease and doesn't really have any benefits, at least none that we see. Just a craving for blood and severe depression as a result. Kind of a what-if - if vampires weren't evil, but just trying to make it in society.

Most of the manga is dialogue between the characters and flashbacks to their respective pasts. I do rather like the art as its not generic. The manga-ka makes good use of using different art styles.

I've read the first two volumes, I look forward to reading the next. The plot and characters seems to be progressing nicely so far.

A sinister atmosphere of doom and dark mystery floats through the first volume of the "Lament Of The Lamb" series, an opus of horror and superior storytelling. Reading something like a cross between an excellent Asian horror movie (like "The Eye" or "The Uninvited") and one of the subtler, eerier animes, "Lament" fascinates, frightens, and and touches the reader.

Its ability to touch a wide array of emotions is partly due to its solid cast of characters. Kazuna and Chizuna Takashiro are long-separated siblings - Kazuna brooding and slightly embittered at the circumstances beginning to haunt him, but fiercely loyal to his 'adoptive parents' and his small circle of friends; Chizuna is icy and cryptic, a character whose situation and life story are not as clear at the beginning. Shin and Natsuko are the uncle and aunt who took Kazuna in and love him as their own son; Yaegashi is a shy, sensitive and endearing art student at Kazuna's high school - the two of them have a sweet, slowly building mutual (and unspoken) attraction that is thrown off course as Kazuna begins to stay away from those who mean the most to him, out of fear that he's a threat to them. Minase is a doctor whose past shares some link with Chizuna from her childhood.

Kazuna is being afflicted by disturbing dreams, spells of weakness, strange sensations, and a growing obsession with his past. This obsession leads him back to the family home of his childhood, where he re-encounters Chizuna. Early in the volume, Chizuna reveals to an incredulous Kazuna the source of his afflictions - the Takashiro family's deadly history of vampirism. Both siblings are being pulled down into the spiral; horrifying flashbacks begin occuring to Kazuna of his childhood with his father, his younger sister Chizuna, and their sad and ailing mother. Meanwhile, the shared history between Chizuna and Minase begins to reveal itself. "Lament Of The Lamb Volume 1" spins a terrific story and presents itself with great art: the visual imagery is scary, the scenes flow naturally, and the characters's appearances are nice and distinct from one another while maintaining a realistic, non-exagerated feel (the lack of individual looks for the characters has occasionally hampered some good Japanese comics, in my opinion. Not so here)

Bottom line: whether you call it a comic book, a graphic novel, or manga, "Lament Of The Lamb" is an outstanding horror title, able to hold its own with the best horror in movies and novels. Highest recommendation for fans of horror and comic books/manga.

Rather than going for a straight horror tale (a la Nosferatu), or a glamorization of the vampire (like Interview with the Vampire), this tale treats vampirism as a disease, something that eats you up inside and will eventually kill you, something that you can tell no one about, a dark secret.
Kazuna lives with his Uncle and Aunt. He does not remember his father, his mother is dead. He knows he has an older sister, but he has not seen her since they were little. He goes to school, has friends, and tries to lead as normal a life as possible. Then everything changes. It begins as a small thin - dizziness, a fainting spell. Then, a chance encounter with his sister changes everything. He finds out what he is, the dark disease he has, and life will never be the same for him.
This is a dark, slow moving but engrossing drama, character rather than action driven.

"Lament of the Lamb" is one of those manga that I mark the release dates for. The art is some of the most unique and beautiful I've seen, the characters are good, and the story keeps getting better.

Kei Toume's art style is gorgeous. It's so different from what you normally see in manga. It has all the normal stuff, large eyes, small mouths, and everything else, but he doesn't overdo it. The ink is dark and the lines defined. It's a little dark, but that's only because it fits the story. Great attention to detail, too.

The main characters are Kazuna and Chizuna, siblings. Both characters have strong personalities, but I like Chizuna the best. I love her cynacism in the face of her problems. If you don't like reading about incest, then you're not going to like this. There's no sex, but there are some seriously twisted relationships in here. They're well done though, not offensive at all. It doesn't take an opinion on the morality of incest.

The story is pretty unique. Instead of showing vampirism as right or wrong, it shows it as being a disease. There is nothing supernatural about it. It does not bring eternal life, in fact, it shortens the victom's life. Kazuna starts with symptoms when he sees red paint on a classmate's arm and is reminded of blood, and then he meets his long lost sister, Chizuna, who has long been afflicted by the disease. What I find most interesting about the story is trying to figure out what the true nature of the disease is, and trying to figure out what happened to make Chizuna's case so much worse than Kazuna's.

There is not much action in this series, and it moves at a slow pace. But if you love stories with good characters, you'll like this.

From what I've seen in this first installment, Lament of the Lamb shows alot of promise. What I especially like about this series is the atmosphere. The dreary art and dialogue create a depressing tone for the manga that works extremely well. The English translation is pretty well done, something you have to be wary of with Tokyopop products in my experience. I'd recommend picking this up if you'd like something with a darker feel, although you won't find much violence and gore.

You feel depressed; isolated. You don't know why your father gave you up to be raised by his best friend and his best friend's wife. You faint and feel almost possessed at the sight of blood. Then you find that you are not alone; you had a sister. She holds the key to a family secret, one that is poisoning your blood and killing you. One way out is to give in to the desire to feed on blood. But if you do, you forsake the life you have: the aunt and uncle who love you like a son and who want to adopt you, and the girl you have unspoken feelings for and who shares those feelings.

This is the dilemma facing male teen Kazuna Takashiro. Kazuna shares an incestuous bond with his sister Chizuna. Kazuna says they "are like two binary stars."

Lament of the Lamb is a horror, Goth manga. At times, it is gory and disturbing.

Lacking in this manga are informative sidebars written by the author, and English translations of Japanese sound effects. I wish the editors had taken more care in preparing Lament of the Lamb for the English-speaking world.

Lament of the Lamb Volume Two has incestuous relationships that I have never seen in any other manga. There is no sex, but there might as well be. Exchange of blood - bodily fluids - symbolizes the sex act. In volume one, Kazuna and his sister Chizuna begin their relationship. In volume two, we see the weird bond Chizuna had with her father. There is dialouge like, "I looked just like my mother. My father took care of me for that reason. I gave him everything he needed, and he gave me everything I needed."

The bond between Kazuna and his sister gets stronger. She is seeking to replace her father - whom she finally walked out on, but has told Kazuna that she left because he died - with her brother. When Kazuna drinks Chizuna's blood, he feels ashamed. But he keeps going back because his cravings for human blood are painful attacks.

Kazuna has told his female classmate his secret of having a vampiric blood disease. She is repelled, but still cares very much for him. How will Chizuna deal with this rival? It will be interesting to see. Another character is the doctor who is in love with Chizuna and comes to bring her blood and to treat her.