[manga] Blood alone
Blood alone is one of the best vampire manga’s I’ve read. It focuses on a vampire Misaki and the one looking after her Kuroe. Misaki’s father was a famous singer, and it is suggested he had some sort of power against vampires. He was killed by a vampire who also turned Misaki. Kuroe was very close to his sister, and lost her to a vampire. Because of this he gained a power to see the supernatural, and he travelled to Europe to become a vampire hunter of sorts (although, it seems there are good vampires and bad vampires- and all vampires are divided into clans by what blood they have. different levels of vampire too…). Through one of his jobs he met Misaki. Misaki and Kuroe now live together in Japan. Kuroe protects and looks after Misaki, who although she acts spoilt is actually very lonely and has been quite affected by happened. Kuroe himself is still holding onto his own past. Kuroe works as a novelist, as well as doing odd jobs on the side. The Manga portrays daily life, and also explores the pasts of each of its characters (there are quite a few). It’s also interesting to note that Misaki is very much in love with Kuroe, though Kuroe sees her more as a daughter.
This series is nice slice of life Seinen that manages to portray everything vampires are without doing so explicitly. And that is often far more disturbing than outright violence or sex. Take for example the vampire Higure, who seemingly is an innocent young boy but is actually a vampire elder, with strong powers. He’s scary in that way. Like I would think a vampire ought to be, elegant and refined but at the same time they have another, far more dangerous side to them- that is revealed in a very subtle but far more shocking way. In this way Blood alone is really awesome. It integrates vampire’s into the story in a believable manner, and portrays the vampires themselves as believable beings. I admire that they are portrayed in many ways as humans with extra powers, and I also enjoyed the supernatural powers both Kuroe and some other woman had. It’s a subtle magic, but it’s there. Misaki herself is so far from any stereotype. At times she’s really immature and downright spoilt, and she can also be annoyingly clingy to Kuroe- however you learn about her personality and what she’s been through and suddenly none of that matters. I wonder about how old she is though; she seems about 13 (though I think she’s 12?).
As well as the very likeable characters, the story has got a lot of emotional depth to it and the Manga itself is very intelligent. Though it can get a little confusing it’s always really interesting…there’s a constant air of mystery, and though it appears simple everything seems to come together to create something complex, building up the characters and the situation and drawing you into the world it is set in. The pacing is fantastic too, I’ve just finished volume four and yet already so much has happened! And best of all, it doesn’t feel like it. Nothing worse than something rushed right?
It’s also noticeably a very (very) beautiful Manga. The art takes some getting used to but it’s elegant and realistic. The mangaka also has a habit of not doing panels so much, but overlapping the images. This can get confusing but it’s pretty interesting to see and works well sometimes. Certainly adds yet another unique element to the Manga. Blood Alone also has frequent humour, which is pretty subtle- comparable to the humour in Kurenai. The Manga never makes fun of itself nor is there any outright joke, more in the afterthoughts or speech of the characters. The Manga can also make you smile buy just how cute it is. Some of the moments between Kuroe and Misaki are very heart-warming.
Really much like this: Strong story+good characters+beautiful art= pure awesomeness.
You should read it. This is a more mature take on vampires, and overall it’s a lot more human. It’s realistic with plenty of emotion. And most importantly- it’s neither annoying nor unbelievable.
