- Blood Alone
Infobox animanga/Header
name = Blood Alone
caption =
ja_name =
ja_name_trans =
genre = Mystery, Romance,Supernatural Infobox animanga/Manga
author =Masayuki Takano
publisher = flagicon|Japan MediaWorks flagicon|USAInfinity Studios flagicon|GermanyCarlsen Comics flagicon|FranceKi-oon flagicon|Italy J-pop
demographic =Shōnen
magazine =Dengeki Daioh
first = February 2005
last = ongoing
volumes = 5"Blood Alone" is a vampire
manga withcrime fiction undertones, written by nihongo|Masayuki Takano |高野 真之|Takano Masayuki, author ofBoogiepop Dual . It was originally published as a "dōjinshi ".Plot
"Blood Alone" is a story of a romance between a vampire girl and a human. The
private investigator Kuroe lives together with the vampire girl Misaki.Characters
These names appear to be in Western order, given name first, family name second.
;Kuroe Kurose:An author,
private investigator , and former prolificvampire hunter. He takes care of Misaki and on some quasi-legal basis is her guardian. Unlike most humans, Kuroe is a match against a vampire in combat, and is immune to farumek (see characteristics and abilities below). He is very affectionate with Misaki but seems unaware of her deeper feelings.;Misaki Minato:A young girl, about twelve years old, and recently-turnedvampire whose vampire nature is mostly not yet awakened. Most of her pre-vampire nature is still intact. She lives with Kuroe, and seems to be in love with him. One time, when Kuroe was sick and Misaki was anxious over his condition, she crawled into his bed to cling more closely to him. In another chapter Sayaka pokes fun at Misaki for sleeping in the same bed as Kuroe. Misaki answers that it is because his bed is so big and comfortable. Kuroe then says that Misaki is still afraid of monsters and ghosts.;Sayaka Sainome:The daughter of a rich doctor (deceased), currently working as head of a police forensics department. She has known Kuroe since they were in school together. She sometimes asks him to assist her in her work, because of his special abilities. She herself has the special ability of "seeing" (walking through) the last memories of the recently deceased. She is familiar with Kuroe and Misaki's situation. She may have feelings for Kuroe.;Higure:A master vampire. He looks like a little boy younger than Misaki. Higure seems to have an attraction towards Kuroe.;Maria:A young girl described as a "renfield ", a slave to a vampire. In volume 2 she had been ordered by her "blood parent" to kill her biological father. Kuroe stopped that. Since then she lives with Higure and is just about the only same-age friend that Misaki has.;Sly:An underworld figure acquainted with both Kuroe and Misaki, shown in volume 2 to be a vampire. He occasionally brings Kuroe jobs and helps both him and Misaki. He uses French honorifics (Monsieur, Mademoiselle) and has stated that he hates vampires.;Jessie:Kuroe's partner/supervisor while he was hunting vampires in London. She is proficient in hand to hand combat and uses knives that can discharge electricity. She has appeared only in flashback so her current whereabouts are unknown.;Chloe:Kuroe Kurose's master, her name is also spelled Kuroe in Japanese. She is a very powerful magician and is even known among the aruhiek (elder vampires) as "Sinistre Femme" ("the woman with the forbidden name"). She granted Kuroe some of her power and appears to him from time to time to berate him for not using his abilities. She has appeared only in flashback so her current whereabouts are unknown.Representation of vampires
If a human drinks vampire blood, that human becomes a renfield. Higure has said that a human becomes a vampire when a vampire drinks that human's blood and the human then drinks the vampire's blood. It is not clear how Misaki did this to her assailant in volume 1, or how Kairdolf does it to Misaki in volume 5.
When a vampire turns a human, that vampire is referred to as the "blood parent" of the newly-born renfield or vampire.
traruda
"Straruda" is what is within the blood of each vampire which makes him or her a vampire. Each vampire's straruda possesses its own "will" and special properties, and contains the primal nature of vampires.
The more a vampire lives through serious injuries, the more he or she will want to drink blood, and the stronger the straruda will become, eventually causing that vampire to lose all memories and the personality he or she had as a human.
