Cherry is on an airplane watching a vampire movie. In the row across from him sits a girl who is exhibiting some strange behavior and gets up from her seat and heads for the restroom.

A bit later, everyone on the plane has fallen asleep including Charley and in comes one of my favorite characters, Rayflo who silently sits next to Charley. He starts messing around with Charley because he thinks Charley is asleep. He starts to fondle Charley a bit but to his surprise and disappointment Charley is awake and quickly stops Rayflo from sexually harassing him (his words not mines).

Meanwhile the girl is still in one of the restrooms and she’s messing around with bullets and drooling from the month. In a nearby restroom Charley and Rayflo are taking part in a little mile high action. Charley is sinking is teeth deep into Rayflo’s neck. Rayflo takes the opportunity to question Charley as to why they are taking this trip without Sacre (it’s obviously not a mission to hunt down vampires). Charley doesn’t reveal much to Johnny only that they are going to visit Cheryl. Rayflo has surmised that Charley is visiting Cheryl to question her about her ancestor Arnold Paole. VOLUME 1 NOTES: In the last volume, chapter 2 Cheryl had mentioned that she had inherited the blood and curse of Arnold Paole END NOTES. Rayflo then goes for Charley’s zipper and Charley starts to freak out.

While Charley is freaking out the lady in the restroom finally emerges and pulls out some type of pistol and demands that the flight attendant tell her how she can get to the cargo hold. Obviously the flight attendant is frightened and tries to tell the lady that she can’t get to the cargo hold while the plane is in flight. The young lady is not interested in her excuses she needs to get to the cargo hold immediately but the young ladies demands are put on hold when both Charley and Rayflo come flying out of the restroom crashing on the floor. When they look up they see the flight attendant and the lady with the weapon. Charley quickly goes into action and knocks the pistol out of her hand and secures her to the wall.

Johnny picks up the pistol and presses it against the young lady’s head and insists that she answers his questions. The three of them: Charley, Rayflo and the lady go down into the cargo hold. The lady wasn’t hijacking the plane she needed to go to the cargo hold and retrieve some things from a crate . . . human body parts. She’s a vampire (newbie) and she needed to feed. Rayflo also picks up on something else . . . a bomb on the plane. He asks Charley to discover the location and sure enough the bomb is there and is set to explode in 3 minutes and 17 seconds. The lady insists that she had nothing to do with the bomb. Rayflo believes her. He guesses that someone wanted to get rid of all the evidence.

The captains of the plane arrive in the cargo hold. Rayflo tells them his demands (they think he is the hijacker). He informs them that he wants all the passengers to put on their seat belts and for them to land the plane at the nearest airport when they leave (how are they suppose to leave?)

With the assistance of Charley, the three of them jump with the bomb in hand from the airplane (yeah, that’s right they jump from the plane having now idea where they will land – wonderful isn’t?) The bomb explodes and the three of them go tumbling down to the ground.

They are picked up by a fisherman working late. Charley calls Cheryl to let her know that they would be running a little late and that they have an additional person with them. Once off the phone Charley checks up on the hurt Rayflo. The fall apparently caused some injure to his spine so he is unable to move on his own. The two of them go to check on the newbie vampire. They discover that she’s extremely thirsty for blood. Charley wants to tranquilizer her but Rayflo has different plans. He pulls back the sleeves on his shirt and puts his arm out for her to suck his blood. This does satisfy and calms the young lady but it ignites jealousy (or doubts and questions) in Charley’s mind. Why would his master share his blood with anyone other then him?

Charley is on the beach with Cheryl. She is on the beach catching a few rays of sun because Rayfell, her master, has been cheating on her with other women. She’s so furious at him so she is trying to get her translucent skin, which he says is so beautiful, into a golden bronze shade (that’ll teach him).

Charley begins to ask her about her ancestor Arnold Paole. Cheryl informs him that according to the story Arnold was a volunteer solider who accumulated a lot in wealth. He married a rich, farmer’s daughter who inquired about the darkness that troubled him. Arnold explained how he met a vampire in Greece and how this vampire sucked his blood and wanted to make him his slave but he refused by stabbing the vampire with a huge stake thus releasing himself from the vampire’s control. He returned to his village but the curse of the vampire followed him where ever he went. Soon after telling his story to his wife Arnold died in a strange farming accident. He was laid to rest but soon after strange events began to occur throughout the village. Many of the villagers believed it was Arnold causing all the trouble. 3 men from the military dug up Arnold’s body and discovered that in the past 3 months since his death his body had not rotted. His hair and nails were longer and he had blood around his mouth. They concluded that he was a vampire and set his body ablaze.

“So how did he escape and survive?” Charley asks. Cheryl doesn’t really know but she is sure that her great grandmother was killed and given blood by Arnold and was able to escape the burnings. Charley wants to know more about the vampire who attacked Arnold and the “curse” but Cheryl tells Charley that Paole ultimately became a vampire and that killing a vampire to remove to a curse is a fairytale. She then returns to her magazine and Charley notices a young lady on the cover. It is the same girl from the airplane.

Inside Cheryl’s house Rayflo is lying next to the young lady. He doesn’t want to be lying in bed with her or any woman and has a mini breakdown inside his head. His outer appearance is totally different (he looks so calm and collected). The lady wakes up and is instantly attracted to Rayflo. They exchange a few flirty words and she begins to move closer to Rayflo touching his body. In his mind Johnny is screaming and yelling for the lady to move away from him. She gets on top of him and gives him a romantic kiss but Rayflo is not enjoying it, in his mind he is yelling for Cherry to save him.

It appears as if he heard him because Charley arrives and is shocked to see the two of them lip locked. He enters and tells Miranda (that’s the young lady’s name) that they won’t reveal her secret to anyone and that it’s best if she had no farther contact with them.

