Lament of the Lamb Volume 1

A sinister atmosphere of doom and dark mystery floats through the first volume of the "Lament Of The Lamb" series, an opus of horror and superior storytelling. Reading something like a cross between an excellent Asian horror movie (like "The Eye" or "The Uninvited") and one of the subtler, eerier animes, "Lament" fascinates, frightens, and and touches the reader. Its ability to touch a wide array of emotions is partly due to its solid cast of characters. Kazuna and Chizuna Takashiro are long-separated siblings - Kazuna brooding and slightly embittered at the circumstances beginning to haunt him, but fiercely loyal to his 'adoptive parents' and his small circle of friends; Chizuna is icy and cryptic, a character whose situation and life story are not as clear at the beginning. Shin and Natsuko are the uncle and aunt who took Kazuna in and love him as their own son; Yaegashi is a shy, sensitive and endearing art student at Kazuna's high school - the two of them have a sweet, slowly building mutual (and unspoken) attraction that is thrown off course as Kazuna begins to stay away from those who mean the most to him, out of fear that he's a threat to them. Minase is a doctor whose past shares some link with Chizuna from her childhood. Kazuna is being afflicted by disturbing dreams, spells of weakness, strange sensations, and a growing obsession with his past. This obsession leads him back to the family home of his childhood, where he re-encounters Chizuna. Early in the volume, Chizuna reveals to an incredulous Kazuna the source of his afflictions - the Takashiro family's deadly history of vampirism. Both siblings are being pulled down into the spiral; horrifying flashbacks begin occuring to Kazuna of his childhood with his father, his younger sister Chizuna, and their sad and ailing mother. Meanwhile, the shared history between Chizuna and Minase begins to reveal itself. "Lament Of The Lamb Volume 1" spins a terrific story and presents itself with great art: the visual imagery is scary, the scenes flow naturally, and the characters's appearances are nice and distinct from one another while maintaining a realistic, non-exagerated feel (the lack of individual looks for the characters has occasionally hampered some good Japanese comics, in my opinion. Not so here) Bottom line: whether you call it a comic book, a graphic novel, or manga, "Lament Of The Lamb" is an outstanding horror title, able to hold its own with the best horror in movies and novels. Highest recommendation for fans of horror and comic books/manga.

"Lament of the Lamb" is one of those manga that I mark the release dates for. The art is some of the most unique and beautiful I've seen, the characters are good, and the story keeps getting better. Kei Toume's art style is gorgeous. It's so different from what you normally see in manga. It has all the normal stuff, large eyes, small mouths, and everything else, but he doesn't overdo it. The ink is dark and the lines defined. It's a little dark, but that's only because it fits the story. Great attention to detail, too. The main characters are Kazuna and Chizuna, siblings. Both characters have strong personalities, but I like Chizuna the best. I love her cynacism in the face of her problems. If you don't like reading about incest, then you're not going to like this. There's no sex, but there are some seriously twisted relationships in here. They're well done though, not offensive at all. It doesn't take an opinion on the morality of incest. The story is pretty unique. Instead of showing vampirism as right or wrong, it shows it as being a disease. There is nothing supernatural about it. It does not bring eternal life, in fact, it shortens the victom's life. Kazuna starts with symptoms when he sees red paint on a classmate's arm and is reminded of blood, and then he meets his long lost sister, Chizuna, who has long been afflicted by the disease. What I find most interesting about the story is trying to figure out what the true nature of the disease is, and trying to figure out what happened to make Chizuna's case so much worse than Kazuna's. There is not much action in this series, and it moves at a slow pace. But if you love stories with good characters, you'll like this.

The genre is one of the -characters aren't what they seem, plot is progressed by figuring out what is going on- that you see often in anime and manga. The manga deals a lot with why we have relationships (whether it be selflessness or not) as well as a general 'coming of age' theme. No action so far, and some romance. One of handful of mangas thats not just a load fanservice and/or gore, it is worthy of note for this alone. In this world, vampirism is a kind of hereditary disease and doesn't really have any benefits, at least none that we see. Just a craving for blood and severe depression as a result. Kind of a what-if - if vampires weren't evil, but just trying to make it in society. Most of the manga is dialogue between the characters and flashbacks to their respective pasts. I do rather like the art as its not generic. The manga-ka makes good use of using different art styles. I've read the first two volumes, I look forward to reading the next. The plot and characters seems to be progressing nicely so far.

I will admit I am pretty big fan of vampire stuff, and I used to condemn anything with vampires, but being the horror fan I am, I was gradually drawn into them. So when my brother purchased "Lament of the Lamb" and told me it was a "different" take on vampires, I had to check it out. Of course I'm no vampire expert, but I have seen enough to know that I've never seen it done like this before. haha Most the time vampires are often glorified, but anyway you look at its more of a curse then a blessing. In this manga however, there is no immortality, no people biting you and turning you into a vampire, no in this, vampirism is a genetic disease/curse that will eventually kill you, possibly drive you mad if you resist it. Kazuna is your typical high school student, he's not sure what to do with his life after he graduates, he has no plans. One day he finds himself reacting strangely to blood, he passes out at the sight of it while sitting in as a model for a friend whom is painting him. He has no idea what is going on and can't figure out why he'd react to it like that. He soon finds himself having strange and terrifying dreams, he is drawn to his old house, and there he discovers many hidden secrets. I really enjoyed the art style and story in this. It was very well-drawn and very well-written. I look forward to the next volume, I think it will only get better because things can only get more complicated as it goes on. :D So, I hope this intrigued to and encourages you to check out "Lament of the Lamb", especially if you're tired of the same ol' vampire tales that litter media. God Bless & *enjoy* ~Amy

Rather than going for a straight horror tale (a la Nosferatu), or a glamorization of the vampire (like Interview with the Vampire), this tale treats vampirism as a disease, something that eats you up inside and will eventually kill you, something that you can tell no one about, a dark secret.Kazuna lives with his Uncle and Aunt. He does not remember his father, his mother is dead. He knows he has an older sister, but he has not seen her since they were little. He goes to school, has friends, and tries to lead as normal a life as possible. Then everything changes. It begins as a small thin - dizziness, a fainting spell. Then, a chance encounter with his sister changes everything. He finds out what he is, the dark disease he has, and life will never be the same for him.This is a dark, slow moving but engrossing drama, character rather than action driven.