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Amazon.com: Vampire Doll: Guilt-na-Zan Volume 1 (Vampire Doll Guilt-Na-Zan): Books: Erika KariIt's cute. And, well... it's cute. There isn't much else going for Vampire Doll. I don't mind when a book is only meant to be funny and cute. A manga (or book, movie or TV show) has only one job "be entertaining." Not to be the cleverest, the deepest or most artistic, it just has be an entertaining way to spend your time. Vampire Doll just barely squeaks into the entertaining category. But hey, the art is cute.
A hundred years ago dread aristocrat vampire lord Guilt-Na-Zan was sealed away in a cross by a master exorcist. Now, in present day Japan, Kyouji, the descendent of that exorcist has resurrected the fearsome dark lord... in the form of cute little girl wax doll. Kyoji's purpose? To have her wear cute clothes and do housework and chores so he can focus on his many hobbies, like reading magazines about cute girls and making weird dolls.
Being in cute body of a young girl has severely limited Guilt-Na-Zan's powers. Where before Guilt-Na-Zan could summon a tempest, now as Guilt-Na-chan he can only summon showers of candies and flowers. Before he could summon the beasts of the night, now he can summon a horde of cute plush dollies.
If being house servant to a bully and an idiot isn't bad enough, Kyouji has a twin brother who is an even bigger idiot. With a large collection of cursed objects he doesn't know how to use, Kyoichi (who calls himself lord Night Veil) is trying to get the cross that Guilt-Na-zan was sealed in so he can use Guilt-Na-Zan as a servant instead. Luckily, when Guilt-Na-Zan drinks Tonae, the sweet and guileless little sister of the twins, he can temporarily regain his form and fight Night Veil off.
I have nothing to complain about with Vampire Doll's artwork. The handsome guys are handsome, the cute girls are cute, cute, cute. There are backgrounds, well drawn even, when they're needed and they don't abuse the screen tone. The characters are distinctive. Even when Kyouji doesn't have his glasses on, you can't mistake him for his twin, even though they are "identical."
Vampire Doll does have some good gags. Vincent, the bat turned human, is a very fun "dumb handsome guy." And I especially liked the storyline where someone was draining the wickedness out of the schoolboys at Tonae's school. It's a mad scramble to catch the culprit before the school becomes a breeding ground of boy's love characters. I just wish that all the chapters were that entertaining. I hope in future volumes that the storylines improve. However, this one is going to go on the bottom of my "to buy" pile so it might be a while before I revisit it.
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