More of my commentary on the Count Cain/Godchild manga. This time we'll be looking at volume four: The Seal of the Red Ram, Part One.

As usual, there will be spoilers for the entire series. All quotes are from the Viz version unless otherwise noted.



(Very foolishly, I forgot to record the death count for volume three last time. Just so you know, the death count for volume three was at least 5. It's hard to know how many people died in the fire.)

Just to make my life difficult, volume four has a translation discrepancy on the very first page.

Viz:

Jack the Ripper
Is dead,

You can walk in
Whitechapel
Without fear.

But then
The sounds you dread.

And Jack the Ripper is here!

Sakura Crisis (SC):

Jack the Ripper is dead
Waiting in the white chapel
The sounds of steps we dread
Jack the Ripper is here

I like Viz's version a lot better. I googled both versions, thinking that they must be based of of an actual rhyme, but got no results for the SC version, and the Viz version just showed unattributed on someone's blog. I don't suppose that there are any Jack the Ripper aficionados who know more?

These first few pages vary greatly in the two versions, but I can't be bothered to note all of the differences. None of them are overwhelmingly important.

Cain's age here is seventeen. He seems to stay seventeen a long time.

Cain (to Neil): You mean, I'm going to marry you?

Hee! I love Cain when he's being difficult.

Man, I forgot how unlikable Uncle Neil is when we first meet him. Here he coerces Cain into agreeing marry Emeline by threatening not adopt Merry into the family if Cain refuses. And he's rude to Riff on his way out.

Aw, poor sad Riff, holding his wrist.

Riff cutting Cain's hair is kind of adorable.

Merryweather notes that Cain is awfully calm about getting married, and Cain just says that he doesn't have a choice. I like to think that he's willing to resign himself to anything if it means taking care of Merry. Of course, he's not going to say as much to her.

Oh, Viz gives Emeline and Gilford the last name "Lauderdale" while SC has "Rotterdale." This difference actually makes perfect sense to me, giving the issues with transliterating katakana into English.

Merryweather tells Cain that she's going with him to the Lauderdales, though he tries to dissuade her. Hee, I love Merryweather. She so has Cain wrapped around her little finger.

SC calls Emeline's father a marquis, Viz just calls him a lord. In both, Emeline's mother is just "lady."

Emeline is really hot. I'll just say that now. I don't think that we get nearly enough hot women in this manga.

I love the way that Cain and Emeline interact. It's very Beatrice and Benedict from Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. And the fact that I infinitely prefer Beatrice to Juliet may be one of the reasons that I like Emeline so much more than Meridiana.

Hey, it's Oscar! Hi, Oscar! And of course he hits on Merry right away. Oh, Oscar. Only the fact that you are a monumental goof makes your love for her not entirely creepy. There's also some guy named Keith Sutton (SC calls him Percy Jordan... don't ask me), but he doesn't matter much, and he'll be dead soon anyway.

Immediately after kissing Merry's hand, Oscar starts putting his hands all over Cain. This is actually a good introduction to his character considering that Oscar spends most of his time in the series: 1) Acting like a goofball 2) Attempting to romance Merry 3) Touching Cain far more than is strictly necessary.

Cain and Emeline fight, and Oscar watches from the window, looking creepy. Poor Oscar, being set up as our red herring villain.

We meet Gilford! And SC really messes up. To quote:

"Right now he can only write very basic things. What's left in his memory are only thing like C, U, W, 3 and, 6."

No, it's very important that he can't write the letter U. That's why he writes "RED RAM." Sigh.

Mama and Papa Lauderdale are such bastards.

In the author talk panel we have a picture of Meridian labeled as "X- Wheel of Fortune." The Wheel of Fortune card represents destiny, fortune, success, luck, an felicity in its upright position, and increase, abundance, and superfluity when reversed. That makes sense, given her clairvoyance.

And now we have our real introduction to Meridiana. She's looking beautiful, but lifeless. She takes Cain's hand and sees horrible doom in his future. Well, duh. It doesn't take much of a psychic to know that Cain's life is all about the horrible doom. Oh, but she and Cain have an instant connection!

