Monday, May 21, 2018

I Hunger for Endo Yasuko






One day, penniless high school student Makioka Shizue happens to see Endo Yasuko doing...something to another girl.  As she tries to get away, Yasuko corners Shizue and does the exact same thing to her.  Yasuko proclaims herself "a crazed killer" and that Shizue tastes good, leading them into a food-for-food agreement (that is, Yasuko pays for Shizue's meals if Shizue gives Yasuko her blood now and again).

But, before Shizue agrees to their "commitment kiss", Yasuko goes to prey on another student by the name of Akari Agawa.  The terrified Akari then goes on to hire a cheap American vampire hunter named Ashley Nelson to exterminate Yasuko.

And, while all of this is going on, several girls from the school have gone missing and a dippy detective is running around asking questions.

But, don't go getting me wrong: this manga is nowhere near as serious as the preceding Spartan summary would have you believe.  It has its funny parts, both within the main story and (much more frequently) in the bonus 4-koma that we see after every chapter.

All of the characters have really unique designs and the art is good.  And it has a nice dose of realism to it.

It's never explicitly said that Yasuko is a vampire, just heavily implied.  For a while there, it looks like she just might be a normal human, until a blood hunger causes her to grow into a giant.

Speaking of Yasuko, I love the fact that this supernatural love interest (Yes, it's a yuri!) is by no means an "Ace" character who's good at everything, nor is she completely stupid like Youko Shiragami from My Monster Secret.  (Although, to be fair, she is just as slapdash as Shiragami-san.)

And, on Shizue's side, when I first started reading the manga, I initially thought she was a boy.  She has short hair and doesn't look all that feminine or attractive, so you can forgive me for thinking so.  Shizue reminds me of Haruhi from Ouran, not only in terms of appearance, but also because she initially decides that the vampire feeding she witnesses is none of her business and tries to run away.  (Though this is also tempered with a nice dose of everyday-Joe cowardice.)

Akari Agawa, by the way, is more of a nuisance tsundere than a true threat to our heroes.  Plus Ashley can't speak Japanese, leading to her learning it, which is one of those nice touches of realism I mentioned earlier.

But what really drew me into this manga, before I even knew it was a yuri, was how the back blurb was written.  It mentioned the missing girls (if I recall correctly) and questioned whether or not Yasuko was a vampire.

This intrigued me.  I came in fully expecting a lot of cryptic sentences and avoidance of the topic, leaving us to wonder for quite some time until the big reveal (which there has not been yet).  But wouldn't it have been something if Yasuko was just a freak with a biting fetish or your run-of-the-mill everyday serial killer.

What if there was no vampire at all?

But it's still pretty cryptic and interesting, so I'll keep reading. (Plus, we're given a scene of Shizue taking her top off to feed Yasuko, and the next volume promises a bath scene.  And who can honestly say no to yuri, vampires and sweet, sweet fanservice?)

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