It’s the last Wednesday in August which means it’s the first day in Experiment in Manga’s monthly manga giveaway! Up for grabs this time around is the first omnibus volume of Yuuki Kodama’s Blood Lad manga as published by Yen Press, which is equivalent to the first two volumes of the original Japanese release. Since the anime is currently airing, I thought there might be some renewed interest in the series. As per usual, the contest is open worldwide!
Vampires seem to be a perennial favorite in film and literature. Manga is no exception and vampires abound. They show up in many different genres—action, comedy, horror, romance (just to name a few)—and appear in all of the major demographics. Shōjo? Matsuri Hino’s Vampire Knight. Shōnen? Hirohiko Araki’s JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. Josei? Tomu Ohmi’s Midnight Secretary. Seinen? Yuuki Kodama’s Blood Lad. (And that’s just off the top of my head…there are many, many more examples I could provide.) Generally, I prefer my vampires to be real monsters, terrifying creatures that pose a genuine threat to the humans around them. But I’ll admit, I am greatly amused by Staz in Blood Lad. He’s such an otaku goofball that I can’t help but like him.
So, you may be wondering, how can you win a copy of Blood Lad, Omnibus 1?
1) In the comments below, simply tell me who your favorite vampire in manga is and why. (Be sure to mention which manga they’re from, too.)
2) For a second entry, name a vampire manga that hasn’t been mentioned yet by me or by someone else.
3) If you’re on Twitter, you can earn a bonus entry by tweeting about the contest. Make sure to include a link to this post and @PhoenixTerran (that’s me).
And there you have it! Each person can earn up to three entries; you have one week to submit your comments. If you have trouble leaving comments, or if you would prefer, you can e-mail me your entries at phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com and I will post them in your name. The giveaway winner will be randomly selected and announced on September 4, 2013.
VERY IMPORTANT: Include some way that I can contact you. This can be an e-mail address, link to your website, Twitter username, or whatever. If I can’t figure out how to get a hold of you and you win, I’ll just draw another name.
Contest winner announced—Manga Giveaway: Blood Lad Giveaway Winner
1.) Alucard from Hellsing, would be my first guess, but part of it is the VA in the anime version.
2.) Blood Alone, Seven Seas used to publish it, however it’s now in limbo since it switched publishers
3.) done
I don’t even really like vampires, but this Staz from Blood Lad seems a little different than the vampires I’m used to, so hopefully I’ll win so I can check it out
I guess if I had to name my favorite vampire in manga, it would be Fortuneteller Baba’s henchman, Dracula(I think that’s his name) from Dragon Ball. Kind of a throwaway character, but he was kind of funny and I like that arc as a whole.
I can’t really recall any other mangas with vampires that I’ve read, but Vampire Hunter D is on my library list. I’ll eventually get to reading it one day.
Alucard from Hellsing is my favorite vampire from manga and anime. His character design, personality, weapons and techniques all appeal to me, and in the anime version, Nakata Jouji did a fantastic job voicing him. His fights with Alexander Anderson (Wakamoto Norio) were always a treat to my eyes and ears :)
A vampire manga not named yet would be Rosario to Vampire. Couldn’t really continue it due to its ecchi content that exceeded my tolerance.
Link to tweet here https://twitter.com/ahmedhamed88/status/372711824203841537
1. Mina Tepes from Dance In The Vampire Bund the queen of all vampires Mina mixes an steely determination to serve her people no matter the cost, along with a loneliness that is only compounded by her love for her bodyguard the high school aged were wolf Akira. Along with Mina having one of the best written girl-girl friendships in Seinen Manga between Mina and Yuki Akira’s classmate and one time suitor. Mina is in short a great mixture of strength, Hardcore battle heroine, and vulnerability making her my favorite vampire in Manga .
2. Is also Dance In The Vampire Bund as it mixes action, romance, and political intrigue with character development expertly
3. none and done
1) Paifu from Cowa! (does half vampire, half were-koala count?) Akira Toriyama actually does great one volume comedies, it’s almost a shame he’s known almost exclusively for the one non-comedy, way longer than he wanted it to be manga titan DBZ. Cowa! is of course, just as silly as it wants to be at all times. I also like how the fat dude looks like Yangus from Dragon Quest VIII (I do like Akira Toriyama’s artwork a lot, actually)
2) Cirque du Freak (aka Saga of Darren Shan), I don’t think this one was commissioned by Yen, it actually existed on its own, but I’m really hoping Yen (or someone else) decides to get Arago by the same guy. He clearly improved by the end of Cirque, so I’d like to see future work by him. Shame the Cirque du Freak movie was so god-awful.
I am definitely one for Alucard from Hellsing as well. I have to add Vampire Bund to my TBR soon; my daughter says good things about it.
1) Seras Victoria from Hellsing is possibly one of the best vampires I’ve read in manga. She progresses and develops as a character beautifully. She’s just fun to read and I like a strong female lead in my horror manga, having grown up on Buffy!