Miranda calls her manager (she’s an actress) and begins to leave. Rayflo gives her the number to a place that will sale her transfusion packs. She takes the number and as she is exiting the room she says “If I don’t see you . . . find the Vassalord.” This peaks Charley’s interest because he has heard this name before but where VOLUME 1 NOTES: In chapter 2 Charley actually saw the word Vassalord during the Unitarian party when he was picking up papers and helping the boy in the wheelchair during the party END NOTES

Miranda has left the room and Rayflo starts complaining how Charley left him all alone with that woman. “It was like a punishment!” Charley tells Rayflo that he brought it on himself for being too “friendly” with her in the first place. Rayflo insists on a kiss to make him feel better. Charley leans in and gives him a kiss on the cheek, not the lips. He tells Rayflo that he is going to watch over Miranda until her people arrives and leaves the room.

A bit later Rayflo is on the phone with Rayfell. Rayfell wants to talk to Cheryl to explain that everything is just a miss understanding but of course Rayflo can not move from the bed so they bicker back and forth for a while. They soon realize that they both are in similar positions; both their partners hate them at the moment. Cheryl’s not talking to Rayfell and Charley gave Rayflo a kiss on the cheek instead of the lips. As the two of them are talking a news report comes on the TV. It’s about Miranda Segal and how she reappeared at the Hotel Onaha after being missing last night. They show her getting into her car and BOOM! The car explodes. On the other end of the phone Rayflo hears the following: Hey! What was that . . . Addie? Your blood is very valuable. You must not waste it. Do you understand Addie?” Rayflo has a “I’m pissed now” expression on his face as he hangs up the phone (okay, who’s Addie? Rayflo most likely but who is this person who is calling him Addie? Hope to get answers in chapter 5)

Now with that being said let me clear up a few things. I love Vassalord because of the relationship between Charley and Rayflo but for me there wasn’t enough about them in this volume. I mean their in it and all but the story is starting to take another turn which I believe will tie back into the true identity of Johnny Rayflo but there wasn’t much interaction between Charley and Rayflo like it was in Vassalord Volume 1.

Volume 2 is basically a continuation of Volume 1, Chapter 2 Hierocles’ Delusion. Remember that chapter was about the slimy vampire priest Kazan, well that’s kind of where Volume 2 picks up but it’s now dealing with another character(s) and turning them into vampires.

We also have reoccurring characters: Cheryl is back along with a Rayfell. The small boy in the wheel church, Charley helped during the Neo Union Church gather is back (volume 1, chapter 2), and so is that rude cop (he a little less rude).

Then there is another story in the manga called Zoul Half which has nothing to do with Vassalord. It has different characters and a different story. I kind of wish more time had been spent on more Cherry and Rayflo stories but oh well.

I’ll try to get Chapter 4 up as quickly as I can. I had eye surgery last month so my eyes are still adjusting and I have to limit my time reading and staring at the computer screen for the time being (but I couldn’t let it stop me from reading this Volume. I know it was probably not in my best interest to do so but hey I couldn’t wait any longer to read it).

Well, until then
Take care!

I’m always checking out Amazon’s best sellers list to get an idea of what’s hot but I haven’t been able to pull the trigger on purchasing any yet.

I’ve really enjoyed most of the ones I’ve read so far but I feel I have a way to go to be like other avid manga readers like Samantha and other readers whose sites I stumble up on, on the net.

I have thought about reading the volumes online instead of waiting until they become available in stores but it’s the waiting and anticipation of opening a new, fresh, crisp manga that gets me really excited and stops me from reading volumes online. It’s like a roller coast: finishing one volume is like climbing up the highest point of the ride but getting that newly release manga and reading it is like the thrilling ride down the hill. Ahh the butterflies and fun!

Oh well, that’s just me rambling . . . maybe I’ll give reading manga online a try someday, at least to see if I like a particular story or characters before making the actual purchase. Just a thought.

If you happen to have suggestions on entertaining relationship based manga that you’re currently reading, have read in the past or plan to read in the future post below. I’m always looking for the next entertaining story until my favs become available to buy.

Happy reading!

Hazumu meets Tomari at her house to walk to school. Outside Tomari’s home they plan to go to the aquarium amusement park after school. They both start to reach for each others hand but are interrupted by the others (Asuta, Ayuki, and Yasuna) arrival. They look totally embarrassed and everyone knows something is going on between the two of them (but they are not sure what). NOTE: It should be noted that Yasuna is feeling sick but refuses to go one day without seeing Hazumu.

They all arrive at school. Asuta reminds Hazumu about staying after school to take temperature readings for science class. Hazumu freaks out. She totally forgot about it. During class Hazumu is obviously feeling bummed out about staying after school. Yasuna comes up to Hazumu asking if she had other plans after school and Hazumu reveals to her the plan for the aquarium. Hazumu was totally out of it when she was talking that she hadn’t realized that she was revealing this information to Yasuna. When she finally notices that she had been talking to Yasuna she freaks out again. But Yasuna tells Hazumu to go ahead and go to the aquarium. She will handle her after school duties. Besides, it’s only fair that Tomari gets to spend a day with her alone (she got to after all). Hazumu accepts Yasuna’s offer.

After school Tomari and Hazumu head for the aquarium park while Asuta and Yasuna take the temperature readings. Yasuna starts to feel ill and suddenly collapses.

#16 Because I Like You
Sora-sensei pops out of thin air and takes Yasuna to the infirmary (he tells Asuta to continue with the readings). In the infirmary, a passed out Yasuna is constantly saying Hazumu’s name repeatedly. Sora-sensei takes out his alien screen and starts viewing images of Yasuna’s childhood.

