IceAndCream's Blog

Back to IceAndCream's Blog

I admit, I have a weakness for mangas about vampires. I don't care so much for books on vampires--and I read Dracula recently, and got downright tired of them for a while. And I don't plan to read Twilight. But a good vampire manga...I don't mind sinking my teeth into one of those!

I noticed that searching for "vampire" in the search engine on MAL doesn't give you all the vampire manga in the database. And about half of the ones you DO find are yaoi (which I don't like). The same went for a club I found that tries to have a complete list of vampire manga and animes.

So here's my list, in approximate order of favorite to least-favorite. And at the bottom a list of the ones I tried but didn't like. And maybe it can help out you fellow vampire-lovers. (I was going to put in links to the MAL articles, but I'm afraid that would take me forever. If people read this and request it, I will, though.) This only includes manga where vampires or dealing with vampires is a major plot of the story. (For instance, Tsubasa Chronicles wouldn't be on the list.)




Noblesse
This manhwa used to be in the MAL database until it was removed due to its being a webcomic. (Apparently MAL only currently accepts manga that have been printed on paper :P)
Anyway, it has some of the hottest vampires ever to hit the computer screen. Smexy, cool, and strong. But these aren't bloodsuckers. They just spend their time being awesome, and trying to discover the best way to cook ramen. There's a lot of comedy. The first dozen chapters or so, the artwork isn't that great. But you can tell the artist gets better as the project proceeds.
[UPDATE: Noblesse has now been published in book form, so it's finally legit!]



Blood Alone
A sweet and simple, slice-of-life seinen about a writer who adopted a vampire girl.




Darren Shan
Based on the Cirque du Freak book series. A very engaging and engrossing story. I never read the original books, so it's all new to me. To save his friend's life, Darren agrees to become a vampire. But it means giving up everything he has. A fun story, sometimes grim, and some parts that made me cry.




Crepuscule
Another full-color Korean webcomic. If Noblesse is cool, Crepuscule is cute. The art is pretty good. A little boy gets lost and makes friends with a vampire boy, who brings him to the vampire world…and then abandons him.




Trinity Blood
Very, very violent josei manga, with lots of blood and gore. But it builds a very interesting fantasy world. In the distant future, the Catholic church is a dominant force in the world, with some factions trying to stabilize relations with the vampire race, and others trying to wipe them out. And we follow one particularly air-headed priest and his petite companion nun as they negotiate this world. (I also really like Tres, the android--I also have a weakness for robots.)




Rustblaster
A fun, very short series. I've read it at least twice. Out-and-out fantasy set in a vampire school. By the mangaka of Kuroshitsuji, in case you liked the art in that series.




Vampire Knight
What vampire fan hasn't heard of VK? I found out about the manga after watching and enjoying the anime. They're the same for the most part. It takes place in a compelling world, beginning at a vampire/human integrated school. We only get intimate with a few characters, and there's a lot of the typical shoujo "Does he like me? Do I like him?" But it's pretty interesting.



Model
I once gave it a try but dropped it after the first chapter, because it looked like it was going to develop into a silly tsundere romance. But I gave it another shot, and it became quite the complicated romance drama. The art is a bit unusual. While it's not a shounen-ai, there are some homoerotic elements later on in the story.




Crimson Cross
A tragic story of a vampire hunter--who is a vampire himself. Short--too short it seems. I've read it twice, and enjoyed it, even though it's rather sad.




Monster and Child
A very sweet, yet tragic one-shot.




Yougen no chi
It's not a vampire story, per se. One of the main characters is a vampire doll who is animate as long as she can feed off her owner. An overall dark and grim story, but not too grim.




Karin
I didn't much like the anime, and I didn't much like the manga at first. It started out as a silly series, but eventually it matured into a very thoughtful look at what it means to grow up, the true meaning of love. I was very shocked at the ending. It was very good, but it made me cry.
The vampire race is dying out, even though they have been living in hiding amongst humans. Karin is a vampire, and the only human who knows her secret is a boy from school. Her family asks him to help hide her secret, but to never fall in love with her. You can guess what's going to happen eventually….




Lament of the Lamb
Set in modern-day Japan. Has a very gritty, brushy art style. Deals with more psychological aspect of vampirism, and maybe an overtone of incest. A high-schooler re-unites with his older sister, who tells him that some in their family inherit a vampire disease.




Shiki
I tried to start reading it a few times, but would keep dropping it by the end of the first chapter. I don't do well with horror, and the desiccating bodies were too much for me. But after hearing so much praise, I tried it again.
It's quite compelling once you get into it. I like the unusual setting in the modern-day countryside. The horror gets milder as the story progressed, but there is still a lot of tragedy. It's rather emotionally exhausting to see people dying one after another. It's an interesting, albeit intense story.




