吸血鬼と愉快な仲間たち 3

吸血鬼と愉快な仲間たち [Kyuuketsuki to Yukai na Nakama-tachi] #3

by Marimo Ragawa (Artist), Narise Konohara (Original Story), 羅川真里茂 (Manga)

淋しがり屋の吸血鬼・アルと、無愛想なエンバーマー・暁の共同生活――。平和な日々の中、暁に好意を抱いた後輩男子が…!?

Genres: Manga, LGBT, Fantasy, Romance, Vampires, Supernatural, Boys Love

244 pages, Paperback

First published December 20, 2019

About the author

Marimo Ragawa 羅川真里茂 was born on September 21 in Hachinohe, Aomori, but her age is not disclosed.
Marimo Ragawa first started submitting manga to comic magazines when she was only 12 years old, which is when she was in 6th grade of elementary school. She continued to send her manga to the same magazine for four years, but a positive critical reception was yet to come. Ragawa then decided to switch to a different magazine. Surprisingly, her first submission to this magazine, Hana to Yume, won a prize called the Top-prize. She succeeded in achieving her debut with her first manga, Time Limit.

Marimo Ragawa continues to draw other manga such as Aka-chan to Boku (Baby and Me), New York New York, and Itsudemo Otenki Kibun. She received the 1995 Shogakukan Manga Award for shōjo for Baby and Me. She continues to draw a tennis themed manga, Shanimuni-Go in Hana to Yume (Flowers and Dreams).

Marimo Ragawa's calm and cute design is one of the traits of her drawings. Her energetic drawing and characters are very attractive, even to non-manga readers. She is widely known for her great ability in describing complicated emotions, especially in New York New York and Baby and Me.
Her manga Mashiro no Oto has been nominated for the 4th Manga Taishō.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a particularly interesting volume as the new character who has a crush on Akira brings more of the cranky embalmer's personal history to the fore. Most striking is his own description of himself: when confessed to, Akira says that he's "frigid" and later tells Al that he "can't get it up." Al, with his believably American sensibilities, realizes that Akira doesn't understand the difference between sexual, romantic, and familial love. And we, as readers, may be old enough (or well read enough) to understand that Akira is framing his asexuality in archaic terms: "frigid" is one of the oldest forms of ace erasure, as well as being a term used to blame women for their partners' lack of skill or understanding of female sexual pleasure. Like many ace people before the term was in common use, "frigid" makes Akira ashamed of himself and his lack of interest in sex or sexual desire. I don't think I've come across that in a manga before (or a light novel, as this is an adaptation). I'm looking forward to seeing how this plot thread plays out and if Al is able to help Akira to understand that there's nothing wrong with being himself.

[Keiko, the manga enthusiast ♒︎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

From serial killer hunting to modeling—I bet Kiev’ll be able to find where Al is now by the state of things, and is about to stir things up on the next volume. I’m here for it!

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

*Original Review 12/23/2025*
AL IS SO CUTE. Oh my god this series is so funny and cute. I love it so so much. I love Al and Akira's weird relationship and the stupid situations they get themselves in. I also love the coworkers. AND one of my favorite tropes(?) is in this? It's not very common so idk if it's considered a trope, but anytime I read it I'm like yessss inject it into my veins.

*Reread 4/20/2025*
I wish I had said what the "trope" was because I honestly don't remember.

This is incredibly slow burn and with the way the series is going I don't think we'll ever get like a true bl romance especially with Akira's personality and possible asexuality coming into play. I don't mind that though. I think this really takes its time to build up the story and the characters and their relationships. I'm also super looking forward to the other vampire becoming more involved in the story.

[Dylan · Rating 5 out of 5]

CW: Animal abuse (as a vampire bat), Mentions of death of parent, Feelings of self loathing

This series is getting better and better with every volume. In this one, our two leads are starting to slowly learn more about each other. We learn more about Akira's past in this volume, and about how Al doesn't want to be alone.
I love the discussion of feelings of love vs. sexual desire and ability to "get there". It was beautiful and brought me to tears. You don't need to orgasm to be able to love. Love is a feeling that anyone can have, though not everyone wants that and that's okay!
I really love this series and highly recommend everyone pick it up!

[sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

this vol was actually quite emotional now that i think about it, but still balanced with lots of situational humor and increasingly fruity jokes. i’m looking forward to seeing how one character in particular develops as i think there’s potential for some strong ace rep which isn’t super common (although much needed)

[Cassandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really interesting change of pace to the story. We have moved on from the serial killer and are deviling more in to the relationship between Al and Akira. Akira is ace from what is discussed here and Al is very sweet when he is trying to tell Akira that it is okay. He wants him to know that there is more than just sexual love, that there are types of love and he can feel for him. We also get some funny scenes with him as a bat (the intro was so cute, I LOVE HIM IN BAT FORM). And Akira is growing as a person now that he doesn't feel alone. And he is expanding his circle of what he wants to do.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Al as a bat continues to be the cutest thing ever!!

Akira is doubling...even tripling down on his tsundere nature. We get some really interesting info in this one though, that helps us understand some of his behavior - he's ace, and is ashamed of it. I actually haven't seen asexual representation in manga before. Hopefully we get more development of this storyline and Al can help him learn about the different kinds of love!

[Stacie]

Akira ❤️❤️❤️

[* · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tsuno’s assumptions are so funny but I’m getting second hand embarrassment, can’t wait for some type of confrontation
Akira, love you!!!
Al, I LOVE YOU!!!!!
Nukariya, I love you 😊

[小さな N (.❛ ᴗ ❛.)⊃ [_|_] ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Might write a review later on)

[Raquel · Rating 4 out of 5]

*sigh*

This was not the third volume I was hoping for.

