Whoo, boy, is this an angsty volume, with Mika finally saying the three words we all know he’s been thinking, in the saddest possible context! But it ends on a hopeful note. Essentially, this is “last act of Romeo and Juliet…if Romeo had ” [As that implies, TW for suicidal thoughts]
There’s also a return to the conflict between senior vampires in the middle of the volume, which is rather complex and hard to follow, especially when reeling from ALL THAT – though the Ferid and Crowley banter does provide a bit of a reprieve.
Also, seeing what Mika’s perfect fantasy world looks like is heartbreaking…but, also, are we really surprised? No. Obviously that’s what his deepest wish is!
Best and worst moments (spoilers, obviously!): - Asuramaru tries to tell Yu it isn’t his fault Mika is dying, that sometimes all the power in the world isn’t enough to get what you want. They even offer to let Yu attack them: “If it means healing what’s hurting you even a tiny bit, I’ll do whatever you say. So please, don’t cry.” They also assure him it’s OK if he doesn’t want to go on, even joking a little: “Pretty convenient for me, really. If you die, then your body is mine for the taking.” [Yu, smiling slightly] “Me dying would make you happy, huh? Great. I can at least be useful then.” [A] “Yeah. Only a little, though.” They go on to add: “Humanity has never needed to be strong…For humans, it’s OK to cry. If it hurts and you’re scared, running away is fine.” At first it seems Asuramaru will do as Yu asks – kill him and take his body – but then: “Mika said something there at the end. And I think it’s really about time you remembered what it was.” (flashback to Mika saying “I’ll keep you safe”) “Mika loved you. He gave his life for you. In his final moments he gave you a reason to keep living. But you’re gonna ignore that and go keel over and die, right?...Look at that life you have. Watch Mika die, to give you a reason to live. Watch closely, with your eyes wide open. Got it? You empty, helpless little devil.” - Yu comes back to himself, Mika disintegrating in the sky above him. [Mika] “Yu-chan… Don’t…Cry” [Yu] “Mika! Don’t leave me! I don’t wanna be alone!” [Mika, who can see Yu’s friends coming for him] You’ll be fine. I know you will “Yu-chan…I love you.” (dramatic explosion) - The next chapter switches back to Ferid and Crowley, which – entertaining as they always are, especially with some blood-related sort-of-flirting happening here – is probably not what any of us wanted at the moment! However, it is a reminder that there is a larger-scale plot going on. Ferid and Crowley find Saito, who is not in good shape at the moment, and then the other more senior vampires find them. - One detail I missed on my first read was that Mika got stabbed with a syringe he thought Guren meant for Yu…but hearing the power of his “death wail” Noyu is immediately suspicious that the shot did something important. [Noyu] “What the hell, you two? What are you after?” [Mahiru] “…Isn’t it obvious? Humans only ever want one thing… Love.” Huh. Well, I guess that fits in with Guren’s desire to save Shinya and his comrades – possibly others, as well, though I’m not sure how much of that I believe. Does Guren plan to save Mahiru too? Well, considering he was ignoring her during that speech and only grunts “Shut up and finish it”…IDK. It is interesting that he sounds MORE hostile when she’s flirting with him! - We know that Mika is transforming into a black demon, like the kind inside the black demon company’s weapons. However, the next thing we see of him, Mika seems to be in some kind of dream where he’s just a kid again - maybe 12, like when he was turned, or a little younger - and all the Hyakuya orphans are alive. He and Yu are taking care of all of them in a normal house, in a world with no apocalypse. Mika is blissfully happy, but notices he’s getting bits and pieces of memories – monsters, the orphanage director, etc. – that this Yu doesn’t seem to share. But, OMG, this exchange, even after he realizes it isn’t real!: [Mika] “For all your complaints, you look after everyone really well. You’re way different from when we first met…You were all like ‘I’m a demon! I can’t be anyone’s friend. I can’t be family with anybody!’…But now you’re like the mom of our whole family.” [Yu] “How come I hafta be the mom?” [Mika] “You wanna be the dad instead? Hi Papa!” [Yu] “Shaddup.” Mika goes on to talk about how amazing it is to have everyone alive and healthy and together. He pictures growing up. “I’m sure some of us will go our separate ways, but the two of us will always stick together. Eventually we’ll turn 30, and then 50. Well, okay, by the time we’re a hundred we’ll probably be dead. But still. If we can look back and say we had a full life being nice and considerate to everybody…Wouldn’t that be, y’know, a really nice way to go?” Auggh, my poor baby! Things start taking a creepy turn, though, as “dream Yu” starts insisting that they can surely stay together for a thousand years, maybe forever, if Mika just accepts that it’s his deepest desire. [Mika] “I know that this is what I want most. I know it from the bottom of my heart. But, but, Yu-chan. This is a dream. It’s not real.” [dream Yu] “If you choose to become a demon who devours human desires, you’ll be able to stay here with me…That’s what you want. And what I want too.” Shudder! - In another flashback to dark ages Greece, we learn the First had been cast out from somewhere: “They blamed me for their crimes, made me into this, even killed my beloved child.” So…it isn’t made clear yet who “they” are, but I’m guessing angels or gods. Meaning Mika is literally an angel/the child of the first vampire! Dang. - Back in present day, Yu doesn’t want to leave the transforming Mika, but Krul drags him (and by proxy her sibling Ashera) away, reminding Yu that a newborn demon will be super dangerous. [Krul] “If you let him kill you now, then you’ll never have a chance to save him again!” [Yu, still weeping, but suddenly all ears] “Huh? Wait, what did you just say?” [Krul] “What?! I said let’s get out of here!” [Y] “No, say what you just said! What’s that about saving Mika?! Is there a way to save him?...Mika!! Hey Mika!! I’ll save you, I promise!! No matter where in the world you are, I’ll find you and save you! So wait for me, okay?!” - Somewhat hilariously, Yu immediately decides Krul is “family” on the basis that she’s Asuramaru’s sister and the one who saved Mika’s life (by making him a vampire against his will…but still!). And they meet up with the Shinoa squad on the way.
