Kouhei, an occult magazine photographer with a mysterious gift for taking photos of paranormal creatures, finds his life getting more complicated every day. In "Moon Phase" volume 1, he encountered Hazuki, a beautiful young vampire girl who followed him from overseas to his home in Japan. She was quickly adopted into Kouhei's family by his grandfather – who insists she wear cat ears at all times- and now she looks upon Kouhei with a serious brother complex.
Hazuki is a bratty and violent girl who likes to boss Kouhei around. She claims he is her slave, and she constantly reminds him of that fact. Her possessive and bossy behavior is in complete contrast to the frilly dresses, ribbons, and bows she always wears. Daily life with a spoiled and immature vampire girl takes a toll on poor Kouhei, who always ends up cleaning up Hazuki's mistakes. Hazuki has always been alone, and doesn't know how to relate to others. This results in some misuse of her powers. Kouhei continues to resist Hazuki's lolita charm, thank goodness, and he still treats her like an annoying kid sister. He may be a pathetic wimp, but at least he has some common sense.
Meanwhile, the mysterious vampire, Elfriede, returns to threaten Hazuki and convince her to return to the castle. She also has an unusual interest in Kouhei. This leads to some revelations about the nature of vampires and their social structure. Hazuki's constant refusals to return home backfire when a more sinister presence arrives to take her back by force.
This volume continues to tease the audience with hints of Luna, Hazuki's serious alter ego. Hazuki has few memories from her time as Luna, but the results of her Luna transformation are painful for Kouhei.
"Moon Phase" Volume 2 contains episodes 6-10 of this 26-episode series. The first couple of episodes continue to address Kouhei's daily life around the bratty Hazuki. Again, the cute and spooky atmosphere in this series is very nice. I like the balance of comedy and horror. However, I am still put off by the lolita complex factor of the plot. Considering how young Hazuki is supposed to be, I found all of the suggestive artwork for her to be rather creepy. Fortunately, the gothic lolita aspect of the series is toned down a little bit in favor of introducing more villains and bringing in some conflict and angst. Shallow relationships grow deeper in this volume, and some secrets are revealed.
I like the fact that this show is not entirely slapstick. There is some comedy, but it is not over the top. The art is extremely cute and the character designs are attractive when they are not pandering to the gothic lolita fans. The DVD cover art for volume 2 is not as outright adorable as volume 1, but it is still eye-catching.
The background music continues to be my favorite part of this series. It is haunting and dark, with a lot of soft cello and violins. Very lovely. There are some lively vocal pieces played during the fight scenes that are also attention grabbers. I must get this soundtrack. The opening theme, "Nekomimi Mode" is hypnotic and cool, while the alternate opening music for episode 9, "Tsukiyomi Mode" is also addictive.
am curious to see where this show will go. The introduction of the villain provides some much-needed relief to the cutesy lolita plot, and the exploration of the show's vampire mythology is a welcome change from pointless fan-service. The villain is a good one, and the tension he brings looks like it will really kick-start the plot.
Hazuki is a bratty and violent girl who likes to boss Kouhei around. She claims he is her slave, and she constantly reminds him of that fact. Her possessive and bossy behavior is in complete contrast to the frilly dresses, ribbons, and bows she always wears. Daily life with a spoiled and immature vampire girl takes a toll on poor Kouhei, who always ends up cleaning up Hazuki's mistakes. Hazuki has always been alone, and doesn't know how to relate to others. This results in some misuse of her powers. Kouhei continues to resist Hazuki's lolita charm, thank goodness, and he still treats her like an annoying kid sister. He may be a pathetic wimp, but at least he has some common sense.
Meanwhile, the mysterious vampire, Elfriede, returns to threaten Hazuki and convince her to return to the castle. She also has an unusual interest in Kouhei. This leads to some revelations about the nature of vampires and their social structure. Hazuki's constant refusals to return home backfire when a more sinister presence arrives to take her back by force.
This volume continues to tease the audience with hints of Luna, Hazuki's serious alter ego. Hazuki has few memories from her time as Luna, but the results of her Luna transformation are painful for Kouhei.
"Moon Phase" Volume 2 contains episodes 6-10 of this 26-episode series. The first couple of episodes continue to address Kouhei's daily life around the bratty Hazuki. Again, the cute and spooky atmosphere in this series is very nice. I like the balance of comedy and horror. However, I am still put off by the lolita complex factor of the plot. Considering how young Hazuki is supposed to be, I found all of the suggestive artwork for her to be rather creepy. Fortunately, the gothic lolita aspect of the series is toned down a little bit in favor of introducing more villains and bringing in some conflict and angst. Shallow relationships grow deeper in this volume, and some secrets are revealed.
I like the fact that this show is not entirely slapstick. There is some comedy, but it is not over the top. The art is extremely cute and the character designs are attractive when they are not pandering to the gothic lolita fans. The DVD cover art for volume 2 is not as outright adorable as volume 1, but it is still eye-catching.
The background music continues to be my favorite part of this series. It is haunting and dark, with a lot of soft cello and violins. Very lovely. There are some lively vocal pieces played during the fight scenes that are also attention grabbers. I must get this soundtrack. The opening theme, "Nekomimi Mode" is hypnotic and cool, while the alternate opening music for episode 9, "Tsukiyomi Mode" is also addictive.
am curious to see where this show will go. The introduction of the villain provides some much-needed relief to the cutesy lolita plot, and the exploration of the show's vampire mythology is a welcome change from pointless fan-service. The villain is a good one, and the tension he brings looks like it will really kick-start the plot.