2) If I had to count a strictly vampire manga, Vassalord. Who doesn’t love those two? It first came to my attention with the OVA and I just feel in love with ‘Cherry’! You cannot have vampires without the sexual tension and these two have it in bucket loads.
I’d also give a shout out to Clamp’s tsubasa reservoir chronicle. It’s obviously not strictly a vampire manga, although they exist in its universe. My favourite characters from the Clamp titles all became vampires! Subaru, Kamui and Fai! My only complaint, we didn’t see Kuro-pon feeding Fai like all us fan-girls really wanted!
1) My favourite is also Paifu from Cowa! (as someone else said above) just due to how he is represented and how Toriyama presents him. I am a big fan of toriyama and the way he portrays Paifu throughout the one volume book I think is great!
2) Trinity blood hasnt been mentioned. I haven’t read it yet but it looks like an interesting read, published by Tokyo Pop so is slightly hard to come by but it looks cool!
3) Done! :D
1)Evangeline from Negima! Is my favorite vampire :). I love how she is a teacher to Negi an is there when needed.
2) Homemade Vampire by Naono Bohra. It is a yaoi but super cute! Naono Bohra always does really unique yaoi manga. Like with people who have been abused, are blind or mute, etc… Also love how the lover became a vampire himself :).
1. Miyu from Vampire Princess Miyu/Vampire Miyu. She’s so elegant and sad.
2. Vampire Princess Miyu. The series is so very aware (in the Japanese sense). Classic shojo atmospheric horor.
1) Miyu from Vampire Princess Miyu—much like li_izumi Miyu is such a beautiful character, but has so much tragedy.
2) Bloodhound by Kaori Yuki — granted I enjoy the :ahem: live action series somewhat moreso (Suou has a magical girl transformation sequence! how can you say no?) the manga is definitely worth the one volume it takes to read.
3) Done! (@PRationality)
1) I don’t really read vampire mangas but I would say Moka Akashiya from Rosario + Vampire. The manga is better than the anime.
2) Hmm…. how about Crime Zone. It doesn’t have that many chapters but it really is a a violent and pretty bloody manga where it shows people get split open and you can see all of their gut ^3^/
3) DONE.
1. My favorite vampire character would probably be Kaname from Vampire Knight. He’s one badass and sexy character XDD And his eyes is soo beautiful :>
2. I’m pretty sure you haven’t mentioned Blood parade by Karasawa Kazuyoshi yet. The manga has only 12 chapters but it’s pretty good! You should try checking out :]
3. Done!
Twitter: Gazerock_yumii
1) I’m at a bit of a disadvantage here, since I either haven’t read or haven’t enjoyed most of the popular vampire manga out there. I would probably pick one of the characters from Setona Mizushiro’s Kurobara Alice, but since that’s unlicensed…I guess the unnamed vampire from Mitsukazu Mihara’s briefly-available short story Blue Sky was refreshingly not angsty, and managed to be both otherworldly and essentially human.
2) Assuming manhwa webcomics are allowed, I’ve enjoyed reading Orange Marmalade. It’s a mildly melodramatic shoujo comic where vampires have become harmless, but are still discriminated against by the general populace. The main character’s relationships with her friends hold a lot of importance, which is always nice to see in a genre that’s dominated by romance.
1. My favorite vampire is Zero from “Vampire Knight” because he’s so strong in the terms of being able to suppress his thirst up longer than other vampires, also because he protects Yuki with his life which I think is the sweetest thing ever.
2. A vampire manga no one has mentioned yet would be Bloody Kiss. It’s a really good one, very cute too. But it’s pretty short.
1) Dio from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. He is probably the main villain of the entire series. He’s very powerfull, almost unstoppable, he can regenerate his body faster than fire can consume it. Also he sucks blood through tentacles in his fingers o_o
2) The Record of a Fallen Vampire published by Viz Media.
1.) I’d have to say Moka from Rosario+Vampire :) I really love the split personality thing. When she has her rosary on, she’s innocent, sweet Moka, but whe it comes off, she becomes cool, kick ass Moka xD
2.) There’s this one manhwa called Model and it was recommended to me and it was really good :) the series wasn’t too long, though :/
1) Hands down, Vampire Princess Miyu. It saddens me that studio Iron Cat never really handled the title all that well. Kakinouchi’s artwork is beautiful and amazing, and I wish someone would license-rescue that one. It really deserves it.
2) I’m surprised no one’s mentioned Vampire Hunter D yet, which is a classic!
3) Retweeted to @bunnycartoon!
Oh wait, someone DID mention Vampire Hunter D! XD Haha, whoops. Then how about Tokimeki Tonight? It’s never been released in English, sadly, but a cute & funny shoujo series.
1) Nozomu Moegi from Crescent Moon because he is awesome, and is the production of a vampire and powerful demon. He is awesome with the ladies, everything about him being a vampire is awesome
2) Crescent Moon first shojo manga i actually liked.
3)Done