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dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Un début prometteur ! Le dessin est magnifique et les personnages aussi détestables qu'intéressants. L'environnement est très bien fait et on sent l'inspiration des XIXe et XXe siècle en Angleterre, ce qui donne au manga une trame de fond plausible et bien recherchée. La trame narrative est parfois un peu dense et difficile à suivre, mais j'imagine que c'est pour ajouter à l'aura de mystère et d'inquiétude qui règne. J'ai hâte à la suite !
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
what a strange and disturbing read!
started this book thinking about nothing and feeling like i have the need to know what happens next. It is a dracula modern retelling and yet I feel the same tension, the same gothic setting so, so far so good. The characters are interesting as well, I wanna dive into their story more, especially Luke and Lucy (can’t quite understand if they’re the same person?)
can’t wait to know more about this dracula modern retelling!
started this book thinking about nothing and feeling like i have the need to know what happens next. It is a dracula modern retelling and yet I feel the same tension, the same gothic setting so, so far so good. The characters are interesting as well, I wanna dive into their story more, especially Luke and Lucy (can’t quite understand if they’re the same person?)
can’t wait to know more about this dracula modern retelling!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Blood, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Racism
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Interesting take on the Dracula story. This takes place at a prestigious all boys school in England. Our main character is Mina who is the first girl to ever attend the school.
The first Volume introduces our core group who are honestly not very likable. I'm hoping as the story progresses we will see some character development and some changes in their demeanor.
I thought having Lucy from the original Dracula be a boy in this version adds an interesting element to our story.
As others have said the art in this is really beautiful and extremely detailed. My biggest issue is with the way the faces are drawn. I find the eyes to be weird and especially in the beginning section on the Demeter it makes all the characters look strange and sickly.
But the rest of the book is beautiful to look at, there were some pages I didn't want to stop looking at.
Will be reading the rest of the series.
The first Volume introduces our core group who are honestly not very likable. I'm hoping as the story progresses we will see some character development and some changes in their demeanor.
I thought having Lucy from the original Dracula be a boy in this version adds an interesting element to our story.
As others have said the art in this is really beautiful and extremely detailed. My biggest issue is with the way the faces are drawn. I find the eyes to be weird and especially in the beginning section on the Demeter it makes all the characters look strange and sickly.
But the rest of the book is beautiful to look at, there were some pages I didn't want to stop looking at.
Will be reading the rest of the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Classism
Minor: Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Dysphoria
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
this was absolutely a fever dream and I enjoyed every second of it. the art is also insanely good. very solid first volume but please check out the tw's :3
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual violence
Moderate: Animal death, Xenophobia, Cannibalism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Colonisation
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism
Moderate: Bullying, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I initially read the preview of this that Viz Media posted on their Twitter account prior to the book’s release and knew I needed to read it the moment it was available. The art was the initial draw, along with the dank, disturbing atmosphere it created. To say I was pleased with it was an understatement. It was so much more than even that impressive preview could have expressed.
Sakamoto’s art is so ethereally gorgeous it borders on the grotesque, which makes it a perfect vehicle for this surreal retelling of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. It’s definitely the stand-out feature of the book, as the storytelling itself can feel murky at times (a side effect of a surrealist narrative), and the vast majority of the cast are (purposefully) vile little snots. As a fan of the original, I found it easier than I would imagine most would to follow the story beats, but if someone comes into this seeking a traditional narrative, they may find themselves a little out of their depth and overwhelmed.
One last negative, but the price of these books is astounding. Currently, the books are published exclusively in a high-quality, hard-back cover, though in all other aspects are the same size as a typical single volume of manga. At $27 a pop, I can’t help but wince. When I was a kid getting into manga in the mid/late 2000s, manga was $8 per volume. The rare hardback manga could get up to $12. If I didn’t love the contents of the book so much, the price would ward me away immediately. Consider requesting them at your local library, or wait to see if a paperback version is announced in the future before taking out a loan for these.
Sakamoto’s art is so ethereally gorgeous it borders on the grotesque, which makes it a perfect vehicle for this surreal retelling of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. It’s definitely the stand-out feature of the book, as the storytelling itself can feel murky at times (a side effect of a surrealist narrative), and the vast majority of the cast are (purposefully) vile little snots. As a fan of the original, I found it easier than I would imagine most would to follow the story beats, but if someone comes into this seeking a traditional narrative, they may find themselves a little out of their depth and overwhelmed.
One last negative, but the price of these books is astounding. Currently, the books are published exclusively in a high-quality, hard-back cover, though in all other aspects are the same size as a typical single volume of manga. At $27 a pop, I can’t help but wince. When I was a kid getting into manga in the mid/late 2000s, manga was $8 per volume. The rare hardback manga could get up to $12. If I didn’t love the contents of the book so much, the price would ward me away immediately. Consider requesting them at your local library, or wait to see if a paperback version is announced in the future before taking out a loan for these.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Blood, Classism
Moderate: Dysphoria
Minor: Religious bigotry
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
#DRCL is, at its core, an adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula although Sakamoto has taken a number of artistic liberties with the telling. The setting has been shifted to a British boarding school in Whitby for the elite where #DRCL's Mina, a working class girl with charmingly crooked pigtails and a gap tooth, is enrolled as their first woman student. In general the core cast, to my understanding of the original Dracula, have been shifted to give more diverse perspectives: Quincy Morris is Black and American, John Seward is now Jo Suwa from Japan, Arthur Holmwood is just as British but with the character of Lucy being changed to Luke* none of them are straight anymore. *Luke also has an interesting relationship with gender, taking on the persona of Lucy at night though I'm hesitant to outright assume the author intends her to be trans. There's also some very interesting interpretations of Dracula and his traditional form going on.
Sakamoto has a beautiful art style that looks nearly photorealistic at times. It reminds me of several Showa-era boys boarding school titles in style as well as content with luscious eyelashes galore and a focus on boys love. The writing is overall flowery with gorgeous panels prioritizes over heavy exposition so I'm a little confused at least fifty percent of the time but it's a satisfying read. I'm eagerly looking forward to the chance to see Mina suplex one of the boys; I'm hoping it'll be Arthur.
For the "Is There Strong Character Development" question I would like to clarify that this is a manga: there is not enough story covered in a single volume to complete a character arc. There is, however, a rich ground sewn for character conflicts and developments through the series.
Sakamoto has a beautiful art style that looks nearly photorealistic at times. It reminds me of several Showa-era boys boarding school titles in style as well as content with luscious eyelashes galore and a focus on boys love. The writing is overall flowery with gorgeous panels prioritizes over heavy exposition so I'm a little confused at least fifty percent of the time but it's a satisfying read. I'm eagerly looking forward to the chance to see Mina suplex one of the boys; I'm hoping it'll be Arthur.
For the "Is There Strong Character Development" question I would like to clarify that this is a manga: there is not enough story covered in a single volume to complete a character arc. There is, however, a rich ground sewn for character conflicts and developments through the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying
Moderate: Gore, Sexual content
Minor: Deadnaming, Classism
It unclear how the character being dead named feels about their birth name; they are not publicly Out. It is not done by characters out of malice or related to the ”bullying" content warning.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
More style over substance, the awe-inspiring visuals more than makes up for the poor plot points and well-meaning subversions that need up backfiring.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Classism
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Ableism, Toxic relationship, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Toxic friendship
Be aware that there is body horror involving plant life, ginger hatred, trans identity being repressed, and body horror involving metamorphosis.