is a Japanese

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series by

Keitarō Arima is a Japanese manga artist, best known as the creator of '' Tsukuyomi: Moon Phase''. He was a member of the Manga Dōkōkai OB at Kansai University. His pen names include , and . Works *''Astro Fujo-san'' (Kadokawa Shoten, ) *''Eromanō'' (as ...

. The manga was serialized in the monthly

manga magazine Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is used ...

Comic Gum is a Japanese seinen manga magazine that was published on a monthly basis by Wani Books between 1996 and 2015. Unlike other Japanese magazines, Comic Gum rarely contains posters or pin-up pictures. However, a special gift is given away together ...

'' from March 2000 to March 27, 2008. The series spanned sixteen manga volumes that were published by

Wani Books is a Japanese publishing company focused on manga-related publication, including magazines and books. The company was established in November 1979. It publishes a manga magazine called ''Comic Gum''. Magazines published ''Wink Up'' is an idol ...

in Japan. The manga series was later adapted into a 25 episode

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

television series by Shaft, and aired on

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certified b ...

from October 5, 2004 to March 29, 2005. An additional

OVA , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...

episode dubbed "Episode 26" was later released only on DVD on February 22, 2006. Moon Phase is about a young

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

girl named Hazuki and a Japanese freelance photographer Kouhei Morioka whom Hazuki attempts to make into her servant. While there are differences in adaptations, the main theme of Kouhei protecting Hazuki from harm is present in both. The OVA storyline though has very little to do with the original series outside of having some of the same characters, and has a completely different storyline which does not fit into anything which came before it.

Tokyopop Tokyopop (styled TOKYOPOP; formerly known as Mixx Entertainment) is an American distributor, licensor and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Western manga-style works. The German publishing division produces German translations of licensed J ...

published an English-language version of the manga but stopped at volume 12 due to the company shutting down its North American publishing division which left the series unfinished. For the anime,

Funimation Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...

released an English-language version under the name ''Moon Phase''.

Plot

The story is about the relationship between freelance

photographer A photographer (the Greek language, Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographe ...

Kouhei Morioka and Hazuki, a young girl who descends from a royal

lineage. At the beginning of the story, Kouhei travels to a castle in Germany to take photographs of

paranormal phenomena Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Nota ...

for his friend Hiromi, who is the editor of an occult magazine. At the castle, Kouhei meets Hazuki, who feeds on Kouhei's blood and claims him as her unwilling servant. Although this "blood pact" is supposed to bind Kouhei to Hazuki as her obedient slave, her act has no effect on Kouhei. Following an action-packed sorcerers' battle in which Kouhei and his cousin manage to free Hazuki from her captivity in the dreary castle, Hazuki travels to Tokyo, and takes up residence with Kouhei in his grandfather's house in Japan. Hazuki claims that, because she fed on his blood, Kouhei is now her servant, but Kouhei continually refuses to obey her, especially when he thinks her requests are unreasonable. Despite their fighting, the relationship between the duo progresses over time—even in the face of repeated attacks by opposing vampires—until Kouhei becomes determined to protect Hazuki from the vampire servants of her family, who are determined to retrieve her by whatever means necessary.

Manga

Tsukuyomi Moon Phase was written by

, and originally published by Wani Books. The manga series ran from March 2000 to March 24, 2009 in which sixteen volumes were published. The manga was later licensed in Taiwan by

Sharp Point Press Sharp Point Press () is a Taiwanese publisher of manga and music. It was founded in July 1982. History *1982 - Company established. Mainly publishes military and models related books. *1985 - Started publishing annual Zodiac fortune telling handb ...

and

Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, is an Australian distribution and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatri ...

both had English releases for the manga but due to financial trouble, Tokyopop postponed some of the dates. On May 31, 2011 Tokyopop announced that all of their licensed titles would revert to their Japanese owners leaving the series incomplete.

Anime

Theme music

Opening

# "Neko Mimi Mode" by

Dimitri from Paris Dimitri from Paris (born Dimitrios Yerasimos, el, Δημήτριος Γεράσιμος; 27 October 1963) is a French music producer and DJ of Greek descent. His musical influences are rooted in 1970s funk and disco sounds that spawned contempo ...

(eps 1–8, 10–13, 15–24) # "Tsuku Yomi Mode" by

(eps 9, 14)

Ending

# "Kanashii Yokan" #* Lyrics, Composition, and Arrangement:

Yukari Hashimoto is a Japanese composer and arranger. She has composed the music for a number of anime series, including ''Toradora!'', ''Omamori Himari'', ''Mayo Chiki!'', ''Kanamemo'', ''MM!'', ''Penguindrum'', ''Yurikuma Arashi'', '' Sankarea: Undying Love'', ' ...

#* Vocals: Marianne Amplifier, featuring

Yuka Yuka may refer to: *Yuka (music), an Afro-Cuban style of music *Yuka (mammoth), mammoth specimen found in Yakutia, Russia *Manshu Yuka Kogyo K.K. Ssuningkai, a Japanese-German pre-WWII industrial co-operation People *Yuka (name), a Japanese perso ...

# "Nami no Toriko ni naru you ni" (ep 7) #* Lyrics: Kenzō Saeki #* Composition and Arrangement: Naruyoshi Kikuchi #* Vocals: Noriko Ogawa # "Pressentiment triste" by Marianne Amplifier featuring Yuka (ep 19) # "Neko Mimi Mode" by

Dimitri From Paris Dimitri from Paris (born Dimitrios Yerasimos, el, Δημήτριος Γεράσιμος; 27 October 1963) is a French music producer and DJ of Greek descent. His musical influences are rooted in 1970s funk and disco sounds that spawned contempo ...

(ep 25)

Reception

'' Hyper'' commends the anime for its "character design and animation which are uniformly quite good and the series boasts some very nice Gothic background art". The scripting is criticised for being "too cluttered to allow any immersion".

Notes

References

External links

Japanese Official site
(Japanese)
TV Tokyo official site
(Japanese)
Official Tokyopop site
(Archived)
The Official MOONPHASE Anime Website from FUNimation
* * {{Akiyuki Shinbo 2000 manga 2004 anime television series debuts Anime series based on manga Comedy anime and manga Funimation Kemonomimi Madman Entertainment manga Odex Seinen manga Shaft (company) Sharp Point Press titles Supernatural anime and manga Tokyopop titles Vampires in anime and manga TV Tokyo original programming Wani Books manga