Vampire Manga That Doesn't (Entirely) Suck

Let's face it: most vampire manga sucks. They're usually pretty, but predictable. Vampire meets human, they fall in love or want to kill each other, lots of existential angst about eternal life tossed in with some (or a lot) of implied erotic tension followed by the inevitable death of said vampire (which basically solves their problem with that eternal life thing).

But before you start aiming those silver bullets and wooden stakes my way, I'm willing to concede that not all vampire manga is a gothic bore. Take a look at Vampire Knight, the latest offering from shojo manga-ka Matsuri Hino.

Vampire Knight is a much darker tale than her prior offering (MeruPuri, which was a much more whimsical and traditional romance / fantasy story). Hino's twist on this genre? Her story's set in an elite academy where the human day class students co-exist with the night school students who are all vampires. There's still a lot of angst and blood here, but the story has a few bright spots that make it a worthwhile read.

Read our review of Vampire Knight Volume 1 and see if you fall under the spell of this gothic romance manga from Shojo Beat / VIZ Media.