#DRCL midnight children, Vol. 5

#DRCL midnight children #5

by Shin'ichi Sakamoto, Bram Stoker (draft_writer)

The fiction of Mina’s world begins to unravel as the spirit of Jonathan Harker reveals the dark truth behind his journey to Transylvania—as well as the tragic fate that awaited him. With Mina now reeling from the loss of one the most important people in her life, will she be able to endure the loss of another to help see through the mission of the Camellia Club?

Genres: Manga, Horror, Fantasy, Vampires, Seinen, Historical Fiction, LGBT

216 pages, Hardcover

First published November 19, 2024

About the author

Sakamoto Shin'ichi (坂本眞一) is a Japanese mangaka.
He is mostly famous for his series Innocent and Innocent Rouge.
He is currently working on #DRCL midnight children based on the classic by Bram Stoker.

Reviews

[Alexias D'Avino · Rating 4 out of 5]

The horror continues and this time Luke fights with his demons once and for all. Still not over the fact that Dracula is Michael Jackson, but the rest is PERFECT.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

CW: blood, gore, violence, death, murder, sexism, classism, [moderate:] misogyny, racial slurs

AAAAAAAAAAAAA

1. there's a typo that says 1988
2. THANK YOU SHI'ICHI SAKAMOTO for properly portraying the Ripper victims as not-sex workers

[pareidolia]

Can't spell Transylvania without trans.

Anyhow. Ever read a work of fiction that completely eroded your sanity? That's how I feel with #DRCL. What a reveal.

[Babeth]

Je pense que #DRCL va définitivement être le point de jonction entre les pires travers de Sakomoto et ses qualités les plus percutantes: ce sera probablement souvent too much, comme Dracula en Michael Jackson par exemple, ou ces maudites bouches grandes ouvertes où l'effarement ou la béatitude ne sont absolument pas différenciés (et oui, ça me tue d'agacement! ). Le trait sera toujours magistral et la froideur qui se dégagera de l'ensemble (tant au niveau graphique que dans le traitement des personnages) sera perturbante pour bon nombre de lecteurs...
La question est la suivante: irais-je au bout de cette œuvre? A chaque fois que j'ouvre un nouveau tome, je me dis que non... Et quand je le referme je me dis que je tenterais le suivant.

Je reste impressionnée par le propos toujours si pro-féministe de l'auteur et c'est probablement une des raisons qui me fait continuer #DRCL.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Graphiquement c’est vrmnt une folie furieuse purée
Mais une question subsiste (plutôt 1000 mais passons) pourquoi Michael Jackson ???

[Priscilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Premier tome de la saga où je suis légèrement déçue. Le dessin est toujours aussi magnifique, mais l'intrigue prend une tournure vraiment très étrange et j'ai un peu de mal à voir où on va. Je sais que je continuerai de lire ne serait-ce que pour le dessin, c'est vraiment l'un des plus beaux mangas que j'ai pu lire, entre fantastique, horreur et queer.

[deborah.reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

WTF? NON HO CAPITO NIENTE

[Elise Belleville · Rating 5 out of 5]

La première moitié du tome était d'une grande tristesse mais aussi d'une gtande beauté...

Par contre la seconde... Jo, il faut aller voir un psy je pense...

[Richard Humphries · Rating 3 out of 5]

far less questionably gross than the prior volume, it retains its beautiful dream-logic aesthetic & approach; but the pacing here feels much slower.

[libriconali · Rating 4 out of 5]

WTF?!?!!??

[atealantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Confused start, but damn the concepts are cool and BANGER illustrations



despite Michael Jackson as Dracula xD

[Andrea Ambroso · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finalmente questo volume porta a termine la story line di Luke/Lucy che era stata lasciata in sospeso ormai da due volumi. Ma c’è di più: conclude anche il flashback di Jonathan di quando aveva conosciuto il conte Dracula nel suo castello e di come si era preparato alla partenza per arrivare a Whitby, inoltre la fine prematura del ragazzo che decide di morire invece che diventare uno schiavo del conte. Il filo conduttore di tutto è il legame mentale che Mina ha sia con Jonathan che con Luke, e proprio la coscienza di Luke prende il sopravvento su Lucy aiutando i ragazzi a uccidere Lucy una volta per tutte.
Nella seconda parte del volume vediamo l’inizio di una nuova storia sempre collegata a Dracula: il ritorno di Jack lo Squartatore. L’investigazione è portata avanti solo da Jo Suwa, gli altri ragazzi sono bloccati a scuola, mentre lui riesce a recarsi a Whitechapel e grazie alla sua marionetta Renfield riesce a fiutare il conte o almeno le restanti casse. Interessante è di come veniamo a conoscenza della sua ossessione per il defunto Luke e di come e perché ha creato la marionetta. Questo escamotage permette di concentrarsi su un personaggio solo e di conoscerlo a tutto tondo, lo trovo molto interessante e spero ci sarà un approfondimento per ogni singolo personaggio.

[J.L.M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very messy. You can't have your vampires be a metaphor for both marginalized people and the system that is killing them.

[MIEL · Rating 5 out of 5]

ça fait le meme effet de prendre du LSD

[Tachan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Toujours aussi fou, baroque et psychédélique, ce tome 5 avec son Dracul-Jackson de minuit est encore une véritable expérience à lire en plus d'être un tournant. 

Le démarrage n'est pourtant pas le plus accrocheur de la série. L'affect n'est pas entièrement là pour ma part et je me suis sentie plus perdue que d'habitude face à cette plongée de Mina dans les pensées de son ami Jonathan, à travers une expérience de la pensée à travers le temps et l'espace. L'auteur ici joue avec toujours autant de délice avec la folie pour le spiritisme qui s'est emparé des habitants du XIXe, Victor Hugo en fut un praticien célèbre, et Mina semble sa contemporaine avec sa plaque de Ouija. 

Mais le vrai intérêt de ce moment de stupeur psychédélique vient du lien qu'on fait assurément entre Dracula, cet être rencontré par Jonathan et ramené en Angleterre pour prendre possession de Lucy, ce contre quoi vont lutter nos jeunes amis, et la lutte devient ici féroce. On assiste à un combat biblique fou entre eux et Lucy/Dracul qui est fascinant, une vraie expérience graphique et artistique, mais aussi une expérience des sens où les sentiments sont mis à rude épreuve, sonnant le glas de la 1e partie de l'oeuvre de manière magistrale.

Sakamoto amorce ainsi un virage certain. L'introduction est terminé. Le groupe de chasseurs est formé. Il a eu sa première expérience traumatisante. Il est prêt à se lancer à la poursuite de Dracula. Et la seconde partie du volume met cela en scène grâce à une nouvelle figure emblématique du XIXe et de Londres en particulier : Jack the ripper ! Quel bonheur de le voir ainsi jouer avec la pop culture ! Son poursuivant n'est autre que Jo, notre étudiant venu du Japon, qui joue à la fois les Sherlock (impossible de ne pas y penser vu son costume) et les Dr Frankenstein dont la créature lui échappe. Fascinant, étrange, ce nouvel arc démarre fort avec la rencontre de ce peintre fou et mystérieux. Je suis pleine de curiosité.

Pour finir, comment ne pas parler des dessins de l'auteur. Il m'a encore fait passer un moment incroyable en cela, même s'il va très loin ici, de plus en plus, dans l'expression de la folie, la déformation des sens et son impact sur les corps. On est dans un baroque très proche du body horror et de l'horreur tout corps, avec des déformations, des déchirements, des fluides très malaisants et beaux à la fois dans cette poésie macabre. Mais ce n'est clairement pas pour tous. Ça pue le trauma. C'est très sanguinolent et violent. Ça laisse des marques !

