Aion
Time-Traveller
I started reading Lament of the Lamb last night and didn't stop until I'd read all the volumes in my possession. Ever since I saw the title, which struck me as having far more meaning than most, and the depressing volume cover art I had a feeling the series was for me. I tried hard to win auctions for the first 5 volumes without even reading thefirst chapter, eventually getting the first 5 volumes after having to win a second auction for volumes 1-5. My assumption that it'd be right up my street was on the money -- I couldn't stop reading once I started.
I'm not quite sure what the title means. If it was 'Lament of the Wolf' I'd understand because the main two characters are vampires, which makes them predators, who suffer because of their need to prey on others. Maybe the title refers to the supporting cast who all suffer because the main characters push everyone else away, causing them pain? I don't know. But whatever the meaning behind the title, I like it because it makes me think.
If I were to describe the series, I'd say it's like Saikano, just without the childish dialogue and over the top drama that ruined it. It's very realistic in the way it portrays how people with a craving for the blood of others would act. The main character distances himself from his previous life once it becomes clear he can no longer resist the urge to drink the blood of others. It scares him how, for an unknown reason, his craving 'attacks' always occur when he's near a girl from school he has feelings for, and he's haunted by a dream he had of himself drinking blood from her neck. He assumes (or rather, I assume he assumes) the reasoning behind him lusting for her blood is because of his feelings for her and lust for her body in a sexual sense. His only solution is to stop going to school in order to avoid seeing her and risking hurting her. He has to make other similar sacrifices as well, like putting a wall between himself and his uncle and auntie, who had raised him since he was three.
The characters are all complex. The relationship between Kazuna (the main character) and his sister, Chizuna, is a difficult one to understand. They aren't anything like brother and sister because they grew up apart, and the way they act together isn't how a brother and sister should act. Kazuna drinks blood from his sister, which in itself can be viewed as a sexual act, and they've kissed each other on the mouth more than once. And, adding on to an already twisted relationship, it's said that Kazuna resembles his father and Chizuna her mother. Chizuna also has something of a father complex because, before he died, they lived together alone in insolation, her father viewing her as a replacement for her mother (she died) because of her resembling her mother, and Chizuna was dependent on her father because he gave her blood to prevent her attacking anyone or going crazy. The relationship between Kazuna and Chizuna is probably the most complex I've encountered.
I've had to stop reading because I'm out of volumes. I've ordered volumes 6-7 from Play.com. Volume 6 is in-stock, so it shouldn't take too long for that to arrive, but the final volume is listed as out of stock. I'm just grateful I can order the last volumes at all for lower than the RRP since when I last looked the volumes weren't in-stock anywhere. Like Confidential Confessions, which went out of stock just after I'd ordered the full series from TBD, Lament of the Lamb is too serious for most and isn't popular as a result, and the lack of popularity has caused the series to be quite difficult to buy.
It's very underrated on MAL, with a rating of only around 7.5/10 after something like 1000 votes. It's too good to be rated under 8/10, even when you take into consideration how slow and uneventful it has been compared to most other stories. I HIGHLY recommend any manga fans interested in mature stories pick it up.
I'm not quite sure what the title means. If it was 'Lament of the Wolf' I'd understand because the main two characters are vampires, which makes them predators, who suffer because of their need to prey on others. Maybe the title refers to the supporting cast who all suffer because the main characters push everyone else away, causing them pain? I don't know. But whatever the meaning behind the title, I like it because it makes me think.
If I were to describe the series, I'd say it's like Saikano, just without the childish dialogue and over the top drama that ruined it. It's very realistic in the way it portrays how people with a craving for the blood of others would act. The main character distances himself from his previous life once it becomes clear he can no longer resist the urge to drink the blood of others. It scares him how, for an unknown reason, his craving 'attacks' always occur when he's near a girl from school he has feelings for, and he's haunted by a dream he had of himself drinking blood from her neck. He assumes (or rather, I assume he assumes) the reasoning behind him lusting for her blood is because of his feelings for her and lust for her body in a sexual sense. His only solution is to stop going to school in order to avoid seeing her and risking hurting her. He has to make other similar sacrifices as well, like putting a wall between himself and his uncle and auntie, who had raised him since he was three.
The characters are all complex. The relationship between Kazuna (the main character) and his sister, Chizuna, is a difficult one to understand. They aren't anything like brother and sister because they grew up apart, and the way they act together isn't how a brother and sister should act. Kazuna drinks blood from his sister, which in itself can be viewed as a sexual act, and they've kissed each other on the mouth more than once. And, adding on to an already twisted relationship, it's said that Kazuna resembles his father and Chizuna her mother. Chizuna also has something of a father complex because, before he died, they lived together alone in insolation, her father viewing her as a replacement for her mother (she died) because of her resembling her mother, and Chizuna was dependent on her father because he gave her blood to prevent her attacking anyone or going crazy. The relationship between Kazuna and Chizuna is probably the most complex I've encountered.
I've had to stop reading because I'm out of volumes. I've ordered volumes 6-7 from Play.com. Volume 6 is in-stock, so it shouldn't take too long for that to arrive, but the final volume is listed as out of stock. I'm just grateful I can order the last volumes at all for lower than the RRP since when I last looked the volumes weren't in-stock anywhere. Like Confidential Confessions, which went out of stock just after I'd ordered the full series from TBD, Lament of the Lamb is too serious for most and isn't popular as a result, and the lack of popularity has caused the series to be quite difficult to buy.
It's very underrated on MAL, with a rating of only around 7.5/10 after something like 1000 votes. It's too good to be rated under 8/10, even when you take into consideration how slow and uneventful it has been compared to most other stories. I HIGHLY recommend any manga fans interested in mature stories pick it up.
