Although Amazon sent my copy of volume two several weeks ago, I didn’t get a chance to sit down and read it until this past weekend. If anything, the story for volume two is even better then the first. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for the art.

Volume two opens with loli queen, Mina, deciding to enroll at a prestigious high school on Japan’s mainland. Her decision proves to be a rather unpopular one with both her servants and several powerful individuals inside the Japanese government. It’s not long before Mina is forced to make some very hard decisions concerning the political future of her people as well as deal with some rogue elements within the vampire community that are very quickly turning the her school into a battlefield.

Much like the first volume, volume two continues to weave a dark narrative filled with intrigue and blood. The new chapters seem to move at an almost breakneck speed that left me breathless with anticipation to see what would happen next. Not only are many of the story elements hinted at volume one finally revealed, but it also establishes several key elements concerning vampire lore that I’m sure will become major plot points as time goes.

Sadly, as fantastic as the story was, I must say I was a bit disgruntled by what I consider a decrease in the overall art quality. With questionable character anatomy located throughout the book and plus several instances of just plain ridicules character poses, the art quickly became an annoying distraction during several key scenes rather than an enhancement. The chapel fight scene in chapter thirteen probably being of the most glaring examples. Additionally, much of the detailing that went into some of the better scenes in volume one seems to have been abandoned in favor of the more easily produced “speed line” effect. I don’t normally comment on such things, but the amount of speed lines used in this volume bordered on excessive.

Overall, volume two of Dance in Vampire Bund is still a great manga, it’s just the balance of art vs. story has shifted a bit. Since the story is still proving to be so damn good, I’m willing to forgive a bit of laziness in the art department.

Bottom Line:
If you read the first volume and liked it, you won’t be disappointed with the second one.

Final Score: 5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by: LC1
Review Formant: Manga