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Bloody Kiss
Manga Review
Vampires are back in! Not that they've been that far out in the last few years thanks to the books and movies of Twilight. How many poor people have been dragged into that screaming teenage girl lust-fest for Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner? Ok, I don't care much for the movies. Come on, girls! Read the books! Use them imaginations! Edward Cullen and Jacob Black are so much sexier, hotter and Bella, schmella? I'm Bella in my mind and them boys can take their turns being oh so yummy for ME.
Bloody Kiss is a great snack to temporarily satiate my appetite for vampire stories. It isn't dramatic fare but it has the delicious taboo of blood sucking combined with a bit of slapstick and a heroine that you can't help but root for whether she is busy trouncing on her vampire roommates or just trying to keep her grades up to keep her scholarship. That's right, people, you saw correctly: VAMPIRE ROOMMATES. Tall dark and handsome or shining knight in armor, take your pick in which vampire you would like to room with.
 It's not that Kiyo chose to room with these guys. I mean, who in their sane mind would knowingly move into a house to live with vampires when it usually means you'll end up being breakfast, lunch, and dinner? If it's a chubby vampire, you'll have to provide snacks in between, too. It just sucks being poor (yeah, yeah, laugh, groan, whichever you like); Kiyo is an orphan, living off the charity of her relatives and they make no effort to not rub it in her face, so when Grandma dies and leaves her a house, it's only natural to move in. Anyone with business savvy would know to move in, clean things up a bit, fix a few things, and voila! extra money turns into a bigger chunk of extra money. After all, that scholarship she was working for might not come true so she'll need all the money she can save up to become the lawyer she wants to be.
 Unfortunately, she inherited the two roommates that Grandma had been living with (world's luckiest Grandma!) along with the house. Kuroboshi looks hot but is probably the saddest vampire you'll meet. Well... he isn't fully vampire so that might explain why he's weak. It doesn't explain why Kiyo can always beat him into a pulp though; even though he is half vampire, half human, he is still a guy after all. He is enduring though; he keeps coming back for more beat downs and does try his best to stand up for Kiyo when she gets picked on. He is trying his best to win the hand of his ìbrideî and he loves the challenge; Kiyo is not exactly 100% keen on being his only meal for the rest of her life though.
In the middle of all this, there is Alshu, Kuroboshi's vampire attendant. Since Kuroboshi is so weak, it only makes sense that his father sends an attendant with him when he was ousted from the clan. Also, someone needs to pick up the pieces after Kiyo lays one of her smack downs on Kuroboshi. Alshu is a spectator just like us; once in a while he put in his two cents for us to either piss Kuroboshi off or give a helping hand to Kiyo when she's in something way over her head. Don't think you can walk all over happy-go-lucky Alshu though; he takes his duties very seriously and when he gets pissed, my oh my, the chills and the thrills that run up and down my spine.
If things aren't crazy enough in one household with two vampires, Kazuko Furumiya throws in a demon hunting best friend. Still not enough? How about the two unemployed vampires that can't pay rent and are bored at home enrolling in school? Still no? Jealous schoolmate a la Mean Girls with the rest of the female population lusting and fawning over Kuroboshi and Alshu has to do the trick. OMG! Kiyo is so traumatized with all this whirlwind of craziness!
Reviewed by Carolyn Whu, August 2010
Below: Double page spreads from the manga Bloody Kiss (click on the image to see at full size).
Below: Illustrations from the manga Bloody Kiss.
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