Apparently, Yasuna has always kept to herself. She kept her distance from boys because of her condition of not being able to see their faces and girls kept away from her because she always seemed so cold and distanced. Yasuna constantly told herself that she could handle being all alone that was until she met Hazumu.

One day at school she sees Hazumu talking and watering the plants in the school garden. She was shocked to actually see him smiling (a first for her). She then set out to learn as much as she could about Hazumu. She discovered that all she wanted to do was be by his (now) her side but now she recognizes that that may no longer happen because Tomari also wants to be by Hazumu’s side as well. Yasuna has lately been considering giving up Hazumu to Tomari, if that would make Hazumu happy she would. End of transmission.

Sora-sensei once again does a pop-in but this time he pops-in on Hazumu at the aquarium and quickly informs her of the situation with Yasuna and then pops-out. Sora-sensei knows he shouldn’t have interfered with “human” affairs. He feels as if he is starting to understand real human emotions.

Hazumu on the other hand is totally panicking. She tells Tomari of the situation and then starts blaming herself for Yasuna’s condition.

#17 Walls
Hazumu and Tomari are heading back into town on the train. Hazumu continues to blame herself for Yasuna’s condition. She begins to remember how her relationship with Yasuna began and developed.

In the beginning everybody thought Yasuna was a cold person (even he did) but one day while on the roof top tending to the garden, he and the plants hears beautiful music coming from the music room. He goes in search of the performer and discovered that it was Yasuna playing her flute. He realized at that moment that she wasn’t a cold, heartless person but a special person. His feelings for her began to increase the more he got to know her.

He then remembers the day that he confessed his love to her. It was very painful for him to be rejected by her. So, he escaped into the mountains to get away from her. He wished that he could be someone else completely just to ease the pain of his broken heart (be careful for what you wish for).

When he was brought back to life as a girl he purposely put a wall between him and Yasuna to protect his heart but even with his wall Yasuna was able to see straight through to him.

Yasuna wakes up and tells herself that she can go back to being alone but then Hazumu races into the room and grabs hold of her hand. Hazumu starts apologizing for everything and stating how worried she and Tomari were.

Tomari enters the room and Yasuna is very happy to see her. (The three amigos are back together again).

#18 Of People, Dreams, Fireworks, and Hopelessness
The whole gang is at a local diner eating and having fun. They soon begin to talk about fireworks. So, later that night everyone including Jan-Puu, Sora, and Namiko are enjoying set off fireworks.

Hazumu takes off to get some more sparklers for herself, Tomari, and Yasuna, leaving the two girls alone. Tomari and Yasuna make a pact to join forces and together they will both win Hazumu’s heart.

Hazumu returns and everyone continues enjoying the fireworks and the last day of summer.

Special #2 One Man’s Daring Mission: Invade the Pajama Party!
This special is basically Asuta trying to get into the pajama party being held at Hazumu’s house. It’s kind of funny to see how he lets his imagination go wild as he hears all the girls laughing and giggling; of course when he discovers the truth he’s disappointed (his imagination is out of control!)

#19 Secrets
Hazumu arrives at school to find Tomari and Yasuna talking friendly to one another. It’s kind of surprising her a bit how friendly the two of them have become. Anyway, she invites them to do something after school and both of them say they have something to do. She finds this very odd.

School is over and just as Hazumu is heading out she sees Tomari and Yasuna leaving the building together. She’s feeling a bit jealous so she takes it upon herself to find out what the two of them are up to.

She follows them to a clothing store. Tomari and Yasuna are looking at girl’s clothes and Hazumu is a little suspect about their behavior but then she reasons that it is normal for two girls to go shopping together. Then Hazumu starts thinking about her situation and how she really isn’t a true girl. She really starts to get down on herself when Tomari and Yasuna begin looking at wedding dresses. What would she wear on her wedding day: a dress or a tuxedo?

When Hazumu finally snaps out of her funk she realizes that she has lost sight of Tomari and Yasuna. So she heads home. When she arrives she is greeted by everyone yelling “SURPRISE!” It’s Hazumu’s birthday (she forgot all about it). Tomari and Yasuna bring out their gift and it a cute dress. It’s the dress they chose in the clothing store earlier.

Hazumu is tearfully happy. She was feeling like the two of them no longer liked her because she wasn’t a “true” girl and she felt like she was a burdened on the two of them. In reality they actually like her better as a girl.

Hazumu later asks the two girls if she can go shopping with them the next time, of course she can go shopping with them the next time it’s what girls do together.

This chapter ends happily for Hazumu but for the alien he notices something peculiar is starting to happen within Hazumu.

#20 The Day of the Sports Festival
The school is having a Sports Festival. Everyone is super excited about the festival especially Tomari who always shines at sports. Everybody is involved in some type of activity except Hazumu and Yasuna that was until Tomari signed them up for the three-legged race (which they come in fourth. At least it wasn’t last). Tomari comes in first on her event giving her team victory.

Later that night, Sora performs another physical on Hazumu and tells her that based on his findings she only has a month of life remaining.

#21 Cosmos
Hazumu skips school to go to Kashima Mountains to absorb the latest information revealed by Sora. She only has one month to live.

Back at school everyone is very worried about Hazumu. She hasn’t showed up. Tomari can’t take it anymore and decides to leave classes earlier to find Hazumu. She knows something is wrong. Yasuna decides to go with Tomari to go looking for Hazumu. As they prepare to leave they run into Sora-sensei who tells them that Hazumu has gone to the mountain to escape the fact that she has only a month to live.

Needless to say everyone is shocked by this news. Even Ayuki shows emotion and orders the alien (she knew he was the alien all long) to fix Hazumu. Sora explains that Hazumu’s original fate gene had him dying as well. If it wasn’t killed by the spaceship it would have been another accident. When he put Hazumu into the system to be regenerated it pulled another fate gene inside (the girl one) and transformed him into a girl but even that fate gene is now destined to die. The only way for Hazumu to live is for her to have a gene transplant from one of her friends. As long as the donor is willing to share his/her life with Hazumu, Hazumu will live but the moment that donor stops sharing, Hazumu will die.

