Sagakure (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} sagakure) wrote,@ 2009-10-27 01:33:00 |
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| Current mood: |  Can only take so much caffeine |
VK 55 in English is here~! :D
This preview should make it obvious that my #1
beloved pairing is Zero x Kaname, hahaha~ XD
I've been pretty swamped lately, and since currently I have over my beloved family whom I haven't seen in forever (we live far apart), so... it's no wonder that the chapter is exceptionally coming out two/three days after the official date instead of one/two days before it, this month. ^^;
But now it's here, and ready to be read~! X3♥
Actually, originally it was only going to come out when I have more time, later this week......but of course, I decided I felt bad if I made everybody wait even more days, so once more, I don't sleep, only this time it was even more sleep deprivation both for deadlines and for the VK release. XD;
Caffeine is great
Onwards with the chapter. :3
To my surprise and shock, a couple people posting anonymously in the summary post actually got rude about the fact that this month I was too busy to release the chapter all scanlated and all before the magazine was even out in Japan as I usually do...
I'd like to remind those people that a) I buy/scan/translate VK out of love for the fandom, and b) I'm obviously not paid for it nor do I have ANY obligation to release the chapter before the magazine is even officially out. It's a rare thing to have stuff so early on a regular basis, so... ^^;
I try so hard each month because I love the VK fandom. Being rude in anon comments because you're angry that for once I released the chapter two days after the magazine release instead of two days before only makes you look, well... I don't have to explain how wtf it is, it seems pretty clear. XD;;
Thank you so much to all the lovely people who patiently waited, chatted about VK and were so nice and all while they waited. :) There were some really interesting discussions as always, and it's always so heartwarming to just see how lovely so many people in this fandom are and the love we have for the series and all its characters. X3
(And sorry I'm late to reply to comments again. XD;;)
Sorry in advance to the people who like my commentary, if the one this time is way less long than usual. :X (Or waaaay incoherent due to being so tired by the time I'm finding a moment to post. ^^; *does the scanlation while fully awake and fine, but finishes cleaning things and posts at moments where she's so tired* ^^;)
Right now I'm all happy that the chapter is ready to release, but I'm also greatly wanting to go to bed finally. XD;;; *lol* XD;; *is dead tired*
*might edit to add more fangirling and commentary later, or might just ramble etc. as usual* XD;;
In any case, relevant info like reminders of past chapters etc. are in the little notes as usual anyway. ^^;
And for anyone new, please make sure to read through the chapter once first, before reading my post's rambling commentary, because I talk about random moments of the chapter and so it can spoil you for later pages of the chapter. ^^;
The fans of Takuma will be happy that he's back having longer scenes~! X3
And so, without further ado... :D
Hotness~! XD
The cover itself is already lovely and so sweet, but much as I may love Yuuki too I can't help but focus SO MUCH on Zero's expression in this pic, even more. Yuuki is cute in it, but Zero's face~!<333
It's SUCH a sweet solace after so many chapters seeing him glaring or being ambiguous about stuff (you know, when he says things that make us go "DD: Nooo!! Don't..."), to have a cover with such a soft gaze looking so lovely and full yearning...<3
OT3 is LOVE, but yaoi is irresistible for me. XD *lol* And two sexy vampire guys as gorgeous as them.... *needs more fanfiction* XD XD
Next LaLa, coming out on November 24th, will come with a free calendar of various series, and one of the pages is VK.<3
This year passed so fast! *can't wait to have the calendar* X3
I'll scan the VK part of it too, naturally. :)
*nosebleeding violently* 8D
You see, when I made the little preview thingie for the chapter, I used this pic due to how hot it is, but it somehow didn't occur to me to put Zero on the left so that it would look like he was leaning over Kaname on the couch... ;-; That shows you how tired I am. XD; *lol*
Yet another pic to be added to my list of many VK pics I want to photoshop to turn into yaoi parodies. XD *lol*
(If you've been following my blog for a while, you've probably already seen the other ones, like this one, or this one and others. XD *lol*)
I ship Yuuki and the two guys in a threesome SO MUCH, but of course, I ship ZxK yaoi most of the time. XD<3 (Yes, with seme Zero topping uke Kaname. ♥♥♥
A pity it's so much rarer than Kaname topping Zero, in fics. T^T *dreams of a world full of Zero x Kaname fanfics* X3♥))
I rambled about the chapter cover in the summary already, so... XD Yeah.