Pas mon tome préféré de la saga malgré sa richesse de ton et de référence mais un tome charnière où la folie draculéenne prend une nouvelle tournure et où j'ai eu l'impression que l'histoire était définitivement lancée sans retour en arrière possible. Je n'ai pas forcément aimé le flashback dans les Carpates qui vient brouiller les pistes. J'ai trouvé plus fort et impactant l'aventure tragique londonienne de notre club des Enfants de Minuit dans cette folie vagabonde et déformante qui se jette sur tous. Fascinant !

Article complet : https://lesblablasdetachan.wordpress....

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

DRCL remains a very strange work. The moments that don't work for me are often almost equally interesting to me as the parts that work really well. It's a rather overwrought and overstuffed mess. But hey, Stoker's novel is kinda those things too, so...it's fine. Who am I to be upset with a work that so clearly stated what it was on the tin?

However, I do think it's getting too enamored with itself, and starting to lose its way. The pacing is wonky, and compresses the first part, which shortchanges some key moments regarding Lucy/Luke and the boys, as well as with Mina and Harker. For a story that is so intentionally overwrought to scuttle the emotional and relational stakes in the first half only so we can wander through the second half just seems bizarre (in a frustrating way). It's like the volume is competing with itself, or its publisher, about what it wants to be. So it becomes both too short and too long at the same time. The Jack the Ripper tie-in suffers in this regard too, and ultimately I don't think it brought much to the mix for me that wasn't already there.

Where it delivers the terrible goods: Dracula as Michael Jackson, preying on children (and adults), while slumming through London in the shadow of Big Ben ("Ben" being Jackson's first no 1 hit as a child performer within an exploitative and predatory music industry). That's one hell of a grotesque move. Speaking of London: those mysterious crates. Dracula fused to industry, environment, civilization. The entire landscape now contaminated and hostile. That's good stuff. Very here for it.

So vol 4 & 5 may have fallen off a bit, for me, compared to the first three volumes. But there remains enough compelling and intriguing material that I'm still game to read on.

[Christian Luigi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Continua il lavoro, meraviglioso e originalissimo, di Sakamoto in questa rielaborazione assolutamente apocrifa di Dracula di Stoker, dissoluta e così affascinante come solo qualcuno che ha una cultura profondamente distante da quella del materiale di partenza può avere. Magistrale la regia delle vignette, il ritmo narrativo lo trovo a tratti troppo caotico, ma non stona molto con il delirio che quest'opera sta assumendo. Visivamente meraviglioso, vorrei poter staccare ogni tavola e appenderla al muro, ma dovrei avere intere gallerie solo per questo scopo. Fortunatamente i manga si racchiudono in uno spazio ristretto e finito. La morte di Luke è un vuoto che diventa percepibile in tutti i protagonisti, tristemente legati dall'amore per questo cervo sacro la cui dolorosa e a tratti contraddittoria bellezza riempivano le loro vite. È una lettura lenta, anche nelle parti più action, per il semplice fatto che è così densa, come opera, da non poter andare più veloci di così senza compromettere la fruizione. Non vedo l'ora di vedere il prossimo volume per godermi dove andrà a parare il Maestro. Bellissimi "jump scare", molto ben piazzati.

[Debo · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Michael Jackson of it all is killing my vibe completely.
ANYWAY, this volume lowkey lost me. I haven’t read Dracula, but does the original also cram in Jack the Ripper and the Pygmalion myth and Sherlock Holmes and are we playing a Victorian England bingo card I don’t know about?
The art style is still amazing, the language in English as well as German (so maaaybe also the original?) has some serious flaws and while I want to know the story, I didn’t enjoy my reading experience all that much :/

CNs for murder, murder, murder, depictions of mutilated corpses, body horror, the pedophilic vibes keep souring the air, sexism, uncomfy causality merger of mental health notions and notions of queerness (it’s hard to explain, this manga doesn’t use the words for any of this, but the imagery and connotations are very clear to me all the same), in this we buried our gays AND our disability rep, yaaaaay

[Afnan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being one to be familiar enough with the dracula lore, this was a good fun to follow the alterations of each character I've been familiar with through many versions of them in the past, that with the obvious lavish & magical artwork by the artist. At first it did felt like I'm following the same story beat I've seen before with just a few tweakings, even thought the main male trio were a bit shallow, with the actual interesting male characters either gone early or came late into the story—but that was before I found out there's more beyond the encounter with the Count, I thought that was the finale of the story, so once they went forward after that, I became more excited since the changes to the characters now felt deeper and they seem to be going towards some new territories that i haven't experienced before.