OK, so…very interesting (and super sad/unhealthy) that Yu equates losing Mika to being alone forever. We know that isn’t literally true – as Yu and Asuramaru are talking, the Shinoa squad is racing to the rescue. Even Kimizuki was willing to put “save my dead sister” on hold for a minute simply because Yoichi could see even through his sniper scope that Yu was crying helplessly. They ALL care about him like family. Probably Yu knows this, if he reflected on it for a second. The First even announced to Yu that Shinoa is in love with him and would risk her life to help him, which she does. But that doesn’t matter in this moment, because I think it is only Mika’s love that Yu truly believes in. Mika has seen him at his very worst – a bratty kid pushing everyone away, a coward (in Yu’s opinion) running away rather than staying to die with his family, turning into a literal monster – and still obviously cares about him unconditionally. Luckily, though, even his most unlikely friend, a literal demon, puts off what is supposedly a demon’s greatest desire to tell him to stop being so self-absorbed (what kind of ungrateful jerk would you throw away the life the person he loves just bought with their own?) and so dumb (because even an airhead like Yu should know that vampires that die of blood loss aren’t just GONE but become demons!).
It is also interesting that, in Mika’s perfect fantasy world, he and Yu are de-aged. I’ll get back to this once we’ve seen both his demon form(s), but I THINK what’s happening is this: How demons look reflects their own self image. Mika HATED being a vampire, so it makes sense that the self-image he chooses comes from when he was human. In fact, I suspect it is himself as a human BEFORE he made what he sees as his biggest mistake: Offering his blood to Ferid* in service of the escape plan that got their family killed and him turned into a vampire, and which separated him from Yu for four years. So even though he and Yu have grown up in the interim, part of his wish is to roll back time to a more innocent point, before all of that pain…though preferably with a version of Yu who has worked through his own trauma enough to not push him away - which real 12-year-old Yu definitely hadn’t quite managed!
*-An exchange which has some serious “bad touch” vibes, confirmed by the ‘Vampire Michaela’ light novel. In the vampire blood-for-sex metaphor sense rather than the 100% literal sense, to be clear – though given that the effects are very similar, the distinction only matters for content-ratings, not for plot reasons!
I...what the actual hell is happening? I think I need to re-read from the beginning because there's so much going on and so much that isn't being explained that it's driving me crazy.
(I actually don't really understand like I know what's happening-kinda-but like also not really, I understand the characters-maybe it's just cause I don't pay enough attention-but I think it's a bit messy) (like the character trees are getting too complicated)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
october 1 i finished!!! chapter 95 was so fun. shinoa and mitsuba getting wasted and dragging yoichi in with them. then yu and kimizuki fighting and kimizuki getting stronger yeppp good stuff. four stars tho bc i have absolutely no memory of the first five chapters lol.
september 6 only chapters 90-94 are out rn so i’m going to let this collect dust on my cr shelf until chapter 95 comes out early october :p
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
90. "Because of Mikaela" (理由はミカエラ, Riyū wa Mikaera) 91. "Orphan Prince" (孤児プリンス, Minashigo Purinsu) 92. "Black Demon Scenario" (黒鬼のシナリオ, Kuro Oni no Shinario?) 93. "Desire Within Desire" (欲の中のヨク, Yoku no Naka no Yoku) 94. "Hole in the Sun" (太陽のアナ Taiyō no Ana?)
Oh this one got a little kick to it. I feel like it's too early in the morning to violently sob to fictional characters but okay.🙄
Anyone who says Mikayuu isn't a real ship is delusional at this point because??? Mika says he loves him.😭 I didn't expect those actual words but he says those actual words oh my god. Like that shit was ROMANTIC.
His biggest dream is to GROW OLD WITH YU and live together forever. It's so telling and breaks my heart actually because in his dream, he goes back to when they were just innocent kids, before he was turned into something he hated.