I have this theory about the tower nearby being Takuma under Sara's colors maybe, but it's just a theory. ^^
Hino-sensei is back full force with the "game" etc. metaphores and the chess pieces everywhere. XD
Well, it is very vampire and very VK, so it's always nice.<3
This time around, it's even more clear how chess is such a good metaphor for their society in general, and that it's not just that Kaname is into chess or views things that way, so much as the fact that in vampire society so much of it really IS all about that.... strategy, strategy, strategy, and if yours fails, you'll become prey instead of predator. ^^;;
And this time around we can wonder if the others playing the game are not maybe even stronger than the ones we're rooting for. ^^;; (Well, it would depend on whether being the ancestor gives Kaname any special powers or not also... one would assume it's not the case, or he wouldn't have needed to absorb Shizuka's power back earlier in the series. ^^; ...and if he doesn't has special powers that other purebloods don't have, then it would make things way more tricky with Ouri & Sara and/or whoever comes after them. ^^;)
*wonders if it will end up in shown down between Ouri vs. Kaname & Sara vs. Yuuki, with Zero being the wild card that intervenes and tilts the balance towards the Kurans surviving against the other two purebloods* *-*
Grudgingly, he might decide that the Kurans are less bad than the others, and help them rid the vampire society of its bad elements...? There's so many possibilities. X3
This is the biggest revelation lately. Not only do we have a pureblood around that's old and powerful enough that Kaname, of all people, goes and refers to him by "Ouri-sama", but on top of that, it turns out the guy is Sara's fiance. O_o;;;
This could be very bad for the Kuran side, depending how it goes. ^^;
Also, ouch. XD Or at least, it was ouch due to what Kaname told her, until Sara pwned him verbally too a few pages later. XD;; *lol*
She puts up a more interesting conversation than I'd expected. 8D
And she reads into people well/counterattacks with her words very well also. No wonder Kaname was worried about Yuuki staying near.
I'm shipping Sara x Yuuki more and more, incidentally. 8D;;;;;;;;;;; *needs to write fics*
I wonder if what Sara is referring to is the simple fact of stirring people by coming into the ballroom smelling of freshly spilled blood as we knew, or if she's hinting at something more. Like whatever she did to her fiance. XD; *lol*
Incidentally, YORI, AHHH~~!! XD How did you survive?? XD XD
Despite how intensely the people at the ball wanted to make her into a snack, she's still into full innocent mode. XD XD
It's amazing Zero hasn't popped a vein (or more veins) yet. XD He must have really grown during this year, because seeing how he'd yell/glare/etc. at the day class fangirls back then, Yori's defense of the crowd etc. is like asking him to explode, hahaha~ XD;;
Poor Zero. His patience sure grew. X3
And another fascinating tidbit. Kaito may not be quite as bad as he'd seemed in the past chapters.... though his methods are still just as bad. XD;
So he brought Yori there not merely to be vampire bait so that Zero could kill any vampires attacking her.....it went deeper than just that, it was actually bait to see if Zero was so lost in the urge to kill that he'd really go for it and use the situation to kill.
Meaning Kaito didn't merely do things chaotically, he did risk Yori a lot, but it was in hopes to test Zero and see how much control he has over his urge to kill and anger at vampires etc.