[Worm · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm confused and conflicted.
This volume was fantastic- I've loved the series so far as a whole- and this volume would have been a 5/5 if not for my confusion.
The majority of this volume pulls together the pieces of Luke/Lucy's journey and Mina's perspective/connection to it- I absolutely loved Jonathan's part. But that's the thing, the story seems to tie together with a pretty conclusive ending- but then it continues. And where it actually left off, felt like it should be a continuation...but the series says end- and it's just not satisfying at all :( I don't mind open-ended endings, but this one felt like it didn't end- like it's a set up for the plot to continue in another volume- and it's just a bit frustrating being left with that as the series conclusion.

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tra Mina in balia di poteri psichici e la dolorosa dipartita di Luke, la prima parte dell'albo è a dir poco allucinante. Nella seconda parte del volume, invece, si entra in una nuova fase della storia: nuovi scopi, nuovo scenario e nuovi personaggi secondari. Inoltre, ho apprezzato l'incursione di Jack lo squartatore e l'omaggio alla Creatura di Frankenstein. Senza ombra di dubbio sono aggiunte del manga che si discostano molto da ciò che è Dracula, ma, essendo Midnight Children una rielaborazione libera dell'opera di Stoker, trovo che questi elementi diano più ampio respiro alla storia che si è voluta raccontare.

[ZicZag · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shin’ichi Sakamoto schafft es mal wieder, die Leserschaft mit einer spannenden Geschichte und den genialsten digitalen Zeichnungen, die ich bisher gesehen habe, in den Bann zu ziehen. Nachdem ich auch Bram Stokers Dracula gelesen habe, kann ich jetzt endlich sagen, dass DRCL die Vorlage um Längen übertrifft – zum einen, weil so viel mehr abgebildet wird, und zum anderen, weil der Vibe deutlich besser eingefangen wurde.
Auch die Entscheidung, Jugendliche zu den Protagonisten zu machen, bringt eine schöne und abwechslungsreiche Dynamik in die Geschichte.

[Noniu2 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quinto tomo de este manga que reinventa Drácula de Bram Stoker. Visualmente es una obra de arte. Una explosión de belleza y terror que atrapa al lector. Me gusta como reinventa tramas como la sexualidad, la violencia y la amistad de la novela original. El personaje de Luke/Lucy es un acierto. Al igual que la obra original ya es un icono cultural, no deja de sorprender las viñetas tan iconográficas que hace el dibujante.

[Ephelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

★★★.75

Sicuramente meglio dello scorso volume.
Ci stiamo allontanando dal Dracula di Stoker per addentrarci in un puzzle di orrore vittoriano, tra Jack Lo Squartatore, bambole meccaniche e indagini alla Sherlock Holmes. Sicuramente originale, ma ho preferito i primissimi volumi.

[poesielos · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's really confusing sometimes how Sakamoto mixes the Dracula plot with other stories and what exactly is real or dream... mostly I am just along for the surreal ride and pretty art at this point. I do wonder though how many volumes will get at the end..

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Art is gorgeous as always, but not much happens in this volume, which was disappointing. It felt like a filler volume? Like you could skip it completely and it wouldn't affect the story at all. I think volume 6 is the final one, so I have a feeling that one will be better.

[Aaron Meyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now we begin the search for the Count in England and Joe makes a solo trip to London. I like the fact that we are able to tie Jack the Ripper in to the saga as well. Definitely makes for a good rousing tale. The art is impeccable and graphic, dark and so intense. Absolutely loving it.

[Michele Magnabosco · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5⭐️ per la storia, 5⭐️ per il disegno

[Mónica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creepy, gorgeous and amazing

[Vivienne Beloved · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 ⭐️