The art definitely felt like it was from a different time. Graceful and full of significant looks. The page layouts are highly varied, with a lot of intricate detail that might make it a bit harder to follow if you are still nervous about reading manga. The book itself is oversized however, so it was really a very luscious and beautifully intricate experience that I felt a bit rushed through due to my library loan timeline.

An older story it is not surprising that the presentation of gender is not hugely progressive. That said, you could certainly tell how this aligned with Moto's credentials as the mother of shōnen-ai.

Race was the most uncomfortable thing for me when it came to this particular book. Not unique to this book, the way that "whiteness" is presented in most manga compared to how "blackness" is presented is not great. And while I certainly have heard other people talk about this, if any of y'all can direct me to more full some articles or books about race in manga I will love you forever. That said, I will keep trying to find these conversations and report back if I find anything. The chapter that coincided with the Holocaust was just weird too in my opinion.

Not very central, but there's at least one chapter in the book where one of the character is kind of wasting away. A very olden times and fairy tail sort of understanding of disability, much like everything else in this book.

Class is never really explored in the book. This is a typical vampire story where long life has lead to a generally high level of wealth.

A harder book for me to get through due to its length (512 pages!) it's a very strong book. Beautiful, it's easy to see the kind of influence that Moto Hagio has had in Manga. I'll be rating this volume three out of five stars.