If this wasn't an accident/mere luck, then Kaito is more interesting and less predictable now as he was when he was younger, such as in the novel. X3
And THE most surprising thing in the chapter perhaps. Aidou explaining that Kaname asked him to arrange not only for a meeting with Yori, but with Zero too.<3333
I've been looong daydreaming of fanfic possibilities with Kaname understanding how much Yuuki wants to see Zero too and arranging for such a thing to happen and all (whether the fic is het or it ends up in Zero x Kaname as a collateral effect XD<3 *lol* *has tons of such fic ideas* X33), but I thought it would maybe remain in the fanfic realm. XD
I had hopes it might happen in the series for real, since Kaname always tries to give Yuuki all as she wants, but I didn't have a big hope... so this revelation made me all bouncy. XD<333 *hyper threesome moe + ZxK/KxZ moe*
I don't think Yori fears meeting Yuuki as Kaito seems to think. XD I think it's more she's afraid the two hunters will kick her butt to the curb if she just tries to sneak off with Aidou to go see Yuuki, hahaha~ XD
Especially Zero, considering how close to popping a vein he must be after the whole Yori going in search of Yuuki thing. XD After all, Yori is in the same school, she's seen him raging at the fangirls. XD XD
At the meeting prior to the ball, Kaname had already talked to the chairman about Yuuki being at the party and how she'd be meeting the chairman and all, so I think in this page, it's not so much about getting the permission to see her in general, as much as getting someone to okay them approaching the room/passing there. (And considering the guests at the ball, it's no wonder they'd feel ehhh about hunters, of all people, coming into rooms assigned to purebloods etc. or near it. ^^;)
Of course, it could also be that they have super high security right now due to the issue with Ouri disappearing, Sara being all suspicious etc. other worrisome matters.
I wonder how the chairman found out. It seemed to be sudden. :X
Maybe some kind of advanced hunter senses the other guy doesn't has, or maybe an extra sensibility that came from drinking from a pureblood in the past, even though the chairman is human...?
In any case, now the nameless hunter guy that's often with them has a name!! XD XD *lol* It's the first time we see him being called by a name. XD
Takuma~~!<333
Lucky Sara to have him around, Takuma is a master at tea, according to the drama CDs. X3
And I suspect he might be the one who got Kaname into herbal milk teas. XD<3 (Kaname likes those, very sweet and all... he likes them enough to have learned to make them on his own for himself, which doesn't seems to be the case for many edible things, with Kaname. XD<3 Unlike Zero, cooking really doesn't seems to be a gift Kaname has. XD;
But him having a sweet tooth is adorable and gives me mind images of Zero cooking for them and trying to teach Kaname how to make desserts. With or without disastrous results. XD XD *lol*)
Err, random wandering wanders off into yaoiland. *lol* XD *has lovely mind images of all that*
Shiki & Rima seem to have grown closer over the past year, and just before during the Rido issue... and now it must be a bit of a shock because they were so certain Ichijou would have contacted them if he was fine as he was. ^^;
In a way, Ichijou has always seemed closer to purebloods than to the rest of the aristocrats... if anything due to coming from such a powerful family and growing up with Kaname.
*sudden bout of Takuma x Kaname fangirling* 8D
Yet another EPIC moment in this chapter. XD;;;
So... she's still officially imprisoning him... XD;;;
And he seems very close to her. But the Sara he describes seems SO different from the one we've seen, so I wonder if she's really good at hiding her game and he's tragically mistaken, or if perhaps he's right and Sara just seems evil but might not be that bad. *can't wait to find out more in more chapters* X3
Shiki has grown so much after the Rido stuff and all. He went from a 16 years old kid that let everybody pull him along, to a young man of 17 who decided to take a stance on the Kuran side by his own choice, and who is now doing things such as trying to test where Takuma stands in it all... unless he really just means to take him to say hi to Kaname, but it really seems like this was a little test of some sort.
