365 Days of Manga, Day 241: Castlevania: Curse of Darkness

CASTLEVANIA: CURSE OF DARKNESS • Tokyopop • Kou Sasakura • 13+
Manga adaptation of the video game. As the vampire lord Dracula spreads his power across Eastern Europe, the forces of darkness gather. Among them are two young men, Hector and Isaac, who go to Dracula’s castle to learn the forbidden arts of “demonic alchemy.” When the brooding Hector flees Dracula’s castle and takes refuge in a church, Isaac is sent to track him down. Castlevania: Curse of Darkness adds a heavy dose of bishonen angst to the formerly heroic Castlevania vampire-hunting formula. Even the editorial text refers to Hector “wallowing in old memories and self-pity,” and they aren’t kidding; he’s a cold, unappealing antihero who spends most of the first volume lying in bed not helping people and saying things like “If my powers are in defiance of your God’s name, would you still say that you needed them?” Isaac, the bad guy, is by far the more energetic character, but they’re both burdened by a script which has an awkward flashback structure and way too much talking and too little action. The yaoi-esque art is handsome but unclear; Hector and Isaac appear to have the ability to summon demons or perhaps command demonic familiars, but on the too-rare occasions when they get in a fight, the camera keeps cutting away so that you can’t tell what’s happening. If this is intentional, it’s still aggravating. The horror/bishonen possibilities here are lost in amateurish execution and slow pace. (Review by Jason Thompson; originally printed in Otaku USA magazine.)
* (one star)
Today’s winner is… wait for it… Erin G. of Washington! Erin, you are in luck, because I have already sent out your manga and it is screeching its way towards you right now as fast as the post office can send Media Mail!

Today’s photo depicts Jason Q., one of the latest 365 Days of Manga Winners. Jason had been entering the contest for a long time so I’m proud to announce that the sweet taste of inky victory finally rests upon his paper-bag lips. Hold your manga with pride, lest it be knocked out of your hands by the five *new* manga even now rushing towards you!