Shigahime is a story of an ordinary high school boy that got his normal life tangled into the world of supernatural. Throughout history, the Blood Race have been called a lot of names but we are maybe more familiar with the term “vampire”, creatures that eat human hearts to live. Miwako is one such a creature that took a fancy to the young, earnest boy Osamu Hiroto. The story opens with Miwako wanting to make him his familiar.

What I like about this manga is its overarching theme of loneliness. For the creatures damned to live forever and cannot die, the loneliness of their existence alone is a curse. For the humans, even though they only have mortal lives, they still feel lonely unable to connect with other fellow beings.

Ultimately, the information about the Blood Race has not been shed any light. There is no conclusive ending and some say it could have been more expounded. But I think it suits the mysterious aura surrounding these vampires. What we got for an ending is a glimpse on the characters’ true psyches.

There’s nudity in this manga, which I consider to be a double-edged sword. Some readers might be put off though, especially at the beginning where the majority of the nude scenes show. I don’t think it needs nudity but in some scenes, I believe that it is necessary in conveying the state of vulnerability of the characters.

Our main character, Osamu Hirota, is a highschool boy that just wants a normal life with his new girlfriend, Murase Chika. Osamu really likes Murase and he is willing to do anything to preserve his perceived normal life. Murase is a kind-hearted girl that just wants to spend more time with her boyfriend Osamu. Unfortunately for her, this fact is what also drags her to the dark world of the Blood Race. Souchi is a bullied classmate that comes from a dysfunctional family. Hungry for attention, his feelings of loneliness is what led him in wanting to become a familiar of the mysterious and alluring vampire, Miwako. Our human characters are all in their teens so in the story they do make a lot of emotion-fuelled decisions to their demise.

Art style is pretty average. Nothing impressive to look at, though it does show a lot of gore. Compared to other gore manga, it actually feels cleaner and easier to read. I want to make a special mention of the way the mangaka drew the character’s faces since it feels so expressive.

Conclusion
It was short but it managed to convey an interesting story. This is for you if you don’t mind nudity and gore. I can say, that this is probably the best written horror manga I have read. The characters actually have desires and motivations and are more complex than a body of meat waiting to be sliced that so often plagues this genre. Maybe at this point my expectations for horror manga are just too low that I'm already pretty happy with one that has an actual decent plot. Anyways, check this one out.