The Night Class has always been fascinating, but this 'one year later, more grown up and slightly different' Night Class seems just as interesting if not even more. X3 *wonders what little differences and new things like that we might find in the others* X3
It's lovely to see Takuma again, and all his ways of talking, moving etc., even just his "SO Takuma-ish" hand gestures and all...yay~! XD<3 *missed him*
In the next page, his face in particular~<333
*EXPLODES IN VIOLENT NOSEBLEEDING AND FANGIRLING* (Both at Kaname's sexy pose and adorably angsty expression, and at the dramaticness levels of the stuff Takuma said. XD *lol*)
Sometimes, I wonder if Hino-sensei reads fanfics. *LOL* XD
Well, not really, especially since the story of VK was decided already from the beginning, so it's not fanfiction influencing her, but seriously, there are SO MANY things that get me all hyper fangirly, but when we just think it's fanfic material, when we least expect... fic-ishly delicious ideas pops up in the manga! XD<3 *lol*
Such as Takuma knowing so many of Kaname's secrets, or even just that angsty streak that has always been present in Kaname (and that is both so sad but so interesting) but that Hino-sensei finally started going more in depth about somewhat more recently in the series.
They're all so interesting, the characters in this series. X3
Seriously, fate really had so much bad in stock for Zero and Kaname. ^^;; I wonder if Yuuki realizes the luck she has (as Shizuka put when they met, about purebloods not normally having happy childhoods etc.)
Sure, Yuuki doesn't wants to be necessarily always protected maybe, but if she hadn't been, and at so many costs, who knows what might have happened to her along the way. ^^; Things would have been so much more terrible, like they were for the others. ^^;
;-; Someone should just drag him into the room already... (But then, Yuuki might say something epically blunt again (even with the best intentions) that might cause it all to be worse. ^^; (She may not have the chairman's genes but she was still raised by him and is like that too. XD; *lol*))
I think that the avoidance won't help, especially since talking to her could maybe help him get to accept a little the idea that even though she's a pureblood, she's still "Yuuki", always has been and always will be. ^^;
But then again, I think he does knows that, and is clinging to the idea of staying away because he's afraid of getting too close and the temptation being too hard. ^^; (Not only because of yearning for her blood, but the temptation of giving in to his feelings for her. I really don't think that he truly hates her now, of course... he's always loved her, and regardless of the official hatred he has for purebloods, it doesn't changes that he still does.
It just makes a mess of his feelings because of the hatred for the race vs. the love for her and all clash so much. ^^;)
Aidou sighing etc. loooking like he found it a pity that Zero didn't go is unexpected and cute. XD Old times Aidou would be happy that Zero didn't go, maybe... So Aidou too has grown up too perhaps. X3
*should find this sad and angsty, but finds it so terribly hot and fangirlable instead* 8D *is shot*
It doesn't says exactly why he's reacting that way, but considering it was only after he started paying attention to his arm where Yuuki had touched him, there's no way it's unrelated....
My theory is that he's yearning for her so much that it's physically visible when the control is less good. (It actually looks a lot like when he had problems to cope with the surge of additional power because of her blood after she had turned back to her pureblood self, in volume 8. So maybe it does has something to do with her blood within him, and/or his feelings for her interacting with the blood...
I SO WISH he'd look at Kaname with such desire and have the blood thing for him too... XD XD Or at least, additional fanservicey blood-drinking scenes like the hotness incarnate that was chapter 30~~~! XD<333
X3
:X
Imagine the mess that it could cause if the scent of blood made everybody in the ballroom agitated or even worse, made some lose control etc... ^^;; (Aside from the possibility that Yuuki just finally realized Yori is edible. XD *is shot*)
If you remember, back in volume 1, when Zero bit Yuuki the first time, the scent of blood spilled was enough to agitate the Night Class so much that Kaname had to leave Yuuki's side and go calm them down. And that was our trustworthy Night Class.
A ballroom full of not-so-trustworthy vampires must be epically dangerous if they all get bloodlusty from the scent. ^^; (And talk about even bigger mess if they go for the hunters etc.)
