Oops, we did it again. We wrote too many minis for one column. Here we present half the lot; be sure to come back tomorrow for the rest. Phil starts things off for this installment with a look at the fourteenth and final volume of Chibi Vampire (TOKYOPOP); Ken’s up next with the second volume of Dogs: Bullets & Carnage (VIZ); Michelle contributes a review of volume two of Nabari No Ou (Yen Press); Sam weighs in on volume nine of Spiral: The Bonds of Reasoning (Yen Press); and Connie enjoys volume 21 of The Wallflower (Del Rey) more than its immediate predecessors.

Chibi Vampire, Vol. 14

By Yuna Kagesaki
Tokyopop, 208 pp.
Rating: Older Teen 16+

Human/vampire love can be a bloody mess, but you couldn’t tell from this particular volume of Chibi Vampire. Although this is my first time reviewing the series, I had heard of the title before, and was familiar with its premise of a teenage vampire who instead of needing to suck blood, has a biological urge to give hers to others. Much to my surprise, this volume—the last in the series—never demonstrates the character’s potentially messy bodily function. Instead, we get a relatively straightforward rescue mission plot, with some dewy-eyed romantic moments and lighthearted humor thrown in.

Longtime Chibi Vampire fans may very well be satisfied, but this probably doesn’t represent the best jumping-on point for new readers. Presumably, a lot of what would make the ending satisfying depends on one’s emotional attachment to the main characters: Karin, the aforementioned vampire girl, and her human boyfriend Kenta. This volume shows Kenta is willing to face down a lair of hostile bloodsuckers, but we don’t exactly get the best of Karin; for the most part, she seems neurotic and does a lot of crying.

Meanwhile, the big throwdown between rival vampire clans lacks teeth: there’s hardly any visceral action, just a bunch of inky-black special effects tossed about. But with a name like Chibi Vampire, the deficit of full-blown, bloodcurdling horror moments is hardly surprising. At least the artwork is dark and atmospheric at times. Also, the reunion of Karin and Kenta does feel meaningful, although that may have something to do with writer/artist Yuna Kagesaki’s insistence upon it: no less than six pages lead up to their most recent kiss, and the sequence practically feels like it’s in slow motion.

Volume fourteen of Chibi Vampire is available now.

–Reviewed by Phil Guie

Dogs: Bullets & Carnage, Vol. 2

By Shirow Miwa
Viz, 204 pp.
Rating: Mature

The second volume in this action-packed series swings the focus around to Naoto and ties her tale to that of Heine’s. I was a bit surprised by this happening so quickly; it seemed like the kind of thing that might normally be dragged out a bit longer. The revelation of the connection plays out over the entire volume, which is essentially an extended fight sequence between Naoto, Heine and Badou and the freaky twins, Luki and Noki. It’s a fast-paced and energetic battle that’s a bit hard to follow at times, but the revelation helps give it a bit more bite.

I was happy to see Naoto’s tale given so much attention since she’s one of my two favorite characters. Now if Miwa would only give Mihai some more screen time. The twins, characters I initially didn’t like at all, also grew on me a bit thanks to this volume. Miwa’s artwork continues to be incredibly stylish with everything looking as cool, polished and slick as can be. There are a few scattered panels throughout the volume where the action sequences become so frantic and crowded that it loses some amount of clarity, but not enough to really pull me out of the story.

While the sci-fi aspects are beginning to grow on me, Heine isn’t. He’s just not someone I can enjoy as a main character on his own, but when he’s forced to share the spotlight with another character he works fine. It just feels like he lacks a solid sense of purpose at the moment, hopefully he’ll be given one as he’s dragged into Naoto’s own quest and forced to confront his past in future volumes.

Volume two of Dogs: Bullets & Carnage will be available on December 8, 2009.

–Reviewed by Ken Haley

Nabari No Ou, Vol. 2

By Yuhki Kamatani
Yen Press, 192 pp.
Rating: Older Teen

Middle-schooler Miharu Rokujou is the unwilling host of a great ninja power known as Shinra Banshou. He’s got allies who want to extract the power and destroy it, and enemies who want to claim the power for themselves. In this volume, his allies decide to adopt the same plan as their enemies and collect the scrolls of each clan’s forbidden arts, believing that the way to extract Shinra Banshou can be found by combining elements from the various methods. Meanwhile, Miharu is approached by a couple of people who want him to use Shinra Banshou to grant their wishes, one of whom threatens death for Miharu’s friends if he does not comply.

