The Case Study of Vanitas Volume 3
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher!
The masked ball has ended, but the music plays on. As Noe and Vanitas return disgraced from Altus, the curtain rises on a new battle. News of kidnapped curse-bearers sends the pair to the catacombs beneath the streets of Paris, where a melody of intrigue echoes and a superhuman foe awaits! Humans or vampires: Who will be the hunter, and who the hunted?
I've told you guys that this is my favourite manga right? I literally sit with each new volume and savour every single page. It's so. Freaking. Good! The stunning colour pages, cover and art should be framed, I'm not going to lie. I'm forever blown away by the detail in the art, the castle in particular is stunning in this volume!
Ruthven takes Noe and Vanitas under his protection after the chaos at the masked ball comes to a close. Ruthven and Noe are equally nerdy and it turns out he has a connection to Noe's teacher...and the teacher doesn't like him which should be interesting. I'm intrigued by Ruthven but I really don't trust him. He's shady, despite how well we get to know him.
I really love the developing friendship between Noe and Vanitas, their bickering is hilarious and in this volume, Noe decides he's sticking with Vanitas....and thus a bromance is born. Which would have been cute, and I totally would have been squealing over it if there hadn't been an ominous voice over to go with it that gives me the shivers. I have a feeling this manga is going to emotionally traumatise me....eventually. The waiting for it to happen might push me over the edge!
We learn some very interesting information about Luca...Ruthvens nephew. He really doesn't like poor old Vanitas...but it's going to be interesting to see how much of a presence he's going to have in the series after the reveal about who he is. I was actually quite surprised plus he gives away another interesting tidbit.
Vanitas knows Jeanne's secret and is kind of keeping quiet on a couple of conditions...I wouldn't go so far as to say blackmail but he's not very far off so I'm expecting to be seeing more of her and quite probably Luca. Vanitas is such a little sod and I can't work out if he's being genuine with Jeanne...if he is there's the potential for some romance in this volume. But the voice over is giving me pause.
Noe and Dominique also have a little bit of a moment which was kind of cute...so there's potential romance on two fronts. I do actually really like Dominique, and I'm itching to see more of her. She's a badass and she's funny too...and to be fair, she and Noe are cute! But there's also some hints about the future and it's not looking good, particularly for Noe and Vanitas. Something bad is going to go down but it's just trying to figure out what so you can prepare yourself!
As usual, there's some really nice historical details and touches throughout this volume. There's even some specific historical information about certain things from the volume. I know more than I ever knew before about Tarte Tatin. I feel like I'm quite the expert now.
We're provided with some clues and hints about the plot and the mysteries presented to us. One of those clues involves the Queen and Vanitas....charmer that he is, ignites Ruthven's rage and manages to get them booted out of Altus and back in to the human world. So a good chunk of this volume is set in Paris. We get an excellently drawn outing to Notre-Dame Cathedral, and the ever creepy Paris catacombs. Seriously. Way to make a drawing exude creepiness.
Vampires are going missing, and our little duo arrive back in time to get pulled in to it. I get some very Sherlock and Watson vibes from the two of them in this volume. We also get introduced to the Church's anti vampire unit...and what a bunch of charmers they are *eye roll*. They're a new player/force in the plot and Roland is, quite frankly, super creepy. Like seriously. Make him go away!
There's also a shadowy new figure introduced who happens to be linked to Vanitas and I'm sure we're heading towards getting some answers about him! Dante and co aka the Dhamphir trio make an appearance and I do love their banter! Vanitas and Noe are quite the team, when they're not bickering, and this volume really showcases that.
We're steadily being led towards the next part of the story, presumably finding out more about the missing vampires and having another plot thread tied off! The plot is so intricate with the main plot, and some side plots that tie in smoothly and provide little tidbits and clues. The new plot threads introduced in this volume serve to flesh out the story and characters more, and add some more intricacy to the rich world of this series!
Each volume of this series is such a joy to read, there's action, humour, a rich world and plot...and lively, intriguing characters who interact with each other in interesting ways. If you haven't checked out this series yet, then you're really missing out! It's one of the best ones out there! I genuinely find it hard to put in to words the awesomeness of this series! This volume adds more detail, more characters, and more mystery and intrigue! Each volume takes things deeper, and pulls you in more and more.
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