Yori had been puzzling me with her behavior lately, but I found this page so adorable that it almost makes me forget her, uhm, strange moments. XD
It's so cute, how she apologizes because she can't smell it etc. X3
I'd ramble a lot about my theories on her but I'm dying of tiredness. XD; *lol*
You see.... I was saying Aidou seemed to have grown up, but uhm... XD XD *LOL* Maybe not all around when it comes to his methods to do stuff. XD
Remember the one time he froze Yuuki's feet at the Moon Dorm...? XD And Kaname showed up and slapped him like whoa for it? XD XD
Well, it appears the lesson was forgotten. XD XD;; *lol*
I'm pretty sure Kaname never mentioned using ice on Yuuki as a method to stay near her, hahaha~ XD
If and/or when Kaname finds out, no doubt Aidou will be in trouble. XD XD *lol*
O_o ...and what about the three of you, including your delicate human friend, just staying in the room where it's safe...?
I understand that Yuuki, who is a pureblood, would feel like taking the risk, but uhm, not so sure about it being a good idea to go to a potential danger while pulling Yori along. ^^;
At least, he's very direct with her. XD; *lol*
This page is quite something. Not only Sara is totally unfazed by Kaname's direct question and assumption she did something to Ouri, but she also turns the tables quite well. ^^;
And speaking of table... XD;; *lol*
On the table, there's not only the smaller ashes but also some shards of crystal-like bigger ones... when I have time I'll have to go take a look again through different parts of the series to compare ashes and see if only the purebloods have the shards too. XD *lol*
Everything would lead to make us assume that she killed Ouri and is just BSing now. (And is perhaps more powerful than she may seem.)
However, that makes it also strangely too easy (and we haven't even seen Ouri yet! XD; *lol*), so I can't help but think Ouri might still be alive and Sara didn't kill him or anything. *looks forward to more chapters* X3
Yeah, it's best if Yori doesn't goes in. ^^; (Although maybe it would help get her to be less easily trusting. XD;)
Cross & Zero got there FAST. :X
Poor young man. D:
This being said, there must be quite a huge level of racial hatred to push someone to readily kill themselves rather than accept being of the other race. ^^; And it's not like people are born that way, so it's a pity that such ideas are passed on so strongly. (It's one thing to be distrustful of dangerous vampires, it's another to be so horrified by their race that you choose death over being one of them. ^^;; But then, maybe it was for other reasons than just hating the race.)
What happened to him is of course tragic, but if he'd been someone more open to both races like the chairman is, it would probably not have ended that way. ^^; Poor hunter, he looked so young.
Edit to add: I was so tired when I wrote this commentary rambling that I forgot to mention that of course, from the point of view of the inevitable fall to level E, it's not surprising that the hunter would feel the urge to kill himself. ^^;; But still, considering it's not like the fall is an immediate thing or anything, this suicide so soon after he was bitten is so terribly tragic. ;-; (It would have been tragic soon after or later, but the youth of that hunter allied to how desperate and rushed the decision seemed makes it seem even more terrible somehow, if that's truly how it went. D: )
But in any case, whether the suicide was motivated by fear of falling into insanity or hatred of the idea of living as a vampire (the idea that for a hunter, there was no other acceptable choice is quite scary ^^;), it's particularly tragic that it had to be so immediate. There were other options, as we can see from the example of Zero himself, since he too was in danger of falling to level E in the past and yet overcame it. (Even if his case is very exceptional and of course not any human biten could expect things would go anywhere similar to his case.
