Tsukuyomi—Moon Phase

    (Tokyopop, 2005)
™ and © 2000 Keitaro Arima

Some with spiritual powers can do great things; they dispel evil spirits and communicate with the dead. Kouhei, however, exposes ghosts whenever he takes a picture. Meadows, mansions, and malls—they’re all haunted according to his lens. So he thinks nothing of it when he comes across a cute little girl in a haunted castle. Since he can’t actually see ghosts, she must be harmless. However, this “cute little girl” is a vampire. He’s inadvertently destroyed the forces binding her to the castle, and now she wants Kouhei to be her slave, to do her bidding, to help her find her mommy… where does the vampire end and the little girl begin?

— Lorie Witkop

From the Comics Buyer’s Guide:

Though Kouhei comes from a family of exorcists, he doesn’t have psychic powers of his own; instead, he uses his skills as a photographer to investigate the unknown. While exploring a German castle with a strange history, he meets an odd little Japanese vampire named Hazuki who gives him a nibble.

She soon follows him home to Japan and, although he’s immune to her vampiric influence, she still expects him to do her bidding and help her find her mother. Kouhei’s own mother disappeared when he was 13, so he’s sympathetic enough not only to help her but to let the annoying little girl move in and mooch off his family.

It’s neither a particularly appealing nor compelling fantasy, which is how the publisher appropriately classifies it, since it’s too weak-kneed to be considered horror. Likewise, there’s nothing endearing about either Kouhei or the underaged vampire who goes around wearing fake cat ears. Professionally done on all levels but utterly anemic when it comes to thrills, characterization, or comedy.

— S. A. Bennett
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