Heroes: Season 1, ep 23

( A surprising lack of BBBBRRRRRAAAAIIINNNNSSS!!!!! )

manga: Cain Saga Vol 1-2

Earl Cain Hargreaves is the young* head of his family in Victorian England. He’s viewed as an eccentric and disliked by his family (I think mostly because he refuses to let them murder him), and collects rare poisons. He also seems to like solving mysteries, and lives with his manservant, Riff, and half sister, Mary Weather (which I think I’ve been told should have been translated as “Merryweather”) along with assorted nameless servants.

As I was warned, the series (so far, it’s largely stand-alone chapters, with bits of continuity and hints about the past thrown in) is rife with dead and evil women. Though I feel I should point out that, so far, the evil women have mostly had some pretty good excuses. The individual plots, however, are largely classic gothic and mystery ones, as told through the filter of Kaori Yuki’s insanity. Also, Mary is much more awesome than any 9-year-old has any right to be.

Cain himself seems to be a bit of a playboy, and is more than a bit condescending. Then again, adult family members started trying to kill him when he was 12, and he’s been outsmarting them ever since. I figure he’s allowed. Also [spoiler for vol 2] He’s the product of his father’s rape of his own sister, causing her to go insane and view Cain as the devil and freak out whenever she saw him. And then kill herself. And his stepmother tried to kill him. After his father poisoned her. And the servants were forbidden to acknowledge his existence. And he was regularly whipped. The wounds of which do not heal. And his father hated him. Did I mention yet that the first murder attempt was by his father? (And all this makes me wonder what his real goals were when he went off to find Mary’s mother when she ran off pregnant.) So, yes, Cain has angst.

The book is rough and the art is definitely dated, but it’s fun, and has Kaori Yuki operating in the original home of her usual insanity. As I understand it, the reason we have Count Cain and Godchild is that Kaori Yuki but the series on hiatus to work on Angel Sanctuary. It’s also more normally paced that what I’ve read of Angel Sanctuary and Fairy Cube,** so you don’t end up feeling like you just downloaded six volumes of insanity into your head at once. Hence the ability to read two volumes in one sitting with no exploding of the head. I think.



*Err…how old is he, anyway? In the first chapter, I would have said 20~ or a bit older, but other chapters make me think more late teens.

**I swear, it’s like she operates under the assumption that she’ll get cancelled at any time, so she crams as much story into each chapter as she can.

While I've picked up some bits through fandom osmosis, please use the spoiler code for future volumes:

<span style="color: #333333;background-color: #333333">Spoilers here.</span>

manga: Hellsing Vol 1

Stealing the descriptions of others again:

There's a secret organization somewhere in England created to defend the Queen and country from monsters of all sorts. Yes, it's hard to believe in this day and age... but really, isn't this the true age of monsters? Enter Hellsing, an agency, long in tooth, with the experience, know-how, and... er... equipment to handle the problems that arise when vampires, ghouls, and the like take on these dark forces. "What equipment?" you may say. How about another vampire, and a big pistol loaded with special silver bullets? That oughta do the trick.


It leaves out the part where his boss, Intregral Hellsing found Alucard, the vampire in question, in the family dungeon when she was about 13, was relatively unphased when he slaughtered the people trying to kill her, and then used him as a shield when she shot their leader. Or how she went toe-to-toe with the genetically-enhanced priest who chopped him up. (It didn’t take for long.) Or the part where he acquires an underling by shooting through a cop to kill a vampire. After making sure she’s a virgin, so he can turn her.

In a lot of ways, it’s very much a case of style over substance, especially when it comes to Alucard and guns. The mangaka is very in love with drawing that. Or anyone with weapons. There also seems to be something of a glasses fetish going on, to the point where there’s a footnote saying “It’s starting to seem like everyone wears glasses. What to do?” And Alucard and Vash clearly have the same tailor.

It’s also quite fun, and some comments telophase  made at A-Kon have me very interested in reading more.

Spoil me and suffer torments far greater that what I can come up with off the top of my head.