But they could have figured out something to help the young hunter during the time before he was in danger to fall to level E. ^^;)
*clings and is so glad Zero ended up not killing himself despite the many times he was tempted to before* ^^;;;;;;;;;;
One of the things that breaks my heart about Zero is how the things that happened in his life, (well, mostly the Shizuka incident and Ichiru's decision then), changed him so terribly much. Because the child Zero was before it all happened was so full of idealistic ideas and even hoped it was possible to coexist with vampires and not have to kill even level E's (he thought that way in the 1st novel), which is so amazingly far from ideas he got later due to all that happened. T_T *mourns that adorable chibi Zero that fate more or less killed*
He was so adorable then! ;-; (Not that he isn't epically hot now (XD), but what I mean is, if he'd grown up without having those ideals shattered, chances are he'd be a whole lot happier and more likely to accept Yuuki etc. as well... ^^;)
Btw, the chairman is as blunt as ever. ^^;;; He's adorable and loveable but tact was never his thing. ^^;;
DDDD: The look on Zero's face... ^^;; Even if the chairman had worded things better, the situation at hand is most certainly one of the most shocking types for Zero. ^^;; Just seeing the scene must awaken such unpleasant memories. :X
I just hope it won't boost even more his problem with purebloods. D: D:
On one hand, it's definitely a good thing that she wants to stand up for herself and do that, but on another, it's really dangerous, even if she were just going against Sara, and possibly just as much if not worse if Ouri is still alive and it's him she goes against. ^^;;
And... the way she worded the difference between how she was before and now might not be the best way to say that when talking to Zero. ^^; (She may not have the chairman's genes, but she inherited the lack of tact all the same. XD; *lol*)
What epic timing to finally arrive, Kaname. XD<3 *lol*
Though at least, his reason to want to get her out of the room with the bloody mess is more logical than the chairman's, as the possibility of the scent being more difficult to deal with for Yuuki (since she only recently started to drink properly and all) definitely tops the issue about her dress possibly getting dirty. XD
(Incidentally, I wonder what her shoes are made of to get soaked so easily. ^^;;)
Even though Zero only talked to Yuuki and Kaname to rebuke them each time, I was DELIGHTED that he still talked to them. XD<333 *so hopes it's the beginning of a bit more of proximity between the trio again* X3
Like I was saying in my summary post, I cling to even crumbs of interaction between the main trio, hahaha~ XD
(Especially after such a lack of pretty much any interaction between Zero and them for so long...^^;;;)
I can only hope that such contacts, even if brief and all, might help melt Zero's 'armor' and slowly maybe get him to stop trying to lock Yuuki and all out of his heart so much. ^^;;
There's another worrisome thing though, it's that one vampire and one hunter died, and that will certainly have consequences. :X
If the party is over it's one thing, but if the whole peace treaty is over on the other hand... D: D:
And we don't know yet if the majority will truly follow Kaname or if they might go for Sara or someone else if the treaty fails. ^^; (And Kaname wants peace with humans and all, but another leader might prefer war too, so it would be double worse. :X You never know.)
Well, in any case, whatever happens, there's no doubt that we have many interesting things waiting ahead in the manga still. X33
The top little chunk of text is the one originally from that image, and the second chunk was actually the little 'next chapter teaser' line in the pic with Kaname laying down.
Hence why they sound repetitive, they're from two different teasers. LaLa is really playing on the mystery vibe with Ouri and all that. :3
And the way they made the teaser "one pureblood and one hunter gone", it's epic. XD Because it could indeed mean that the pureblood is dead for sure, but they didn't actually use the word "dead", and yet, putting it together with the hunter that we did see dead... I wonder if Ouri did actually die or if this is just to throw us off.
Because it seems too easy that he'd have died so soon, and yet, everything looks so much like he died, but without actually using the word 'dead' etc... it could be that it's just to build up on this making us think he's dead for sure.
Then again, it's VK... it's ALWAYS full of mysteries and questions. XD *lol*
Please don't forget to buy your local official releases of the VK manga and anime! :D
(Watch out for bootlegs, the anime pirated DVDs are made with stolen subs usually AND are generally of horrible quality. Please make sure to only buy the official DVDs and books, otherwise you're not supporting VK since the money goes to bootleggers instead of to the author etc. ^^;;;)
It's important. D: Any series dies without support, and VK may be popular, but it's popular for a shojo manga series, which means not that much compared to big shonen manga blockbusters. We have to support the series we love, as all series die without support. ^^;/
And that's it for this month~~! :D
*hopes you enjoyed the chapter* ♥
