#DRCL Midnight Children

Created in 2021 by Shinichi Sakamoto, #DRCL Midnight Children is based on Dracula by Bram Stroker. The story follows Mina Murray and her classmates as they attempt to obtain victory against a foe from a faraway land (aka Count Dracula). In a lot of ways, Sakamoto's stories is faithful to the original text, but also deviates from it. It heavily follows Mina's exploration through gender and sexuality as she tries to find herself as the only girl at the male-dominated academy. Even one of the female characters in Dracula, Lucy Westerna, is portrayed as a man--Luke--with a split personality. He becomes Lucy at night when he sleep-walks. 

As is the case in the original, writing and reading are incredibly important, as Sakamoto gives the reader two narratives: the one that the three suitors tell the town about what happened to Luke/Lucy, and what Mina experiences. The boys talk of their valor and bravery in the face of Dracula and how they rushed to save Lucy when she was in his grasp, but Mina writes about their cowardice as men and how she was the one who faced Dracula and saved Lucy. In this way, Sakamoto challenges the reliability of these narrators. Furthermore, technology remains an important aspect of the story. Mina is practicing on the typewriter, and the suitors use telegrams to converse with one another.  

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Event date:

2021

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