Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Trinity Blood Volume 7 by Sunao Yoshida and Kiyo Kyujyo

Abel Nightroad travels with Astharoshe Asran to a meeting of the Assembly, the body that governs the Tzara Methuselate. She is unchanging, ageless and beloved by her subjects. There, he and Asthe meet her uncle, Suleyman, Duke of Tigris. He is a minister of the state and a strong warrior. Soon the Emperor, her majesty, addresses the Assembly, and tells them that in five days there will be a celebration in honor of the 800 years the Empire has existed. But the meeting is quickly taken up with the "problem" of Baron Ion Fortuna and how he has betrayed the Empire.

Asthe is about to object to blaming Ion for his grandmother's death when her uncle does it first. He defends Ion and says they should get substantive proof of his treason first before accusing him. But then another vampire steps forward to attest to the truth, Radu Barvon, Ion's longtime companion and attempted slayer of the Pope and Caterina Sforza, thought dead after the attack on Carthage.

Meanwhile, Ion and Sister Esther Blanchett are sitting on the streets of the city, having sneaked out of Asthe's house, watching the crowds go by. Ion explains to her that there are no taverns because anything that could badly affect the health of Terrans is outlswed in the city. However, alcohol is sold in the office of life, where it is combined with blood to keep the city's vampires alive. Blood is an expensive commodity, and some of the lower class sell their blood to survive in lieu of welfare.

They are interrupted by the arrival of a squirrel named Abel, and its owner, Seth, who immediately gets on Ion's bad side by calling him cute and assuming that Esther is his girlfriend. Esther asks her if she knows where an apothecary named Mimar is located, as she wants to thank him for saving their lives, thinking he was so kindly he could never have anything to do with the attack on the home of Ion's grandmother.

But when they get there, Ion smells blood and he and Esther find that Mr. Mimar has been killed by a man in black, wearing what looks to be like a gasmask on his face. Ion kills the man in black, and learns that Radu Barvon is responsible for Mr. Mimir's death from the dying man, but he says this is impossible, for Radu Barvon is surely dead. Just then, they are attacked by a similarly-clad man, and Esther calls out to warn Ion, who kills the man, but she is injured in the attack. Ion wants to take her to the hospital, but Esther says no. They'll be found out at a hospital.

Seth reappears and offers to help them, and Ion, for all his being a Methuselah and noble, is unable to look her in the eye. He asks her who she is, but she grins and winks and tells him she's just another pretty girl.

Back at the assembly, Abel slips away to meet the Emperor, and meets with a beautiful woman, but he asks her who she is. She says she is in the Emperor's garden, who else could she be but the emperor. She also seems to recognize him from a description, but before the conversation can go further, they are interrupted by Baibars, one of the Emperor's servants, who tries to kill Abel. The woman, however, protects him, and he manages to escape.

Soon enough, they discover an attempt will be made on the life of the Emperor. But with the city crowded with people coming for the celebration, can they make it to the Emperor in time and save her?

I really do love this series, which has wonderful artwork, although many of the characters are tall and reed-slender, there are also women with bosoms and broad-shouldered, muscular men, which provides more than a single body type, unlike some manga artists. I also like the idea of the Cruznik, a avmpire who lives on the blood of other vampires, and fights them, and that the Vampire and the Cruzniks are the results of Nanomachines. It makes the series a mix of the medieval and the futuristic, all at the same time.

The idea of a vampire Emperor/Empress who treats everyone in her empire, human and vampire, exactly the same, and who wants to make peace with the Vatican, is an interesting idea, and now the group from the Vatican, along with the vampire Ion Fortuna, are dedicated to saving her from those who would turn the vampire nation to war with the human-controlled nations.

I'm not sure where the story is going, but I want to be along for the ride, This is one of the series I will actually buy and pay money for. I enjoy it a lot, and recommend it to anyone who will listen. So, try it and see for yourself.

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