Let’s take a look at what happens in volume 1 of Hanahimeru Kimi no Meteor!
Setting
Hanahimeru Kimi no Meteor takes place in the fictitious country Valentin, nicknamed “the country of light”. In this country the people are largely divided into two groups: noblepeople and townspeople.
What happens in volume 1?
Our protagonist, Stella, is introduced as the 17 year old adoptive daughter to a noble family. She lives in harmony with her family, and though their domain is by no means rich by the standards of the country, they get by without issue.
One day, while enjoying her carefree life with her sister, her father comes home looking like he has something terrible to announce.
The brides of the monster
The often whispered about one dark splotch in the country of light: the brides of monster. The legend goes as such: some hundreds of years ago, there was a cursed monster locked away somewhere in the country. An undying, non-human, magical creature. To appease the creature, once every hundred years a few daughters are given to it as sacrifices.
While this legend was thought by most to be just a legend, it turns out to be true – and Stella’s sister has been chosen.
Stella, being the braver of the two, offers to go in place of her sister. While her family at first rejects her offer, Stella reminds them that she is just their adoptive daughter, and that they should stay together as a true family if they can. She thanks them for being such a good family to her, they have a tearful goodbye, and Stella leaves for her new home.
Arriving at the monsters mansion
Upon arrival at the mansion, Stella is met with a rather tense atmosphere. There are guards at the entry of the mansion, and they inform her that she will be confined to a room for the first few days.
In the room, she is met by 5 other young noble women, all of whom were chosen as “brides”. They inform Stella that there used to be 7 of them, however someone named “Ravi” called for them and they never returned.
Self introductions, and getting to know each other are meaningless, the other women have decided. It’s clear what their fate will be, so the majority of them choose to sit and just wait for their time. None of the women are particularly kind to Stella, but that may be because none of them are expecting to live for much longer.
Following the butterfly
Not all that long after arriving at the mansion, once alone, a mysterious butterfly catches Stella’s attention. In something of a trance, she follows it throughout the mansion, and ends up at a balcony on the third floor.
Sitting on this balcony was a mysteriously beautiful man with blood smeared on his face. Before they have a chance to talk, the soldiers rush in, accusing Stella of attempting to flee. They warn her that were she to flee, her family would also be severely punished, all while manhandling her. Before they can do any more scolding, the soldiers take note of Ravi’s presence and the atmosphere gets rather chilly.
One soldier describes Ravi as being a bloodthirsty monster who doesn’t have a humans kindness, heart, or ability to love, right in front of Ravi. He responds by attacking the soldier, and insulting Stella, telling her that humans also are without heart and ability to love.
The vampire attack
The two of them then have a little scuffle, with Stella slapping Ravi, and Ravi drinking her blood.
Whenever Ravi takes even a sip of human blood, that human is never again able to move. Whether they die from the shock, or from the bloodloss, either way, they die. So, when Stella comes to soon after having her blood sucked, he really doesn’t know how to react.
He didn’t seem to suck her blood out of his own will, as he is shown feeling dizzy and confused, and then angry with himself right after the act. That is then replaced with straight up confusion when Stella turns out to be just fine.
“What are you?”
A man who seems to lead the knights comes to take Stella back to the room where the sacrifices are staying, and gives the women a bit more backstory on their situation.
He explains: many years ago, in fighting the dark magic that plagued the country, a magician did her best to restore peace. While was successful, in all of the magic, what should have been born a child, was born a monster. A lot about him is still unknown, but for some reason, he must drink the blood of young women once every 100 years else he will rampage.
In the hundreds of years of offering Ravi these human sacrifices, once their blood has been sucked, that is their end. Not one woman has ever survived, until Stella.
Rather than be amazed at her ability to stay alive, all of the other women, and even the guard, question whether Stella is even human. They begin to shun her, and some of the women even start harassing her.
The magical poisoning
One of the still living brides recalls an old present her grandmother gave her: a poison created with magic, that can kill anything. At first she thought it was just her grandmother being superstitious, but now that she knows that vampires exist, she believes in the validity of the poison.
She plans to use it to kill Ravi if need be, and makes her way to sneak out of the mansion with another one of the girls.
On their way out, they run into Ravi, who questions the strange weapon. The girl then explains that it is a weapon that can kill anything, including him. She then ramps up to kill him, and he just stands there, accepting the incoming attack.
While he is waiting to be stabbed, he has a look of sad acceptance on his face, as though he was hopeful that it could actually kill him – he is immortal. Stella pops up out of nowhere before the attack lands though, and shields him from the weapon. In shielding him, she takes the attack.
Post magical attack
Ravi questions just why in the world Stella would take a stab wound for him, and she replies that her body moved faster than her brain did. She saw someone in need of protecting, and that’s just what she did. She then tells him that she hopes they can begin a more friendly relationship from here… But then quickly passes out.
From her stab wound, mysterious crystals have begun forming. She has also fallen into a coma, and the doctor is unsure of whether she will awaken before dying.
…and that’s where the volume ends!
Maddie’s Ratings
Angst
Ravi’s backstory is just so sad, and watching him struggle with his vampiric nature is even more sad. 😦
Romance
There isn’t any romance in this volume.
Story-telling
I really enjoyed the world building that took place in this volume! I think the idea that there is actually a much darker, more sinister history to the creation of the country the story takes place in adds a lot of depth, and i’m excited to learn even more!
Maddies Manga 
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