There were aspects of this book that I truly enjoyed. Decapitation is always a plus. There's a lot of humorous points and aspects as well. The artwork was fantastic. The story, however, was lacking. I feel that if any of the story points had been fleshed out more, and one thing was done at a time, rather than packing little snips of various points into one book without really giving any of them enough substance, things would have gone better. Unfortunately, I don't care enough about the characters or story line to continue the series and that's important. It's a shame.

Thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha for the ARC!

This was just the weirdest take on vampires and werewolves.....just no

The art was also odd to me and the flow was all off.

I thought that the FMC being the vampire in this story was fun, from the perceptive that most vampire stories have the MMC as the vampire. The story itself is quickly. However, it was a bit more gore-y than I was expecting for a romance, and I wasn't a fan of the art style.

Love the art style of this! The concept is great, the characters are well rounded, and the plot points are superb; love the five rules. However, I do wish some of the plot was more fleshed out, it just felt as if it was moving too quickly. I am not a huge fan of the instant love trope, I would have liked to see more tension build up between the characters. It felt like I was missing key points throughout the story that could have come from more context.

My cousin, Amelie, who's a vampire fan, sent me this, so obviously I had to check it out. (And because we have similar reading preferences.)

Apart from it being a hetero romance, which isn't my cup of tea usually, it was better than expected. But that's also quite common in the horror genre – that both main characters, regardless of the gender, are simply unhinged. In a good, casual way.
A strong FMC who's just as down bad as the guy. He's quite cliché, but despite his appearance and tendency to communicate with his fists, he surprisingly has quite an open heart. Dude let her drink a liter of his blood, even flicked her head back to her body, and even brought her home to meet his family after they almost died!

Only bothers me that it ended on such a cliffhanger!
But it's interesting that the werewolves are the bad guys here, whereas the vampires don't want to harm anyone. They simply can't stand humans.
Also cool how crying makes their eyes turn red, how brutally their flying lessons are, and that love turns into a bloodlust.

The art is 50/50, though. I love the semi-realistic style, but the backgrounds are basically monochrome photos, not drawn. It blends in quite well though, I just hope that the photos are from the mangaka.

Definitely recommendable if you love gore and vampires – with a love story that seems cliché, but takes up a quick pace and might not be that usual. I'm curious what will happen to them, especially after Pako was so keen on "love ain't about blood" and really wanting to let this romance blossom.

Similar to Dandadan, but with the MMC getting 'raped' by a woman. Nice feministic twist.

~

Also thanks to Kodansha on Netgalley for a digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

-02.03.25

Around 3.5/4 stars depending on my reading mood
It is a typical female lead falls for someone she shouldn’t and discovers he accepts her for who she is. Then as you can imagine something happens that shakes things up. It started off slightly slow and then picked up toward the end. Volume 1 ended on a cliffhanger and I was starting to get Underworld vibes (as in the movie). I am curious if Haruki will remember meeting Amelia when he was younger or not. It is hard to not go into more without giving away spoilers.
It is on the gorey side, as a warning and the usual fan service. I like how the art style is for this series and is super detailed, which really brings the series to life. The story does move along at a quick pace. Overall, I enjoyed this more than I expected. It probably wouldn’t have been one I picked up/ordered just looking at the description or cover, but glad I gave it a chance. Although the concept of vampires and werewolves are not new it still feels like it stands out from your typical romance series.

Summary:
In a world where mythical creatures like vampires and werewolves exist, they live by certain rules. Most rules involve not getting close to humans or showing certain emotions so certain characteristics aren’t noticed. However, Amelie finds herself in a tight spot as she falls for a human- Haruki. She approaches Haruki one day after he gets in a fight and not long after her true identity is exposed when she saves him from a werewolf. To Amelie’s surprise Haruki doesn’t seem afraid of this fact and accepts her. During this encounter with a werewolf, he does save her life by reattaching her head and giving her blood. Thus, their relationship starts to progress more. However, what neither knew was that someone close to Haruki was a werewolf and ended up attacking him once they found out he was with Amelie.

I really enjoyed this! Amelia and Pako have a really cute dynamic, and the artwork is so detailed! In a world where vampires, humans, and werewolves exist, Amelia, a vampire, finds herself bound to certain rules. These rules go out the window when she meets Pako, a human, and have a run in with a werewolf.

This won't be for everyone- this is definitely a little graphic, but if you're into a darker but cute type of love story, this is definitely worth reading! I loved the twist at the end - I hope I can get the next volume to find out what happens next!

In this universe, vampires and werewolves coexist, but while vampires live under strict rules, werewolves seem to despise them and try to pin their crimes on them. Amidst this tension, the story follows a love story between a vampire girl and a human guy. The art is fantastic and complements the story beautifully.

I finished this and honestly just thought, what did I just read? I didn’t hate it, but I wasn’t into it either. The whole scene with Amelie’s head getting cut off and then stitched back was weird and threw me off more than it intrigued me. I also didn’t feel any real attachment to the characters or their relationship, which is a problem for a romance manga. While I appreciated that they got together early, it didn’t make me more invested. I’m not sure if I’d continue reading when more chapters come out. I appreciate the chance to read this early, but it just wasn’t for me

Thank you to NetGalley for this arc.
Wow this was so much fun! Darker than I expected and I loved it all the more for that. Very cool, I love vampires and this manga doesn’t fail to do them justice. I look forward to continuing the series.