Then Yu immediately wants to kill himself when Mika gets killed?? When he finds out he can still save him, he promises he will and that's what keeps him going.😭 This ship is actually insane like okay soulmates. Okay eternal love and promises to be together for a thousand years. Okay promising to do the impossible no matter what the consequences will be. But yes, just friends right!!🤭
Normally killing my favorite characters is a capital offense in which I would have quit the series but in this time, eh. Life and death and characters dying or turning into something else is apparently not permanent here. Still ruined my entire day though!!
Yu is so funny- he finds out that Krul is the sister of his sword demon and he's instantly like "omg we're FAMILY.🫶♥️ "
Mitsuba and Shinoa moment was cute until the writer remembered he's a horny weirdo and then suddenly they were talking about their boobs again like???? So stupid.
Then in the middle of this we get the old vampires fighting. Idk what any of them are doing and why they don't get along but Ferid FLIRTING with Crowley in the middle of the battlefield is so on brand for his unhinged ass. Truly surprised he's even still alive at this point like dude is begging for death but then just keeps surviving. Also Guren you are so hot but you suck btw.
Absolutely devastating to have a mental breakdown over this at 8am and then immediately have to go to work.💀
I knew this was gonna be a tear jerker, but I didn't expect them to actually kill one of the main characters. There's so much plot development it's driving me insane.
I just want to sit in a corner and cry this volume broke my heart, AND NOT IN A GOOD WAY EITHER!!! Fuck Guren I don't see how you can come back from this.
• Mika saying I love you to Yu than how they showed his dream and greatest desire is to stay by Yu's side forever, plus all their lil stares anx smiles and promises IM CRYING this ship is real and nothing can change my mind. • I'll ask it again poor Crowley and why does he keep following Ferid insane shenanigans? Like at this point I'm so sure Ferid is truly insane there is no denying it. Tho gotta admit I do love their dynamic. • so.... is Mika's demon transformation some kind of reincarnation to the first vampire's son? 👀 bcuz I can swear they look the same! Then were The Greek Mika and Yu friends too? Are they eternally connected? Would Mika get to turn into a human every again?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I honestly don't know how i feel about this volume. This one was a whole rollercoaster in one volume. I literally didn't even realize i'd finished this volume until i did not see it in my "read" list. So complicated did this volume make me feel. Like the previous one was so confusing and this one? My heart!!!!! How can someone do all of this in just one small book! I honestly don't know how to form my words about this volume. For the oddest reason i was shipping Yu and Mika so much and when Mika finally said: "I love you" to Yu, my fangirling heart just went BOOOOOOM! And then? Urggggh, this volume was a real heartbreaker! But we are still not yet in the middle of the story according to Takaya Kagami and still a lot of plots will be revealed, like bruhhhh? How many more monkeys do ya wanna shove out of ya sleeve???? This was just a warming up????
I am so excited yet anxious about what will come next in this series. I can't wait till April to have the next volume in my hands.
I have to admit, i already spoiled my sorry ass on a few chapters just to be sure that and that didn't go as smooth as i wanted to. Now i am even more curious yet impatient to have this next volume! T__T
We will be even more shocked in the upcoming volumes, i am sure of it and i can't wait! <3
Mika, Mika, I’m crying for you, but it’s not over yet. Not for you. What an irony to find out how precious you truly are to certain all-powerful individuals, yet the clues have been planted about this for some time. You’re breaking Yu’s heart even as you reunite two other estranged family members for the first time in centuries. Nor is this the only reunion happening. A certain playfully wicked vampire confront his “father” even as Crowley recalls his own less than blissful treatment at Ferid Bathory’s hands. Vampire detatchment can be a blessing when experiencing flashbacks. As Mika undergoes his change, I’m left wondering how much of this was Guren’s plan? How much was Mahiru’s? Jaw-dropping revelations were lobbed at the reader, answering many questions while giving birth to new ones in another stunning volume of this beautiful, post-apocalyptic series about vampires, demons, seraph, and human conseqences. Once again I’m left breathless, eager for more.
Il volume 23 è l'ultimo che mi manca da recuperare... Ne uscirò distrutta? Può darsi.
Sono super iper mega confusa riguardo a dove la storia andrà a parare. Detto questo 5 stelle meritate. Adoro le scene di Yu e Mikaela insieme ❤
P.S. È illegale far uscire così pochi volumi all'anno. Io non posso rimanere con dei mega colpi di scena a fine volume sapendo che il prossimo volume uscirà (forse) a febbraio!!
I just want to sit in a corner and cry this volume broke my heart, AND NOT IN A GOOD WAY EITHER!!! Fuck Guren I don't see how you can come back from this.
Mika saying I love you to Yu than how they showed his dream and greatest desire is to stay by Yu's side forever, plus all their lil stares anx smiles and promises IM CRYING this ship is real and nothing can change my mind.
We move forward with Ferid plot as we see him trying to complete his goal of killing Rigr but revealing that the other Vampires have arrived as they enter the battle. We also see Krul finally reach Yu and Mikela but it does end on a cliffhanger as they are about to deal with Mikela's transformation into a demon.
i'm distraught and just. the layers are layering and the plot keeps thickening.... what's going on? its the fact that guren's plans are still so vague even after he has blatantly explained what he plans to do.... and my mikaela..... :(