Blood Alone is a vampire

Vampire

Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...

 manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 with crime fiction

Crime fiction

Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...

 undertones, written by , author of Boogiepop Dual

Boogiepop Dual

, also known as Boogiepop Dual: Losers' Circus, is a manga by Masayuki Takano , an offshoot of the Boogiepop series, a series of young adult novels by Kouhei Kadono...

. It was originally published as a dōjinshi

Dojinshi

is the Japanese term for self-published works, usually magazines, manga or novels. Dōjinshi are often the work of amateurs, though some professional artists participate as a way to publish material outside the regular industry. The term dōjinshi is derived from and . Dōjinshi are part of a wider...

.

Plot

Kuroe Kurose is a former vampire hunter

Vampire hunter

A vampire hunter or vampire slayer is a character in folklore and fiction who specializes in finding and destroying vampires, and sometimes other supernatural creatures....

, turned private detective and best-selling author. He lives in a modern-day city with Misaki Minato, an adolescent girl who has recently been turned into a vampire. Kuroe's investigations often lead him to battle vampires and other undead creatures, sometimes with the support of Higure, a leading figure in the vampire world. Misaki meanwhile struggles to come to terms with her vampire nature and her love for Kuroe.

Characters

Kuroe Kurose

An author, private investigator

Private investigator

A private investigator , private detective or inquiry agent, is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private detectives/investigators often work for attorneys in civil cases. Many work for insurance companies to investigate suspicious claims...

, and former prolific vampire

Vampire

Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...

 hunter. He takes care of Misaki and on some quasi-legal basis is her guardian

Legal guardian

A legal guardian is a person who has the legal authority to care for the personal and property interests of another person, called a ward. Usually, a person has the status of guardian because the ward is incapable of caring for his or her own interests due to infancy, incapacity, or disability...

. Unlike most humans, Kuroe is a match against a vampire in combat and has a number of abilities linked to his eyes: he is immune to farumek (a vampire's way of hypnotising humans) and can tell if a someone is a member of the undead posing as a human. This was due to an injury inflicted on his eyes by a vampire who had the Adivuarat Kurai — the Eyes That See the Truth. Kuroe is very affectionate with Misaki but seems unaware of her deeper feelings, often teasing her when she tries to convey them.

Misaki Minato

A young girl, about ten years old, and recently-turned vampire

Vampire

Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...

 whose human nature is still mainly intact. The daughter of a famous musician and a talented pianist

Pianist

A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

 herself, she used to live in a lovely mansion in England while she was human but now lives with Kuroe in a more modest home in Japan. She is in love with him, getting very jealous when he mixes with other women. They even share the same bed (though there is no indication of anything untoward in their relationship). Sayaka once poked fun at Misaki for sleeping in the same bed as Kuroe to which Misaki answered that it was because his bed was so big and comfortable. Kuroe then said that Misaki is still afraid of monsters and ghosts. She is also terrified of thunder. Misaki appears to have a second vampiric personality which wakes up in times of great danger to protect herself, but minimizes the duration of her awakenings as much as possible to preserve the original personality.

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 appears to have feelings for Kuroe.

Higure

An elder vampire. He looks like a boy of Misaki's age but is in fact very old and is one of the few "elder generation" vampires in the world. He appears to be immensely powerful, both in terms of physical/vampiric abilities as well as having considerable influence amongst vampires. Higure instructs Misaki on the ways of the vampire and fills Kuroe in with details about them that he was previously unaware of. From his relationships with his male Renfields, Higure is heavily implied to be gay and has even set his sights on Kuroe.

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 as an informant

Informant

An informant is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law enforcement world, where they are officially known as confidential or criminal informants , and can often refer pejoratively to the supply of information...

. He uses French honorifics (Monsieur, Mademoiselle) and has stated that he hates vampires. Sly's companion is a cat named Larry who has a habit of teasing Misaki.

Maria

A young girl described as a "Renfield

Renfield

R. M. Renfield is a fictional character in the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker.-In the novel:A description of Renfield from the novel:R. M. Renfield, aetat 59. Sanguine temperament, great physical strength, morbidly excitable,...

", a slave to a vampire. In volume 2 she had been ordered by her "blood parent" to kill her biological father, which Kuroe prevented. Since then she lives with Higure and is just about the only same-age friend that Misaki has. She also has a crush on Kuroe.

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. It was she who first put Misaki and Kuroe in touch with one another when an injury in battle prevented her from watching over Misaki who was already the target for vampires. She has an estranged brother named Johnny who met up with Kuroe seeking guidance on romance, as he had fallen in love with an vampire called Sophia who despite her appearance being similar to Misaki's age, is possibly as long lived as Higure.

Chloe

A very powerful sorceress who instructed Kuroe Kurose in how to confront vampires. Her name is also spelled Kuroe in Japanese and there is some indication that the fact that they share the same name is why she and her powers are closely linked to Kuroe. She is even known among the Aruhiek (elder vampires) as "Femme Sinistre" (French for "Sinister Woman", though the manga gives the translation as "the woman with the forbidden name"). While Kuroe was operating in London, she appeared to him from time to time to berate him for not using his powers to their full ability. Chloe's magic seems to be revolved around the use of time and reality manipulation, which she has passed onto Kuroe. She later appears before Kuroe, giving him a rather elusive warning of a forthcoming threat. Her relationship with Kuroe has also appeared to turn somewhat more intimate.

The Count

An elder vampire similar to Higure and who lives in the same city. He appears as a young adult man. He looks upon humans as only fit for being Renfields and thus disapproves of Misaki's relationship with Kuroe, which is based more on free will and mutual affection rather than enslavement.

Motoe Kurose

Kuroe's older sister and only known surviving family member. She suffered from an unknown disease and since she was the only woman that Kuroe truly "loved" he would often skip school just to visit her. She disappeared one night in the hospital when a vampire abducted her and blinded the pursuing Kuroe whose eyes gained certain abilities of their own once they had healed. Kuroe believes that his sister is still alive and thus became a vampire hunter in hopes of finding her.

Aspects of vampires

Vampires

Humans become vampires by consuming the blood of a vampire who has previously consumed their own. Vampires are immortal and do not age physically. They can only operate at night. They need to consume blood regularly and must do so to survive when they are injured and lose a lot. They possess fangs that allow them to drink blood from humans, but can also, as Misaki does, drink blood from a glass. Other abilities include increased speed and healing.

A vampire Elder who is a powerful member of the vampire community. In spite of the term, many of them come across as young men: Higure has the body of an adolescent while the Count looks to be in his twenties or early thirties.

Aruta

Special powers possessed by the vampire Elders. The Aruta is different for each Elder: the Count can create multiple copies of himself to confuse his enemies; Higure can tear a victim in two from a distance; and an Aruhiek whom Kuroe and Misaki once confronted in England could turn his arm into a huge sword.

Named after the servant

Renfield

R. M. Renfield is a fictional character in the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker.-In the novel:A description of Renfield from the novel:R. M. Renfield, aetat 59. Sanguine temperament, great physical strength, morbidly excitable,...

 of Bram Stoker

Bram Stoker

Abraham "Bram" Stoker was an Irish novelist and short story writer, best known today for his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula...

's Count Dracula

Count Dracula

Count Dracula is a fictional character, the titular antagonist of Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula and archetypal vampire. Some aspects of his character have been inspired by the 15th century Romanian general and Wallachian Prince Vlad III the Impaler...

, a Renfield is a human who acts as a vampire's servant. He or she is a human who has drunken the blood of a vampire and thus possesses partial immortality. However, a Renfield also loses his own will and is thus devoted to his blood parent — the vampire whose blood he drank. The Renfield's feelings and memories are influenced by the blood parent according to the vampire's strength and skill. Renfields are especially useful in doing the work of vampires in the daytime when their masters cannot.

A vampire with no affiliation to a blood clan or parent.

A form of hypnosis

Hypnosis

Hypnosis is "a trance state characterized by extreme suggestibility, relaxation and heightened imagination."It is a mental state or imaginative role-enactment . It is usually induced by a procedure known as a hypnotic induction, which is commonly composed of a long series of preliminary...

 that allows vampires to bring humans under their control for a short period of time. Farumek has no effect on Renfields who are blood-linked to another vampire. Kuroe, despite being a human, is unaffected by farumek due to his eyes having qualities of Adivuarat Kurai (see below).

