The campy supernatural double feature continues, from the author of Aoi House ! After months of hard work and practice, the vampire cheerleaders of Bakertown High travel to Las Vegas where they hope to win the national cheerleading championships. But things quickly go awry when team captain Lori Thurston turns up missing after a wild night on the town with her teammates. With no time to find their missing captain, the vampire cheerleaders must restructure their routine before the tournament begins. But a grim fate awaits Lori at the hands of a mysterious and deadly foe... Vampire High Stakes is the lead story from Aoi House creative team Adam Arnold and Shiei. Double-featuring with Vampire Cheerleaders is Paranormal Mystery Squad , written by Adam Arnold with art by Comipa, in the latest installment of the ghostbusting Aoi House spin-off. Placed under strict probation after being reprimanded in federal hearings for their cruel cryptid-hunting methods, Stephanie, Katie, Charlotte, and J.C. try to go back to business as usual. Their first stop is the paranormal convention, ParaCon. In their rush to hit the road, Katie breaks a sealed urn and unwittingly unleashes an entity of immense vengeful power that follows them all the way to Las Vegas.
The second volume in both these series and well once again… I really liked reading the Vampire Cheerleaders but the Paranormal Mystery Squad was just not my cup of tea. I am still happy I finally had a chance to read this graphic novel, thanks Seven Seas for making them free.
Vampire Cheerleaders: The girls are back and this time they are going to do a cheerleading competition which had me totally delighted. I was curious to see how the girls would do and if they would win. What chaos would happen? Well, it was tons of fun to read. We also have the addition of a rivalry as another group appears and our girls are, after certain events, determined to beat that squad. Go girls, go. Plus, something is happening and I was worried. I do love that apparently our lead vampire is bi, at least that is how it feels to me. The other girls seem more drawn to males, but she goes for both female and male. I wasn’t a big fan of the scenes with the woman and our cheerleader, it felt highly uncomfortable given everything that happened and it turned me from the story/enjoying the story. And what the hell? Lori comes back days later totally in tatters and what does the b-team say: “Way to miss the whole competition. Not even so much as a phone call or a text.” What the actual fuck, you can see this girl hasn’t had the best of days and you say that? I am glad we at least saw something of the competition including rivalry and some smooth moves. But yeah the whole kidnapping was just MMMM NOPE and the ending definitely says to me I don’t want to read the rest of the series. I come here for a bit of delightful silly romp featuring vampires who are cheerleaders. I wasn’t a fan of the ritalin comment. As if just because you are energetic and bouncy you need that shitty pill down your throat. Urgh.
3 stars for this volume. Yep, it went down a lot given the previous volume got 4.5 stars.
The Paranormal Mystery Squad: sighs Here we go… Apparently the story continues with them being in court and getting community service (as I would call it). Yes, from what I can see their methods are harsh and cruel in the previous book, but then again, without any more information I am kind of wondering what other teams are doing. I am sure there are more of them. Are they all peaceful then? Is it only this group? More information please, but given how you just get throw in the story I am guessing that won’t happen. sighs And this is why I am often hesitant to read American graphic novel, they just love it a bit too much to just throw you in the story and expect you to magically know everything. Or maybe give you some backstory if you can stick around for a few volumes. No, just no. This time our furry girl has dropped some boxes that are not all that good and that causes some trouble later on. Though again, I wonder about this team as all I can often see is them getting their butt kicked or causing endless destruction. They should really be more a team, and maybe get some more capable members. I have to say I loved the convention and I know the frustration of having my name wrongly spelled. You would think it isn’t that hard… but apparently it is. Plus, the quarantine zone and that person taking over was pretty nicely done and I loved that at least one member was sane. But after that things just went wayyyy over the top for me. Also, could you just use curses? Smurf? Frak? Come on. Either just leave it out all together or man up and use it. And the ending? Was just a bit tooooo much coincidence. I guess I was expecting it though given how the whole story was written and how I knew that if they did x it would be enough. sighs
1 stars for this volume. Yes, 0.5 stars higher as there were finally things that I did like. But not enough for a high score.
I enjoyed the P.M.S. (*sigh*) storyline more than the V.C. storyline this time. Once again, the Cheerleaders were missing a member (their leader, no less) but felt no urgency to find her. I'm just not getting that. As for the Mystery Squad, the jokes were terrible, but the story was entertaining. Although, I wonder what O'Keefe will try to do to them next.
As the second volume was also free on Kindle, I read on and this turned out to be a good decision. Once again, this American manga is a pulp doubleheader.
The Vampire Cheerleaders section is as cheesy as before, but actually has a side story with some real jeopardy and tension, and the characters involved in that part act with logic and agency, so this was a surprisingly good read.
The Paranormal Mystery Squad section benefits from a new artist which greatly improves the graphics, and the story is much tighter and flows better, becoming an okay read.
Once again, this is forgettable, disposable pulp, but it’s a clear improvement over the first volume.
Two books in one.. The vampire cheerleaders and paranormal squad have further adventures.
Good black and white artwork. Reads Japanese style. The vampire cheerleaders compete in a national competition. The paranormal mystery squad stops a demonic resurrection.
It was funny, well paced, and all around better than the first one. It was a major improvement over the first one. Despite the cheerleaders being douches, I still wanted to see what they’d do next. The same with the squad. Hopefully, Stephanie will change her views on cryptids later on. If you like manga, then this’s for you.
I can honestly say I'm done with vampire cheerleaders. The Paranormal Monster Squad is decent. But over sexualizing teenage characters has killed this for me.
So this one takes us back to the Roman Empire I guess... And now there are Gorgons as well So, flash back, Cheer Championship, Death or Murder, Vamp-napping and some bullying. Another fun read.
The Vampire Cheerleaders hit Las Vegas for a cheer competition. Unfortunately their leader Lori gets captured by an unexpected adversary, and the girls are more worried about winning the cheer competition than finding her.
PMS is also in Vegas. Unfortunately one of the team let loose an ancient evil, and it wastes no time in beating up the team and plotting worse. Can they break the spell before something wicked this way comes?
The Cheerleaders felt like it retreaded a lot of the first book, without adding much new except even more T and A. It's a little more serious, too, which works against it. PMS though is a lot more serious, and it's still better than the first, but feels like it drags on too much with less of the humor of the first story. Both aren't bad, but just feel average. Try the sample before you buy, but even so, $4 gets you a lot of story for the Kindle ebook.
I have decided to DNF this book. I loved the first story about the Vampire Cheerleaders. The first book was the same way. I just don't really enjoy the second story. I do like how they somewhat overlap the characters in the story #2 with characters from story #1.
I will continue with the rest of the series if they are more about the Vampire Cheerleaders. I don't want to give much detail on this book because It is a continuation from book 1. This story just happens in Vegas. Which BTW is one of my favorite vacation places.
Our cute vampire cheerleaders head to Vegas for the Cheerleading nationals. While I enjoyed this storyline a little less than the first offering it was still worth reading.
Paranormal Mystery Squad’s second outing was much better. A new artist and a decent story make this second edition readable.