Lunar Legend Tsukihime

Lunar Legend Tsukihime 1 

Vol. 1: BLUE BLUE GLASS MOON, UNDER THE CRIMSON AIR ISBN 1-59796-075-6

Lunar Legend Tsukihime 2

Vol. 2: BLUE BLUE GLASS MOON, UNDER THE CRIMSON AIR ISBN 1-59796-076-4
By Sasakishonen/Type-Moon/Tsukihime Project (DrMaster Publications Inc.)

This dark and stylish modern horror-adventure series tells the tale of Shiki Tohno, a troubled young man with an awesome gift. Ever since a childhood accident, he has had the ability to see the hidden lines or weak points in all things, organic or otherwise. By striking or cutting along these normally invisible stress lines, he can literally slice through anything, as if through hot butter. As he matures, along with this power comes a growing and irrepressible urge to kill.

When he succumbs to the demonic call and literally dismembers a young woman the pressure of his rich, dysfunctional life temporarily eases, until she turns up at his front door, hale, hearty, and quite keen to recruit him into a little project of her own.

The tale moves into a higher gear in the second book as the mysterious and beautiful Aoka Aozaki explains just exactly what kind of creature she is to our troubled young hero, and how his awesome power might just be a blessing, not the curse he has always feared.

She explains that she is an immortal vampire who refuses to drink human blood, embroiled in a war with her much more traditional descendents, and she desperately needs his aid if she is to win, and perhaps even survive, against more or less unstoppable monsters who simply want to slaughter humans and breed more bloodsuckers.

This is an intriguing spin on the over-used vampire-hunter genre with lots of action and a genuinely sympathetic (anti)hero. It stands out well in a veritable sea of similar material. I just wish the title wasn’t so much of a mouthful.

© 2005 Sasakishonen/Type-Moon/Tsukihime Project. All Rights Reserved.