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Title: Chibi-Vampire Vol 13

Author: Yuna Kagesaki

Publisher: Tokyopop

ISBN: 9781427812797

May Contain Spoilers

Argh! Diamond was soliciting this as the last volume, and I believed them!  It’s not!  There’s one left to go, but all through this one, I kept thinking that it was the end, steeling myself for it to be over.  When I hit the end, and saw the preview for the real final volume, I was disappointed that it I have to wait until the fall to get the lowdown on Karin’s kidnapping and rescue.  Oh, well, I don’t think I was ready to say goodbye to this series, yet, anyway.

Karin is betrayed and kidnapped by Tachibana and her uncle, Glark.  Glark is working for the Brownlick’s, the leaders of the Japanese vampires.  These people do not have Karin’s best interests at heart, to say the least.  Oh, no.  They want to suck her blood dry, and use it for their own selfish purposes!  They don’t care that it’s going to leave Karin very, very dead!  Will the Markers and Kenta be able to find her before it’s too late??

This entire volume had me on the edge of my seat.  Poor Karin!  Poor Kenta!  After finally sharing their first kiss, the young couple is cruelly torn apart, perhaps permanently.  Karin is tricked by Tachibana, and after luring the naive girl away from the protective barriers and watchful bats that her family has installed to keep an eye on her, Karin finds herself in the evil clutches of Glark.  Glark is going to turn her over to the Brownlicks, so they can use her blood to revitalize the remaining vampires.  Nobody seems to care that it’s going to leave Karin a lifeless husk.  The only thing they care about is getting her blood and ensuring that the vampires don’t become extinct.

Karin spends most of the ordeal crying hysterically, which I didn’t like.  She does find a bit of a fighting spirit when Kenta is threatened, but for the most part, she is left to weep, tears and snot dripping down her face, in the corner of a panel.  I know it’s in her personality to behave like that, and she was in a scary situation that she didn’t have much hope of escaping, but I didn’t enjoy seeing the normally more cheerful girl in such a state.  It made me really angry at Glark, Tachibana, and the evil Brownlick.  I hope they all die soon.

Kenta also puts up with a lot of abuse in this volume.  Anju unloads on him for not keeping a better eye on Karin, the rest of the family dismisses him, not believing he can help rescue Karin, and the other vampires get a few licks in as well.  Still, you have to hand it to him – despite his setbacks and the beatings, he is still just as determined as ever to save Karin.  He’s not going to let anything happen to her, even if it means his life.  Since he is the only one who can track her down, it would have been to the Markers’ advantage to pay attention to him, but no, they lose an opportunity to wrest Karin from the nefarious clutches she’s fallen into.

Elda is still one of my favorite characters.  She is one tough old vampire.  Though she rules the roost through  intimidation, she really loves her family and isn’t going to allow anyone to hurt Karin.  She also has no patience for the rest of the family’s battle planning and heads out to save Karin all by herself.  I believe that if there is anyone who can go it alone, it’s her.  She is one person I would not want to have a disagreement with.  She can be pretty scary!

Grade: B