This manga left me dumbstruck. It's one of those stories that leaves you sitting there reevaluating the whole meaning of your existence for a half hour after you read the last page.

It's dark. It's provoking. It's tragic. It's romantic. It's fantasy. And yet it all seems very real to me, not in superficial content, but philosophically. As much as I hate philosophy, this story had me desperately dancing around the idea of fate and destiny, trying to decide if I liked the idea this story projects, despite how much it terrifies me to think about it.

If you want a simple, sappy love story, walk away. If you want happy feelings and moe flowers, walk away. If you want to read a shallow romance that can be found in any number of other shoujo mangas, WALK AWAY.

But if you want a story that has you pondering why exactly you are here in this world, and how love is almost never perfect or reasonable, and what is the overall effect your choices could have on an entire world, this is for you.

I don't care if you don't care about all that stuff. If you read this story, and I mean really READ it, don't just take it at face value and give up as soon as something doesn't seem to make sense, if you really read it and try to understand it all, then your mind will explode with all the thoughts streaming through your head. Or you'll sit there staring blankly at the floor because the sheer psychological aspect leaves you drained and speechless and thoughtless after the ending unexpectedly hits you with its full force.

This might seem a bit over dramatic, but I'm just describing my reactions after reading it the first time, and then again a second, and both times had a profound affect on my being, just in a different way from each other. Honestly, the first time left me with a sense of dread, left me wondering about what exactly I just read and how it pertained to me. It made me think about something I never thought I COULD think about. It started my quest for other stories that would leave me dangling over a psychological coma-inducing cliff. I never found one quite like this. So I read it again, and the force of the message hit me even harder, the things that kind of confused me the first time (even though I sort of put everything together, I still had a few loose ends) suddenly clicked and landed on me like a thousand pound bag of bricks. And I couldn't move, and I was thrilled and exhilerated and filled with a pleasant sort of fear and sadness. And it was so much that my brain shut down and I couldn't form a coherent thought for a good 10 minutes.

And who knows, maybe I'm just a psychology junkie who resents mainstream romance, even though I read it more often than anything else. Maybe my psychological and philosophical roller coaster ride is more than most of you want to deal with. Maybe I'm just weird. But I know I can't be the only one who is mentally understimulated by most works of fiction out there, and it is with those people who are like me that I want to share this story.

P.S. To those of you who are confused by the little boy with the ball, I assure you, it is very relevant to the overall story. If you can't understand it, just LOOK AT THE BIGGER PICTURE. Or read it again. Everything might just click the second time around like it did for me.

... Last updated on September 6th, 2015, 9:35pm

The reviews pretty much say what I want to say, so I'll just add a couple summarizing thoughts...

Fascinating ideas were presented, but the execution was variable. It was hard to understand what was going on until I completed the entire story both in the art and in the dialogue. I'd say sticking with it until the end may clear up some confusion. I suppose that this story wouldn't need to be much longer at all, but rather should be cleaned up to present what's important in a clear manner (although I can't do anything about that, of course).

I must say though, I'm impressed with the lingering feeling I have - I feel this indescribable lurch inside me concerning the overall theme of the story, and that proves (to me, at least) that there's this raw intensity there, despite it's variable presentation. Definitely a tragedy, in the end.

I won't get too into the plot many reviewers already have but I just wanted to give my opinion. Like many I was intrigued by the aspect of the beginning of this manga, the budding romance and the vampire elements. I also thought the added mystery aspect was really interesting and when explored was quite interesting this hints at our leads pasts was also really interesting. But like many the ending seemed just kind of wrong...there was no real indication of the plot heading into this strange reincarnation territory, but what was more confusing was the I think that the manga-ka bit off a little more than she may have planned and got too wrapped up in the many ideas she had thought up while creating the manga, it almost seemed like she had no firm plan on how she wanted to end the manga. Further more I think she thought she might not get another serial after this and so threw all the elements she could on her canvas. Had she maybe had more time or volumes then maybe this manga would have a more coherent ending. Still I thought and still think the manga holds its own in the elements it has, beautiful art, interesting and complex characters but ultimately being a bit more daring than other manga's of a similar target audience.

