|
Page 1 of 2
 Hazuki’s escape from the castle was destined never to be an easy one, and when Elfriede isn’t willing or able to bring her back, Vigo and Count Kinkel himself come to Japan to finish the job. Along the way, Hazuki has to deal with the twin terrors of the Mido family, learning when not to use her powers – and helping Kouhei recover from serious wounds that she herself inflicted...
6 - Heart Throbs in Kyoto
Kouhei, Hazuki and co are in Kyoto for a meeting with the family (with a little work on the side for Kouhei). Kouhei's not too keen on going to the family house as it's a little too orderly for his liking, so he reluctantly takes some time to see the sights with Hazuki. What sights he can see at night, anyway. Back at the main house, it seems that Hazuki's cat is no ordinary feline, and may hold the key to helping Kouhei's grandfather track down his missing daughter, Chizuru. Meanwhile, Elfriede has tagged along on the trip and seems to have something she wants to tell Kouhei, while two of the girls from the main house, Kaoru and Hikaru, aren't happy at having a vampire in their midst...
7 - Well, I Wanted It...
Hiromi and Kouhei have been trying to track down what information they can about Hazuki's mother - although they're not telling Hazuki what they're up to, as she's convinced her mother will come looking for her, not the other way around. Hazuki has her own favour to ask of Hiromi and uses her vampire's lure to get her way, but Kouhei's less than impressed when he finds out what she's done. Later, Elfriede tells Hazuki that they're now rivals for the affections of the Vampire's Lover - that's Kouhei to you and me...
8 - Mother Came to See Me! Happy!
Elfriede's master, Count Kinkel, unaware that she's no longer under his control (thanks to her feeding on Kouhei), has come to Tokyo to see what the problem is in bringing Hazuki back to the castle. Hazuki's worrying about other things, though - she's been making use of Kouhei's zoom-lens camera, and believes she's spotted her mother. When she rushes off to meet her, Kouhei tries to follow, but a vision of her mother appears and tells him that the person Hazuki had seen was a fake, sent to trap her. With Hazuki in danger, time's running short for Kouhei to find her - but help is at hand from an unexpected ally...
9 - Save Me From This Dream
Elfriede has a plan to defeat Count Kinkel - she's holding a lot of resentment against him for having turned her into a vampire, but now that Kouhei is here - he who can't be turned by a Vampire's Kiss - she has an alternative to being forced to follow Kinkel's orders. Her new aim puts her on the same side as Kouhei and his grandfather, so the three of them join forces to take on the Count & save Hazuki - but by the time Kouhei reaches Hazuki's side, a transformation has taken place & Luna has taken Hazuki's place...
10 - You're my Slave and I Won't Forgive You
Kouhei's in hospital after Luna's attack, and he's in bad shape. His grandfather understands that it was Kinkel's control of Luna that was responsible for Kouhei's injuries, but Luna still doesn't understand what happened to her - only that Kouhei was hurt by her hand. While the rest of the family's at the hospital, Luna's stuck at home by herself, with nothing to do but think about what's happened. When she goes down to the hospital later, she sees a shadow of death hanging over Kouhei, but the others won't let her help drive it away...
A few events of note on this volume, as the more serious side of the series comes to the fore again – always the more interesting aspect of Moon Phase, for my money. First, there are a few new characters on the scene, in the form of twins Kaoru and Hikaru. They’ve been promised in marriage (despite their young years) to Kouhei and Seiji respectively – not an arrangement that the guys seem to be taking particularly seriously, but the girls seem to be set on the idea, which creates a neat little bit of conflict between them and Hazuki, the interloper who’s now living with their promised men. Finding out that she’s a vampire only adds to the mistrust, and across the disc there are a few good scenes where the three deal with each other. The twins both have the Mido family’s supernatural powers, so they’re actually a good match for Hazuki in a fight.
The Kyoto visit is really just a warm-up for the main event, though – the arrival of the Count and Vigo, and the resulting conflict that comes from their efforts to get Hazuki back. If you’re as curious as I am about why Hazuki is so valuable to them, don’t be expecting any detailed answers yet – instead, we get a very enjoyable series of set-piece confrontations along similar lines to what we got back at the beginning of the series, as Hazuki is captured by the Count. Kouhei, naturally enough, isn’t prepared to just sit by and let that happen, and gets some unexpected help in his efforts to release her again. That leads to the most notable event of the series so far: the first appearance of Hazuki’s alter-ego Luna, and Hazuki having to deal with the after-effects of her actions – she can see the consequences of what “she” has done, but has no memories of doing it. It’s another layer added to Hazuki’s character, over and above the cute & cuddly little-sister persona that she usually has, and it’s definitely intriguing. It doesn’t take much to figure out that it’s the Luna personality – a far more cold and violent beast – that the Count is interested in, but beyond seeing her for the first time there’s very little given away about her. A mystery for later in the series, and one I hope is fully resolved.
The show’s other mysteries – the disappearances of Hazuki’s and Kouhei’s mothers – don’t get ignored, either. There are a number of links drawn between their disappearances and the Count, which along with Luna’s emergence begins setting things up nicely for the second half of the series.
Assuming it doesn’t get horribly sidetracked by comedy stories, then, Moon Phase is shaping up well. The comedy side is fun, as long as it’s not overdone (which hasn’t been a problem so far), and the main story surrounding Hazuki and the Count is developing in a way that’s definitely intriguing. While it’s not as heavily ‘gothic’ as the first few episodes may have originally indicated, it’s still an enjoyable series, and this volume’s revelations and betrayals have made for some good viewing. Worth checking out.
<< Start < Prev 1 2 Next > End >>
|
Reviews Archive 