The chapter ends with Hazumu on the mountain telling herself that she is going to live to the very end!

Special #3 The First Story of Summer: The Night Before
This is a cute special about Hazumu who is having these strange/funny dreams about her summer vacation. Most of these strange dreams are caused by Sora poking around inside her head. It’s a funny special that you’ll want to check out.

That’s it for Volume 3 of Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl!

Check out Volume 4

He continues by telling the nun how nice this gentleman was to him but in actuality the first words that came out of this stranger’s mouth were “Get Lost” The man goes on to describe how the abandoned church is his feeding ground and if the little boy doesn’t get lost he’s going to eat him up. Unfortunately for the man, the little boy’s stomach starts to growl (it apparently liked the way the man was describing how he was going to “eat” him up). So, the man gives the little boy a piece of old bread to eat and their relationship begins.

Rayflo (that’s what I’ll call him because his true name is never revealed in this chapter) tries several times to get the boy to leave but the boy won’t leave his side. So, they stay together and Rayflo does his best to provide him with “human” food but there’s a war going on so there isn’t much food or people around.

Rayflo makes the best out of the situation and starts caring for the little tyke. He even gives the boy a hair cut but it doesn’t turn out that great. The boy doesn’t like it and tears start to form. Rayflo tries to explain how sophisticated the cut really is but the boy has something else in mind. He grabs hold of the scissors and gives Rayflo’s a hair cut. This makes him feel much better.

They spend the next several days together, bonding with one another, having fun. One night Rayflo decides to give the boy a name. He calls him Chris and Chris calls him, master. Chris is so happy to have a name and to be with his master. He never wants to leave the master’s side . . . ever (Chris’ actions and words really touches Rayflo’s heart).

Rayflo tells Chris that they will head into town tomorrow. He knows he can not provide in the way that Chris deserves. He feels Chris would be better off with people (people of the light).

As Chris is telling his story to the nun he starts to break down into tears. He really misses his master. He’s been searching all over for him with no luck. No one believes that he lived at the abandoned church with a man (most of the people he met on his journey tell him he must have been dreaming). He knows it wasn’t a dream, it actually happened. It explains why he has been trying to unlock doors in his sleep. That’s one reason why the nun was having a talk with him to find out the source of his sleep walking and why he keeps that strange hair cut.

The nun conveys to Christopher Michel (that’s his full name) that this man must have really loved him, to place him in the care of the church. She goes on to explain that even though this man isn’t with him (physically) he is protecting him. As long as Chris walks the path of light then the man will always be with him (maybe she should of have said the path of darkness).

We see a slightly older Chris, wearing a pair of glasses with a normal hair cut holding on to a cross around his neck.

That’s the end of Chapter 3 of Vassalord Volume 1. (boo-who but at least we don’t have to wait too long for the next Volume!)

There is also a nice afterwards about how Vassalord was created. It’s about 2 pages long. You’ll want to check it out and also look over the glossary.

Totally looking forward to Vassalord Volume 2 which is scheduled to come out November 11, 2008. Can’t wait until November, can you?

Back to present time – Charley is returning to his hotel room to find his master looking out the window at all the prepping commotion downstairs. They both plan to attend the Neo Union Church party being held across the street. As Charley leaves the room to get dress he orders his master not to wear white at the party. For Charley the color white should be worn by holymen (and we all know Rayflo is not a holyman).

At the church gathering Rayflo sneaks away from Charley and starts flirting with a group of young ladies. Charley enjoys the party the best he can but he starts to feel a little hungry. He has been on a fast for 5 days and the smell of all that blood is starting to get to him. Charley steps out into the hallway to gather himself. While there, he assists a young boy back into his wheelchair. The boy politely thanks him (he thinks Charley is a reverend) and leaves. As soon as the boy is around the corner Rayflo unexpectedly appears. He catches a glimpse of the boy around the corner and drags Charley to a confession room. While the reverend is speaking the holy word, Rayflo and Charley begin their routine of feeding and satisfying one another. Just as Charley is about to feast on Rayflo, a little nun comes alone and whacks Charley on the head. She believes the two of them are vampires (and she’s right!) but she quickly apologizes when she sees Charley’s cross (he does looks like a priest).

She’s curious as to what the two of them were doing and luckily for them Rayflo comes up with a fantastic story. He explains that he has a terrible disease and that God (that’s right, God) spoke to him saying he would be cured if he would receive a kiss on his neck while hearing the people’s prayer (da-dah that’s the story). And guess what? She believes it and Charley can’t believe Rayflo came up with such a lie in church.

Rayflo then removes the nun’s glasses and head covering to discover that she’s actually a super adorable little girl (Rayflo can’t contain himself. He finds her just soo cute). Meanwhile the reverend has just finished his sermon when all of a sudden the huge cross behind him comes crashing down on top of him but that’s not the strange point. What’s strange is that there is a dead female tied to the cross.

The police arrive. They interrogate Rayflo and Charley more then the other guest because they were in the confession room alone (the police guy is a total a##hole). He doesn’t believe their story in particularly about the little girl with the glasses (she’s nowhere to be found). Luckily the young boy in the wheelchair tells his version of the events and it matches with Charley’s and Rayflo’s story so the cop decides to let them go.

Charley and Rayflo leave and begin looking for the little girl and it doesn’t take them long to find her. It turns out that her name is Cheryl Shane Kates and she’s a vampire hunter who was hired by the church founder Mr. Samuel Kazan, to determine the cause of all the mysterious deaths happening within the church. She positioned herself within the case as bait to lure the murderer out of hiding; unfortunately she doesn’t measure up physically like the ladies who were murdered.

