is a Japanese '' shōjo'' manga series written and illustrated by Chie Shinohara. It was serialized in

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, comics ( manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the H ...

's ''

Betsucomi , known as before 2000, is a monthly Japanese manga magazine published by Shogakukan. It was conceived as a or "special issue" of its sister magazine '' Shōjo Comic''. It is released on the 13th of each month. Serializations Current * ' ...

'' magazine from 2004 to 2005. Shogakukan collected the individual chapters into five bound volumes from June 2004 to March 2006. The series was adapted into a

live-action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ...

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

directed by Kenji Gotō and released in theaters in Japan on May 27, 2006.

Plot

Rikka Nikaidō is a normal school girl whose life is thrown into chaos when her bus flips into a lake while on a school field trip. She is the sole survivor. Once she is released from the hospital, she tries to regain a regular life and even starts up swimming again. However, a black-haired woman attempts to attack Rikka repeatedly while in the water. She is Rikka Mizuchi, a girl who has lived for centuries with the help of a golden seed that her lover Izumi gave her every forty-nine years. This year, Izumi gave Rikka N. the seed, and Rikka M. is determined to kill the other Rikka before the girl is fully assimilated with water. Yuzuru, Rikka N.'s weak, university student cousin she's loved since childhood, learns about the other Rikka. But it turns out that Yuruzu may not be so human after all. A long, long time ago, there was a white dragon and a black dragon. They fought to see who would rule which part of the sky. And the white dragon fell, and the black dragon assumed he was dead, and soon forgot about him. But the white dragon had gone down to the humans and became one of them. A story told to the firstborn sons of the Nikaidō family, who have dragon blood running through their veins. One day, with the help of a female relative who would be named Rikka, the white dragon would be revived. As it turns out, the black dragon is Izumi and the white dragon's reincarnation is Yuzuru. However, he kept his feelings for Rikka a secret, because the way to revive the white dragon is through sex, where the white dragon would devour the girl's life. He tells her the way to revive the white dragon after rejecting her when they were about to have sex, Rikka already realizing that sex was how to revive him. But as Izumi causes climate disasters, trying to force the white dragon to do something about it and fight him, Yuzuru refuses to devour Rikka in order to fight back. Rikka M. learns that she also has Nikaidō blood coursing through her, and offers herself to Yuruzu. Rikka N. stops her. As floods happen and the rain is boiling hot, Yuruzu asks if Rikka would give herself to him and she agrees. He devours her, and the white dragon is revived. After going to the lake where the seed came from and freezing her, the white dragon and the black dragon finally have their rematch, the one Izumi wanted so desperately. When Rikka M. realizes that the white dragon and the black dragon have equal power, she offers herself to be devoured by Yuruzu, who agrees after nearly having his arm bit off by Izumi. With the new power, he defeats Izumi, and as the two go back to human form, Izumi is bleeding furiously from a neck bite, but Yuruzu refuses to finish him. As Izumi watches, Yuruzu grows two more golden seeds, and in turn, feeds them to Rikka M. and Rikka N. They come back to life. When she learns that another seed won't expand Izumi's life, Rikka M. kills him as he yells for the white dragon to finish him. Yuruzu informs her that the lake's flowers will be in blossom all year, with golden seeds. She can take a seed any time she wants, and even live forever. Realizing she can live even longer than Izumi had, she leaves. Yuruzu asks Rikka N. what she would like, and she tells him she just wants a normal life with him.

Characters

* * * *

Live-action film

''Romance of Darkness'' was adapted into a

directed by Kenji Gotō and released in theaters in Japan on May 27, 2006. It starred Aki Maeda of '' Battle Royale'' fame as Rikka Nikaido, and

Keiko Kitagawa is a Japanese actress and former model. She was an exclusive model for the Japanese '' Seventeen'' magazine from late 2003 to mid-2006, and quit modeling when she left the magazine. Her first acting role was Sailor Mars in the Sailor Moon live ac ...

of ''

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi. It was originally serialized in Kodansha's ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''Nakayoshi'' from 1991 to 1997; the 52 individual chapters were published in 18 volumes. The serie ...

'' and '' The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift'' fame as Rikka Mizuchi. The film contains an original ending as the manga was still being serialized at the time. It was released on

Region 2 DVD DVD region codes are a digital rights management technique introduced in 1997. It is designed to allow rights holders to control the international distribution of a DVD release, including its content, release date, and price, all according to ...

Pony Canyon , also known by the shorthand form , is a Japanese mass media publishing company founded on October 1, 1966. The company publishes mainly physical home media on compact discs, including music, films and TV shows and video games. It is affi ...

in Japan on September 20, 2006.

References

External links

* * * * {{Betsucomi 2004 manga 2006 films Chie Shinohara Fantasy anime and manga Horror anime and manga Japanese fantasy drama films 2000s Japanese-language films Live-action films based on manga Manga adapted into films Shōjo manga Shogakukan franchises Shogakukan manga Suspense anime and manga