Since no one else is doing so, I'll give this series the through review it deserves. 🙂
Do I need to read the prequel?
The question you may want to know the answer to before you read this review. If you haven't read Dance in the Vampire Bund, yes, it is highly recommended you go back and do so. DitVB II -- Scarlet Order, stars the same cast from DitVB, with a plot and premise heavily based on the events of the original DitVB.
Overview:
Dance in the Vampire Bund headed in an increasingly dark direction as it went on, and, after the ending of the previous series, this dark theme continued in the unfortunately very subpar post-DitVB spin-off Dance in the Vampire Bund - Sledge Hammer no Tsuioku.
Scarlet Order, however, is both a return to form as well as seeming to aim to strikes a somewhat lighter note, reminiscent of early volumes of the original DitVB. Scarlet Order begins by wrapping up many of the loose threads from DitVB, in a mostly happy and satisfactory fashion, and kicking off on a new, seemingly less dark, adventure.
Speaking of which…
Plot:
The plot in Scarlet Order seems as if (based on the first couple chapters) it will mostly revolve around guess who coming back.
It makes a solid foundation for the plot, but its hard to tell where they're going with it with such few chapters.
The plotting and intrigue are also tight and sound, and really stand out as having improved from the early days of the DitVB. There's less excess and fewer cliches, and the twists are coming fast and just unexpectedly enough.
Characters:
Scarlet Order stars the same cast of character we know and love from DitVB, but their growth from the evens of the first series are evident.
Mina and Akira especially stand out as having substantially matured over the course of the series, and both are kinder, and less insecure. Their trust in each other shows in Scarlet Order, and Mina has grown into a benevolent and reliable ruler, who no longer seems to flirt with being a psychopathic dictator the way she occasionally did in the first series. 😉
Akira is also no longer insecure about his relationship with her, and has grown into a dependable and more cool-headed person, who isn't so easily fooled or incited to action.
Such as the scene where the Prime Minister attempts to incite him into saying something, and he cooly rebuffs him. That was a small, but great, moment that showed how much he's grown. He would never have remained so calm at the start of DitVB.
Romance:
Akira and Mina's nascent romance, one of the better will-they-or-won't-they romances, has so far been back in the spotlight. The couple's relationship has definitely matured from the beginning, and the sexual tension is (still) so thick you could cut it with a knife. Although they're still (of course) being kept apart for all the same reasons as the first series.
I think the reason this works so well is because Mina and Akira, unlike oh-so-many romantic couples aren't kept apart by stupid misunderstandings, lame love triangles, or plot contrivances
(although to be fair this happened a little bit in the first series.)
These are real, substantial characters, who love each other but are kept apart for real, substantial political and social reasons, which integrally tie into the rest of the plot.
Platonic romance will not be a sufficient payoff for this much sexual tension though -- I'm expecting at least one passionate kiss before this series is over Nozomu-sensei!
Art:
Nozomi-sensei's art is much the same, although it also shows improvement (or at least change, I suppose improvement is subjective.) As a former hentai-artist his art has a "shiny" and sexualized look to it. The part where everyone's clothes look two-sizes too small is still the same 😉 , but you can easily see in at least one early scene, which takes place underground in a cave, that his art has indeed evolved.
Some of the backgrounds have a rougher, more textured and realistic look to them then we saw at the beginning of DitVB. I like the look of it. It's a very atmospheric series, with detailed backgrounds and a strong sense of place.
Conclusion:
Over all it's shaping up that, if you liked DitVB, you will almost definitely like Scarlet Order. In fact, I think the start of Scarlet Order is even stronger than the start to the original series.
However, and this can't be stressed enough, this series is still very new. There are only a few chapters out, and there is a lot of time and a lot of ways for things to go badly.
For now, however, I am very excited and happy with the way Scarlet Order has started.
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