Johnny comes up with another brilliant idea! He and Charley will help the girl solve her case. She happily accepts their help but before they can start on the case Johnny decides to dress Cheryl up in the exact same outfit as Charley. Once Rayflo sees Cheryl is her new outfit he once again flips-out. He comments on how much Cheryl looks like “Chris when he was younger” (Chris . . . we agree this is Charley, right?). Rayflo picks-up the adorable Cheryl and the 2 of them leave to discuss a plan of attack, leaving poor Charley all by himself.

Two days later – Johnny is dressed up as a woman pretending to be an agent investigating the murders at the church. Charley and Cheryl tend to the founder of the church Mr. Kazan. Charley will be his bodyguard while Cheryl continues her investigation. Cheryl takes her leave and Charley is escorted by Mr. Daniel (the founders assistant) to a guestroom where he will be staying as the bodyguard (Once Cheryl has left Mr. Kazan’s home she makes a comment to herself about Charley. She says that Charley is easily fooled and how she can not believe he is a vampire hunter but at least he makes up for his lack of knowledge in physical strength. What does she mean by this?)

Three days later – Charley is feeling fatigue once again. He needs to eat. As he lies on his bed and starts to drift to sleep his master suddenly appears (he seems to do this a lot) and gives him his “meal.” They carry on a brief conversation where Charley reveals a hint of jealousy toward Rayflo’s admiration over the cute Cheryl. He wakes up and wonders if his master really did appear or if it was a dream? He doesn’t have much time to think this through because he hears a disturbing sound coming from Mr. Kazan’s room. Charley goes and checks it out. Mr. Daniel is inside and tells Charley that Mr. Kazan is okay. He’s just experiencing one of his episodes. Charley leaves.

The next scene is of a female agent name Rayfell (looks like Johnny dressed up as a woman) reading the bible. Mr. Daniel appears and tells her that he has something to show her. He takes her to a secret tunnel. While they are walking he takes the opportunity to discuss Mr. Kazan’s condition: he explains how his master tries so hard to maintain his sanity during his illness and how he tries to lower or not even take his medication. He goes on to reveal how Father Mailer (the man struck by the huge cross earlier) even helped Mr. Kazan with his illness by disposing of the victims and how the cross stunt was most likely his way of putting an end to it all. Mr. Daniel and Agent Rayfell make it to the end of the tunnel and arrive inside Mr. Kazan’s mansion. And then WHACK! Mr. Daniel knocks out Agent Rayfell.

Meanwhile, Charley enters Mr. Kazan’s bedroom. He finds a very weak Mr. Kazan in bed. Mr. Kazan tells Charley that he needs Mr. Daniel but he is unable to find him and would really appreciate it if Charley went looking for him. Charley agrees and leaves the mansion. As soon as Mr. Kazan sees Charley leave the mansion Mr. Kazan turns into a vampire.

Back at the church Mr. Daniel is on his knees praying for forgiveness for he has sinned. Unfortunately for him he is not alone in the church. Cheryl is right behind him. She requests that Mr. Daniel show her the secret tunnel. He does but when they reach the end of the tunnel they find a dead-end. Cheryl knows the truth and uses a technique that creates a barrier around the church and the mansion making it impossible for 33 minutes and 3 seconds for a vampire to regenerate. She calls Charley to inform him of what is occurring and tells him that the master is being attacked at that very moment (how does she know this?) and he had better do something to save the master.

Cheryl gets off the phone and directs her attention to Mr. Daniel. She reveals to him that she knew all along that her client Mr. Kazan was a vampire and per her policy she must take out all dangerous vampires even it they are the client. Mr. Daniel gets very annoyed with Cheryl and tries to attack her but she easily defends herself and escapes.

Back at Kazan’s mansion, Charley returns inside to discover Mr. Kazan turning into a vampire (and he is one ugly, yucky looking vampire. Nothing like Rayflo or Charley). Charley rushes into one of the bedrooms to retrieve his master, who is still knocked-out. As he is going in to save “her” his dog Sacra enters the mansion and starts attacking the ugly Mr. Kazan allowing Charley and Agent Rayfell to escape.

Agent Rayfell finally wakes up and Charley reveals that he is shocked to find out that Mr. Kazan is actually a vampire. Agent Rayfell is even more surprise to find out that Charley is just now realizing this fact (Remember the comment Cheryl made earlier about Charley being easily fooled? Everyone knew Mr. Kazan was vampire except Charley – strange?!).

Charley and Agent Rayfell notice that Mr. Kazan is an odd shaped vampire. He has no bones in his body. Apparently, Mr. Kazan is one of those old style vampires who can enter a human’s body through any possible hole (yuck!).

Charley tells Agent Rayfell to go some place safe while he takes care of the hideous, ugly blob vampire (As Charley goes off to fight, Agent Rayfell makes a comment to “herself” that Charley “is even cooler than I’d heard” Hey, what’s going on? Isn’t Agent Rayfell Charley’s master?)

Charley and Mr. Kazan fight but it’s a bit difficult for Charley to kill Mr. Kazan because he can’t locate the heart (he is a slimy blob with not bones after all). While Charley is searching for the heart the real Mr. Kazan is begging for Charley to kill him (to put him out of his misery). With the help of Sacra, Charley takes out his huge knife and plunges it into the blob vampire but it doesn’t kill Mr. Kazan. The vampire blob spews out some disgusting liquid which causes Charley to go crashing into the walls (I guess he didn’t plunge the knife into his heart). The vampire blob starts crawling on the floor. Sacra leaps up for the blob giving Agent Rayfell the opportunity to wrap something around Mr. Kazan and capturing him. Agent Rayfell remarks on how Cheryl barrier has made him completely powerless (how does he know about the barrier?) (Okay, now here comes the interesting twist in the story  . . .) In the next scene we are presented with 2, yes that’s right 2 Agent Rayfells’/Rayflos’ faces. Both are saying “Let’s Go” A huge explosion of the blob occurs and once again Charley is sent flying across the room. There is no more Mr. Kazan (ugly blob vampire).

