Chibi Vampire

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Chibi Vampire

Chibi Vampire manga volume 1 cover

かりん
(Karin)

Genre

Romantic comedy, Supernatural

Author

Publisher

English publisher

Other publishers:
Carlsen Comics

Demographic

Shōnen

Magazine

Monthly Dragon Age

Original run

October 2003 – February 2008

Volumes

Light novel: Chibi Vampire: The Novel

Author

Tohru Kai

Illustrator

Yuna Kagesaki

Publisher

Fujimi Shobo

English publisher

Tokyopop

Demographic

Male

Published

December 10, 2003 – May 10, 2007

Volumes

TV anime: Karin

Director

Studio

Licensor

Network

Original run

November 3, 2005 – May 11, 2006

Episodes

Chibi Vampire, originally released in Japan as Karin (かりん, Karin^?), is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yuna Kagesaki about an unusual vampire girl, who instead of drinking blood must inject it into others because she produces too much. Chibi Vampire first premiered in the shōnen magazine Monthly Dragon Age in the October 2003 issue, and ran until February 2006. The individual chapters were published by Kadokawa Shoten into thirteen collected volumes.

In 2003, Tohru Kai began writing a series of light novels based on Chibi Vampire, with Kagesaki providing the illustrations. The nine-volume series was published in Japan by Fujimi Shobo. Both the manga and light novel series are licensed for English language release by Tokyopop. Tokyopop renamed the manga series to Chibi Vampire and the novel series to Chibi Vampire: The Novel.

In 2005, an anime adaptation of Chibi Vampire was produced by J.C.Staff and directed by Shinichiro Kimura. Spanning twenty-four episodes, the series aired in Japan on WOWOW from November 3, 2005 through May 11, 2006. It was licensed for an English release to Region 1 DVD, under the name Karin, by Geneon USA, however, the company went out of business before completing the release of the series.

1 Plot
2 Characters
3 Media
4 Reception
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Plot

The story revolves around the main character, Karin, the middle child in a family of vampires who immigrated to Japan two centuries earlier. However, Karin is different from the rest of the family in that she produces blood instead of feeding on it; because of this, she has to inject blood by biting someone or else she suffers exaggerated nosebleeds. Because of her unusual condition, Karin lives her life just as an ordinary teenage girl would, despite being considered something of a freak by her family. She is able to venture outside during the day and attend high school, and follows the sleep pattern of normal humans. However, the general peacefulness of her life is disrupted with the arrival of a new transfer student, Kenta Usui.

Any time she goes near him her blood increases. At first she tries to avoid him but it doesn't work since they are in the same class and work in the same restaurant. Kenta beings to think that there is something fishy about Karin and eventually he learns her secret. Karin's elder brother Ren tries to erase his memory but Anju, Karin's younger sister stops him from doing so. She also convinces their parents Henry and Calera to make Kenta their ally, because he can help Karin during the daylight. Karin and Kenta become friends. Kenta helps Karin clean up the mess made by her nosebleeds and Karin prepares him a lunch box (bento) every day.

As the story progresses Kenta and Karin's attachment to one another grows, and so do their problems. First Karin's grandmother Elda breaks free from her coffin (which Calera had sealed her into) and starts wrecking everyone's lives. Except for her bust size, hair length, and hair color she looks identical to Karin, and uses this resemblance to go unnoticed in Karin's school.

She attempts to drink Kenta's blood because she believes humans and vampires cannot coexist. Eventually, she gives up and returns to her casket.

In the anime adaptation, an additional character, Winner Sinclair, is added to the series. Winner is a vampire hunter who falls in love with Karin, while Karin's best friend Maki Tokito falls in love with him.