Characteristics and abilities
Vampires
Vampires cannot go out under daylight. They do not physically age, and seem to possess increased speed and healing. Normal injuries, such as a broken neck, will not kill them. An "aruhiek" (elder generation vampire) such as Higure is much more powerful than an ordinary vampire. Vampires have an intense thirst for blood which requires them to consume it regularly, and must do so to survive when they are injured and lose a lot of blood. They possess fangs which allow them to drink blood from humans, but can also, as Misaki does, drink blood from a glass.
They possess a power called "farumek" that is similar to hypnosis which allows them to temporarily verbally control humans through eye contact. For instance, a hostile vampire once tried to use it to make Kuroe stab himself, and Misaki could have used it to make a man let her inside a club to see Sly.
They can also use "absorbire" (vampire cannibalism) to drink another vampire's blood and absorb that vampire's straruda. A vampire who consumes a straruda is influenced by it. To an aruhiek with a thick blood line, absorbing a straruda would at most alter his or her personality, but younger generation vampires with a thin blood line may be taken control of by the straruda and become half-crazed. A vampire which consumes another vampire's straruda will be able to satisfy that vampire's renfields' blood ties and serve as their blood parent, and could possibly obtain the special powers of that vampire.
Some vampires belong to the "Einseigrad Sparuda", called a guild of assassins.
Renfields
A renfield possesses partial immortality but loses his or her will and is loyal to his or her blood parent: the renfield's feelings and memories are influenced by the blood parent, according to the strength and skill of the blood parent. Renfields often do the work of vampires in the day, when vampires cannot. Maria was severely conflicted by her first blood parent's command to kill her biological father, thus he survived long enough for Kuroe to intervene. Higure could completely control Maria, but chooses not to.
If a renfield is completely separated from his or her blood parent, he or she will experience extremely intense pain. Only a vampire of the same blood line, or a vampire which possesses the same blood as the renfield's blood parent by absorbire, will suffice as a substitute.
pecial powers
The "adivuarat kurai" (eyes that see the truth) are an ability possessed by a certain vampire and his blood clan. That vampire injured Kuroe's eyes, and ever since his eyes healed from the injury, Kuroe has been able to see differently. In particular, his eyes will always recognize the living undead which pretend to be humans. He is also immune to farumek. The term is used as if it were the name of that certain vampire, who was once the head of the Einseigrad Sparuda.
Books
Japanese
* Volume 1, February, 2005 (ISBN 484022921X)
* Volume 2, July 27, 2005 (ISBN 4840231001)
* Volume 3, June 27, 2006 (ISBN 484023499X)
* Volume 4, June 27, 2007 (ISBN 4840239258)
* Volume 5, April 26, 2008 (ISBN 4048671065)English
* Volume 1, February 15, 2006 (ISBN 1596972513)
* Volume 2, August 30, 2006 (ISBN 1596972521)
* Volume 3, April 25, 2007 (ISBN 159697253X)
* Volume 4, February 6, 2008 (ISBN 1596972548)German
* Volume 1, April, 2007 (ISBN 3551750319)
* Volume 2, May, 2007 (ISBN 3551750327)
* Volume 3, September, 2007 (ISBN 3551750335)
* Volume 4, June, 2008 (ISBN 3551750343)French
* Volume 1, July, 2006 (ISBN-10 2915513244, ISBN-13 978-2915513240)
* Volume 2, November, 2006 (ISBN-10 2915513368, ISBN-13 978-2915513363)
* Volume 3, February, 2007 (ISBN-10 2915513457, ISBN-13 978-2915513455)
* Volume 4, October, 2007 (ISBN-10 2915513740, ISBN-13 978-2915513745)Drama CD
*
Drama CD - BLOOD ALONE, July 21, 2006
*Drama CD - BLOOD ALONE II, August 24, 2007
*Drama CD - BLOOD ALONE III, May 25, 2008Main cast
* -
Mai Nakahara
* -Toshiyuki Morikawa
* -Rie Tanaka
* -Shinichiro Miki
* -Sanae Kobayashi External links
* [http://www.h5.dion.ne.jp/~mtaka/ The author Masayuki Takano's website]
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