Ragawa and Konohara. Volume 4 Cover Art Cropped, The Vampire and His Pleasant Companions, Yen Press.
The Vampire and His Pleasant Companions – Information
Author of Story: Marimo Ragawa (original story Narise Konohara)
Chapter Count: 6 volumes, around 23 chapters
Status: Ongoing
Content Warnings
These content warnings do not reflect the contents of the review below; only the literary work itself.
- Blood
- Censored nudity
- Topics of death and embalming
- Violence and murder
- Pain, torture
- Graphic cruelty and harm towards animals
- Body horror
- Disturbing imagery and content
- SH, SI
Spoiler Disclaimer
This recommendation post may contain small plot spoilers for review purposes. Any major spoilers are hidden by default and are able to be revealed via click or tap.
The Vampire and His Pleasant Companions – Plot Summary
It’s spooky month—hooray! For this month’s first blog post, I have a super interesting series to recommend. It is a story following a modern vampire… and I really like the way this story portrayed the vampire trope!
I’d say it’s a bit less romanticized or fantastical, and comes off as a bit more realistic or perhaps less overpowered than vampires are usually portrayed. It uniquely portrays the struggles that someone could face if they had actually turned into a vampire in today’s society, which is very intriguing.
It starts by introducing Albert Irving, an American vampire whose life was completely thrown out of balance once he was bitten. He suffered for years as someone who turns into a bat during the day yet becomes human during the night. These strange and uncontrollable transformations has made his life very difficult, as he has no way of working and going about his life as a normal human.
Unable to support himself in “normal” ways, Albert lived as a drifter, feeding on cow blood from a local butchering factory. However, due to some unforeseen circumstances, he was frozen in bat-form and sent to a meat processing plant in Japan.
Unfortunately for Albert, he was found in human form (which lacks clothes after transformation) and therefore was arrested, with suspicion of him being a sketchy, perverted foreigner. Haha!
Thanks to his transformations, Albert is able to sort-of escape in bat-form, but gets caught by a member of the staff. Another staff member then brings him (in bat form) to a man named Akira Takatsuka—an embalmer who likes bats. However, after discovering his new pet’s true form and vampirism, Akira begrudgingly agrees to take Albert in for a short time while he gets on his feet again.
From here on out, the manga explores Albert’s unique struggles as an American vampire living in Japan, and his relationship with his new companions along the way.
Ragawa and Konohara. Volume 2 Cover Art, The Vampire and His Pleasant Companions, Yen Press.
Why You Should Read This Series
Plot:
This plot of this series is very different than what I expected from the title. The title seems very cute and lighthearted, but the story itself often revolves around crime and other wild, dangerous scenarios—which makes it perfectly exciting and horrifying for spooky season.
The main character finds himself in some crazy (and unfortunately, painful) situations. It sometimes feels like a thriller, as the manga often portrays some rather graphic content. I almost marked it as gore, but didn’t feel as though it was necessarily on that level.
Regardless, I was surprised to see slightly more graphic content in this romance. So, if you’re looking for a vampire manga that’s a bit different from the rest, and don’t mind things like blood or body horror, you may really enjoy this series—it’s got quite a diverse blend of genres (romance, supernatural, crime-solving, and even comedy).
Additionally, because there is always a wild conflict at hand, those who like stories that are really engaging and involved will probably enjoy The Vampire and His Pleasant Companions.
I will say though, the more graphic aspects of the story are uniquely balanced with the adorable personality and sincerity of the main character. He is such a cute and lovable character, you’ll really enjoy following along in his adventures and rooting for him to find normalcy in his life. I think the characters are really what drive the story, but I’ll talk about them more in the next section.
In addition to really well-written characters, this story also features some really good humor that helps make the story not feel too serious at all times (especially with the frequent violence, injury, and crime that occur). And most importantly, there is a very slow-paced romance that develops along the way. If you’ve read my reviews before, you’d know I love slow burns, haha!
The romance really takes its time to get going, especially since there is so much going on and the second male lead is a bit of an introvert. These characters have to slowly grow closer in their own way! Regardless of the pacing of the romance, I really loved seeing the two characters get closer and overcome their differences. Their budding friendship and other feelings are so wholesome and sweet to see!