... Last updated on December 19th, 2011, 8:22pm

The first 10 chapters had me pumped. As in "YEAH THIS IS GONNA BE SO AMAZING." I really enjoyed the whole vampire thing. I rather liked how she was kind of reluctant to drink blood and once she was used to it, she tried to do it by herself without any help (which didn't go as smoothly as planned).

Once I got to chapter 14, I was like "...ehhh...." I rather disliked the reincarnation part. I mean...vampires AND reincarnations in one manga? That's hard to control.

Then came chapter 16, and then the series just...disappointed me. Such a shame that it was a let down SO close to the end. And the ending was just...wow.

It's not so much that this manga was "terrible" in anyway, but more like...poorly executed.

It was a pretty good read overall. It was different from the usual. Unfortunately, it was TOO different for me, personally, which is why I gave it a low rating.

I'm more of a "happy shoujo" reader, so reading this manga was just too confusing for me.

Oh, no... the worst thing that I like is doing a bad review.
The manga started good... Innocent and umm... like a teenage shoujo. Then the mysteries came and I was a bit intrigued. I really hoped that the ending was not like what I expected... and it came true. It was not. But I don't know... I don't like that kind of ending either.
It was confusing and a bit... over-thought--if there was such a word.
I hate doing reviews like this. I regret giving bad ratings but I felt that I won't give justice if I ranked it a bit higher than what I think it deserved.
So, yeah... I finished the 2-vol manga, and....I don't want to read another one like this again. I think, I'll stay away from Fujiwara-sensei's work for now...
sorry...

THis was a freaking amazing plot! In the end I was just blown away and this is definitely not your typical romance. Even though the ending was tragic I like how it was like a game of tag and they seem to have the ending w/ each other no matter what. And yep there's depth in this series, which i appreciate! Love it even for a tragic ending!

I love this mangaka's work. It's always got that dark, gothic, and sad kind of taste to it. I liked this story, it was very interesting and amazingly it HELD my interest, since I don't usually like vampire stories with the same annoying girl-falls-in-love-with-vampire plot. I'm glad this one was so different and unique. Like some people already said, my only complaint would be that the story was so CONFUSING and murky... but oh well, it just added to the mysteriousness I guess. This is definitely a very heavy and mature romance manga, not your light happy-go-lucky shoujo kind of read.

Although the artwork is fine (but non-distinctive), the strength of this manga lies in its storytelling. The story flows linearly but the way the mangaka fragments it, helps echo the mental state of the characters and adds dramatic effect to the reading, IMHO. I thought this was a nicely done original take on old themes (i.e., vampires, destiny/fate). Good stuff and definitely worth the read if you're looking for something a little more cerebral than the average manga...

The romance was tastefully done, in my opinion. At first, I thought it was going to be another Twilight but with more angst (prejudiced, I know). I had low expectations. I was in for reading the story more for its horror aspect than anything else.
The symbolism enhanced the plot which in turn enhanced the romance. A very thematic story about destiny.
I absolutely recommend this! The symbolism may be confusing to some, but pause the page-skipping and think about why the mangaka put that particular aspect into the story. Everything makes sense. Every little thing. I felt like crying because of how well she tied everything together yet left it to the overarching meaning/message/theme she tried to convey.
Well-written, well-drawn...you must give it a try. Don't skip any pages!

... Last updated on April 6th, 2012, 5:17pm

The first few chapters might be boring, but the later chapters are actually rewarding. The story has a really dark ambiance on it filled with mind-boggling twists. Not suitable for "typical sparkly shoujo-readers". But, a definite must-try.

... Last updated on December 30th, 2014, 1:17am