Daryl Surat
June 18, 2016 
© 2011 Production I.G, CLAMP / Project BLOOD-C TV / MBSThe 2011 Blood-C anime (which had no direct continuity relationship with Blood: The Last Vampire or Blood+) has gained infamy over the years, thanks in no small part to its savagely gruesome finale. Blood-C: Demonic Moonlight may be touted as a prequel to the anime, but it’s a very far-off one. That anime was set in modern times and this manga takes place in 1946 Japan, during the postwar American occupation.
David is an American soldier tasked with investigating paranormal incidents despite the fact that he appears completely ill equipped to do so. Despite us being told he’s an expert, 2nd Lieutenant David’s efforts prove to be completely ineffective over and over again. Fortunately for all of his assignments in which it repeatedly turns out to be actual evil spirits at work, the by-the-book David continually crosses paths with the happy-go-lucky Kagekiri, a traditionally dressed Japanese priest who describes himself as a “cutter of ties” and who wields a sword of spiritual energy that gets the job done against the Ancient Ones.
You might think that a Blood title would focus on Saya, the unaging Ancient One-slaying schoolgirl with a sword, but she is virtually a nonentity compared to these two new characters. 
The same is true for Lucy, Saya’s commanding officer, another new character who is a soldier assigned to similar tasks as David.
A key feature of the Blood-C anime was the creative involvement of the all-female powerhouse of manga, CLAMP. Strangely enough, they didn’t work on either the story or art for the Blood-C manga or this prequel Demonic Moonlight. Credit here goes to Ryo Haduki, whose other works I must confess to being unfamiliar with. Perhaps that’s because their Twitter account spells their surname as “Hazuki”? The note at the end stating that the connection between Demonic Moonlight and the Blood-C anime isn’t revealed until the second and final volume feels like something fans would prefer to know up front, so I’m telling you now.
publisher: Dark Horse
story: Production I.G./ CLAMP/Ryo Haduki
art: Ryo Haduki
rating: 14+