Look, I'm going to say right here that Cain's relationship with Meridiana never did anything for me. They don't have any reason that they love each other, just their mysterious connection. There's no allure, no chemistry. They love each other... 'cause they do. Plus, I think Meridiana is put at a disadvantage by appearing in the same arc as the much more interesting Ememline. Suzette wasn't exactly a fascinating character, but I liked her. I wonder if I would have liked her as much if, say, Merryweather, had been introduced in the same chapter.

Anyway, Cain's interest is roused for an entirely different reason as soon as sees (gasp!) Jezebel.

Some random woman is killed by Jack the Ripper! Gilford sees it happen! He starts going on about a red ram! Er, yes, moving on. (Death count: One)

The splash page for the second chapter has Cain holding what appears to be Jezebel's cross. And on an earlier splash page, he was lying in a forest, cuddling a lamb. Hey, Cain, you have your own tragic back story. No need to go around stealing Jezebel's.

Oh, it's Clarence Nash again. Didn't I mention him before? No? Oh well. He's not very important anyway.

Breakfast at the Lauderdales. Cain is eagerly and charmingly discussing the recent murders. He mentions that the murders are similar to ones that occurred some years earlier. So it looks like Kaori Yuki is aware that the Jack the Ripper murders occurred in 1888, when Cain was much younger, and these are copycat murders. Good of her to pay attention to detail like that. I'm actually surprised though. I would have expected her to just throw accurate dating out the window. Lady Lauderdale objects to Cain's choice of breakfast table discussion. Merry amuses the hell out of me by cheerily asking for more food. Something tells me that the latest murders are normal early morning discussion topics for Merry.

Oscar reveals that he has blood phobia. Lucky for him that seems to disappear rather quickly and is never mentioned again. But maybe it went away when his guilt over his fiancee's death subsided.

More stuff with Merryweather and Gilford. Maybe they should squick me, but the fact that he's mentally the same age as she is makes it seem not so bad. Gilford gives Cain a picture of the "red ram."

And now we're meeting Cassian for the first time! He's looking oddly cute.

I feel sorry for this Gilford. Of course, one wonders if the servants aren't simply taking their revenge for the way that the original Gilford treated them. That doesn't make what they're doing right, but it makes them more understandable.

Jezebel and Cassian talk. They're not terribly fond of each other at this point.

Hey, it's Keith again. Watch us not care. (I don't dislike him or anything. It's just that he only exists to get killed off. He's a red shirt.)

See, I told you. Keith sees Meridian, then is quickly dispatched by Jack the Ripper. Goodbye, Keith. (Death count: two)

Now, we cut to Riff and Uncle Neil, for a scene which I can only imagine inspired a wave a Neil hatred. Neil tells Riif that he wants Riff to quit before Cain's wedding. He tell Riff that he knows that Riff tried to kill himself... just in time for Cain to come in and overhear. The three of them discuss the mysterious fire that only Riff survived.

Viz screws up here. In their translation, Riff says that he had a younger sister who died. SC gets it right and says that Riff had a younger brother. Geez, Viz. What an amateur mistake.

Riff's description of his life just after the fire yanks at my heartstrings something terrible. But then he met Cain, and it was all better!

...And Riff has all but confessed his love of Cain... to Cain's legal guardian. Oh, Riff. You ain't quite right.

I find it darkly amusing that the fact that Riff tried to commit suicide is what Neil finds to unsuitable. I think the fact he has an evil alternate personality that's just waiting to come out a wreak havoc would be a bigger problem. But, even so! Riff and Cain are meant to be no matter what! Their love is pure and true! I am convinced that this is so!

Um, okay, moving away from my Riff/Cain obsession, Neil leaves, and Cain is pissed that his uncle used Riff's past to hurt him. But Riff isn't bothered at all.