An element of a vampire's blood. Each vampire's straruda possesses its own "will" and special properties. If a vampire drinks blood that contains a straruda too powerful for him to handle he runs the risk of turning into a mindless beast. Elder vampires can manage such stradura better, though some aspects of their personality may change.

Vampire cannibalism

Cannibalism

Cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...

. A Renfield completely separated from their blood parent can experience intense pain and the only way around that would be to come under the influence of a vampire of the same blood line or one possessing the blood of the Renfield's blood parent. An example of this is when Higure consumes the blood of Maria's original blood parent before killing him, freeing her from his influence and bringing her under Higure's own.

The "Red Sword", a guild of vampire assassins.

A vampire killer — from the Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

n term for "hunter

Hunting in Romania

Romania has a long history of hunting. The country remains a remarkable hunting destination, drawing many a hunters because of its large numbers of brown bears, wolves, wild boars, red deer, and chamois...

" (Romania is the location of Transylvania

Transylvania

Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...

, home of the most famous vampire of all

Count Dracula

Count Dracula is a fictional character, the titular antagonist of Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula and archetypal vampire. Some aspects of his character have been inspired by the 15th century Romanian general and Wallachian Prince Vlad III the Impaler...

).

The "Eyes That See the Truth" are an ability possessed by a certain vampire and his blood clan. The term is also used as if it were the name of that vampire, who was once the head of the Einseigrad Sparuda, and was also responsible for kidnapping Kuroe's sister and turning Misaki into a vampire. He also injured Kuroe's eyes and, once they had healed from the injury, Kuroe obtained certain powers of his own such as recognizing the living undead that pretend to be humans. Misaki also appears to have abilities linked to the Adivuarat Kurai — apparently using it to make Maria realise that her blood parent was an evil manipulator rather than a genuine father figure.

Books

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)
• Volume 5, June, 2009 (ISBN 3551750351)
• Volume 6, February, 2011 (ISBN 355175036X)

French

• Volume 1, July, 2006 (ISBN 2915513244, ISBN 978-2915513240)
• Volume 2, November, 2006 (ISBN 2915513368, ISBN 978-2915513363)
• Volume 3, February, 2007 (ISBN 2915513457, ISBN 978-2915513455)
• Volume 4, October, 2007 (ISBN 2915513740, ISBN 978-2915513745)
• Volume 5, October, 2008 (ISBN 978-2355920233)
• Volume 6, June, 2010 (ISBN 978-2355921735)

Drama CD

• Drama CD – BLOOD ALONE, July 21, 2006
• Drama CD – BLOOD ALONE II, August 24, 2007
• Drama CD – BLOOD ALONE III, May 25, 2008

Main cast

– Mai Nakahara

Mai Nakahara

is a voice actress. She is employed by I'm Enterprise. Some of her hobbies include cooking and watching movies, and she is skilled at kendo. She worked with voice actor Ai Shimizu in eight anime where most of the characters they voiced in together had close connections: DearS, Kage Kara Mamoru!,...

 – Toshiyuki Morikawa

Toshiyuki Morikawa

is a prolific Japanese male voice actor from Yokohama, Kanagawa, was affiliated with Arts Vision. Lately, however, he has become the head of that a voice actor company he founded in Apr 2011. His name is also sometimes mistranslated as Tomoyuki...

 – Rie Tanaka

Rie Tanaka

is a singer and voice actress . Notable among her numerous roles are Lacus Clyne in Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny, Chii and Freya in Chobits, Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke in Strike Witches and Suigintou in the anime adaptation of Rozen Maiden.-Personal life:As a child, Tanaka took singing classes...

 – Shinichiro Miki

Shinichiro Miki

is a Japanese voice actor. He is a member of 81 Produce.Miki is most known for the roles of Kojiro , Takumi Fujiwara , Kisuke Urahara , Akira Yuki , Lockon Stratos , and Roy Mustang .According to the Anime News Network, as of Spring 2007, Miki is...

 – Sanae Kobayashi

Sanae Kobayashi

is a voice actress who was born in Shizuoka Prefecture. She is affiliated with Production Baobab.-Television Animation:*.hack//Liminality as Mai Minase*.hack//Roots as Ender*.hack//Roots as Pi...