Ranked #187

Tsukihime (Manga)

Tsukihime was originally a visual novel for the PC released by Type-Moon in 2000. It was later adapted into an anime series that was not well-received by fans (to the point that fans deny the existence of the anime) and a manga series that is still being published. I played the Tsukihime game not too long ago, and I loved it. It had one of the greatest and most touching storylines I've ever seen in a video game, but it also had many disturbing scenes as well. I was able to buy the first five volumes of the manga (volume 6 is rare and expensive at the moment), and I can safely say, the manga is a worthy adaptation of the original game.

EDIT AS OF 7/13/2011. Thanks to the magic of scanlations, (DrMaster is dead! How else am I supposed to read the manga now!?) I have been able to read all of the manga version of Tsukihime.

Story:

Shiki Tohno is a high school boy living in a seemingly ordinary town. He possesses a rare power, the "Eyes of Death Perception." With this, he can see what looks like black lines on people and objects, and if he cuts any of these lines, it will kill the person or object. He gained this power after what was apparently a near-death experience as a kid. Seeing "The Lines" puts stress on his mind and body, but he is able to live day by day for shortly after he gained this power, he was visited by a mysterious woman named Aoko Aozaki. She knew what was happening to him, and she gave him a pair of glasses that, when worn, hide the lines. She instructs him to take off the glasses only when absolutely necessary, and then suddenly leaves him.

The manga, like the anime, follows the Arcueid path from the game. In the original game, there are five paths, but the anime and manga could only follow one. While the manga unfolds like the Arcueid path from the game, it does incorporate elements from the other paths, and even includes a nod to Kagetsu Tohya, the sequel to the Tsukihime visual novel. By the third volume, the manga starts featuring scenes not from the game, but scenes exclusive to its canon. Without giving away anything, I can say that the plot of the manga is just as good as the game. While it drops a few scenes from the game, it leaves in all of the fascinating powers and most of the plot twists, and adds exciting new sequences of its own. The story is a dark one, but an extremely captivating one. 10/10.

Art:

Art-wise, it's not some of the best ever, but it does improve over time Some characters, like Shiki, Arcueid, and Ciel, look very close to the original designs from the game, but other characters, like Akiha and Arihiko, don't look as nice. (This is irritating for me since I think Akiha is one of the prettiest video game females ever, and to go from the game's design to this is especially jarring!) But the art is not horrible by any means. For one, the action sequences look fantastic. Also, the game, since it was a visual novel, consisted entirely of text and still images. The manga has more images, but scenes that were originally only described with text now have actual imagery in the manga. This I felt was a plus, even if it means that the manga is even gorier than the game. 8/10.

Characterization:

This is Tsukihime's strongest attribute, and the biggest reason it and other Type-Moon works have attracted such a strong fan following. Tsukihime's characters are some of the greatest ever. Shiki is a great lead character, able to smile and lead a happy life despite all of the terrible things that have happened to him. Arcueid is one of my personal favorite fictional characters ever; she's a beautiful and fascinating individual that steals nearly every scene she's in. Just about every character is not who they appear to be at first glance, and they all have their reasons to do things, including the villains, who thankfully aren't one-dimensional baddies who just want to be evil for evil's sake. I can't say much more without spoiling anything, but it's safe to say that you'll come to love at least one character in Tsukihime.

While I am giving a 10 here, I do want to say that the characters of Satsuki, Hisui, and Kohaku don't seem to be as multi-layered as they were in the game. The manga does excise details from the VN, so this may be why this is the case. 10/10.

Enjoyment:

My enjoyment of the manga version of Tsukihime is very close to my enjoyment of the game. Full of moments of terror, heartache, happiness, and so much more, Tsukihime is an absolute blast. This has become one of my favorite manga series of all time, and I intend to see it through to the end. 10/10.

Tsukihime comes with my upmost recommendation, even if you haven't played the game. Keep in mind, it is a horror series, so I wouldn't recommend it to the faint of heart, (Hope you don't mind attempts at rape!) but everyone else should check this out.

While I still think the VN version is superior, this is still a great read, too. (I will say, I like the ending here more than the endings of Arcueid's routes in the VN.) read more

The first thing id like to say is if you are put off from reading this manga because of the anime of the same name don't be, the difference between the anime and the manga's attempt to recreate the visual novel are worlds apart. Now on to the actual review.

