Black Rose Alice: Volume 2 manga review

Manga
Black Rose Alice: Volume 2 manga review
By Leroy Douresseaux
November 5, 2014 - 19:11

Viz Media
Writer(s): Setona Mizushiro, John Werry
Penciller(s): Setona Mizushiro
Letterer(s): Evan Waldinger
ISBN: 978-1-4215-7161-4
$9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK, 192pp, B&W, paperback
Rating: T+ (Teen Plus)

Black Rose Alice Volume 2 cover image is courtesy of barnesandnoble.com.

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Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”

Dimitri Lewandowski is a celebrated tenor in early 1900s Vienna. After he is killed in an accident at the age of 26, his corpse is colonized by the seeds of a vampire. At first, Dimitri denies what he has become, until he realizes that he is killing all his friends. A century later, Dimitri is living in Japan. He makes a deal with a dying young woman, Azusa Kikukawa – her soul for the life of someone she loves.

As Black Rose Alice, Vol. 2 (Chapters 5 to 9) opens, Azusa dreams of her life as a 28-year-old, high school music teacher. She sees herself making peace with Koya Ikushima, the student who is truly, madly, and deeply in love with her. Then, Azusa awakens to find herself in a strange house and in a strange new body. And her housemates are four vampires, one of whom will be her mate.

THE LOWDOWN: Monthly, I receive a box of VIZ Media titles for review from my VIZ Media rep. Sometimes, I cringe when I see certain titles that I eventually end up liking. Sometimes, a favorite title turns out to be disappointing.

Now, I must keep it real with you, dear readers, I squealed (almost) like a fan at the sight of Taylor Swift, after I caught sight of a new volume of the Black Rose Alice manga. This manga disturbs me with its creepy notions and ideas about vampires, but I love (yes, love) to read it.

Basically, creator Setona Mizushiro takes the cutey-pie vampires of vampire fiction like Twilight and Vampire Knight (to name a few). Then, she gives them the dark, troubling, horrifying, and sickening underneath that vampires have as monster and demons that prey on humans for sustenance. It is beauty with a horrible rotting inside of it. I also like that Mizushiro honestly depicts the possessive and parasitic qualities of romantic and familial love. I hope Black Rose Alice continues to bloom, never hiding the blackness at its heart.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE: Fans of vampire manga will want the Shojo Beat title, Black Rose Alice.

Rating: A/10