Riff: He has to be very cautious, so he can shield your family from scandal... and protect you from relatives who are after your assets. He's severe with you because he loves you. Some people can't express their love with gentle words and kisses. I'd say he is the only one of your relatives who truly stands by you. I feel as if... he is my comrade and his presence heartens me. I like your uncle... very much.

Me: Oh, Riff! *sob*

Aw, and then Riff and Cain cuddle. However, Kaori Yuki claims that they aren't embracing at all. No, Cain is simply smelling Riff's jacket! Which, you know, is totally a normal thing to do. Not to mention the way they react when Merry bursts in on them. The way Cain looks at her, you would think he was having sex with Riff.

I love Oscar's reaction when he realizes than Riff is taller than him.

The group discusses Keith's disappearance and it's revealed that five other men have died after chasing after Meridiana (Death count: 6, then, even if they didn't die on screen/page).

Ooh, it's Justice/ Dr. Octavia. She's hot. Yay for more hot women! Also, in the Viz version, Jezebel calls her a "sapphic witch." I'll run with that! So, Justice is a hot lesbian. A pity that the lack of female characters makes writing yuri difficult.

Hm, in the SC version, Alexis praises Jezebel, saying that in creating Meridiana, Jezebel has surpassed him. The Viz version is quite the opposite, with Alexis telling Jezebel that Meridiana won't last much longer, as Jezebel doesn't have as much skill as Alexis does. The Viz version makes a lot more sense to me. Unless Alexis was being really mocking in his praise.

Jezebel waxes lyrical (and deeply bizarre) on the assured beauty of Cain's internal organs, comparing them to pomegranates and, uh, goldfish. And Alexis smacks him for it! You heard him, Jezebel. No killing Cain until Daddy Hargreaves is good and ready.

Jezebel: I knew the you were only my stepfather, but I still believed you loved me. And I used to wait desperately... for you to visit me.

Alexis: You're a foolish child, Jezebel. Didn't you know that love could be feigned?

Alexis is an asshole, man.

Okay, I know that the fact that Jezebel is Alexis' biological son is a plot point that hasn't been revealed yet, but it's really weird to see Jezebel think that he and Cain aren't related by blood. Because he knows that they are. I know the Kaori Yuki wants to fool the readers, but this is a bad way to do it.

Now we see Jezebel having a nice chat with his mother and sister' organs. Charming.

Cain and Oscar go looking for Meridiana. Cain finds her. She runs and Cain chases her. In classic awkward romantic comedy style they both trip and Cain ends up on top of her. And then she hauls off and smacks him, actually showing something like a personality. Cain is amused. He looks so adorable and young here.

Then Jezebel shows up and ruins their bonding experience.

Cain: I didn't fall in love with her appearance. It was that I felt something very special when I touched her.

I get the same feeling sometimes, Cain. I find that a cold shower usually does the trick.

Cain is all set to duke it out with Jezebel, but Cassian comes along and knocks his lights out. Which allows Jezebel to get down to his true passion: tearing out Cain's eyes! What fun! But, don't worry, Meridiana and Oscar end up saving the day. Even if Oscar ends up looking vaguely evil while doing so. It's not obvious on the first reading, but he's thinking of his fiancee here.

Hee! Oscar dumps Cain off on Riff and says that Cain needs fattening up. He is a skinny little thing, isn't he?

Emeline opens the locket/pocket watch that Oscar carries and sees... we don't know. (Well, we do, but let's not skip ahead too much.)

We cut to Meridiana and Jezebel. Jezebel is kissing her neck and spouting some, uh, romantic dialogue. He calls her his internal organs. I guess that Jezebel would consider that romantic. That is one fucked up man.

Leaving them, we have a cute scene between Gilford and Merryweather.

Gilford: Promise me, Mary. Promise me you won't grow up. I hate grownups! They are all naughty and selfish! Won't you remain a child with me here?

Merry: Gilford!

Gilford: There's nothing to fear here. Let's live in this world of fairy tales together... forever.

Given that this is after Gilford has begun to eat the servants' food, I wonder if he's reacting here to the original Gilford beginning to wake up. Just a thought.

