Reviews

#DRCL – Midnight Children 1 by Shin'ichi Sakamoto

sophasphinx's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Exceedingly beautiful manga with a fun take on Dracula. I'm a big fan of weird adaptations and the boarding school gender bending story is pretty interesting. The pacing however is all over the place and I feel like if you've never read the original Dracula it's easy to get lost. I'm also wary of the direction the queer/trans representation is going, but we'll have to see how it develops. Still an interesting read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Minor: Dysphoria

irobarte's review against another edition

dark emotional lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

readwithdesiree's review against another edition

5.0

Okay, I loved this manga retelling of Dracula!

I was a little confused on the timeline and narrator as I read, but decided to do a quick reread immediately after which helped me put everything into perspective.

The art is gorgeous and so incredibly haunting.

I can’t wait to read vol 2!

msjackalope's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Beautiful, gothic manga. The artwork obsesses me still. A retelling of Dracula that captures the character's intriguing allure. The creator's interpretations of Dracula in his different animals forms blew my mind. It takes place in a Victorian boarding school with more diverse characters. A genderqueer character is beautifully rendered.
My only critique is that it appears that in later volumes of the manga Dracula looks a lot like Michael Jackson in his "Smooth Criminal" era. That's icky.

spookfish's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

1.75

This was all over the place. Even having read the original Dracula, I was thrown off by many scenes, it was difficult to tell what was happening. I honestly don't think there's much benefit to the way they've made the story queer(er), I don't know if Luke/Lucy is meant to be trans or simply a poor take on DID. IMO, just read the original novel by Stoker.
The one compliment I have for this is I liked the interpretation of the voyage on the Demeter, a cool moment of body horror.

chibiijazziie's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

galaxykat's review against another edition

4.5

This goes crazy actually

justcallmeemily's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Misogyny, and Sexism

Moderate: Bullying, Blood, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

nyko's review against another edition

5.0

Creo que es de lejos el manga con el arte más bonito que he leído hasta ahora, simplemente me deja asombrado con lo bien dibujado que está a cada página que pasa.

bombegranate's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5