It’s been a while since I’ve seen a new book from Infinity Studios, who seem to be branching out from exclusively Korean manwha into Japanese manga. I was a fan of Infinity Studios from early on, and then last year, they seemingly disappeared off of the map. Happily, it looks that they just had a lull in their publishing schedule, and they’re back full time now!
For pure production values, Blood Alone is a beautiful book. Faithful to its original Japanese volume format, this book has a full wrap-around cover, and the book’s actual covers repeat the paper cover’s design in black and white. The first two pages are a glossy full-color illustration of the main characters and the table of contents. The only thing missing from this being an import is the paper bookmark/volume information slip. Oh, and the Japanese language inside.
The series opens with Misaki waking up... as the sun sets. As we soon learn, Misaki is a young vampire who lives with a young man named Kuroe, a writer cursed with Adivuarat Kurai, The Eyes That See The Truth. Kuroe supplements his income by solving mysteries, from a missing cat to an immortal incorporeal mass murderer. Misaki feels guilty for not being able to work and contribute money, so she tries to help Kuroe in his work and at home.
However, this is more than just a simple supernatural detective story. Misaki is quite proud that Kuroe isn’t a Renfield, a mindless slave who lives to serve his vampire mistress. Instead, she refers to him as a partner, a term that carries much weight. It’s clear that Misaki wants them to become closer romantically, while Kuroe treats her like a little sister. On the other hand, Misaki may not have these emotional feelings for long; as time goes by, she is slowly losing her touch with humanity.
The only issue that I have with the story in this volume is the insertion of backstory. Basically, we’re dropped in the middle of the story, with mere hints of the history between Misaki and Kuroe, and of Kuroe’s vendetta with the mysterious vampire who killed his sister, gave him his supernatural sight and who had some connection with Misaki. It just felt rather forced and awkward to have this referred to out of the blue and not even explain completely. Additionally, one of Kuroe’s friends has the ability to view the last few minutes of a dead person’s life, which is just shown without any set-up. Regardless of these awkward textual moments, Blood Alone tells a good story, and I’m willing to pick up the next volume.
The artwork is quite nice, with dark, simple lines and ordered space. I like how Takano conveys emotion in as few lines as possible. The closest series that I can think of which shares a similar style is Boogiepop Dual.
LOGIN
REGISTER
RSS
HOME