Story: 10
For anyone who does not know the story for Tsukihime there is one phrase that i use that i believe describes it effectively. That is that Tsukihime has "the biggest characters you can imagine in the smallest story possible". The reason i use this phrase is because the story simply involves a young high school teen who gets involved in vampire like murders around his town. With a small plot layout like that you wouldn't expect characters to be bigger than the story itself but the characters include the princess of the true ancestor, the top assassin from the church and a member of the group of the most powerful group of vampires in existence while the story doesn't change to anything bigger. And if that isn't appealing enough the main reason for anyone to pick up Tsukihime is the amount of plot that is continuously uncovered thought the entire story. Although it would be impossible to recreate the exact story from the visual novel, i love the direction the manga takes.

Art: 8
The art is the only complaint i can make about this manga is the art. Although the art has gotten better with each volume its still not up to par with most others out there and during the first volume it felt like it lacked alot of appeal. Although the action in this manga rivals the action of even most animes i have seen.

Character:10
For anyone who has played Tskihime you can understand why i believe the characters are perfect. Like i said earlier the characters could be considered bigger than the story which for me adds great appeal to them. Even with all the anime i have seen most of my favorite characters ever come from Tsukihime and i assure you that you'll have at least one character from this manga added to your top favorite characters.

Enjoyment:10
Its without saying that i love this manga and it started my addiction to all Type-Moon related projects.

Overall: 10
Even with its one flaw this manga makes up for it tremendously with its unique approach of recreating the visual novel. read more

Story: 10
Tsukihime is an extremely engaging story.It hits the balance between action and dialogue to keep it character driven without being boring of ever dragging. I was fished in the whole time.

Art: 9
No complaints here. It was able to be bloody and sexy while remaining tasteful, which is more than many mangas can manage. Altogether solid.

Character: 9
The lead characters, the focus of the romance, are fantastic. They have that bad-ass, bloodthirsty, unstable quality that many seinen protagonists have while remaining identifiable and likable. The complex, beautiful dynamics between the two of them are the high point of the series. I didn't character a perfect score however, because they miss opportunities with many of the side characters. Quite a few of the interesting essential characters I was hoping to get to know better were left either mysterious or one sided, which was disappointing.

Enjoyment: 10
I loved this manga to death. I just about cried at the end, and I NEVER cry over stories.

Overall: 10
Aside from some minor annoyances with side characters, this was a masterpiece. I was pulled in and emotionally attached from start to finish and would recommend Tsukihime to anyone. read more

Tsukihime, yet another manga about vampire beauty and some boy possesing mysterious power. It seems boring doesn't it? The thing is that it is the opposite!

Story 9: It is great one, the main idea is that Shiki (protagonist) from the time which he had near-death accident 8 years ago, can see some mysterious lines which are the visualisation of death itself. In addition he can cut through them which leads to certain death of the thing he slice! Good start right? But in the same time background of action is typical one - you know some serial murderer case and Shiki involved in this because of meeting (one of the most interesting one in all of the mangas) with Arcueid Brunestud - beauty and in the same time vampire. The thing i love so much (like in the Berserker) is storytelling and retrospections in the story which is greatly developing later on.

Art 8: Not the one I like the best but nice one, and what is important we can clearly see improvement of it throughout the manga. But some scenes are just epic with the way they are draught

Characters 10: Yes, it is the best thing in the whole series. Each of the personalities are just extraordinary and very deep. They are the fillar of Tsuhikime and I deeply believe that everybody after reading will agree with me. The way emotions are showed, how they are changing and evolving from hatred to love from fury to lust... I am just speechles here.

Enjoyment 10: Simply - I read it without any breaks with my eyes devouring what I saw and what i felt by reading, this strange feeling of uncertainity. Is that good enough to subscribe how enjoyable it was?

Overall 10: Summarizing we have got one of the most epic manga ever, not only in it's own genre but in common too. I highly recommend this manga to anyone who likes extraordinary mangas with great story and deep characters.

I hope that my review was helpfull for you, thanks for reading :) read more

One of simply the best mangas , i have ever read period!

I haven't seen the Anime ( which i have heard isn't too great ) but the mnaga is a true masterpiece.

There is not one department , that it doesn't deserve top marks.
The art is amazing , the characters and story sublime , a gripping and intellect plot that's just polish its all round brilliance.

I actually don't like horror stories too much ( the exception perhaps being Dance in the vampire Bund) but this was actually a story that transcends the the limitations of any signal genre , with its beauty and style.

All Ii can say , with out spoiling anything , is that if by the last chapter , your not begging for more , i would be very surprised. read more

This manga is great. It's more of a psychological, gory, horror manga, but it has enough of a great plot that anyone could read it. Enjoi!