This is the MANGA adaptation of the best-selling Franco-British dark fantasy comic book maxiseries: Requiem Chevalier Vampire (aka Réquiem Cavaleiro Vampiro, Requiem Der Vampirritter, Requiem De Vampierridder) by Valencian writer Victor Santos Montesinos and Bolivian artist Seban.
The infernal planet of Resurrection, a dimension where time runs backwards (you do not age, you get younger), a reversed Earth populated by reincarnated earthlings. Resurrected evildoers have become Vampires, evil hypocrites: Ghouls, evil scientists: Archaeologists, fanatics: Werewolves, evil normal people: Zombies, and the victims of evildoers: Lamias.
The Killing Fields (the port of entry for the newly resurrected on Resurrection). Grave robbing Zombies make the Resurrectionist patrol aircraft of Captain Otto von Todt (a Vampire Knight who fights for the Masters of Infinity) crash.
Shot in the forehead in his previous life on Earth, suffering from partial amnesia, infatuated with his missing girlfriend Rebecca and recently reanimated as a vampire on Resurrection, Heinrich Augsburg saves Otto von Todt from the Zombie looters. Heinrich and Otto become best friends instantly.
Lunar temple on the dark side of the moon. Lord Cryptos trains Heinrich to become a Vampire Knight. Heinrich passes the tests of the Tree of Death. The Tree gifts Heinrich with a Soul Sword. Cryptos makes Heinrich a Knight of the Nosferatu and renames him REQUIEM.
Back on Resurrection, REQUIEM brawls with other Vampire Knights: Lord Mortis (an antique weapons collector), Lady Claudia Demona and Baron Samedi. Otto diffuses the situation.
Igor (a Kobold dwarf) tries to sell a contraband mirror (a forbidden item that the resurrected can use to see their past lives on Earth... because Resurrection is a "mirror" dimension of Earth) to Otto.
The Tower of the Damned in Necropolis (capital city of Draconia). Heinrich is shown portraits of the ruler of Draconia... Dracula AND of the betrayer... Thurim of the Thunder Hammer. REQUIEM is given his own armoured tomb.
The Gods of the Limbos cause a Dimension Warp, the Nosferatu fleet leaves the dimension of Resurrection to investigate, REQUIEM and the Vampire Knights get immediately ambushed by the Virgin Pirates (who have been made aware of the Warp by a spy).
Flashback! Heinrich and Rebecca play a fortune telling game... Heinrich gets a sword (his future Soul Sword) and Rebecca gets a... skull (a harbinger of her upcoming demise).
REQUIEM kills the pirate leader (Mother Terror, a ghoul), he inherits her bird of ill omen (a talking pterodactyl formerly owned by Blackbeard (1680-1718), an homage to The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce).
Lunar temple. Lord Mortis desires to overthrow Dracula, he pays a visit to his partner in crime... Lord Cryptos, Mortis wants to know more about REQUIEM.
Satiated, REQUIEM's Soul Sword reveals to REQUIEM that Rebecca was murdered.
What I did like:
Requiem: Vampire Knight gets respectfully reimagined to attract a much wider audience.
We get plenty of Double-Page Spreads!
The exclusive and elusive dust jacket by Olivier Ledroit looks amazing!
Otto still utilizes Rune attacks to defeat his enemies.
The onomatopoeia: "tepes" ("impaler" in Romanian) is still used to emulate the discharging sound of the Resurrectionist firearm.
The Black Chrysalid that gets inserted in REQUIEM's thorax looks even creepier.
What I did not like:
Somewhat muzzled. The original series will always have more bite.
REQUIEM is not tattooed with Runes of Power.
REQUIEM doesn't wear his war mask! Disappointing!
Rebecca does not take a lock of Heinrich's hair.
Baron Samedi is now a white man.
The dead city of 23rd century London, the Mutant leader, the Mutant Leopard Women, the Frankenstein King Kong and the Baboon Men do not appear.
REQUIEM doesn't use his Beast Power to warp-out like Slaine (created by Pat Mills and Angela Kincaid)!
We don't see the little Eyeball creature companions of Lord Cryptos!
I give it a 9/10. Seban_014's art is a delightful mixture of Kevin O'Neill and Dan Mendoza. Fans of Gothic horror comics, Nemesis the Warlock, Castlevania, Legacy of Kain, Grogu (Baby Yoda), Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992 film), Eiichiro Oda's One Piece and Kentaro Miura's Berserk will love this revamped version of Pat Mills and Olivier Ledroit's REQUIEM Vampire Knight series. Now we need a SHA (also by Pat Mills and Olivier Ledroit) manga!
Available in French from Editions Glénat (9782344066218).
Available in English from Panini Manga UK (9781804914687).
