Requiem Vampire Knight 7: Rule Dystopia!

The British crimes are so dark, they have a section of Hell all to themselves.

This volume – the Sisters of the Convent of Blood – is once again a visual feast for the eyes. In my opinion, the Requiem series – and especially this volume – is more colourful than Star Wars and other SF classic movies. Olivier’s imagination is in overdrive. And it has an original angle that generates the story and art concepts – namely: this is Hell where everything is reversed.

So I’m always in awe when I look back over our past work together.

What stood out most for me in this volume is Dystopia, based on the British Empire. The British crimes are so dark, they have a section of Hell all to themselves. The United States, France or the Roman Empire have no such domain. The Dystopians are a lizard race, probably with a nod or three to David Icke who sees the royal family as reptilians, and they are obsessed with money.

In this volume we meet Queen Perfidia – who is a mix of Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria – and we hear the Dystopian national anthem, which is an absolute litany of hate about British imperialism. There are references to freemasonry, buggery, lousy food and a general lack of sexiness – all classic criticisms of traditional British culture.

I was astounded by the vitriol of those scenes, which are also very funny, (well, I think they are funny), so I wondered what my inspiration was.