Short story, they told me "play this visual novel, it's very clunky it has fucked up stuff and it's where Neco-Arc comes from". I spent weeks reading non-stop all the routes, and ended up loving Tsukuhime (2000) despite a lot of novice flaws the game had.

Some time later, I heard that the manga offers an interesting take on the first route of the game. I read it, and that's what I want to talk about, commenting almost no spoilers because I would like to believe that if anyone reading this would be interested in trying, what is in my opinion, the friendliest and easiest way to know the first part of Tsukuhime's story.

Initial Plot (Skip this paragraph if you want to have full surprises, but is just the first chapters): Shiki is a teenager who, since he had a strange accident as a child, can cut and kill living beings and inanimate objects. He lives a normal life, more or less, until he meets Arcueid, Shiki sees her, kills her, enjoys it, and regrets it. From there, the story descends into a spiral of vampires, vampire hunting, clan fighting, romance between vampire and human, and various taboo topics. (I recommend watching the spoiler tags and decide if you have the stomach to endure what's coming).

The manga stirs up or summarizes the monologues of the protagonist, something that in a visual novel is primordial, this is something of the format. Tsukuhime's manga did a decent job with respect to that, it provides only what is important for the plot and by removing not-so-important monologues the manga has a pacing more suitable for long readings. Not to mention that it's nice to see the main character's face, poses and reactions. Here he looks more sympathetic.

The heroine and romantic interest of the route, Arcueid, also shines. Here she has a marked personality whose dynamic consists of alternating from her attitude of a jovial and fun girl to an unhinged vampire ready to kill. Fortunately for Shiki, Arcueid shows him more of the first side. A key point about Arcueid is her past and background, and I think this was handled better here, making her more emotional and easier to sympathize with. All that plus the fact that Arcueid is already a cool character to read (she's Tsukuhime's main girl, after all), you'll like her for sure.

There's an excellent balance of info-dumping, romance, action and horror. The world of Tsukuhime has a lot of rules and background, and through Arcueid's monologues and moments between other characters unique to the manga, the introduction to the lore elements is lighter and more digestible. The loss of extensive monologues means that the horror moments are not the same as in the VN, but with the art this is compensated a lot, more detailed massacre scenarios are shown and enemy monsters are shown in a more varied and terrifying way. And thanks to the dynamic art, you feel a lot of action in all the fights in the story. Seriously, I love seeing Shiki being practically a ninja, both in Melty blood and in this manga.

What is most criticized about the manga, even from those who love it, is that it reveals a couple of things here and there from the following routes, specifically from the second and third, nothing from the fourth and fifth (thank goodness, because those are my favorites). I think this doesn't seem all bad to me, since it's information that generates interest and makes you feel that Tsukuhime's story goes beyond killing vampires, because that's the case. Seriously, one of the greatest virtues of Tsukuhime is that it gives a radical change of focus (for the better) as the story progresses, it starts "Let's kill vampires!" and ends in "I won't see giant trees and sunflowers in the same way". Despite what is revealed in this manga, I don't think it's something that will ruin the experience if you decide to check out the other Tsukuhime routes. The first route is more of a typical teenage boy fights bad guys and gets the girl story, which isn't badly executed, but compared to what comes after that it's a bit different. (Sorry Arcueid route fans, the story is not bad but this is my opinion).

The last thing I could comment on is that the manga includes an extended prologue that is not shown in the original material, it's such a simple and brief thing, and yet, it makes me love the story more. If you have an interest in Tsukuhime, or liked the visual novel, I assure you that you will enjoy this manga, which despite everything, is not bad at all and offers an start approach to what is in my opinion, a classic Type Moon story that is able to touch your heart in a way that only a Type Moon work can do.