Kouhei, an occult magazine photographer with a mysterious gift for taking photos of paranormal creatures, finds his life getting more complicated every day. In "Moon Phase" volume 1, he encountered Hazuki, a beautiful young vampire girl who followed him from overseas to his home in Japan. She was quickly adopted into Kouhei's family by his grandfather – who insists she wear cat ears at all times- and now she looks upon Kouhei with a serious brother complex.
Hazuki is a bratty and violent girl who likes to boss Kouhei around. She claims he is her slave, and she constantly reminds him of that fact. Her possessive and bossy behavior is in complete contrast to the frilly dresses, ribbons, and bows she always wears. Daily life with a spoiled and immature vampire girl takes a toll on poor Kouhei, who always ends up cleaning up Hazuki's mistakes. Hazuki has always been alone, and doesn't know how to relate to others. This results in some misuse of her powers. Kouhei continues to resist Hazuki's lolita charm, thank goodness, and he still treats her like an annoying kid sister. He may be a pathetic wimp, but at least he has some common sense.
Meanwhile, the mysterious vampire, Elfriede, returns to threaten Hazuki and convince her to return to the castle. She also has an unusual interest in Kouhei. This leads to some revelations about the nature of vampires and their social structure. Hazuki's constant refusals to return home backfire when a more sinister presence arrives to take her back by force.
This volume continues to tease the audience with hints of Luna, Hazuki's serious alter ego. Hazuki has few memories from her time as Luna, but the results of her Luna transformation are painful for Kouhei.
"Moon Phase" Volume 2 contains episodes 6-10 of this 26-episode series. The first couple of episodes continue to address Kouhei's daily life around the bratty Hazuki. Again, the cute and spooky atmosphere in this series is very nice. I like the balance of comedy and horror. However, I am still put off by the lolita complex factor of the plot. Considering how young Hazuki is supposed to be, I found all of the suggestive artwork for her to be rather creepy. Fortunately, the gothic lolita aspect of the series is toned down a little bit in favor of introducing more villains and bringing in some conflict and angst. Shallow relationships grow deeper in this volume, and some secrets are revealed.
I like the fact that this show is not entirely slapstick. There is some comedy, but it is not over the top. The art is extremely cute and the character designs are attractive when they are not pandering to the gothic lolita fans. The DVD cover art for volume 2 is not as outright adorable as volume 1, but it is still eye-catching.
The background music continues to be my favorite part of this series. It is haunting and dark, with a lot of soft cello and violins. Very lovely. There are some lively vocal pieces played during the fight scenes that are also attention grabbers. I must get this soundtrack. The opening theme, "Nekomimi Mode" is hypnotic and cool, while the alternate opening music for episode 9, "Tsukiyomi Mode" is also addictive.
am curious to see where this show will go. The introduction of the villain provides some much-needed relief to the cutesy lolita plot, and the exploration of the show's vampire mythology is a welcome change from pointless fan-service. The villain is a good one, and the tension he brings looks like it will really kick-start the plot.
Hazuki is a bratty and violent girl who likes to boss Kouhei around. She claims he is her slave, and she constantly reminds him of that fact. Her possessive and bossy behavior is in complete contrast to the frilly dresses, ribbons, and bows she always wears. Daily life with a spoiled and immature vampire girl takes a toll on poor Kouhei, who always ends up cleaning up Hazuki's mistakes. Hazuki has always been alone, and doesn't know how to relate to others. This results in some misuse of her powers. Kouhei continues to resist Hazuki's lolita charm, thank goodness, and he still treats her like an annoying kid sister. He may be a pathetic wimp, but at least he has some common sense.
Meanwhile, the mysterious vampire, Elfriede, returns to threaten Hazuki and convince her to return to the castle. She also has an unusual interest in Kouhei. This leads to some revelations about the nature of vampires and their social structure. Hazuki's constant refusals to return home backfire when a more sinister presence arrives to take her back by force.
This volume continues to tease the audience with hints of Luna, Hazuki's serious alter ego. Hazuki has few memories from her time as Luna, but the results of her Luna transformation are painful for Kouhei.
"Moon Phase" Volume 2 contains episodes 6-10 of this 26-episode series. The first couple of episodes continue to address Kouhei's daily life around the bratty Hazuki. Again, the cute and spooky atmosphere in this series is very nice. I like the balance of comedy and horror. However, I am still put off by the lolita complex factor of the plot. Considering how young Hazuki is supposed to be, I found all of the suggestive artwork for her to be rather creepy. Fortunately, the gothic lolita aspect of the series is toned down a little bit in favor of introducing more villains and bringing in some conflict and angst. Shallow relationships grow deeper in this volume, and some secrets are revealed.
I like the fact that this show is not entirely slapstick. There is some comedy, but it is not over the top. The art is extremely cute and the character designs are attractive when they are not pandering to the gothic lolita fans. The DVD cover art for volume 2 is not as outright adorable as volume 1, but it is still eye-catching.
The background music continues to be my favorite part of this series. It is haunting and dark, with a lot of soft cello and violins. Very lovely. There are some lively vocal pieces played during the fight scenes that are also attention grabbers. I must get this soundtrack. The opening theme, "Nekomimi Mode" is hypnotic and cool, while the alternate opening music for episode 9, "Tsukiyomi Mode" is also addictive.
am curious to see where this show will go. The introduction of the villain provides some much-needed relief to the cutesy lolita plot, and the exploration of the show's vampire mythology is a welcome change from pointless fan-service. The villain is a good one, and the tension he brings looks like it will really kick-start the plot.
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