We're just jumping all over the place! Now we're with Oscar and Emeline. Emeline returns Oscar's pocket watch to him, and wants to ask him a question, but Oscar gets really upset and grabs her, demanding to know if she saw the picture. She denies it. Poor Oscar, still having to be the red herring villain.

The talk side column shows Gilford as The Hermit. The Hermit means prudence; also and especially treason, dissimulation, roguery, and corruption when upright, and concealment, disguise, policy, fear, and unreasoned caution when reversed. Very fitting for Gilford.

And now back to the Cain and Merdiana show. They find each other again and embrace. Merdiana tells Cain that she can remember he past when she's with him. Knowing that, it actually makes more sense that she would become so attached to him. Of course, why she can remember he past when she's with him is another question entirely.

Cain and Meridiana are having a lovey-dovey moment, and they're about to kiss... when Emeline shows up. And she's not happy to see her fiance embracing another woman. Poor Emeline. She really gets the short end of the stick.

Using his super investigative skills, Riff finds Meridiana's address, and Cain leaves to find some answers, with Emeline tagging along. They meet Meridiana's mother, who reveals that Meridiana is dead! Curiouser and curiouser.

The splash page for the next chapter is an incredibly sexy picture of Cain and Emeline standing front to back. They're holding hands, Emeline has her other hand across Cain's neck, and Cain is burying his face in Emeline's hair. I really like these two together. I don't think I would have entirely objected if they had gotten married.

So, Meridiana's mother is explaining how she died. It's all lies, so let's move on.

Emeline is determined not to lose Cain. Poor Emeline. She really wants Cain to notice her rather than Meridiana. She and Cain argue and utterly fail to properly communicate.

Emeline's childhood? Sucked. Not as badly as Cain's, of course. But her parents said that she was ugly, and that her only use would be to marry into to a wealthy family. Her charming brother Gilford said that he would never want to a marry a girl like her. God, no wonder the poor girl is so insecure.

The side talk column has Emeline labeled as Judgment. The Judgment card means change of position, renewal, and outcome when upright, and weakness, pusillanimity, simplicity; also deliberation, decision, sentence when reversed. That's all according the my little Rider-Waite instruction booklet. It's not very helpful, and doesn't tell me much about Emeline, so I went to aeclectic.net for their description. Some highlights include, "Judgement is about rebirth, resurrection," "it asks for the resurrection to summon the past, forgive it, and let it go," "this is a card of healing," "You can't hide any longer, this card says, all the dead have risen and are out in the open. Face what you have to face; make that decision. Change." All of that makes it strange choice for Emeline, as I think he biggest problem was that she couldn't change. She was still mired in her past. But I don't think that she was weak or pusillanimous. She had plenty of courage, and I think that she was quite strong to survive her family as well as she did. I could ponder this all day, so perhaps we should move on.

This next part is one of the weakest parts of the story. Basically, Emeline confronts Oscar about the picture that she saw inside his watch, and he threatens her, before backing away claiming that it was a joke. I know that Oscar is supposed to be our red herring villain, but even pretending to threaten a woman seems really out of character for him. Interestingly, in the Viz version, they use "she" a lot, making it clear that Oscar is seeing his fiancee in Merry. In the SC version, it's ambiguous. Considering that Arianna (I'm pretty sure that that's her name, but I'm having trouble finding it) has Merry's hair and Cain's expression, the SC version works much better.

I love this next scene where Riff and Cain cleverly pass a note. What does Cain want Riff's help with? Why, digging up a grave, of course! Riff does not approve, and says that Neil would never forgive him if anything happened to Cain. Cain yells that he'll do it himself, so Riff will stay out of trouble. Riff tells Cain off for being so damn dense. Cain says that he has to know the truth no matter what. He looks so sad and lost here.

Riff: Please hand me the shovel, sir. Physical labor is my job, not yours. My body is at your service.

