Vampire Knight #1 by Matsuri Hino

If you’ve read Meru Puri: Marchen Prince by Matsuri Hino and enjoyed it, this one should get your blood pumping!

I loved reading Meru Puri: Marchen Prince and when I saw that Matsuri Hino is the author of Vampire Knight, I knew that I had to pick it up and read it right away. Remembering the beautiful artwork in Meru Puri, I knew that I wouldn’t be disappointed. The story line is intriguing, and the characters are enchanting. And the fact that it’s about vampires makes me smile wider and giggle like a schoolgirl. ^_^

Cross Academy is no ordinary school. It’s quite far from it. Comprising of two groups of students, the Day class, and the Night Class, the only time the two groups ever see each other is at twilight, when the Day class evacuates the school premises and heads back to the Sun Dormitory and the Night class emerges from the Moon dormitory to enter the school grounds.

Yuki Cross and Zero Kiryu are members of the disciplinary committee, and it’s their job to keep the Night class’ secret from the Day class, for it were ever found out, may cause an uproar. The Night class, you see, is comprised entirely of vampires. One of the vampires, Kaname Kuran, saved Yuki that fateful, snowy day ten years ago, and brought her to his acquaintance, Headmaster Cross, who adopted her. Headmaster Cross also takes in Zero Kiryu, and later on, readers find out why he despises vampires so much.

What makes this story interesting is the underlying tension, the not-so concealed hatred of Zero Kiryu towards the Night class. He hates them and you can see it in his facial expression that he barely tolerates their existence. And Yuki-chan’s loyalty to Zero-sama is refreshing as is her admiration (and perhaps unprofessed love) towards Kaname-sama. To her, Kaname is different compared to other vampires; after all, he did save her. Sharing her father’s pacifism, Yuki wishes that vampires and humans can live peacefully together side-by-side one day. Zero-sama, on the other hand, wants nothing more than to kill vampires in their true form. He has a right, I guess, but frankly, I’m with Yuki-chan on that one.

I recommend this book to all of Hino-san’s fans. And for those who haven’t read any of Hino-san’s work, I suggest you start with MeruPuri first.

Vampire Knight is a classic love story with a twist in my opinion. Where Hino-san’s MeruPuri was a comedic love story, Vampire Knight is more serious (got blood?) in tone.

Anyways, I am looking forward to reading Vampire Knight #2. Its release date is May 1, 2007 (and yes, I’ve already pre-ordered my copy).

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Category: Manga & Comics

Hello ^_^ I'm Melissa! Nice to meet you. If you want to know anything, don't hesitate to ask. And my personal motto is :: just be yourself; you'll be fine. >.