|
Now in Japan
|
|
Written by maehara
|
|
Saturday, 10 December 2005 00:00 |
|
Page 1 of 2  Take one teenage vampire, Karin. Point
out that she loves daylight, doesn't have most of the vampire-y powers
the rest of her family has, and has more blood than she knows what to
do with. Realise that this isn't the usual gloomy vampire series,
but something that's genuinely a little different. Sit back and
enjoy the show.
1 - Overflowed, so Embarassing
So you thought vampires were all blood-sucking.. well.. vampires?
Think again. Meet Karin Maaka - by all appearances your typically
shy high-school girl, but she and her family are all vampires.
While the other four members of her family live by night and discreetly
feed off anyone they can bite, Karin seems to have got it the wrong way
around - she lives in daylight, and instead of needing blood to feed
on, she produces more of her own than she can use. Meaning she
has to bite people to give them blood instead of the usual
routine. For a vampire, that's an embarassing problem, but she
manages to deal with it - until new transfer student Kenta Usui
arrives, and triggers a blood-producing reaction in Karin that she just can't deal
with. To make matters worse, Kenta sees her biting a victim on
his first day at school...
2 - What I Like is Embarassing
After Karin finally loses control and has the mother of all nosebleeds
(Kenta just seems to have that effect on her), Kenta carries her
partway home. Being around him really isn't good for her
"condition", though, so once she's able to walk on her own again she
asks Kenmta to stay away from her and runs off. So when Kenta
turns out to be the new emplyee at the place she works, it looks like
fate is conspiring against her. Karin's older brother Ren seems
to have figured out Karin's problem, though - it seems Karin's
bloodsucking instinct isn't entirely gone after all, but there could still be some good salvaged from the situation...
First up, I have to wonder who the person in shadow in the OP
is. I sense an opponent for Karin to face somewhere down the
line. As for the characters we've already seen, Karin herself may
just possibly knock Tsukuyomi Moon Phase's
Hazuki off the perch of World's Cutest Vampire - it's a very close call
(and see page two of this review for a few screenshots that may tip the
balance), while her family are complete headcases. Anju in
particular seems to be filling the roll of Ruri Hoshino clone, while
her hand puppet brings back memories of Gokujo Seitokai. That's
not necessarily a good thing.
On the more serious side of the story, Kenta and his mother have
problems and as a result aren't by nature the most cheerful of people -
which is just the quality the Karin's "taste in blood" requires.
That whole aspect of the show, along with what happens to people when
this world's vampires taste their blood, is pretty much unique and one
of the real selling points of the series. It's definitely
different from any vampire setting I've seen before - since when was
being bitten by a vampire a win-win situation?
So character: check, storyline: check, presentation: also check.
Very nice character designs, good quality animation, and the odd spooky
scene thrown in just to remind you who you're dealing with. So
far at least, Karin seems to have all the bases pretty much covered. More, please!
<< Start < Prev 1 2 Next > End >>
|
