Manga Review: Vampire Knight: Fleeting Dreams and Vampire Knight: Life

Vampire Knight: Fleeting Dreams by Ayuna Fujisaki and Matsuri Hino

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: December 2, 2014

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Teaser Tuesday. Wishlist Thursday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

A collection of short stories based on Vampire Knight

Deranged Love
A dying Rido reflects on his obsessive love for Juri.

Gifts for Yuki
Kaname wants to reward Yuki for doing well on her studies with tutor Aido.

Hidden Love
This is the story of Sara’s first love.

Queen of the Abyss
After Zero parts ways with Yuki and returns to being a vampire hunter, he encounters a vampire named Shien.

Review: 

I am a fan of Vampire Knight, and definitely one of Matsuri Hino (I love her art), but I’m also happy that VIZ is taking a chance with special releases and seeing how they do. And I’m glad at least some of them are doing well. I hope this does, too.

First of all, I have to say that the artwork in this book is reason enough to pick this up. I didn’t know there would be art aside from the cover and one color page, but there are sketches throughout the book. And they are gorgeous. They go with the stories, and they are just so pretty. I was pleasantly surprised by that.

Second, there are six stories in this book. Some of them were a little hazy in reference to the manga for me, especially the one about White Lily. The one about Rido and the one starring White Lily were a little odd to me, particularly in their obsessions. The one about Yuki and Kaname was very cute, if a little too long. And I liked seeing Aido--I'm a surprisingly big fan of his.

The last story, about the set of characters after the end of the manga, was very nice. It was cute at times, as well as a nice conclusion for the rest of the characters. The hidden gem of the book, though, was Sara’s story. It gave a new depth to her, and gave reason for her inclination for Ichijo, as well as just being a sweet story. Surprisingly, Zero’s story was not as exciting for me—it was an interesting storyline, a hidden piece of the manga, but not outstanding to me.

While I did enjoy most of the book, I will say that the writing was not amazing. It was a little plain, and at times read with the exaggeration of a manga, which I don’t think it needed.

Overall, though, it was a good collection of stories, and very worth picking up.

There was also mention of other Vampire Knight novels, and now I'm curious about if those will be released.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, and Erik Jansen from MediaLab PR. Thank you so, so much!

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Vampire Knight: Life by Matsuri Hino

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: December 16, 2014?

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble.

Goodreads Synopsis:

A digital-only exclusive! This special chapter reveals more about Yuki and Zero’s relationship at the end of volume 19.

Review:

There was no doubt that I would be picking this up, and I’m glad they released it. It clears up some things about Yuki and Zero’s relationship after the end of the manga.

It starred a surprising amount of Yori, which I liked, as well as some surprising hints of romance. Mostly, though, the conclusion it gave for Yuki’s relationships with Kaname and Zero was very needed. Yuki’s sorrow of what happened with Kaname was expressed sweetly, as well as Zero’s over Yuki. Also, it was very pretty, of course.

This little chapter is more than worth picking up, if you read the rest of the manga and want to know what happens next for them. It clears up some things, and is a worthwhile, sweet conclusion.