This volume revolves around finally giving us the reveal of Kaname's path and the secrets he's been hiding. Sadly, the reveal doesn't quite live up to expectations as it starts later in Kaname's life and leads to a mixture of more mysteries in his life and past, namely that of how he came to be so alone and what happened to his family, in the 3 chapters of his past that appear in the volume, we still miss out on getting any real information.
Yuki is still left as the clueless heroine as she has forgotten her original plan that took her on the read and lead on a merry chase of trying to follow what Kaname is trying to tell her by showing these secrets, basically failing to live up to expectations of taking the future into her own hands and making a difference and once again becoming a vehicle for story revelation instead.
The best scene and chapter by far is where Zero swoops in and saves the day, following on from the last volume where Zero comes in on an injured Yuki, the scene is played up by accentuating the danger Zero poses to Yuki by faking a threat on Yuki when instead Zero takes on the returned Toma. The close relationship between Yuki and Zero is hinted again once more when Zero scoops Yuki up and heaves her over her shoulder fireman style. The chapter contains humour and hints of romance alongside some beautiful art as Yuki almost gives into temptation and teases us all by almost biting Zero. The chapter is filled with tension and promise, but the rest of the volume fails to play and continue with any kind of real atmosphere.
The scene between Yuki and Kaname feels awkward and confusing, playing on Yuki's ignorance, I feel her frustration with her inability to understand what Kaname is trying to tell her as much of the conversation doesn't seem to flow even after the reveals begin. It honestly feels like it was rushed and cobbled together to try and get us to a point where Kaname would reveal his past to Yuki.
The reveals begin with how Rido revived Kaname, which is really just a repeat of a scene in volume 12 and makes me wonder why it takes up so much space and still leaves questions as to motive and method, wholly unsatisfying, Yuki apparently also agrees when she wants to find out more and leads us to his real past as the ancestor. Kaname's ancestor past is full of unnamed characters who appear to be relatively meaningless to him which begs the question as to why it is significant to be shown to the reader. The past does leads us one seemingly major character in Kaname's life, a woman who gives Kaname his name, but fails to reveal her own, her significance becomes obvious once we are shown that she is the creator of the hunters and the scene is nicely spliced with Zero telling Aido the same story in synchronicity.
The volume doesn't end on any particularly exciting note and fails to make me eager for more, I can only look forward seeing what impact this new knowledge will have on the relationship between Yuki and Kaname and where this new information will lead us with tepid anticipation.
