 Hey everybody, welcome back to a week in Geekdom and today we're going to be taking a look at Dance in the Vampire Bund, Age of Scarlet Order Volume 1. So stay tuned. Welcome back to the channel, Geo here and today we're going to be talking vampire manga goodness. Yeah, it's been a while since I've talked about monsters on this channel. I have to give a big shout out to the folks at Seven Seas Entertainment for making this review possible. They sent me a copy of Dance in the Vampire Bund, Age of Scarlet Order Volume 1. The story is written by Nozomu Tamaki. So what exactly is Dance in the Vampire Bund? This book is a sequel to the Dance in the Vampire Bund series. I do believe those came out a while ago in regular editions and like 2-in-1 omnis or something to that effect. But yeah, it is a series that has been around for quite some time now. It deals with the rise of vampires and the character of, and I'm probably going to butcher this name, Mina Tepes. She is the princess ruler of all vampires. She's accompanied by her werewolf companion Akira. And in the original series, if I remember correctly from what I read online, they hoped to establish a society, a kingdom of sorts or a city, a Bund hence the title, where vampire society can live off away from humanity and all that stuff. And of course you've got the eternal struggle between the empiric forces and humans and all that stuff. You want peace and not a lot of people see it that way, so there's going to be conflict involved. There's also like this evil god-like ruler that appears and they fight and yeah, you know, standard vampire procedure. So that was the original series. Every single character in this vampire series learns that supposedly the vampire queen is dead. So at the start of this current manga, Age of Scarlet Order, the sequel, vampires are being hunted all across America. And their remaining hope is about this rumor that there's this escape plan that's being put out and Mina-Tepis is summoning all the vampires to go to the west coast. And they're going to board this secret navy ship or just a regular ship and they're going to escape for the Bund for this, you know, society and stuff. And the problem is, you know, all these vampires are running across America, but the queen is dead. So when you start the series, you're following a couple characters that are facilitating the move for this Muslim family that's trying to escape with their newborn son. I think it was the son, newborn baby. I should say newborn baby instead. And the start of the series is pretty interesting. There's this tension that is very reminiscent of things we've seen in the past in modern situations and unfortunate cases of discrimination and racism. And it's done in a not so tactful manner. It's very in your face, which I know for some people that I really don't mind, but I know for some people it's going to be a bit of a bother. And yeah, it can be a little bit on the nose, but I just found it really hilarious. The comparisons between a certain type of demographic and group and, you know, pairing it up with them arguing that, you know, vampires, they're from hell and they got to get extinguished and all that stuff. And naturally, you know, vampires, they kill humans, right? But in this series, there's more to that. They're not simply, they're not simple, tropey monsters that they're out for blood on every single occasion, you see and you learn that these are humans who have been turned into these legendary creatures of folklore and they have relationships and problems just as the rest of humanity. So they shouldn't be hated on. But obviously, you know, you're going to have conflicts on both sides. It's not as simple as black and white, yada yada. But at the start of the series, I found it really interesting and it really drove the tension of this pair of mother and daughter as they're trying to escort this family across America, trying to evade the America church order thing, which is a religious fanatic group of people that they want to exterminate all vampires and all that stuff. So that part, I really liked if the story could have, because I had no idea, like I said, I had not read the original source material, the first series, I should say, if the series could have kept that momentum throughout the whole volume, it would have been an awesome read. I really liked it. I haven't said anything yet, but I really did enjoy what I read. It's a very simple, fast paced and interesting read. And I do like the fact that even though you've not, or in my case, I haven't read the original series, the first series, I wasn't lost. I still understood what was happening. I don't know if it's because of clever writing or if it's so used to these types of stories where you can predict where the plot is going. I love the idea of having this super minuscule group of people trying to escape. And it really does represent the struggle of minorities in the face of adversity and racism and all that stuff that, you know, they face in today's climate, in today's world. So it is relevant. Also I like that it's in the future. By future, I mean September 2020, one of the dates thrown around. So yeah, since the story set, the original set in Tokyo, because they want to build the bond or the society, secret society off the coast of Japan, if I remember correctly. Part of what I liked is that there's this political payoff. The character of Minas Tepes and her family, they got a lot of cash. So they're paying off the national debt so as to gain favor and ease the tension between the two species, I guess. So the transition isn't as rough as, hey, we're vampires, we're settling in here. I don't care what you think. So it's a lot smoother than that. With this series, however, you get the other side of the coin where you are faced with extremist views and the anti-vampire sentiment is spreading across the world because the queen is dead and everything's in disarray and chaos. A couple characters get introduced in Japan that I had no idea who the heck they were. As you read, you start getting to know them and you understand. But the most part, Nozomi does a good job of writing these characters. I really liked, like I said at the beginning, the first half of the book where the tension is on these characters making this pilgrimage of sorts. I thought that was really intense and if the whole series could have been like that, that would have been even cooler to me. Later on, it does go into more manga, anime, trope things about vampires if you know what I mean. So I thought that was pretty interesting. The art is pretty easy to follow, especially the action scenes, they're smooth and you're not going to get lost because sometimes with action manga, they tend to be a little bit too hectic and you get lost in the shuffle. So overall, I thought it was a clean looking series and a very cool way to sort of reinvent the wheel and present a vampire story that's unlike other things we've seen in the past. Even with the original series, I liked the whole idea of involving politics with a radicalization of a group of a minority, in this case vampires, and wanting truce and peace. Obviously it's not going to be as simple as that. There's going to be conflicts and that is carried over into this title, which I believe is like a couple months after the original title. Somebody correct me on that if I'm wrong. But I do like that and there's talks about parliament and, you know, the political side of things of how these groups are not as accepting or should they be as accepting of vampires wanting to isolate themselves, I guess, and live away from humans and still retain an autonomous recognition of nationality of sorts. It's interesting. There's meat in there to get a hold of and do a really interesting thing with it. However, at the end of the book, we do go into the lore of the series with a certain characters past that I don't want to reveal because it's a spoiler for the book. We go into this character's origin and again, I didn't know what was happening, but you figure it out as you're reading and it's not that complicated. You still have fun. You still have a good time reading the story. I also want to check out the original series so I know about the origin of the plot and seeing like Mina and Akira and all these characters, what their deal was when the story first began. But overall a very fun read. Some of the images invoke certain aspects of society that I wish were eradicated and it goes into very scary territory with extremism and racism and all that stuff. But overall, it's a fun vampire story that I do recommend. Have you read Dance in the Vampire Bund? Let me know in the comment section down below and if you're starting this new book, let me know what you thought of the transition between the two stories and how are you liking this new series, Age of Scarlet Order. Very interested in finding out. Also, if you haven't read it and you want to recommend me some vampire books, more than happy to take those suggestions. Thank you everybody for tuning in. Thank you to Seven Seas Entertainment for making this video possible. They were gracious enough to send me a copy to read and review for you guys, so I'm very excited about that. Thank you. 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