Secret Moon
Story by: Siira Gou
Illustrated by: Satou Tomoe
Published by the Juné Imprint of Digital Manga, Inc.
ISBN-10: 1-56970-616-6
ISBN-13: 978-1-56970-616-9
Review by Kris
I didn’t know that there were werewolves in Japan but thanks to Secret Moon I have
been illuminated on that fact. In Secret Moon we meet Akihiro Tomoe a mysterious gentleman who has just moved from England. There seems to be something strange about Akihiro. He hardly ever leaves his house and if he does leave it’s always later on in the evening or at night. Akihiro lived in Japan many years ago then moved to England. He’s back in Japan and enjoying all of the changes he’s seeing in the country. There is definitely something different about him. Not only is he an absolutely stunning specimen of man, but he seems to give off vampire vibes. But Akihiro isn’t a typical vampire. He has to drink blood like a vampire but he doesn’t have the fangs to draw blood. Since he’s a man he can only partake of female blood. Akihiro doesn’t really like to be around women because of the desire to drink their blood but he’s not attracted at all to women. Yes, Akihiro is gay.
One evening after checking up on one of his business ventures Akihiro witnesses a fight between a young man and several thugs. Akihiro is immediately drawn to the young man’s youth and vitality. He steps in and helps him out. This young man seems adamant to quickly meet someone before the moon rises in the nighttime sky. Taichi Yamagami is a handsome, strong man and Akihiro is determined to make him his own. During the day Taichi is a meek, shy intellecutal but at night especially under the moon he turns into a wild man. He’s not your typical human and it turns out he’s a descendant of the Inugami, a race of wolf/men similar to a werewolf. Can a vampire and a werewolf make compatible lovers?
A story about a not quite vampire and a Japanese werewolf was a huge surprise to me. When I read through the novel the first time I thought, “Eh… that wasn’t too bad.” But when I read through it again I found that I really did like it. Akihiro falls in love too easily and because of his huge secret he’s been unable to hold onto a boyfriend. He’s tired of having to keep his vampirism under wraps and doesn’t seem to have much zest for life. Taichi is full of life and vitality and that is what draws Akihiro to him. Plus Taichi caught on rather quickly on the fact that Akihiko is a vampire. Taichi knows that he’s different and wants to know what he is. The fact that Akihiko is dedicated to help out Taichi is one reason why I loved this story. Now there is a strange twist to the story with the introduction of Ohata. Ohata is the antagonist because he wants to study Taichi knowing full well that he’s an Inugami. Ohata is thrown in to create some intensity to the plot which in some instances it’s good but in other spots it’s a bit cumbersome.
Not only was the story interesting and unique but Satou Tomoe-sensei’s illustrations made this book really come alive. With the beautiful pictures of our characters it really helped me imagine this amazing world created by Siira Gou-sensei. Juné made a great choice in licensing and releasing Secret Moon. The translation was done well. Everything read smoothly and I didn’t catch any spelling errors. I was captivated and entranced by Secret Moon. It was well worth my time reading it. I hope that you’ll enjoy it too!