[edit] Characters

Main article: List of Chibi Vampire characters

Karin Maaka (真紅果林, Maaka Karin^?) is a 16-year-old "blood-producing" vampire rather than needing to acquire blood from humans, her body produces too much blood instead (polycythemia). As such, she does not suck blood from her "victims"; rather, she injects her surplus blood into them. This has the effect of making her victims very lively and positive. To make matters worse, her blood (which she gives out to people!)levels increase dramatically whenever she senses misfortune in those around her, or if she gets embarrassed about something. This results in frequent and excessively overwhelming nosebleeds, followed by anaemic symptoms such as light-headedness, which cause frequent visits to the school nurse's office so she can rest. Voiced by: Sayuri Yahagi (Japanese), Chelsea Curto (English)
Kenta Usui (雨水健太, Usui Kenta^?) is a student that transferred to Karin's high school. He is also her workmate. Kenta is the only human that knows of Karin's vampiric nature. He learned what she was after witnessing her biting three victims, one of which was his own mother. He has promised to keep this knowledge a secret. As his unhappiness causes Karin's blood to rapidly increase, she has taken it upon herself to cheer him up by making him a bento every day. He could not afford to buy his own lunch and is therefore grateful to her. Voiced by: Katsuyuki Konishi (Japanese), Yahav Rom (English)

[edit] Media

[edit] Manga

Main article: List of Chibi Vampire chapters

Written by Yuna Kagesaki, Chibi Vampire premiered in Japan in the October 2003 issue of Monthly Dragon Age and ran until the February 2008 issue.^[1] It was also published in fourteen collected volumes by Kadokawa Shoten, released between October 1, 2003 and April 1, 2008 in Japan.^[2] A one-shot side story created by Kagesaki, Karin Side Story: The Vampire of the Western Forest (かりん外伝西の森のヴァンパイア, Karin Gaiden: Nishi no Mori no Vanpaiya^?), will be included in the June 2008 issue of Monthly Dragon Age.^[1]

In 2005, Tokyopop acquired the license to release both the manga and light novel series in English in North America. To avoid confusion with another of its properties, Tokyopop chose to release the manga under the name Chibi Vampire instead of under its original name of Karin. Tokyopop released the first translated manga volume on April 11, 2006 and is currently releasing three volumes each year.^[3] They are also releasing the novel series concurrently with the manga.^[4]

[edit] Light novels

Main article: List of Chibi Vampire: The Novel light novels

A series of light novels, Chibi Vampire: The Novel (かりん増血記, Karin Zōketsuki^?), is being written by Tohru Kai with illustrations provided by Kagesaki. The novels are published by Fujimi Shobo, with the first volume released on December 10, 2003. As of April 2008, nine volumes have been released. Tokyopop, which also licensed the manga series, acquired the license to release the novels in English in North America. As the company had renamed the manga series from Karin to Chibi Vampire, it released the novel series under the name Chibi Vampire: The Novel.^[3] The first English volume was released on January 9, 2007 and, like the novels, three volumes are being released each year.^[5] In June 2008, Tokyopop restructured itself, breaking into two subsidiaries under a single holding company, and cut its publication releases by more than half.^[6]^[7] As part of this cut back, Tokyopop canceled the remaining releases of Chibi Vampire: The Novel after the fifth volume, due to be released July 8, 2008.^[8]

Chibi Vampire: The Novel is closely tied to the manga series, with each novel volume designed to be read after its corresponding manga volume. For example, the first novel takes place between the events that occur in the first and second volumes of the manga series,^[9] and the fourth volume of the manga mentions characters and events from the first novel volume.^[10]

[edit] Anime

Please help improve this section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.

In 2005, an anime adaptation of Chibi Vampire was produced by J.C.Staff and directed by Shinichiro Kimura.^[11] Spanning twenty-four episodes, the series aired in Japan on WOWOW from November 3, 2005 through May 11, 2006. It was licensed for an English release to Region 1 DVD, under the name Karin, by Geneon USA, however the company went out of business before completing the release of the series.^[12]

[edit] Other

Please help improve this section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.

A book entitled Karin All-Nosebleeds Book (かりんまるごと鼻血ぶ～っく, Karin Marugoto Hanaji Buukku^?) (ISBN 978-4-0471-2439-4) was published by Kadokawa Shoten on March 17, 2006 as a guidebook to give an overview of the Chibi Vampire series.^[13] The first portion of the book contains illustrations by Yuna Kagesaki; the second part contains an overview of the series' setting, including a map of the town featured in Chibi Vampire; the third part has the results of a reader questionnaire; the fourth part has descriptions of the characters, and outlines of some of the popular scenes throughout the series.^[13]

[edit] Reception

Please help improve this section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.

In 2007, the Chibi Vampire light novel series was a runner up for the Kadokawa Shoten's first annual Light Novel Award in the "Novelization" category.^[14]