Hino Matsuri - Vampire Knight, vol. 03-04 (Eng. trans.)
I think coffeeandink covers everything (linking to tag to preserve spoiler cut), but I will attempt to write something.
In Mariposa, sophia_helix and sartorias were discussing Stephanie Meyers' Twilight, particularly focusing on the sublimination of desire and therefore having your cake and eating it too. I think Vampire Knight is an example of that done right; I cannot tell if having gorgeous art and pacing via paneling is what makes it work, given that both Yuki and Bella are irresistable to all sort of vampires, that Zero and Kaname and Edward all have difficulty controlling their bloodlust and/or desire to possess the heroine, and that neck-sucking substitutes for sex.
But while Twilight left me cold, this manga has me squeeing like an adolescent girl over Zero and Yuki and the biting and the hand-holding and the hair-caressing! And the angst, OMG, THE ANGST!
I think all the UST lies in the way the panels space out the action, or in how I have to fill in the emotion as the reader. Also, not having descriptions of jewel-colored eyes and hair helps, even though I am 100% certain that everyone in the manga has gloriously unworldly coloring.
When I asked Mely if I should read vol. 3 before vol. 4, she mentioned that she could not remember anything of note in it. But! There is wee!Zero being introduced to Yuki for the first time! Wee!Zero cowers in the bathroom while Yuki presses her hand to the bleeding wound in his neck! Wee!Yuki hero-worships Kaname!
There is probably more, but really, I am all about wee!Yuki and wee!Zero bonding over being vampire victims in the bathroom.
... it is less sketchy than I just made it sound, really.
And then! There is the evil seductress vampire whom I should loathe because she is every evil sexual woman cliche embodied, but I do not care because she is Zero's sire! And she wants to drink Yuki's blood!
And! And! Zero cannot control his bloodlust and Yuki offers him her neck for the bazillionth time, only this time he cannot control himself and presses her against a wall with her back to him and sucks on her neck and even though it is relatively PG-rated, I am still shocked that there is not a giant "Mature" label slapped on because the sex is just oozing from the page!
AND! ZERO HAS AN EVIL TWIN!
I could not tell at first, because when the Evil Twin was introduced, I just went, "Huh, looks sort of like Zero, but then, everyone in the manga looks sort of like each other."
But no! It is an EVIL TWIN!
The only way this could be better is if it were an EVIL TWIN CLONED FROM ZERO for nefarious purposes! Maybe with amnesia!
Oh gothic shoujo manga, I love you SO MUCH!
I should be critiquing the gender roles in this much more, but honestly, the UST and the angst and the pretty neck-licking have taken over my brain.
In Mariposa, sophia_helix and sartorias were discussing Stephanie Meyers' Twilight, particularly focusing on the sublimination of desire and therefore having your cake and eating it too. I think Vampire Knight is an example of that done right; I cannot tell if having gorgeous art and pacing via paneling is what makes it work, given that both Yuki and Bella are irresistable to all sort of vampires, that Zero and Kaname and Edward all have difficulty controlling their bloodlust and/or desire to possess the heroine, and that neck-sucking substitutes for sex.
But while Twilight left me cold, this manga has me squeeing like an adolescent girl over Zero and Yuki and the biting and the hand-holding and the hair-caressing! And the angst, OMG, THE ANGST!
I think all the UST lies in the way the panels space out the action, or in how I have to fill in the emotion as the reader. Also, not having descriptions of jewel-colored eyes and hair helps, even though I am 100% certain that everyone in the manga has gloriously unworldly coloring.
When I asked Mely if I should read vol. 3 before vol. 4, she mentioned that she could not remember anything of note in it. But! There is wee!Zero being introduced to Yuki for the first time! Wee!Zero cowers in the bathroom while Yuki presses her hand to the bleeding wound in his neck! Wee!Yuki hero-worships Kaname!
There is probably more, but really, I am all about wee!Yuki and wee!Zero bonding over being vampire victims in the bathroom.
... it is less sketchy than I just made it sound, really.
And then! There is the evil seductress vampire whom I should loathe because she is every evil sexual woman cliche embodied, but I do not care because she is Zero's sire! And she wants to drink Yuki's blood!
And! And! Zero cannot control his bloodlust and Yuki offers him her neck for the bazillionth time, only this time he cannot control himself and presses her against a wall with her back to him and sucks on her neck and even though it is relatively PG-rated, I am still shocked that there is not a giant "Mature" label slapped on because the sex is just oozing from the page!
AND! ZERO HAS AN EVIL TWIN!
I could not tell at first, because when the Evil Twin was introduced, I just went, "Huh, looks sort of like Zero, but then, everyone in the manga looks sort of like each other."
But no! It is an EVIL TWIN!
The only way this could be better is if it were an EVIL TWIN CLONED FROM ZERO for nefarious purposes! Maybe with amnesia!
Oh gothic shoujo manga, I love you SO MUCH!
I should be critiquing the gender roles in this much more, but honestly, the UST and the angst and the pretty neck-licking have taken over my brain.