I really want to like Nabari No Ou. The art, relying heavily on contrasts between black and white, is nice to look at and there are some compelling characters. My favorite is Kouichi, Miharu’s studious-looking classmate who turns out to be a capable and surprisingly ruthless ninja. Everyone’s got their own agenda, but bonds are beginning to grow between Miharu and his three protectors, resulting in some nice moments that are the highlights of the series.

In between, though, it’s just so damned boring! There’s a lot of talk about forbidden arts and secret arts and “wisdom” and none of it is explained well enough to have any real impact on the reader. I quite literally fell asleep twice while trying to get through this volume. I had hoped that this second volume would somehow click with me in a way that the first did not, but I’m even more disappointed than before.

Volume two of Nabari No Ou is available now.

–Reviewed by Michelle Smith

Spiral: The Bonds of Reasoning, Vol. 9

By Kyo Shirodaira & Eita Mizuno
Yen Press, 208 pp.
Rating: Teen (13+)

I did and didn’t enjoy Spiral’s ninth volume for various reasons. I think that the book is an excellent portrayal of the different characters’ strengths and it’s a real treat to see a lot of thought put into the story and dialogue; there are a few great pages where one of the characters calls out a killer on his cowardly ways. The main character, Ayumu Narumi, gets a chance to really showcase his logic and reasoning skills. Ayumu is helping the Blade Children fight off Kanon “The Gun with Wings” Hilbert, a fearsome hunter who is unreasonably powerful. With a little push from his friends, Ayumu is able to find a way to break down the unbreakable, using human psychology as a base for his tactics. It is always wonderful to watch characters actually think things out instead of instinctively knowing what to do.

As for my dislikes, the art is starting to work against the serious plot. These kids are in middle school and obviously look quite young but they seem too cutesy to be toting submachine guns and hand grenades and suffering bullet wounds. It was hard for me to really get invested in the story because of this. Also, I understand that this is a volume designed to build up characters and ultimately the tone of the story arc, but not a whole lot happens. There is a lot of interesting talking about plans and actions but they are never put into play; the action that does occur seems rather bland and unexciting.

Volume nine of Spiral: The Bonds of Reasoning is available now.

–Reviewed by Sam Kusek

The Wallflower, Vol. 21

By Tomoko Hayakawa
Del Rey, 182 pp.
Rating: OT (16+)

With a note from Hayakawa at the beginning of the book explaining there was a romantic plot, I was very much looking forward to this volume of The Wallflower, hoping it would be an improvement over the others I’d read. I was worried at first that she was speaking of a short chapter about Yuki and Machiko, but the rest of the book contains a love story between Sunako and Kyohei, and it is quite an improvement over the previous two books.

While the art still strikes me as very lazy, we do get to see a bit more of the characters’ faces rather than the expressionless blobs in the chibified gag art that seems to be the norm. There still isn’t a lot of detail in the backgrounds or the characters’ bodies, and there’s not very many variations in poses when they are drawn more realistically, but at least we get to see their faces during the love story.

Predictably, the love story starts with Kyohei asking Sunako to pretend to be his girlfriend when every girl in the area suddenly starts stalking him, and the chorus of other boys makes him consider the situation more seriously. There are a few good gags when the other girls make Sunako compete for Kyohei, mostly because she really doesn’t care about what’s going on. Unfortunately, the romance isn’t very genuine since Kyohei’s feelings flip like a switch, and it is the other boys that try to convince Sunako to take him seriously since he is suddenly… away. I was also sad to see the slate wiped clean at the very end. Still, It did have a few “shojo moments,” I enjoyed the story while I was reading it, and there’s always something satisfying when subplots fit into one volume.

Volume 21 of The Wallflower is available now.

–Reviewed by Connie C.

Review copies provided by the publishers.