My Boyfriend is a Vampire
Combines vampire story with gender bender (which I also have a weakness for). It's a manhwa with sea-anemone-haired characters, but the art acceptable, and the story is interesting.




Omae ga Sekai o Kowashitai Nara (Vampire Girl)
A rather disturbing series with pedophilia and rape, it paints the dark, terrible history behind a band of vampires. For mature readers, certainly, but it has a good deal of depth and mystery.




Hellsing
A serious, dark, blood and guts vampire story. An English organization, Hellsing, suppresses the undead, with the aid of their very own vampire. Interesting, but VERY violent. Very complex world, with lots of religious allusions and Protestant/Catholic tensions. Lots of good female characters, which I think is unusual for the seinen genre.




Vampire Wing
A shounen one-shot. It's rated pretty low, but I think it's funny.




Junketsu + Kareshi
Nice art. The story is a bit cliched, though (a vampire rescues a girl from death by turning her, and then we find out they are destined to be together, etc…)




Vampire Kisses: Blood Relatives
An original English language manga. It's so-so. I believe it's adapted from a book series. Seems aimed at younger (12-13 yr old) readers. A goth girl has a vampire boyfriend--what more could she want?




Itsuka Tenma no Kuro Usagi
A shounen. A boy has forgotten a pact he made with a vampire girls long ago. Looks like it will be interesting.



A House in Venice
Originally in Italian, so it has an interesting laid-back atmosphere. Only 2 chapters long.




Kenketsu Rasshu
A girl is asked to adopt a baby vampire. Except that this vampire is always switching between being a child and an adult. The child version is nice and sweet, while the adult version is grouchy. Fairly typical shoujo, but it's interesting in that people's personalities change as they grow up….




Bloody Kiss
A girl inherits a mansion…however, there's already a vampire in residence.




Sfumare
Another Korean webcomic. May turn out to be interesting. The creator still has a way to go in their artistic and storytelling skill.




Vassalord
The art and illustration is quite good, and so is the story, but it has a lot of mature content, including shounen-ai content.




Night Exile [Yoru no Kakaku]
This amnesiac vampire doesn't get his nutrition from blood itself, but rather from people's memories. A bitter-sweet tale that makes you keep wondering what memories really belong to him.




Soreha Tabete wa Ikemasen
A collection of short shounen-ai stories. The first few chapters are of a very timid vampire and his roommate who obliges him with meals, and hunts for monsters when said vampire hears scary bumps in the night. Pretty funny. It was cute, and I would have liked to see a longer story.




Shingetsutan Tsukihime
A shounen mystery. A boy becomes indebted to vampire after he tries to kill her (because of a certain condition he has). Interesting; eventually has some disturbing ecchi content.




Arcana - Kyuuketsuki
Volume 4 from the Arcana anthology. Contains vampire one-shots by various mangaka. Various stories: some cute, funny, sad, or chilling.




Interview with the Vampire
Based off an Anne Rice book, a rather dark manga, with strong hinting at shounen-ai. Historical, and located in the American South.




Higanjima
A VERY dark, VERY mature series. Definitely the "dark and dangerous" sort of vampire story. Exciting, but pretty disturbing too.




SxM
The first chapter in this volume is about a girl who adopts an amnesiac vampire. It's rather ordinary.




Vampire to Shinigami
A decent one-shot.





Shiro Bara Gakuen Vampire Rose
A simple one-shot. Not great, but not bad.




Wild Kiss
One-shot that tries to be a shounen-ai. It's OK…





Ones I've tried and not yet decided if I liked:

Blood Soul
Vampir
Mitsu aji Blood
Millennium Snow
Vampire Portrait
Hiiro Ouji
Canon
Blood Lad
Temptation Moon


Ones that I've tried, but dropped:

Moshikashite Vampire (I couldn't stand the art…)
Vampire Princess Miyu (again, the art)
Record of Fallen Vampire (didn't like the art, and the story didn't grab me soon enough)
Vampire Crisis (smutty)
Vampire Master (I don't remember why…I think it was lame. It has a really low rating anyway.)
Warau Kyuuketsuki (the most dang disturbing manga ever written. Gross and perverted, with no hope or shining light.)
Moon Phase (for ecchi/lolicon content)
Kuro Bara Alice/Black Rose Alice (for very disturbing violence and grossness - Really, feeding via tarantulas that crawl down your throat?)
Rosario Vampire (boring)
Vampire Doll (too "silly shoujo" for my taste)
Bloody Cross (ecchi)
Magetsukan Kitan (ecchi)


I know there are some that I've read that are missing from this list…

If you have any more to recommend or suggest (I don't like yaoi, smut, or ecchi), or if this list was helpful to you, comment and let me know! .