Cross Adademy is attended by two groups of students: the Day Class and the Night Class. At twilight, when the students of the Day Class return to their dorm, they cross paths with the Night Class on their way to school. Yuki Cross and Zero Kiryu are the Guardians of the school, protecting the Day Class from the Academy's dark secret: the Night Class is full of vampires!
After trying to recall her past, Yuki's hallucinations become more vivid and she tries to strangle Zero during a fit of madness. Locked in her room, all she can see is a world dyed in blood, but Kaname comes for her. He tells her it's time to wake up and sinks his fangs into her neck…. (courtesy of Goodreads)
Review
*Warning: Potential spoilers. My manga reviews tend to be more of a summary than a review. I find it hard to review manga in the same way I do regular books.
We finally get to learn about Yuki's past and it's a doozy!
Kaname sinks his fangs into Yuki's neck and turns her into a vampire. Only he's not exactly changing her into a vampire. It's more like resurrecting her. Zero drops by just as Yuki is waking and is understandably irate at smelling the blood of two vampires, not just one. He threatens to kill Kaname for turning Yuki, but Yuki stops him. Yuki isn't a new vampire. She's a resurrected vampire. And Kaname is her older brother!
Yuki is a pureblood vampire princess. She was much loved by her parents and older brother, but was in great danger. Her existence was hidden by her family. Finally, to protect her, her mother sacrificed herself to turn Yuki into a human, erasing all her memories.
Yuki was born to be Kaname's wife. Brother and sister marriage is pretty weird, but apparently is not uncommon for pureblood vampires. Yuki's parents were siblings. And as Kaname points out, they're not humans. They don't live by human standards of propriety. However, I get the feeling that Kaname isn't exactly her brother. He calls himself such but he's actually related to her in a different way. I don't entirely understand this from Volume 8 but hope it makes more sense later.
Yuki is different as a vampire: stronger, prettier, more confident. Yet she is still in grave danger. Rido has come to the Academy intent on destroying Yuki. He's inhabiting the body of his son Shiki but no one is fooled, Kaname least of all. He and Kaname finally clash, but it doesn't result in Rido's destruction. Instead Kaname gives his blood to resurrect his enemy. Kaname admits that he's the progenitor of the Kurans and Rido is the master who awakened him. Once again, I don't really get this. I hope to understand it as the series goes on.
The Kaname being the Kuran ancestor/ Rido thing confused me as well! I'm kind of getting it now, but I was completely baffled at first. I love vampire Yuki-- she is much more graceful and confident, though of course I like the 'human' Yuki, too. :0
ReplyDeleteI agree that the Kaname being the brother of Yuki really confused me at first. I remember going "What?!" the first time but now I realize that Kaname is much older. I think there's some point either in the volumes or in the anime where he says something like "being her brother would be so much easier" when he's approached by Zero.
ReplyDeleteA resurrected vampire? That's kind of an interesting twist, I like it:) I'm definitely interested in hearing how the brother/sister relationship plays out and if they are in fact related in a different way.
ReplyDeleteIt does make much more sense as you get further on in the series...plus it gets slightly disturbing, but maybe thats cos I'm not really into that sort of thing...Enjoy the rest of the series!
ReplyDeleteBackstory can totally add a whole new element to a character and, in turn, the plot, so it's cool that I get to see it! Fab review :)
ReplyDeleteAnother great manga review!
ReplyDeleteI also agree the Kaname being the brother of Yuki confused at first.
Yuki's parents being siblings is disturbing!