Servamp Volume 2

“We servamps get power from your blood. Actually the will in your blood. But you have none.” Kuro to Mahiru. “Do you protect your friend? Or kill him?”

Mahiru Shirota’s kindly, well-meaning nature has brought him a heap of trouble when Kuro, the stray cat he has adopted, turns out to be the eldest of seven servamps (servant vampires).  Mahiru’s life is turned upside-down. For the sinister Tsubaki, claiming to be the eighth – rejected – servamp, is out for revenge against his seven siblings and their Masters, and he’s assembling a crack team of second class vampires to support him. Mahiru needs to get up to speed at using his ‘lead’ (Master’s weapon) but even with training from Misono Arisuin, another young servamp Master, he’s struggling to master the basics.

But worse is to come as Mahiru’s best friend at school, Sakuya, has gone missing. What’s strange is that no one seems to remember much about him…almost as if he had never existed. So when Mahiru discovers that Sakuya has become one of Tsubaki’s second class vampires, he’s distraught. Even more so when Sakuya reveals that he can’t trust Mahiru anymore because he lied to him about Kuro’s identity – and reveals that he has a pathological hatred of liars. What is Mahiru to do? He’s desperate to prove to the embittered Sakuya that he’s still his friend – and he wants to save him from Tsubaki’s malign influence.

Servamp already distinguished itself in Volume 1 as being a vampire tale with a difference. Strike Tanaka has a light but deft touch in telling the story of a boy and his lethargic black cat/vampire who likes to laze around eating potato chips and ramen while playing video games. In this second volume, Sakuya’s backstory – although rather briefly revealed – brings out the mangaka’s strengths. Even though, as in so many shounen manga, the virtues of friendship are emphasized to the extent that they can sound clichéd, she manages to make Mahiru’s determination to save Sakuya both believable and touching, which bodes well for future developments. And the unexpected arrival of Mahiru’s uncle is a little gem. Characterization and pacing come together really well in these sections.

However, the story-telling is still a little obscure in other places, in spite of Wesley Bridges’s clear and natural-sounding translation for Seven Seas. This is not a manga to skim through at speed (like Seraph of the End or Magi); to get the most out of it, you’ll be flicking back and forward to check out where this or that plot point was foreshadowed; it’s erring on the complicated rather than complex side of plot development.

There’s a bonus one-shot ‘True Tale: A Servamp’s Life’ at the end of this volume, giving a Kuro’s view of a day in his life with Mahiru and two more 4-koma inside the end cover.

The big news has been the announcement of an upcoming Servamp anime TV series (details not yet known at the time of writing). The growing amount of character merchandise available in Japan (the mangaka’s chibi versions are undeniably cute) and two drama CDs were a good clue. With its distinctive character designs, deepening plot, and deft blend of light and dark, Strike Tanaka’s vampire series with a difference seems ideal material for animation. I hope the creative team will do it justice. If nothing else, the lively colour splash pages cry out to be animated!  

In Summary

It’s not quite there yet but it’s on its way. Servamp’s strengths are shown to greater advantage here as Strike Tanaka brings Mahiru’s threatened friendship with Sakuya into sharper focus. I have great hopes for the next volume…