We find Charley sitting on the floor completely wiped out questioning why the Reverend Kazan became a vampire in the first place. Agent Rayfell appears and comforts poor Charley by giving him a passionate kiss! It’s after the kiss that Charley realizes and screams “YOU’RE NOT MY MASTER!!” (ha, ha) His real master (Rayflo) also appears and smacks him on the back of the head for taking so long to realize the truth (it’s a really funny scene. Another one of my favorites).

At the hospital, Father Mailer is still in a coma but there is some mysterious person injecting something powerful into his arm.

Back at our vampires home we find Charley, the 2 Rayflos and Cheryl. It turns out that Johnny Rayflo is actually a twin and his brother is Rayfell. Cheryl is a Vjedo-gonian: a person who has the ability to kill vampires but when they die they themselves will turn into a vampire. Cheryl’s master is Rayfell. (Do you get it now? All that time Agent Rayfell was the twin brother. It was never Johnny. Here is a way to tell them apart when you go back and read the actual manga. Johnny Rayflo has facial hair (on his chin). Agent Rayfell has not facial hair at all. It helps to clear up a few scenes where you’re not too sure who’s who particularly towards the end when the twins are arguing).

The twins begin to argue over the type of “relationship” Rayflo has with Charley. Once the two of them finish Charley and Rayflo decide to take a bath together.

On the news it is reported that Father Mailer has miraculously recovered from all his injuries.

Up next Chapter 3 of Vassalord Volume 1

The maids and Charley battle for quiet a while. Charley finally disposes of the maids and goes looking for Rayflo. He finds Johnny and readies himself to stab him again but the maids return and bombard Charley with a series of daggers causing Charley to collapse to the floor. As Johnny bends to face Charley, Charley pushes forth a metal stake and stabs Rayflo who is now underneath Charley.

Charley is on top of Rayflo and he wants something. He needs to satisfy is blood thirst and Rayflo is the vampire to do it. Charley sinks his teeth into, the more then will, Johnny Rayflo’s flesh.

Charles J. Chrishund is a day-walking vampire who works for the Vatican and only sucks blood from his master Johnny Rayflo. He sucks blood from his master because he feels it won’t distance him too much from God’s Graces (the church is against ungodly creatures like vampires). After the two of them satisfy their “needs” Charley discusses his next assignment aboard and how he is taking his meal ticket, Rayflo, with him to China (the drawing of how Charley will manage this is so funny. It’s one of my favorites so far).

In China, the real reason for Charley being assigned to this case is revealed. A Sister Famille wants to make Charley an official messenger of God (something he truly wants to become but knows it is impossible since he is a vampire). She says that she is willing to exchange her small, vampire girl (which her organization has been controlling for 500 years) for the vampire name The Confined Elagabalus, known today as Johnny Rayflo.

Charley doesn’t want Rayflo to go but Johnny has every intention of going. He believes it is not Sister Famille who wants him but someone else. Charlie on the other hands feels there is an ulterior motive. He doesn’t understand why Rayflo is willing to do be their test subject just for a female vampire.

They arrive at the Ming Tombs and all the people of the church are died. It looks like their blood has been sucked out of their bodies. They enter the center structure and discover that the girl vampire Princess Marie has awoken. She wants to be with Rayflo again and return to their castle. Well, this ignites a bit of jealously in Charley who draws out his huge sword and places it around Rayflo declaring he will never give him up (Aw, how touching). His action upsets the Princess. So she launches a freeze attack aimed at Charley but it strikes Rayflo who intercepted the hit in order to save Charley.

Rayflo is frozen. Princess Marie launches another freeze attack on Charley but this time Charley is ready and fights back. The vampire hunter and the princess battle one another for a while. Rayflo eventually unfreezes himself and watches the battle on the sidelines. Sister Familla stumbles over (she looks like a vampire just ate the whole left side of her body. Oh, yeah, Princess Marie did it). She begs Rayflo to make her into a vampire (she isn’t ready to die). Johnny is not interested in saving her. It was because of her and her corrupt organization that caused Marie to awaken (Sister Familla gets what she deserves).

Both Princess Marie and Charley are severely injured. Charley calls out for blood. Rayflo appears and gives Charley want he needs. Marie asks Rayflo to kill Charley so the two them can be together. Johnny explains to Marie that he will go back with her and that he didn’t create Charley out of affection (so it’s no problem in killing him). Rayflo’s words really infuriate Charley. Charley goes on the defensive and unleashes his true vampire abilities and starts to attack Rayflo. They fly out of the tomb. Charley starts demanding to know why Rayflo gave him his blood if he didn’t really love him. Rayflo explains that he said what he said to get him all agitated. He wants him, the vampire hunter, to kill him which will put an end to her. Charley grabs a hold of Rayflo’s throat but instead of squeezing it to kill him he collapses on top of Rayflo asking him to hold him and never let go. He, Charley, belongs to Rayflo only. Princess Marie starts to run towards the two of them just as the sun starts to rise.

Inside one of the Father’s office, Charley is offered a position as priest, he declines. He pledges to train harder to save more people. The Father then asks Charley about the remains of the vampires. It is rumored that if a vampire turns into a bat and gets back into his coffin within 7 days and nights the vampire will reappear. Charley confirms that both vampires died that day nothing remained but their ashes.

