Who was the first light haired character to Ed, other than a food source? How did they meet? Is he human or vampire? The time jump was disappointing, Phil was not only *not* a vampire, he was kind of plain and uninteresting for a character. I thought, for a moment, we were seeing Ed's past relationship with the "food source" until he called him Phil. I was also under the impression that Ed had turned Phil when he offered him his blood. Only later is it revealed that this manga does not follow the typical vampire folklore and drinking the blood of a vampire does not turn one and vampires are not burned to ash by the sun. In a medium as short as a manga, these details should not be left hidden until the last chapter. It causes confusion when the reader understands the story based on known folklore only to have the known folklore ignored. The reader gets to the end understanding the story and then in the last chapter they are told, "That isn't how things work, but I won't be telling you how they do work. Sorry." Then, there is the question of the librarian. Is she a meal, a friend, a love interest, or an attempt to make Ed jealous? Again, no answers. If I wanted to write endings for the stories I read, I would simply write my own stories from the beginning, rather than just the ending to someone else's. For me, personally, I find authors who leave too many major questions unanswered either lazy or unimaginative. Things like, "do they live happily ever after", is not what I mean. I am referring to the dynamics of the plot, development of the characters and reasons behind a characters choices. These are details that can not be ignored in order for a story to feel complete. This was the first manga by this mangaka. So, although it has its own flaws, it also serves as an indicator of growth when compared to their other, later, works. If for no other purpose than to highlight this mangaka's evolution, this story is worth reading.
Who was the first light haired character to Ed, other than a food source? How did they meet? Is he human or vampire? The time jump was disappointing, Phil was not only *not* a vampire, he was kind of plain and uninteresting for a character. I thought, for a moment, we were seeing Ed's past relationship with the "food source" until he called him Phil. I was also under the impression that Ed had turned Phil when he offered him his blood. Only later is it revealed that this manga does not follow the typical vampire folklore and drinking the blood of a vampire does not turn one and vampires are not burned to ash by the sun. In a medium as short as a manga, these details should not be left hidden until the last chapter. It causes confusion when the reader understands the story based on known folklore only to have the known folklore ignored. The reader gets to the end understanding the story and then in the last chapter they are told, "That isn't how things work, but I won't be telling you how they do work. Sorry." Then, there is the question of the librarian. Is she a meal, a friend, a love interest, or an attempt to make Ed jealous? Again, no answers. If I wanted to write endings for the stories I read, I would simply write my own stories from the beginning, rather than just the ending to someone else's. For me, personally, I find authors who leave too many major questions unanswered either lazy or unimaginative. Things like, "do they live happily ever after", is not what I mean. I am referring to the dynamics of the plot, development of the characters and reasons behind a characters choices. These are details that can not be ignored in order for a story to feel complete. This was the first manga by this mangaka. So, although it has its own flaws, it also serves as an indicator of growth when compared to their other, later, works. If for no other purpose than to highlight this mangaka's evolution, this story is worth reading.