FANGS, Volume 1 Volume 1

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The story was weak for me. This volume felt like a prologue to a bigger story with little establishing action beyond En getting turned and him declaring his partnership with Ichii. Balibally teases their audience with Ichii's mysterious past and a secret he's keeping, but the pull isn't strong enough when the volume centers around meeting side characters, how En reacts to them, and two sex scenes. En's framing also made me uncomfortable at times. I understand age gaps have existed in vampiric love stories before, but the constant reinforcing of En as a "virgin" and a "baby" feels like infantilization and reminds me of fanservice media I've seen/been exposed to with women getting the same treatment. I'm getting past the point where characters are framed as desirable because of their youth. I think supernatural romances deserve more than that. NO THOUGHTS HEAD EMPTY JUST HOT GAY VAMPIRES DOING HOT GAY VAMPIRE THINGS //aggressively smashes that 5-star rating because I am nothing but a being who exists merely to follow and please my libido's commands and it says 5 stars of excellence so 5 stars of excellence it is 😠💥 I may be biased considering I love both vampires and boys-love stories, and I'll admit the idea of a supernatural welfare organization is hardly a new concept in manga, but "Fangs" was a delight to read. I found the main couple to be particularly sweet and Iespecially enjoyed the wide range of different vampiresthe readers meet. This was also a somewhat interesting take on vampire society, what with the Fangs organization, blood delivery, pairing with other vampires being encouraged, support groups, etc.

I really enjoyed this first volume and am interested in seeing where it goes from here, particularly with the intrigue of the last chapter and what En and Ichii's role in FANGS will end up being. The artwork was well done, the story was easy to follow, and while it has familiar elements of supernatural mature romances, I liked the intrigue of following the different characters here. The relationship has elements of tropes that bother me in some BL’s. At times, Iichi feels a bit too pushy. The sex scenes felt like he was moving faster than En wanted him to and there’s talk about him using his “charm” to make it “better” for En, which wasn’t great. En later calls him out on it but I don’t necessarily feel as though that was quite remedied. Add to that, you have the knowledge that Iichi is so much older than En and attracted to him bc he’s emotional and youthful. Anyone who likes graphic novels or manga, a glamorous but sometimes sad take on vampires, mlm romance and sex, sweet and playful romance, a bit of humor, beautiful art, and characters with depth.

The story isn’t perfect. The world building is a bit messy and confusing. Not fully fleshed out yet, but I think figuring out the world building could come with future volumes as the story develops. What really sold this series for me is the characters and their relationships. I want to know more about everyone and see all these romances and friendships grow. I absolutely love the main characters. They’re so cuteeeeee. And the ROMANCE. I want to SCREAM. I’m obsessed. But i'm... not that even a good person. I'm not respectable enough... to deserve people doting on me the way they do."

I felt like En wasn’t that well fleshed out as a character. His only trait seemed to be youth - but I’m trying to think if there’s any protagonist in a vampire story that’s interesting and no, there really isn’t. I liked that he tried to help Sugi, the suicidal vampire. This said, I found this on tapas and was immediately intrigued. I mean a relationship between a vampire and a werewolf? It sounded interesting and I decided to investigate. There are so many things I loved that it's all just ping-ponging around my head with no hope of real organization, so here's a list! I loved good guy Ichii! For some reason, I thought Ichii would kinda be a jerk, but he was actually really sweet, trying his best to be a good guardian to En, and a good friend to Sugi. There was also something about how vampires who work for the Fangs organization (Ichii being one of them) are pretty much volunteers.

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There are some explicit steamy scenes. Trigger warning for the first being maybe kinda dubcon (En kept telling him to wait, slow down, etc. but Ichii didn't, and then En liked it). To be fair, the elements that felt reminiscent of True Blood aren’t necessarily elements that are exclusive to that series. It’s just a lot of elements from vampire stories in a BL manga. They set up 3 different types of vampire relationships in this world. The vampire couple that’s happy, but really worried about infidelity. Apparently you can scent the blood someone drinks. The vampire that mated with a human - his story is interesting. He was married and then got injured while near another vampire and he was turned to save his life. His wife is human, he has a human (older looking) child. The vampire that lost his husband and wants to die. His story was so sad and there’s some scenes about his suicidal ideation. I loved this graphic novel with its beautiful art, sexy vampires, unique characters, touching and interesting relationships, exploration of vampirism, and sweet blossoming romance!