As Charley walks into his home he is showered with an array of party confetti by Rayflo (he obviously didn’t die that day). It’s Rayflo’s way of congratulating him on his new position as priest. Rayflo becomes a little disappointed when he learns that Charley turned down the position (he was looking forward to a larger place to live).

So, how did Rayflo survive? Charley casually says that he brought back Rayflo’s ashes but he didn’t think it would actually work and Rayflo would survive (Rayflo’s isn’t too happy with the way Charley says this so he won’t allow the hungry Charley to feed until he is ready to be food).

Vassalord Chapter 2 up next!

During Hazumu’s bath time she tries to figure out what’s going on with Tomari. Why is Tomari avoiding her and not talking to her like she use to. And then an ideal occurs to Hazumu. She immediately jumps out of the tub and heads over to Tomari. Once there Hazumu explains that she now understands why Tomari has been behaving so strangely towards her. Hazumu tries to tell Tomari that she really likes her but Tomari instantaneously smacks Hazumu across the face. Tomari doesn’t want to hear such things, after all isn’t Hazumu in love with Yasuna?

Hazumu isn’t able to say she loves Yasuna because at this point she likes both girls equally. And with that information, Tomari tells Hazumu that if that is true then she’ll have to do the same thing to both of them. Hazumu starts to panic thinking she’ll have to kiss Tomari too but all Tomari wants is a hug and Hazumu affectionately hugs her back.

#9 A Trip to the Beach
Hazumu, Tomari, Yasuna, Asuta, and Ayuki go to the beach. They are met there by Sora and Namiko and Jan-Puu (Sora is there to observed the effects the beach will have on Hazumu’s relationship and Namiko is there well for Sora, of course).

Asuta is having a delightful but painful time being around his best friend who is now a beautiful, large chested girl. He finds himself very attracted to Hazumu and this is freaking him out so he agrees to get drinks for everyone. His departure leaves Hazumu alone with Yasuna and Tomari. Now Hazumu is feeling a little uncomfortable and excuses herself in a disguise to help Asuta.

When she meets up with Asuta she tells a couple of guys that he is her boyfriend all in an attempt to get them to leave her alone. Asuta is so flattered by this that he starts to daydream about the kind of relationship the two of them could have. Unfortunately, while he is daydreaming he gets himself and Hazumu separated from the others. Hazumu informs Asuta of this and she proceeds to ask him why he has been behaving so strangely towards her. Is it because she is a girl now and it’s embarrassing to be around her? Asuta believes this is the time to tell Hazumu his true feelings. Sad to say, he wasn’t able to do so because just as the words were starting to leave his mouth “I think I’m  . . .” he sees someone falling off the cliff above them. Ah, it’s Namiko. She has fallen from the cliff because Sora said he had been thinking a lot about love lately. She thinks he’s referring to her and gets all excited and falls of the cliff.

Ultimately, everyone gets back on the train to go home. During the train ride Tomari confesses to Yasuna that she too is in love with Hazumu.

#10 I’ll Just Watch
This chapter takes a look at relationships through the eyes of Ayuki.

At school Sora has devise an activity that involves dares. It is basically a way for him to see how the intense feelings of fear will have on Hazumu’s relationship). Hazumu doesn’t like dares and worries herself sick about it. She excuses herself and goes outside. She’s sees Ayuki giving a note to a boy who bluntly tells her he is not interested in her but someone else. After the boy leaves, Hazumu apologizes to Ayuki for overhearing her conversation and that she should continue trying for her love. Ayuki doesn’t really mind the fact that Hazumu overheard her conversation and she also states that she had stop “trying” a long time ago.

It is time for the dare activity. Hazumu, Tomari, and Yasuna are together walking down the school’s hallways. Hazumu is completely terrified. They encounter their first dare and Hazumu freaks out taking off in the opposite direction leaving Tomari and Yasuna all alone.

Hazumu runs to a room and discovers that Ayuki is in there. She then asks Ayuki to explain what she meant by “not trying” earlier. Ayuki explains she prefers to watch life. Similar to the way she used to watch caterpillars turn into butterflies (a slow and painful process). This type of transformation that occurs was something that she never thought to happen to her. She much prefers to watch.

They get up and Ayuki returns Hazumu back to Tomari and Yasuna. Ayuki thinks to herself that Hazumu should take her time deciding between Tomari and Yasuna much like the caterpillar that turns into a butterfly Hazumu should be slow and careful “as to not tear [her] newborn wings.”

#11 The Princess of Curry
Yasuna decides to throw a curry party. Hazumu, Sora, Jan-Puu, Tomari, Ayuki, and Asuta attend the party. Yasuna and Tomari prepare the meal together. Tomari feels a bit uncomfortable because everyone is saying what a wonderful cook Yasuna is.

Tomari asks Yasuna why she invited everyone to the curry party. She knows that Yasuna would much rather it had been just Hazumu and her alone together. Yasuna candidly tells Tomari that she had intended for it to be just her and Hazumu but if that had happened should wouldn’t have seen Hazumu’s biggest smile which only happens when everyone is together. She also adds that Hazumu will be hers. She will not give Hazumu to Tomari but for now she is just happy to watch over her.

Time to eat! They all gather around the table and start to dig into the meal unfortunately, the meal is way too hot/spicy to enjoy. (oh well)

#12 Of Summer Festivals of Cotton Candy
It is time for Kashima Shrine’s Summer Festival. Hazumu has a faint memory of herself crying at this festival when she was younger but she is unable to recall what it was that caused her to cry.

Everyone at school is talking about the festival and the idea of seeing each other in a Yukata gets everyone excited; everyone but Tomari that is. She has less enthusiasm then the rest of the group because she does not own a Yukata. After school she rushes home to see if her mother can get her a Yukata for the festival. Her mother is overjoyed to hear that her “tomboy” daughter actually wants to wear a Yukata.

