Koshite-Akuma
I’ve always been into vampire stories. Not the reckless, violent and bloodthirsty kind of vampires, but those that struggle with their conscious and interact with the human world. I know “Twilight” is the first thing that will come to your mind now, but I’ve had this a long time before already – starting with the old Hammer Horror movies and moving over a whole lot of others up to Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles.

When it comes to Japanese vampire stories, however, I had only seen Moon Child so far. This movie, starring j-rock stars Gackt and Hyde, was a bit different from the usual vampire stories in that the vampire wasn’t actually the center of the story. So when I figured out a vampire drama would be broadcasted this summer, I got excited and decided to find out more.

The Story

2d9c561a27f07c3e8718bf3d Koishite Akuma tells the story of Kuromiya Ruka, a vampire boy who has not yet tasted any human blood. Because vampires die if they haven’t done so before the next full moon, an older vampire named Kaito arranges for him to board with a family and to start attending high school.

The task becomes more complicated as Ruka meets his homeroom teacher, Natsukawa Makoto. Because Ruka resembles Makoto’s first love – a happy and talkative boy who drowned 10 years ago – she becomes strangely drawn to him. What was supposed to be quick & easy becomes problematic as Ruka delays drinking any blood and starts appreciating the humans around him more and more.

The Verdict

nakayama-yuma-vampire Although this story centers around a vampire character, in the end it’s a love story with a twist – slightly similar to Twilight in that aspect. I’m not the best in judging acting skills, but for a 15 year old I think Nakayama Yuma did an amazing job as Ruka. I was really drawn into his character, feeling for him or cheering him on depending on the situation.

Somehow with every episode I watched, I got more interested in the drama until I eventually gave up waiting for HD versions or even subbed versions for the last episodes. This is only the second time in my life I decided to watch a drama without subtitles, but I just had to know how the story would end.

As long as you’re not disturbed by the whole teacher/student romance thing, I can only recommend Koishite Akuma. It’s entertaining and unlike most love stories, the ending is unpredictable until the last moment.