God Child Volume 1

Overall Rating: C+
Synopsis: Victorian mystery starring a young, attractive count named Cain, who investigates supernatural mystery. How could I not love this? The story starts in another series called "Count Cain", but that isn't made clear until you get into the manga, it's a collection of short stories with no connection, and the characters seem shallow at best.

When I first read a description of God Child, I thought I had found a new favorite. The description read, "Deep in the heart of 19th Century London, a young nobleman named Cain walks the shadowy cobblestone streets of the aristocratic society into which he was born. Yet beneath his regal bearing lies a pained existence that haunts his very soul. Forced to become an Earl upon the untimely death of his father, Cain assumes the role of head of the Hargreaves, a noble family with a dark past. With Riff, his faithful manservant, Cain investigates his father's alleged involvement with a secret organization known as Delilah". In short, it sounded like the kind of book someone preoccupied with their appearance and a love for supernatural stuff would love, so I immediately picked it up.

That, was a mistake. First, and foremost, because it is the continuation of a series called The Cain Saga, but that isn't indicated in the summary or a quick glance inside. Then I found out the first series hasn't been translated yet, and so the released the second series first. WTF?

After I found that out, it made a little more sense, but the first volume of God Child reads like a collection of short stories featuring the same characters. Also, the author is the same one that writes Angel Sanctuary and both books have a weird fascination with incest. Another minus for me.

It's possible, that in The Cain Saga, the characters are better fleshed out and that it would make this volume of God Child more enjoyable, but as is, I didn't care about the characters at all. When Cain's sister, Mary, is trapped and could be made into a living doll, I was more interested in the girl threatening to do so, than Mary. Which leads me to the one thing I liked about the volume, the mysteries. Each short story had its own mystery and horror elements, and while the characters weren't that interesting, the mysteries were engaging. One involved a killer dressing up in a white rabbit mask and killing young girls, and one involves the aforementioned living dolls.

If you're bored and want to read something in the store, this may be one to pick up, but otherwise, I wouldn't recommend it. Though, I may try to track down the first volume of The Cain Saga when it's finally released in America to see if I like the characters. Who knows, maybe they'll surprise me, and there won't be any implications of incest. Sadly, I doubt it.