Dance in the Vampire Bund - Age of Scarlet Order Vol. 1
Author: Nozomu Tamaki
Illustrator: Nozomu Tamaki
Publishers: Seven Seas Entertainment Age
Group: Older Teen
Genre: Action, Dark Fantasy, Psychological Horror
Type: Manga
Content Warnings: Nudity, Discrimination, Religious Bigotry, Violence
Spoilers ahead
Plot
Vampire hunts rage across the United States like the witch hunts of old. But in the shadows, rumors whisper of a grand escape plan. “Mine Tepes summons all the vampires of America.” It says. “Reach the West Coast, and a ship will take you all to the Vampire Bund”. Desperate to survive, hordes of vampires follow that rumor and make for the West Coast. There’s only one small problem—the Vampire Bund sunk months ago, and Vampire Queen Mina Tepes is dead.
Character Development
The character development is pretty decent considering we see from different perspectives and there’s a lot of background characters. As someone who randomly picked this up not knowing there’s several volume arcs ahead of this one, it does a great job catching us up to speed and putting us in the thick of things.
Mina is a self-assured Vampire Queen who just wants to live peacefully with humans. Her side kick is a were-wolf that’s just as self-assured as she is. Together they make a great duo that knows each other to a T.
On the flip side, we have Minister Gotoh trying to keep the peace in Japan between humans and vampires. She’s serious and believes that there is a place for vampires and humans to co-exist, though most of the old men in the council don’t agree.
World-building
There is a lot of world-building. We have vampires that are discriminated against just for living and being different. In the group of vampires, we have those with fangs and those without. It creates a slight class system.
The world is contemporary with modern problems addressed at the forefront. There’s also a bit of mysticism as Mina travels to the Amazon to fulfill her destiny. We learn there’s a dark god that she’s fought against and must continue to do so, otherwise the whole world could be destroyed.
We also find out that the matriarchal line of the Tepes holds the power. It’s fascinating stuff and I’d love to keep reading. I’d also love to get the previous volumes to experience the story rather than be caught up.
Themes
Fight against those that would oppress you as everyone deserves a chance to live the life they want. This can be heavy topic that is done pretty well in this series. The first vampires we meet are a gay couple and Muslim couple with a human child. We experience the world from their side of what America is like as it’s turning into a world fueled by religious bigotry.
Observations & Predictions
This destiny will be harder on Mina. She will have to make a lot of sacrifices as she fights all of this oppression. It can be a lot to fight on all fronts. She’s got some great allies and I hope she doesn’t lose them.
We will see more blatant heavy topics sprinkled with the supernaturalness of the vampire world.
Recommendations
Trinity Blood
By: Sunao Yoshida
Vampire Knight
By: Hino Matsuri
Kurenai
By: Kentaro Katayama