Oh, Riff, you win my heart. The SC version has him saying "My old job involved manual labour. That is why I'm so strong." Viz version is a hundred times better.

Oh, Emeline. Poor, foolish Emeline. She follows Cain and Riff... and Jack the Ripper finds her. Even as she dies, she's thinking of Cain, thinking that she still needs to tell him "those important words." Waaaaah! (Death count: 7.) Oh, and that's another women dead who had a serious romantic interest in Cain.

The last page in this chapter is Cain and Riff being all surprised at Meridiana's grave, but I don't care, because waaah! Emeline!

Okay, next chapter. Last one in this volume. We have Oscar! And a dead body in the grave that appears to be Meridiana!

Viz gives Meridiana a last name, Everett. SC doesn't.

I'm not sure who the character in the side column. To me, he looks most like Alexis, but the column is all about Oscar, and Cain has been labeled "The Hanged Man" before. So, probably Oscar or Cain.

Oscar, Cain, and Riff get home, and it's revealed that Emeline is missing. Merry draws the Death card. Sigh. For the last time, the death card isn't supposed to be about literal death. Oh well, I'll let it slide this time.

Cain reveals that he knew that Emeline loved him, but that he pushed her buttons because he didn't want to deal with her feelings seriously. Oscar let's. Him. Have. It. Shakes him, shouts at him, and is about to punch him until Riff grabs Oscar's arm. Then Riff decks Oscar. Hee, awesome.

It's revealed that Riff was an assistant coach while at the university, and he taught working class kids how to box. Which seems like the kind of thing that Riff would do--spend his free time helping poor children. But that was before the fire, before Riff even existed. So, my question is, why was Riffael/The Tower helping poor kids? My only answer was that it was part of his goody-two-shoes facade.

This actually raises a whole lot of questions regarding Riff and Riffael. My theory is that Riff remembers events, but not the emotions and thoughts during those events. Also, anything too horrible is blanked out. Some of those blanks are probably there intentionally. But it wouldn't surprise me if Riff has repressed stuff that doesn't fit with who he understands himself to be as a person. That would be why he's convinced himself that it's Clyde he saw setting the fire.

Speaking of Riff, Neil shows up and tell Riff that he hopes that Riff is prepared to take responsibility for what's happened. Riff wins my love yet again by firmly refusing. Then it's Neil's turn to win my love as he tells Riff just how much he loves Cain, even though he's no good at showing it. He asks Riff to stay by Cain's side.

Neil: Will you... Please protect Cain for me? Stay close to him, so close that he's never out of earshot of your heartbeat. I'm afraid you are are the only person I can rely on.

Me: *wibbles*

Neil feels bad because he's always berating Cain and isn't any good at showing affection, but Riff assures him that Cain will someday realize just how much Neil cares. That day is sooner than either of them realize, because Cain has heard the whole exchange. He looks so shaken. This, combined with his scene with poor dead Emeline makes this one of the most emotional parts of the series.

Cain: I can see your merit so much more... than I can with Meridiana. With time, I could have made it work. Perhaps we'd be quarreling a lot every day, but we'd be happy together eventually.

Okay, for thing, *SOB*. Secondly, see, even Cain sees that Emeline is a better choice than Meridiana.

After that heart wrenching scene, we are finally offered proof that the Lauderdales are evil bastards. "Our daughter was just horribly murdered. Oh well. Hey, want to marry your ten year old sister to our son, who's twice her age?" Cain reacts as any halfway decent person would, and tells them to get stuffed.

Running off, he finds Gilford, who tells him that Emeline has been liberated. Actually, from the point of the Lauderdale children, death might seem like a liberation. This is the first sign we get that Gilford is beginning to revert back to his old self.

One last creepy scene with Meridiana and Jezebel. Jezebel horrifies Meridiana by telling her that the blood and organs being used to keep her alive came from Emeline, then he goes to have some quality time with his organs in jars as he obsesses over Cain's eyes.

Whew! End volume four. Only seven deaths, not a very high count, especially for a story involving Jack the Ripper.