Guest Review: Vassalord Volume1 by Nanae Chrono

Nanae Chrono
Vassalord Volume1
Tokyo Pop, 2008

Vassalord is a shojo manga series written and illustrated by Nanae Chrono. It is currently serialized in Comic Blade Avarus since March 30, 2006. It is licensed for an English language release in North America by Tokyopop

Genre: Action, Supernatural, Yaoi Manga
Written by: Nanae Chrono
Published by: Mag Garden
English publisher: Tokyopop
Demographic: Shōjo
Magazine: Comic Blade Avarus
Original run: March 30, 2006 – ongoing
Volumes: 5

Series Plot:
Vampires Charles J. Chrishunds (Charley) and Johnny Rayflo have a strange relationship. Charley is a cyborg vampire mix, and a vampire hunter for the Vatican, while his master Johnny enjoys a playboy lifestyle. While fighting crimes involving vampires, Charley struggles to control his lust for blood and for Johnny, while Johnny (previously known as Addie before becoming a vampire) delights in seducing his servant and attempts to deal with issues from his own past. Johnny cares about Charley (also known as Cherry and Chris), and the feelings don't seem to be one-sided.

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Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Heat level: 1 out of 3 flames
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Guest review by SharonS.:


Blurb on Volume #1 (chapters 1-3):

Charley, a cyborg vampire who does the Vatican's dirty work, is the thrall of the local vampire playboy Johnny Rayflo. As the two of them fight crime--and each other--hilarity, violence and sacrilege ensue! But can Charley resist his own desperate cravings for blood? Find out as the devilish duo go up against a childlike vampire princess, a mysterious branch of the Unitarian Church...and each other.

This is a typical Yaoi manga; sexy, silly and confusing as hell! Part of the reason is the translation isn’t the best. I couldn’t tell who was talking most of the time and the action scene illustrations had me thinking “WTF” and turning the book around trying to figure out what was going on. Like I said, pretty typical for manga

That being said, I loved it! Even though I couldn’t figure out what was going on in the action scenes, I could figure out what was going on when Charley and Johnny were together. There isn’t any sex in this volume (I have the first 4 volumes), but there is lots of flirting and teasing and “awww” moments.

Charley is the serious “oh, woe is me” type. He somehow became a cyborg vampire hunter for the Vatican (he has wires coming out of the back of his head and sometimes has wings), but he is also a vampire (don’t know why). His dream was to become a Priest, but his relationship with Rayflo fills him with so much guilt. He refuses to drink from humans and only drinks from Rayflo, and he is addicted to him. These are very sexy scenes ;) There is no sex going on because I think Charley is a virgin and that is the reason Rayflo teases him by calling him Cherry all the time.

Rayflo is the complete opposite of Charley. He is drop dead gorgeous and very feminine looking sometimes (typical Yaoi). He doesn’t seem to take anything serious except keeping Charley safe and happy. He supplies the humor to the story.

The first chapter deals with Rayflo and Charley fighting Rayflo’s master (I think) we get to see what lengths both will go to save the other . The second chapter has the duo hunting a vampire that is killing women at a church. Then out of nowhere an identical twin of Rayflo shows up, and I am really not sure why or how . The third chapter is the best. We find out how Charley and Rayflo met and why Charley has that awful hair cut .

So, do you spend $10 on it? Manga is an expensive habit! If you like Yaoi and know what you are getting into then it might be worth it. I would certainly try to find deals on it. I got my 4 copies at the 90% off sale at Borders (I know, right?) otherwise I wouldn’t have bought it. You might want to Google it and see what you can find.

A funny and a sexy page: