Tsukihime is a manga based on the visual novel, written by Koniko Nasu of Type Moon, the same guy who wrote Kara No Kyoukai and Fate/Stay Night. The series also takes place in the same multiverse of those other series. The visual novel came out in 2001 and and both the manga and the anime came out around the same time in 2003, and while the anime was a complete failure (to the point that the fan base made a meme of denying that it exists), the manga was brilliant both as an adaptation and as a good manga in its own right.

The plot is that after an accident that almost took his life, Shiki Tohno was left with the ability to use 'mystic eyes of death perception' that allow him to see black lines across all things and tracing across these lines will cause death. Due to the accident, he was exiled from his family but is now allowed to return eight years later by his sister, now that their father has passed away. On the way home from school, Shiki encounters a blond girl and in a sudden fir of insanity murders her. the next day he finds the girl alive again. She introduces herself as a vampire named Arcueid Brunestud and recruits Shiki to help stop the series of murders that are occurring in his city.

So basically our protagonist Shiki Tohno must team up with the vampire girl he murdered (I guess people don’t die if they’re killed) and discover out the mysteries of his family, find out more about his strange eyes and stop the large amount of vampire-like murders happening throughout his town.

The plot combines the horror and romance scenes very naturally. The mystery is interesting with some good plot twists. The lore revolving around the vampires also feels fresh and creative but still respectful of the traditional legends. The manga does get more complicated as the plot unveils however it does a good job of presenting new themes and concepts, in fact out of all the Type Moon works, this is the series that’s probably the most normie friendly. It doesn’t incorporate some of the more overally complicated themes of the multiverse (like the exact way that magic works in this universe, and who can harness it, and why they can harness, and why normal magic is different from true magic and etc etc) but still has enough depth to keep people looking for more drama and world building happy.

The art is good. In the beginning it can be a bit average but it gets better as the manga goes on. I have to commend how versatile it is, being able to portray the characters as cute when needed in the more slice of life parts, while still capturing a lot of detail for the more gory fight scenes. At this point it should also be noted that the visual did have some (badly written) h scenes and there is a bit of explicit content in the manga as well as a lot of gore, so if your sensitive to that kind of stuff then this isn’t the manga for you.

The best part of the manga though, are the characters. Even with his generic as shit design, Shiki is a great protagonist with a surprising amount of depth beyond his ‘average high school guy’ persona. Due to his near death experience, he has a great appreciation for life. This may sound like a kind of stupid shounen “I can save everyone if I just believe in my self” attitude however with Shiki it works because he isn’t that kind of over-hyper idiot. He knows that terrible things happen and that his limited strength won’t be able to stop them but still believes that we should try to embrace living and push on despite the pain and his optimism becomes quite enduring as the story goes on. There is more to him than this though. He can be serious during the battles and even a bit snarky during some of the more comedic scenes, not to mention having a much darker and psychotic side that gets worse as he interacts more with the supernatural.

What’s even better though is our main girl, Arcueid Brunestud, the titular Tsukihime who pretty much steals the show in a cast of already great characters. She is a great main heroine with a cute design and a great personality. When in battle, she plays the part of the traditional badass, elegant vampire but outside of it, because of her little experience with the outside world, she’s often bouncy, and energetic making her incredibly entertaining to watch. As her character develops, it also shows a more tragic and dangerous side to her character. This gives a large sense of urgency to the manga and really gets the reader to sympathize with her struggles between her bright personality and her vampiric nature. Her interactions and eventual romance with Shiki are especially good, ranging from funny to genuinely heartfelt.

The other characters are also good although they get less screen time. These mostly consist of Shiki’s sister Akiha and his senpai Ciel (heroines in other routes of the vn) who play important roles later on and are quite likeable and well developed. The main villain is also very unique and has a personal relationship with both main characters which helps to add to the mystery and tension. Also Shiki’s standard protagonist pervy best friend is a total bro, even if he’s basically non-existent for the second half of the manga.

Overall, even if your not interested in Type Moon, I still highly recommend this manga. It has great characters and an interesting plot filled with a good mix of action, horror and romance. While the visual novel does expand more on some of the characters, this is still one of the best adaptations of a visual novel I’ve seen in manga and anime alike and can be enjoyed by both fans and newcomers. It's personally one of my favourite manga and hopefully you might enjoy it as well. 10/10