Everyone arrives at the festival. Tomari is feeling a bit unsecure wearing her mother’s Yukata but her mood quickly changes when Hazumu makes a comment on how cute she is in her Yukata. Hazumu’s comment gives Tomari extra energy and she takes off towards a booth and wins a huge bag of small fishes for Hazumu.

Both Yasuna and Tomari are vying for Hazumu’s attention. This of course freaks Hazumu out. So she excuses herself and runs away. She starts to realize that she can’t continue to run away from the girls like that. She will have to eventually make a decision as to which girl she really likes.

Sora pops in and starts examining the inside Hazumu’s head and picks up on a memory. It is of Hazumu when she was younger at the festival. Her mother had asked her which cotton candy she would like to have. Unfortunately, she couldn’t decide right away and it begins to rain and her mother picks her up and they start to head home. Hazumu starts to cry because she really wanted cotton candy. Her mother informs her that she has to stop being so indecisive because one day it’s going to get her in a lot of trouble.

Hazumu makes up her mind to try to be more decisive but she still doesn’t understand what love is. She returns to Tomari and Yasuna and thinks that she may have a little time before she has to decide who she truly loves.

#13 A Little Storm
Yasuna invites everyone to attend the Seaside Park and Aquarium but only Hazumu eventually shows up. Tomari has sports camp, Astua has summer classes, and Ayuki has something important to do basically leaving Yasuna and Hazumu alone together all day.

At the park Yasuna and Tomari have a really great time eating and seeing the marine life. They take a ride on the ferris wheel. While they are enjoying the ride Hazumu’s cell phone rings, it’s Tomari. Yasuna leaps from her seat and demands that Hazumu not answer it.

#14 Tomari and . . .
Yasuna grabs onto Hazumu and asks if it is okay if they stay like this until the ride is over (they do). Once the ride is over they exit the park and head home.

At home Hazumu is worried that Tomari is probably mad at her for not answering her calls. Just as she’s thinking this her cell phone rings and it’s Tomari calling again. Hazumu still does not answer. The next morning Hazumu notices that she has 3 missed calls. She makes up her mind to apologize to Tomari in person and takes a train to visit her at the sports camp.

Hazumu arrives at the camp and sees Tomari but quickly leaves. She can’t get in because she is not on the team. So she heads into the mountains. Tomari on the other hand had looked up at that moment that Hazumu had arrived but thought she was hallucinating and continued with her practice.

After practice Tomari calls Hazumu’s home and discovers that it was actually Hazumu she saw earlier. She takes off looking for her.

Hazumu wakes up on the mountain and realizes she has lost her cell phone and all of a sudden something falls out of the sky . . . it’s Jan-Puu who had been gone for 3 days for maintenance and repairs. At that same moment Jan-Puu appears so does Tomari. Hazumu quickly apologizes and explains why she hadn’t answered her cell phone because she was with Yasuna at the time (Tomari already knew this). Tomari starts saying how Yasuna is more feminine and perfect then her but she will not lose to her (way to go Tomari. You fight for your love!)

They walk back to the camp with fingers interlace.

The End

There is a special story that is told from Jan-Puu’s point of view entitled Onee-nii-sama Observation Diary. It’s kind of a cute and sweet story that you’ll want to checkout.

See at the next volume

It’s about a cyborg vampire, who works for the Catholic Church and his relationship with his master vampire Johnny Rayflo. I had originally read a snippet of the manga in an issue on Anime Insider and I was intrigued with what I read. However, I find now that the snippet I previewed and the summary on the back of the cover does not do the manga justice. I had originally thought it was this dark, bloody story about a vampire cyborg who is trying to destroy this other vampire who he is actually in love with.

It’s actually quite funny to begin with, they are vampires but the cyborg Charley isn’t trying to kill Johnny. They have a relationship and it’s the relationship between the two of them that I find really interesting and want to learn more about. Together the two of them, so far, solve these vampire related incidents. Their personal relationship is much more intriguing then the cases they solve together. It’s the kind of relationship where they suck blood and possible a few other things (I’m just assuming).

The issue I have with the manga is the drawing, particularly when it comes to the fighting/action scenes. They tend to be just a series of strokes and lines making it very difficult to see what is occurring in the panel (kind of messy and blurry). When there are no action scenes then I am able to get into the story but the minute a fight scene occurs I am completely confused as to who did what or how they did it. I have to read the next panel to piece it all together.

Overall, I really like Vassalord. I have to say I tend to have a bias opinion for manga with pretty, handsome guys but not always (for example Cain. I wasn’t feeling that one). I am looking forward to reading the next volume scheduled for release on November 11, 2008.

I am fascinated by vampires and relationships so the two come together nicely. Check out my Vassalord Volume 1 book summary coming up soon.

Book details:
Tokyopop
Age: 16+
Creator: Nanae Chrono

I also had a huge dislike for Seimei. I mean the guy is so MEAN! How can he hurt Ritsuka and Soubi like that or anyone for that matter? What’s he really up to anyway? Questions like that and more kept playing over and over in my head as I turned one page after the next. It was sad, yet funny, yet great! I can’t say anything bad about it because I love the characters so much. Ritsuka has matured, I feel, in this volume. He’s starting to see things about Seimei and Soubi (whether he really understands it all remains to be seen but my love for him continues to grow). I honestly don’t understand it yet. So, I guess when he understands I’ll understand it.

In this volume we learn about Soubi and how he became a fighter unit, in particularly how he became Seimei’s fighter unit. Agh! That Seimei, he has some serious issues. Things are revealed and there are things that we only get a glimpse at and have to wait to see how it all develops but overall it’s another volume I just love!

I’ll have my “summary” of this volume 8 as soon as I can.