All of these different aspects—lovable characters, good humor, a slow romance—help even out the more horrific aspects of the story and blend together to create a really interesting and enjoyable plot. So if you love vampire tropes and want something really interesting to read, definitely check this series out!
Characters:
Let’s start with the main protagonist, Albert! Albert (or Al) is a total cutie with a big personality. He goes through quite a lot in this story, yet is still very happy about being around others (especially Akira) and seems hopeful about finding happiness and a new “normal” for his life.
I found his character design and attitude really fun and refreshing, considering how vampires are usually characterized (dark, cool, scary, overpowered, etc.). He’s just a normal goofy guy, and often a ray of sunshine. And he doesn’t shy away from his romantic feelings! I really love open-book characters like Al who aren’t afraid to express themselves.
(♡°▽°♡)
The author also does a pretty good job at capturing a personality that feels suitable for a foreigner living in Japan…in other words, Albert is a bit ignorant when it comes to living in Japan. I really liked this aspect of the series, as it was interesting and not something I see often in manga (at least, the kind that I read). Overall I loved Albert’s attitude and personality, and how contrasting it is to the second lead, Akira.
Akira is the quiet tsundere type who’s bad at talking with others, but shows he cares in other ways. He’s easily annoyed, and hilariously puts up with the energetic main character. Even though he can be a bit rough and blunt, I like that his character isn’t necessarily the violent tsundere type (well, most of the time).
He’s actually very cute, caring, and a little mysterious. His interactions with Albert are slow-building but very exciting. No matter how much Akira wants to deny it, Albert is so lovable!
Art:
The art throughout The Vampire and His Pleasant Companions is fantastic. It has a lot of movement and personality, and the style really fits the vibe of the plot perfectly—in other words, it feels very fitting for the modern vampire trope.
The characters all have interesting designs, the environments look great, and I just really like the style in general. Akira and Albert both look so handsome and have designs that fit their personalities perfectly. And, Albert’s bat form is so cute! Even the more terrifying parts of the story are well illustrated (I guess that can be both a perk and a con, haha).
Ragawa and Konohara. Volume 3 Cover Art, The Vampire and His Pleasant Companions, Yen Press.
Any Cons?
Honestly I don’t have too many cons for this series. There might just be a few things some readers may dislike…
Firstly, as I mentioned before, this story has topics of detective work, embalming, and lots of crime cases. There are some really awful depictions of harm and torture that occur to characters in this series. So if you are easily disturbed, perhaps skip out on this manga! Also feel free to check the content warnings I listed earlier.
Next, I will warn that conflicts occur regularly throughout the series. The conflicts can feel a little repetitive or random to be honest, so here’s a warning for you. Also, because there are so many different conflicts happening over and over, the story gives a bit of a damsel-in-distress vibe for one of our characters—but this usually contributes to the development of the main relationship, too.
On a more random note, Albert takes some time during the story to learn Japanese…and it’s rather slow. While this is realistic, his dialogue when speaking Japanese sounds very baby-like. This lasts for quite some time in the series, so it can be a little tiring after a couple of volumes. Obviously it takes time to learn a language, but still, I got a little tired of seeing that baby talk from a grown man, haha.
The last aspect is an age gap of sorts. I personally don’t think this really counts as an age gap, but Albert’s physical body is permanently stuck at the age of 21 due to his vampirism. He’s been alive for 8 years since then, making him 29 mentally.
The second protagonist is supposedly 30. So here’s your warning if this sort of situation would bother you! I can reassure readers that Albert does not really look much younger, at least, despite his body being his 21-year old body.
Final Thoughts
I think The Vampire and His Pleasant Companions is a very interesting read! I was hooked so quickly by the premise, and then found myself on an emotional rollercoaster as the plot takes you through incredibly sweet moments and horrifying moments over and over!
Overall, this manga series is great for readers would who enjoy an adult BL romance among other really engaging plot events. Don’t miss out!
Disclaimer: Any images used for this blog are for illustrative purposes only, are not owned by me, and are under ownership of the artist or publisher.
Images Credit: Ragawa and Konohara. The Vampire and His Pleasant Companions, Yen Press, 2021.
