#DRCL is, at its core, an adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula although Sakamoto has taken a number of artistic liberties with the telling. The setting has been shifted to a British boarding school in Whitby for the elite where #DRCL's Mina, a working class girl with charmingly crooked pigtails and a gap tooth, is enrolled as their first woman student. In general the core cast, to my understanding of the original Dracula, have been shifted to give more diverse perspectives: Quincy Morris is Black and American, John Seward is now Jo Suwa from Japan, Arthur Holmwood is just as British but with the character of Lucy being changed to Luke* none of them are straight anymore. *

Luke also has an interesting relationship with gender, taking on the persona of Lucy at night though I'm hesitant to outright assume the author intends her to be trans.

There's also some very interesting interpretations of Dracula and his traditional form going on.

Sakamoto has a beautiful art style that looks nearly photorealistic at times. It reminds me of several Showa-era boys boarding school titles in style as well as content with luscious eyelashes galore and a focus on boys love. The writing is overall flowery with gorgeous panels prioritizes over heavy exposition so I'm a little confused at least fifty percent of the time but it's a satisfying read. I'm eagerly looking forward to the chance to see Mina suplex one of the boys; I'm hoping it'll be Arthur.

For the "Is There Strong Character Development" question I would like to clarify that this is a manga: there is not enough story covered in a single volume to complete a character arc. There is, however, a rich ground sewn for character conflicts and developments through the series.