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Dance in the Vampire Bund
As mentioned in my previous post, I decided to check out Dance in the Vampire Bund due to the crossover in Young Miss Holmes. It's a darker and much mature title than YMH, and while it was interesting, there were certain things about it that I found disturbing and problematic.
Princess Mina Tepes is the ruler of all vampires, and in the YMH crossover, she confides in Christie about her dream of creating a homeland where her people can live in peace. Many years later, she finally fulfills that dream by using her wealth to pay off modern-day Japan's national debt, and in exchange is allowed to create a "special district" (called the Bund, hence the title) off the coast of Japan that essentially functions as an independent nation. Mina wishes for the vampires and humans to be able to live in peace, but there are people on both sides who oppose her plans, and she has to fight off assassination attempts and political manipulation.
Akira is a teenage werewolf who serves as her knight and bodyguard. As a child, he comforted a distressed Mina and promised to always be by her side when he was perhaps too young to fully understand what he was pledging. Regardless, his loyalty to her is absolute, and he obviously has a deep affection for her even though she often exasperates him with her teasing and capricious actions (for example, when she suddenly decides to attend class at his high school). And he was probably destined to serve her in any case, since his father is the leader of the Beowulfs, Mina's elite lycanthrope security force.
The glimpse we see of Mina in YMH makes her seem like an idealistic ruler, and to some extent she is, but she's also practical, as well as ruthless when she needs to be--though nowhere near as ruthless as the vampires who oppose her ideals of living peacefully alongside humans. And the situation is much more complicated than it seems at first--Mina is the ruler of the vampires in name, but not entirely in practice, and she is caught up in a power struggle with three vampire nobles who would gladly kill her except that she is the only living female pureblood vampire and therefore the only one who can bear an heir to the throne.
I like the political intrigue and the complex intricacies of vampire and werewolf society, which are slowly being revealed over the course of the series. And I like the sometimes contradictory natures of Mina (her idealism and ruthlessness) and Akira, who often struggles to reconcile his innate kindness with the savage violence of his wolf side.
What I don't like is the sexualized violence. I don't necessarily object to violence in general, but while both male and female victims are attacked by vampires, only the women are attacked in a sexually titillating manner: clothes torn off, being bitten on the breasts and thighs. One male werewolf is sexually assaulted in Book 7, but I don't think it's a coincidence that he's very effeminate-looking and in fact was mistaken for a girl by Mina when they first met. (Although it may be more dub-con than non-con, since he allows himself to be attacked as bait to draw in an old werewolf comrade who has been driven berserk for reasons a bit too complicated to explain here.)
There's also the fact that although Mina is hundreds of years old, she has the personality of a teenage girl and physically looks about twelve years old, and she frequently undresses in front of Akira and talks to him in a flirtatious and suggestive manner. There's also a shota relationship between one of Akira's female classmates and an elementary-age boy, all of which skeeves me out. (I think it's meant to be slightly skeevy, but still...) There's also a scene in which Mina has to undergo a semi-public pelvic exam in order to prove her virginity to the vampire nobles who are her potential bridegrooms, which is thoroughly creepy and humiliating (although again, it's meant to be so).
The library only has the first seven volumes of the series, and now I'm kind of torn about whether or not to start buying the later volumes if the library doesn't get them. There's been more character and plot development in the last few volumes and less vampires-attacking-hapless-women, so I may eventually break down and get them. I think maybe I'll compromise and see if I can find used copies at Book-Off.
Princess Mina Tepes is the ruler of all vampires, and in the YMH crossover, she confides in Christie about her dream of creating a homeland where her people can live in peace. Many years later, she finally fulfills that dream by using her wealth to pay off modern-day Japan's national debt, and in exchange is allowed to create a "special district" (called the Bund, hence the title) off the coast of Japan that essentially functions as an independent nation. Mina wishes for the vampires and humans to be able to live in peace, but there are people on both sides who oppose her plans, and she has to fight off assassination attempts and political manipulation.
Akira is a teenage werewolf who serves as her knight and bodyguard. As a child, he comforted a distressed Mina and promised to always be by her side when he was perhaps too young to fully understand what he was pledging. Regardless, his loyalty to her is absolute, and he obviously has a deep affection for her even though she often exasperates him with her teasing and capricious actions (for example, when she suddenly decides to attend class at his high school). And he was probably destined to serve her in any case, since his father is the leader of the Beowulfs, Mina's elite lycanthrope security force.
The glimpse we see of Mina in YMH makes her seem like an idealistic ruler, and to some extent she is, but she's also practical, as well as ruthless when she needs to be--though nowhere near as ruthless as the vampires who oppose her ideals of living peacefully alongside humans. And the situation is much more complicated than it seems at first--Mina is the ruler of the vampires in name, but not entirely in practice, and she is caught up in a power struggle with three vampire nobles who would gladly kill her except that she is the only living female pureblood vampire and therefore the only one who can bear an heir to the throne.
I like the political intrigue and the complex intricacies of vampire and werewolf society, which are slowly being revealed over the course of the series. And I like the sometimes contradictory natures of Mina (her idealism and ruthlessness) and Akira, who often struggles to reconcile his innate kindness with the savage violence of his wolf side.
What I don't like is the sexualized violence. I don't necessarily object to violence in general, but while both male and female victims are attacked by vampires, only the women are attacked in a sexually titillating manner: clothes torn off, being bitten on the breasts and thighs. One male werewolf is sexually assaulted in Book 7, but I don't think it's a coincidence that he's very effeminate-looking and in fact was mistaken for a girl by Mina when they first met. (Although it may be more dub-con than non-con, since he allows himself to be attacked as bait to draw in an old werewolf comrade who has been driven berserk for reasons a bit too complicated to explain here.)
There's also the fact that although Mina is hundreds of years old, she has the personality of a teenage girl and physically looks about twelve years old, and she frequently undresses in front of Akira and talks to him in a flirtatious and suggestive manner. There's also a shota relationship between one of Akira's female classmates and an elementary-age boy, all of which skeeves me out. (I think it's meant to be slightly skeevy, but still...) There's also a scene in which Mina has to undergo a semi-public pelvic exam in order to prove her virginity to the vampire nobles who are her potential bridegrooms, which is thoroughly creepy and humiliating (although again, it's meant to be so).
The library only has the first seven volumes of the series, and now I'm kind of torn about whether or not to start buying the later volumes if the library doesn't get them. There's been more character and plot development in the last few volumes and less vampires-attacking-hapless-women, so I may eventually break down and get them. I think maybe I'll compromise and see if I can find used copies at Book-Off.