, also known as ''Vampire Host'', is a

manga 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 history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

Kaori Yuki is a Japanese manga artist best known for her Gothic fiction, gothic manga such as ''Earl Cain'', its sequel ''Godchild'', and ''Angel Sanctuary''. Yuki debuted professionally in 1987 with , which ran in the manga anthology ''Bessatsu Hana to Y ...

. Appearing as a serial in the Japanese

manga magazines This is a list of notable manga magazine 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 history in earlier Japanese art. The te ...

Hana to Yume , also known as , is a semi-monthly Japanese manga magazine published by Hakusensha on the 5th and 20th of every month. The magazine is B5-size, and always comes with or free supplements, such as drama CDs, pencil boards (shitajiki), manga ...

'' and ''

Bessatsu Hana to Yume , also known as , was a Japanese manga magazine published by Hakusensha from 1977 to 2018. It was a sister magazine to . History was launched in July 1977 as a sister magazine to . After 41 years, it ceased publication with the release of it ...

'', the chapters of ''Blood Hound'' were compiled into a bound volume and published by

Hakusensha is a Japanese publishing company. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company mainly publishes manga magazines and is involved in series' productions in their games, original video animation, music, and their animated TV series. The com ...

in June 2004. Two more chapters followed in the January 2005 and August 2010 issues of ''Bessatsu Hana to Yume'', as did a re-release in August 2010. It focuses on a naive, loudmouthed teenager named Rion, who investigates a host club full of vampires when she suspects they must be related to the disappearance of a lot of people in the neighborhood, including her best friend. In the process she begins to befriend them, especially the leader Suou, with whom she develops a romantic relationship. Ultimately, she figures out the vampires are not the cause of the disappearances, but her adventures with the vampires are only beginning. ''Vampire Host'' is a live-action television drama series loosely based on this manga. The series has been licensed in North America by

Bandai Entertainment was a Japanese anime, film production, and distribution company, established by Bandai and a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. They focused mainly in international distribution of anime properties in North America. Most of the anime and ...

under the title of ''Bloodhound''.

Characters

*Rion Kanou – A teenager who initially suspects that the Host Club Krankenhaus is behind the disappearance of several people in her community, including her best friend. In the end, she figures out that the vampires are not responsible for the disappearances, but her school guidance councilor, who has

sexual fetishism Sexual fetishism is a sexual fixation on an object or a body part. The object of interest is called the fetish; the person who has a fetish is a fetishist. A sexual fetish may be regarded as a mental disorder if it causes significant psychoso ...

for

blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood is com ...

. *Suou – The lead host of Krankenhaus, who begins to develop a romantic relationship with Rion. He also suspects that she is the reincarnation of Ellone, "the one with the purest blood," whom he once loved.

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by Kaori Yuki, ''Blood Hound'' debuted in the Japanese monthly

manga magazine 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 history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics an ...

'' in the January 2003 issue. The second chapter ran in the May 2004 issue of ''Bessatsu Hana to Yume'', while the third appeared in the ninth issue of its biweekly sister magazine, ''

'', for 2004.

compiled the chapters into a bound volume and published it on 5 June 2004. Two more chapters later appeared in the January 2005 and August 2010 issues of ''Bessatsu Hana to Yume'', and a re-release of the manga followed on 19 August 2010. ''Blood Hound'' has been translated into French by

Tonkam Tonkam is a prominent France, French publisher of manga and was one of the first publishers of manga in French, issuing its first titles in 1994. It was founded by Sylvie Chang and Dominique Véret with the financial assistance of a Parisian (de ...

, Italian by

Panini Comics Panini Comics is an Italian comic book publisher. A division of Panini Group, which also produces collectible stickers, it is headquartered in Modena, Italy. The company publishes comic books in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, Germany, Hungary ...

, and German by

Carlsen Comics Carlsen Verlag is a subsidiary of the homonymous Danish publishing house which in turn belongs to the Swedish media company Bonnier. The branch was founded on 25 April 1953 in Hamburg. The publisher's program focuses on books for children, i.e ...

TV Drama

''Blood Hound'' was adapted into a twelve episode TV drama as starring

Minako Komukai is a Japanese gravure model, actress, erotic dancer and AV idol. Life and career Early career After dropping out of school, at age 15 Komukai began her career as a "gravure model" and a swimsuit model. In 2001 she had a guest-star role as a ...

and

TSUBASA GACKY Tsubasa (written: 翼, 翔, 飛翔 or つばさ in hiragana) is a unisex Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: * Tsubasa (wrestler), Japanese professional wrestler *, Japanese baseball player *, Japanese actress *, Japanese fo ...

licensed the drama and released the episodes in three volumes from April 17, 2007, to August 21, 2007.

Notes

References

External links

*
TV Tokyo Vampire Host websiteToho Vampire Host website
(archive URL)
MangaNews.com review

Manga Sanctuary review

Splash Comics review
{{Hana to Yume Drama anime and manga Hakusensha franchises Hakusensha manga Kaori Yuki Romance anime and manga Shōjo manga TV Tokyo original programming Vampires in anime and manga