Black Rose Alice: Volume 5 manga review

Manga
Black Rose Alice: Volume 5 manga review
By Leroy Douresseaux
August 4, 2015 - 13:24

Viz Media
Writer(s): Setona Mizushiro, John Werry
Penciller(s): Setona Mizushiro
Letterer(s): Evan Waldinger
ISBN: 978-1-4215-7164-5
$9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK, 200pp, B&W, paperback
Rating: T+ (Teen Plus)

Black Rose Alice Volume 5 cover image

Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”

Dimitri Lewandowski was a celebrated tenor in early 1900s Vienna, when he was accidentally killed at the age of 26. His corpse was colonized by the seeds of a vampire. At first, Dimitri denied what he had become, until he realized that he was killing all his friends. A century later, Dimitri was living in Japan, where he made a deal with a dying young woman, Azusa Kikukawa. She became Alice, destined to become the new breeding ground for a group of vampires.

Black Rose Alice, Vol. 5 (Chapters 20 to 22) opens in 2008, two years after Alice made her “deal with the devil.” Now, Koya Ikushima, the student for which she sacrificed all to save his life, has walked back into her life... literally. Alice thought that she had fully adapted to her role in Dimitri's nest, carefully considering with whom she is going to propagate. However, Koya is drawn to her, insistent that Alice is Azusa...

THE LOWDOWN: The Black Rose Alice manga is truly a dark-hearted shojo vampire romance. With each volume, I like it more, but this volume is a bit darker than I expected.

Black Rose Alice Volume 5 is full of sharp edges about the nature of love and the selfishness that drives people to the ones they love or the ones with whom they are obsessed. Where is creator Setona Mizushiro going with this story? A big change in the status quo and hints of blood-spilled make this a must-read manga.

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

Rating: A/10