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Out of the Coffin, Into Our Hearts |
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OUR LOVE FOR VAMPIRE ENTERTAINMENT |
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by Benj Vardigan |
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A peek at Bella and Edward from the movie Twilight.
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If it wasn't obvious from our "Vampire Knight Official Guide," we here at SB are big fans of the fangs. When Dawn asked, "Yeah, Buffy, what are we gonna do now?" in that series' final episode, she was speaking for us too: Where would we hunt down our next vampire fix? Thankfully, writers and filmmakers have given us a lot to sink our teeth into.
Unless you've been sleeping in a coffin, you've probably heard of Stephenie Meyer, whose Twilight series has become a craze of nearly Potter-esque proportions. If Breaking Dawn—the recently published fourth and final book in the series—hasn't quenched your thirst for Bella Swan and Edward Cullen's exploits, the movie version of Twilight hits the screen November 21. After following their romance in words on a page all this time, let's hope Kristen Stewart (Bella) and Robert Pattinson (Edward) live up to the images in our heads! (The Japanese books already give a manga face to the characters! See "Twilight in Japan," bottom.)
Twilight in Japan
Unique to the Japanese translation of the Twilight series are the illustrations and artwork by shonen artist and mangaka Gotsubo x Ryuji. He provided the manga-like images of Bella and Edward on the covers and depicted key events of the story inside all volumes of the translation—nine total, with another three volumes to come.
Earlier this year, another set of Twilight books was published, this time a smaller two-volume, pocketsize version. These two volumes are without the illustrations from the other publication, but its creative cover art splits the original English cover between the two volumes.
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Buffy diehards needn't feel abandoned either: Creator Joss Whedon resurrected that ever-popular saga by penning Season 8 in comic form (Dark Horse Comics), picking up the story where the TV series left off. February brings more fangs to the big screen in the form of Cirque du Freak (starring Salma Hayek, Josh Hutcherson, and Chris Massoglia), based on the trilogy of novels from author Darren Shan. There's also a Japanese manga version of the novels, with Yen Press's translation of that manga set to hit shelves in 2009.
Why the recent vampiric frenzy? For one thing, modern vampires have become more, well, like us. "We see this 'coming out of the coffin' phrase used in all the pop culture," explains Dr. Thomas Garza, professor and vampire scholar at the University of Texas. "This is now where we're moving...to bring them out of the coffin and make them part of society." In Twilight, vampire Edward actually attends high school (even at the implausible age of 108), and drinks only animal blood so as not to harm humans. It's our first "vegetarian" vampire!
Buffy lives on.
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When moviegoers got their first glimpse of Nosferatu in the 1922 film, one thing was clear: You didn't want this hideous, undead guy in your house. Now, he's sitting in our History class and wants to be our neighbor. (Looked at another way, it seems a little greedy: What, you want immortality, love, and the white picket fence...? But are you really going to argue with them?)
A modern revamping of the vampire legend in film and books has also turned our pallid recluse into a creature we can feel for—and fall for. Romance between the living and the undead: What's more alluring than that? Not to mention the whole immortality bit—that's kind of cool too. "We often show the vampire in his or her most potent time—20s or 30s, gorgeous, vital, attractive to everyone," says Garza of many recent portrayals. "And this is the life he'll lead for eternity—what's not to go for?"
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"Out of the Coffin, Into Our Hearts" has been edited for shojobeat.com.
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Want more articles like this PLUS six of the most addictive shojo manga from Japan delivered to your doorstep every month—before they hit the newsstands? Click here to subscribe now! |
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