My first manga review did surprisingly well. So, I decided to post a poll to see what manga series that I’ve already started I should review. I want to be able to continue to review the books as I get them. I just summed up what they were about rather than listing the title, and Servamp won with three votes!
This is a series about a teenage boy who rescued a stray cat he found on the street he named Kuro. When he gets home from school that day, he finds a guy playing video games in his apartment and that, the cat he rescued? Yeah, he was actually a vampire. The vampires in this world are forms of the seven deadly sins with the villain being an extra one and each of them may take on Eves, which are humans who they connect with and can use their powers. This series is very action-packed and a little bit ridiculous, but it’s one that you can have a lot of fun with and is still being published both here and in Japan.
I was going to do individual mini-reviews for each of the volumes but then I started to worry that might be a little spoilerish, so this is an overview for the first three volumes so I can review volume 4 once I buy and read it!
This is a series that it took me a while to finally start even though I heard about it a while ago. But it is one that’s very easy to get into. You get straight into how weird this is and the action follows soon after. You have a variety of characters, but a lot of them are very wacky. And the weapons the Eves can use when they pop up? They’re so weird, but it’s interesting to see what can be done with them.
Character-wise, I wasn’t the biggest fan of Kuro. This isn’t exactly a spoiler since he embodies Sloth, but Kuro’s laziness bugged me. I also want to burn the hood off his jacket as he looks a lot better without the fluff around his head. But I feel like that’s probably an unpopular opinion. But, ah well. My favourite so far is one of Mahiru’s school friends, Sakuya. I can’t say why yet, but the truth of his story, and his and Mahiru’s relationship? Yeah, I’m totally here for it and give me more. The other character I think I’m going to like best isn’t in this series yet, so I’m excited to meet them.
Plot-wise the first three volumes do have some interesting build-up. It goes from meeting a vampire to a group of vampires and humans starting to prepare for war. The other characters and groups that join them really added some twists, which, in turn, really helps to build a strong friendship between Mahiru and Kuro. Plus, a lot of silliness too. I feel like this is a series that’s going to get very emotional, and I’m excited to see where it’s going to go.
When it comes to the art, I liked the character designs and style enough to be interested in checking it out, after just seeing fanart of it. The covers are bright, and they definitely draw me in. If I’d have seen the volumes in a shop, I would’ve picked them up eventually. I did go out of my way to start this series though, and though I like the art, I wouldn’t say I love it or anything. It works well for the series, and I don’t have any issues for it. But I personally prefer art that’s a little prettier, and I enjoy looking through the pages.
Genre-wise, I really don’t know what to think of this series. I’ve seen that the magazine it’s in is considered a shonen series for girls. I’ve seen it labelled as shoujo for that reason. Josei on another site. Seinen on the site I bought a copy of the magazine from – as I can’t resist – and then just general shonen. The art definitely closer fits the shonen genre, though the pretty boy looks and the fact Kuro can turn into a cat remind me more of shoujo series. I think that’s one of the reasons I’m so drawn to this series. I don’t know where it fits, and that makes me want to read more so I can see if I can work it out for myself.
This is a seriously fun series and one with an anime that’s a few years old too so you have something to watch if you want to get into the anime too. But it does only have one season so it won’t be the complete story.
4.5/5 stars
Servamp is a monthly serialization in the magazine Monthly Comic Gene and has been since June 2011 with a hiatus in 2017. It’s published in tankobon volumes in Japan by Media Factory and is translated by Seven Seas Entertainment.
BUY LINKS
Lace and Dagger Books 