[Categories: Manga Reviews]
Lament of the Lamb Chapters 13-20: Blood is thicker than water…
Blood, as they say, is thicker than water. I’ve always thought that it’s a nonsensical saying but it neatly sums up a central theme of Lament of the Lamb. In the past I’ve used words such as dark, brooding, angsty and the like to desribe Kei Toume’s vampire tale and the third instalment is no exception.
Kazuna has begun to sever ties with his family and friends to protect them from the terrible disease that has gripped him; don’t expect any fast plotting or much graphic violence here, this is strictly character-driven stuff. His classmate Yaegashi now knows the reasons behind his strange and worrying beaviour but her reaction is unexpected and highlights how difficult it will be for Kazuna’s self-induced withdrawal from his present life.
His departure from the Eda household throws up old issues, thought to be long since buried, and more details surrounding his family’s past are revealed. These scenes are especially powerful and painful to witness: I have no knowledge of what will happen later on in the story since I haven’t read that far yet but I just know that it can only end in tragedy; interestingly this hasn’t put me off reading further.
His sister Chizuna is now oficially weird. I don’t just mean her matter-of-fact, fatalistic outlook or the fact she is after all a vampire, but she just creeps me out. There are a few scenes in which there are some unsettling incestuous overtones - nothing obvious enough to be shocking or distasteful but enough to suggest that Chizuna has some serious emotional baggage with Kazuna being the one who has to carry it. They are alone in their suffering and the only one who can understand the situation, the only one they can turn to, is each other. All the same, the lines that divide devotion, obsession and dependence are all beginning to blur.
We also learn the emotions motivating Minase, the doctor who takes care of them both through all this, which adds yet another dimension of sadness and misfortune to the whole affair. Make no mistake, this is heavy stuff emotionally but it’s also very, very intriguing.
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