In many ways, the graphic novel Vampire Knight is like any other vampire story for teenage girls: there’s the vampire-human love triangle, the friendly vampires who may become deadly, and the secret truth of the existence of real vampires that must be kept a secret.
Vampire Knight tells the story of Yuki, a freshman at Cross Academy, member of the Day Class disciplinary committee, and guardian of the dark secret about the beautiful and mysterious Night Class. The students of the Day Class don’t know it, but the Night Class is actually made up of vampires. Yuki, alongside fellow disciplinary committee member and friend Zero, is charged with keeping peace between the Day and Night classes –and with keeping the human students in the dark about their vampire classmates.
Hino’s series fuses together elements of Western vampires with elements of traditional shojo (for girls) Japanese graphic novels. The story has high school romance, effeminate-looking male characters, slapstick comedy, and a strong female main character who stands on the border between the real world and another world.
Knight’s artwork isn’t anything special compared to most Japanese graphic novels, but the detail of it brings the reader into the unique world of Cross Academy, and there is a great deal of care given to portraying characters and environments in believable ways. There were points were I felt like I had been welcomed into a different place, and the novel became a window into that world.
By far the greatest strength of Vampire Knight was the storytelling. The plot flowed easily between panels, almost like watching a television show. The reader always understood what was taking place in the story, and the movement from panel to panel was natural and easily comprehensible.
For readers who do not normally pick up graphic novels, Knight is an easy story to get into and keeps the reader flipping pages.
Vampire Knight tells the story of Yuki, a freshman at Cross Academy, member of the Day Class disciplinary committee, and guardian of the dark secret about the beautiful and mysterious Night Class. The students of the Day Class don’t know it, but the Night Class is actually made up of vampires. Yuki, alongside fellow disciplinary committee member and friend Zero, is charged with keeping peace between the Day and Night classes –and with keeping the human students in the dark about their vampire classmates.
Hino’s series fuses together elements of Western vampires with elements of traditional shojo (for girls) Japanese graphic novels. The story has high school romance, effeminate-looking male characters, slapstick comedy, and a strong female main character who stands on the border between the real world and another world.
Knight’s artwork isn’t anything special compared to most Japanese graphic novels, but the detail of it brings the reader into the unique world of Cross Academy, and there is a great deal of care given to portraying characters and environments in believable ways. There were points were I felt like I had been welcomed into a different place, and the novel became a window into that world.
By far the greatest strength of Vampire Knight was the storytelling. The plot flowed easily between panels, almost like watching a television show. The reader always understood what was taking place in the story, and the movement from panel to panel was natural and easily comprehensible.
For readers who do not normally pick up graphic novels, Knight is an easy story to get into and keeps the reader flipping pages.
1 comment:
I love this sory.
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