I've received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is Romeo and Juliette with vampires and werewolves, in a very seinen interpretation. Quite frankly, I'm not a man (the intended audience), I'm not too fond of panty shots, but I'm going to give credit to the mangaka for not overdoing it.

Amelie is an overly dramatic teenage vampire who knows what she wants and knows what she's willing to sacrifice for that. That something is a delinquent named Pako who, if I had to guess, is so flattered by somebody being interested in him that he swings himself with full force into this new, strange romance.

This is not all Dra-Q can offer, though. In the background, there's tension between the werewolves and vampires and a conspiracy brewing to turn humans against one side. And of course, somehow, our power couple gets mixed up in it.

The characters seem surprisingly well rounded based on just the first volume. Pako is definitely a horny teenager but he is full of compassion, dedication and a strong sense of justice. His sisters act pretty reasonably after the first incident with Amelie, and their school mates also react exactly the way you'd expect from hormonal young adults. What I really loved was Amelie's over the top family immediately expressing concern over their daughter not coming home and not letting them know, like normal parents. <spoiler>Instead of, you know, the whole fighting with a werewolf and losing her head thing.</spoiler>

All in all, I would say there's nothing mind blowing about this story so far, while the art style is somewhere between Jojo and Great Teacher Onizuka. But it fits its genre pretty well, so feel free to give it a read.

I really enjoyed this. I liked the art style, and the translation was fun. I love the innocent vampire and wannabe high school gangster aesthetic. The mangaka’s vibe really kicks in with the introduction of Amelie’s family in the last chapter. Overall, adult horror fans will probably enjoy this.

The concept was what originally drew me in, but unfortunately Dra-Q 1 was not something I ended up liking too much. I love the character designs of Amelie and her family, and liked the points hit in the plot, especially the plot-twist at the end. The five rules too? I thought that was neat! However, it was the art style in action that didn't work at all for me. The action panels were hard to decipher - I understand the reason why they were used, for the fast action - but it's not something that worked for me. It just moved so quickly so nothing felt substantial, and I wish there was more done with the five rules too, it had such potential.
If you like vampire manga, it could be for you, but I personally would not recommend it.

Thank you to netgalley for the arc!

I love stories about supernatural beings so I was interested to try Dra-Q and let me say I was instantly hooked. A little bit funny, quirky and with an interesting cast I have already preordered vol 2 and 3 and was lucky to be gifted vol 1 by my mom (yes I was going on so much about it even she knew I was obsessed).

I am not sure why it has such a hold on me but it does and I am obsessed the art style is great, the story fun and pacing great. I normally don’t love a cliff hanger even in Manga but this got me so well. If you are fan of vampires, werewolves and horror this is fantastic, well in my opinion. I can’t wait vol 2!

As always thank you to Kodansha Comics for the advanced copy to review, my reviews are always honest and freely given.

Unfortunately I had to DNF this one. This manga moves so quickly, I was sure I was missing something. The main characters fall in love in like 2 pages. I don't hate the instalove trope but this is a bit excessive. This really felt like a spin off series type thing where it's the first book but to understand context there's an entire series you need to read first. Sadly I won't be continuing with this series. I'm just getting going in my vampire era so I really thought this would be right up my alley.

3/5 Stars! ⭐⭐⭐

There are five laws for living in the human realm.

🩸 No Romantic Attachments.
🩸 No Direct Contact.
🩸 No Physical Exertion.
🩸 No Crying.
🩸 No Smiling.

We meet Amelie, your normal high schooler who just so happens to be a vampire and falls in love with the deliquent human, Pako.

I love love love this art style. But the whole thing felt super rushed and we didn't get a chance to even know or fall in love with the characters, which I think turned me off from it. It had potential to be such a great story if it was spaced out more. If you really love vampires and a little teenage drama though, give it a shot.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

e-ARC from NetGalley.

This was a lot of fun! Amelie is a vampire in love with a human despite it being against vampire law. At the same time, a creature masquerading as a vampire is terrorizing the town.

The story moved very quickly as it worked to establish the characters & world, but I think it will delve deeper into their psyches and characterization in upcoming volumes.

Dra-Q is interesting... it feels like a B-horror movie that moves a break neck speed (those who read it will enjoy that). This manga drops us into the world and just goes for it, you have to be ready to sprint with the storyline. It is definitely a strange book.

Really cool plot idea that was really well executed, the graphics were beautiful and the whole storyline had me hooked

Amelie is an average high schooler who also happens to be a vampire. Pako is the resident school delinquent. Together, they might just be a match made in hell. A bloody, darkly comic love story manga .

An Interesting version of the vampire/werewolf feud. The story, while slightly silly iny honest opinion, is well written and stays cute even though topic is supposed to be dark.
The illustrations are excellent and as usual, beautifully realistic.
If Manga vampires and teen romance with a twist is your thing, then I recommend this series.

Thanks to @netgalley and Kodansha Comics for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.