Tsukihime was originally a visual novel for the PC released by Type-Moon in 2000. It was later adapted into an anime series that was not well-received by fans (to the point that fans deny the existence of the anime) and a manga series that is still being published. I played the Tsukihime game not too long ago, and I loved it. It had one of the greatest and most touching storylines I've ever seen in a video game, but it also had many disturbing scenes as well. I was able to buy the first five volumes of the manga (volume 6 is rare and expensive at the moment), and I can safely say, the manga is a worthy adaptation of the original game.

EDIT AS OF 7/13/2011. Thanks to the magic of scanlations, (DrMaster is dead! How else am I supposed to read the manga now!?) I have been able to read all of the manga version of Tsukihime.

Story:

Shiki Tohno is a high school boy living in a seemingly ordinary town. He possesses a rare power, the "Eyes of Death Perception." With this, he can see what looks like black lines on people and objects, and if he cuts any of these lines, it will kill the person or object. He gained this power after what was apparently a near-death experience as a kid. Seeing "The Lines" puts stress on his mind and body, but he is able to live day by day for shortly after he gained this power, he was visited by a mysterious woman named Aoko Aozaki. She knew what was happening to him, and she gave him a pair of glasses that, when worn, hide the lines. She instructs him to take off the glasses only when absolutely necessary, and then suddenly leaves him.

The manga, like the anime, follows the Arcueid path from the game. In the original game, there are five paths, but the anime and manga could only follow one. While the manga unfolds like the Arcueid path from the game, it does incorporate elements from the other paths, and even includes a nod to Kagetsu Tohya, the sequel to the Tsukihime visual novel. By the third volume, the manga starts featuring scenes not from the game, but scenes exclusive to its canon. Without giving away anything, I can say that the plot of the manga is just as good as the game. While it drops a few scenes from the game, it leaves in all of the fascinating powers and most of the plot twists, and adds exciting new sequences of its own. The story is a dark one, but an extremely captivating one. 10/10.

Art:

Art-wise, it's not some of the best ever, but it does improve over time Some characters, like Shiki, Arcueid, and Ciel, look very close to the original designs from the game, but other characters, like Akiha and Arihiko, don't look as nice. (This is irritating for me since I think Akiha is one of the prettiest video game females ever, and to go from the game's design to this is especially jarring!) But the art is not horrible by any means. For one, the action sequences look fantastic. Also, the game, since it was a visual novel, consisted entirely of text and still images. The manga has more images, but scenes that were originally only described with text now have actual imagery in the manga. This I felt was a plus, even if it means that the manga is even gorier than the game. 8/10.

Characterization:

This is Tsukihime's strongest attribute, and the biggest reason it and other Type-Moon works have attracted such a strong fan following. Tsukihime's characters are some of the greatest ever. Shiki is a great lead character, able to smile and lead a happy life despite all of the terrible things that have happened to him. Arcueid is one of my personal favorite fictional characters ever; she's a beautiful and fascinating individual that steals nearly every scene she's in. Just about every character is not who they appear to be at first glance, and they all have their reasons to do things, including the villains, who thankfully aren't one-dimensional baddies who just want to be evil for evil's sake. I can't say much more without spoiling anything, but it's safe to say that you'll come to love at least one character in Tsukihime.

While I am giving a 10 here, I do want to say that the characters of Satsuki, Hisui, and Kohaku don't seem to be as multi-layered as they were in the game. The manga does excise details from the VN, so this may be why this is the case. 10/10.

Enjoyment:

My enjoyment of the manga version of Tsukihime is very close to my enjoyment of the game. Full of moments of terror, heartache, happiness, and so much more, Tsukihime is an absolute blast. This has become one of my favorite manga series of all time, and I intend to see it through to the end. 10/10.

Tsukihime comes with my upmost recommendation, even if you haven't played the game. Keep in mind, it is a horror series, so I wouldn't recommend it to the faint of heart, (Hope you don't mind attempts at rape!) but everyone else should check this out.

While I still think the VN version is superior, this is still a great read, too. (I will say, I like the ending here more than the endings of Arcueid's routes in the VN.)