Typical manga, a bit creepy, but typical. ( )

Kazuna has been feeling ill lately, and upon running into his long lost sister, discovers that the family has a blood disease which basically makes them vampires. Kazuna must deal with his new urges, the draw he feels toward this mysterious, icy sister, and how all this will affect the people in his life, the somewhat austere girl he has been hanging out with alone in the art club recently, and his “aunt” and “uncle” who raised him and hope to adopt him.

The art is rather rough sometimes, particularly in the beginning (I was sure one of the females was male for a bit), and the dialog was slightly confusing in parts (which may be a fault of the translation), but other than that, this volume barely makes a misstep. This manga takes the concept of vampirism, drops the hokey gothic romanticism so many vampire stories seem to take as obligatory, and tells instead a slowly paced, atmospheric horror/drama filled with the main character's confusion, suppressed urges and feelings of isolation. Haunting...and refreshing ^_^; Characters are sympathetic and their relationships and development believable (besides the rather too quick inner “I love you” utterance, but that's easily ignorable, and it's the only time it really takes that trip to the left field).

But I'll admit, start horror stories aren't usually my kind of manga. So, for me to actually want to invest the time (much less all the money) to continue on for more than a few volumes (and I believe it's 7?), it needs something that REALLY hooks me, something I can fangirl over. It would have to be really exemplary, at least in parts (see: something like Death Note), or have certain kinds of characters I like, a sense of humor I liked, some action, a particularly intriguing setting etc. But it doesn't, so though I admit I'm interested how this turns out, I won't be continuing with it. Still, I'm sure it's great for fans of this kind of genre, and probably others as well who just aren't as finicky as me. ( )