This volume felt like a weird continuation from the last one. First of all, it started off with a side story about a character that is not currently relevant to the plot in any way. With how long I’ve been waiting for this volume the last thing I wanted was for it to begin with a side story about a character I don’t even know. I don’t usually mind side stories as long as they feature important characters or are included as an extra in the final volume, but the fact that this wasn’t the case in this circumstance bugs me. All I can think about are the wasted pages that could’ve been used for the characters I actually care about. All that being said, I didn’t hate the side story. It was interesting, I just wish it would’ve been included in a later volume instead because it wasn’t important to this volume and I wanted more Al and Akira.

After the last volume the plot in this one was boring and anticlimactic. I wouldn’t even say there was a consistent plot throughout this volume. Each chapter had its own focus. A few months have passed since the last volume and Akira gets a new assistant embalmer named Ikumi Muroi. This new assistant has a crush on Akira, which gets Al worried because he finally found a place to belong and he doesn’t want that taken away. Then there’s another plot line where Al wants to model but Akira doesn’t want him to because he’s worried that the police will discover who he is. It all just felt very random and was an odd continuation after the seriousness of the last volume. I was expecting Al to continue helping Nukariya solve cases but I guess I was wrong. That would have been a much more interesting read for me though.

Despite being disappointed with the plot I still loved the characters and their interactions. Al is still such a sweetie and Akira continues to be a tsundere. We get a little bit of Akira’s backstory in this volume which made me happy because I’ve been wanting to know more about him. I feel like I have more questions now than answers though. Sadly there was basically no Nukariya which was another downside to this volume. He appears for one scene and that’s it. With how much the first two volumes focus on this trio it seemed off that he wasn’t in this one more. We do get to see more of Akira’s coworkers, but I’m not as attached to them as I am to Nukariya so it didn’t really make up for it.

There’s more of a romance element in this volume than the previous ones due to the fact that Akira’s assistant has a crush on him. Not much progress on the Al and Akira front though. There’s a bunch of assumptions of the relationship between them due to a character’s misunderstanding in the previous volume, but it constantly gets shot down. I’m still holding out hope that they’ll get together though, especially since every character seems really chill about gay people, something I really loved seeing.

The art seemed a little rushed at times, but for the most part it was still beautiful. The previous volumes had some violent scenes in them but this one had very little. I think the only violence in this one happens in the side story at the beginning and it’s nowhere near as explicit as the first two volumes were. I’m not gonna lie, part of the reason why I love this story so much is because of bat Al and while we get a lot of bat Al in this one he doesn’t get as many cute moments. In fact, he seems to get bullied more than anything which made me really sad to see. I just want to see people pamper him, not throw him around!

Despite how negative my review sounds I still liked this volume which is why I’m giving it four stars. This is mostly due to me just being happy to see Al and Akira again even if it’s not what I was wanting. I hope the next volume has a more solid focus to it because this one did seem all over the place. The cliffhanger gives me hope that the next one will get this series back on track.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite as amazing as the first two, but this probably still more like 4.5. Because the first plotline was resolved, the pacing is a little slower this time around, and there's very little Nukariya, who's now too busy with work to come visit Akira.

Instead, there's a new assistant at Akira's work, a gay guy named Muroi who develops an interest in Akira and aggressively tries to ask him out. It seems like there should be some serious complications to asking out your boss, but setting that aside, this whole element was handled in a more interesting way than I expected. Akira very clearly turns Muroi down, and when Al butts in, objecting to how blunt and hurtful Akira's rejection was ("you could at least be nice about it!"), Akira snaps and reveals that he's "frigid" and isn't interested in dating anyone.

I'm curious what the actual word in Japanese is and if there's added nuance to it, but as Akira's coworkers discuss it more, and then Al asks Akira about it, my guess from the previous volume was confirmed - Akira is definitely ace. It's possible he could be demi; he says at one point that he's never met anyone he's interested in enough to put in the effort, because he doesn't believe in dating and discarding people. Al also draws a distinction between sex and love; when Akira snaps that he "can't get it up" with anyone, Al softly tells him that only his heart needs to stand up.

And, while Al doesn't seem to be recognizing what it means just yet, he's accepting that his heart is standing up for Akira.

I continue to really like all the glimpses into their relationship, and how deeply Akira cares about him - everything his coworkers see as him being controlling is actually Akira being deeply afraid that someone will recognize Al and drag him back to the police station that he'd escaped from twice.

Al gets fed up and rebels, though, taking on a quick photoshoot gig and getting his face in a magazine. And by the end of this volume, he's accidentally gotten himself cast in a vampire tv show, where the leading lady seems to have an interest in him.

I'm not sure if I totally love the melodramatic way this is heading, but I'm still curious enough to find out what comes next.

There's also a side story at the start of this volume, about the vampire Al had met shortly (?) after he'd turned. I don't know if more is going to come from that - does this guy have the capacity to turn Al into a full vampire? Is anything going to happen with all these hints about vampires' long life spans and how they can't love short-lived humans forever?

Final volume, don't break my heart too much, please. I've enjoyed this too much to be disappointed by the landing.

[L Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

WARNING: mild spoilers

In general, volume 3 was a lot lighter than volume 2, with plenty of laugh out loud moments that caught me off guard. Before the actual story started, however, there was a rather somber side story involving the vampire, Kiev. In it we saw just how detached Kiev had become to humans. He no longer cared about forming attachments to them and in general seemed to only want to be around them for either sexual pleasure or blood (Is this the fate of all vampires who live hundreds of years?). He did, however, remember Al and wondered where he was. He seemed to miss him. The ending short story featured him again. In it he comments on how bothersome human attachments were, but when a memory of Al crosses his mind he says that he actually likes the idea of someone (Al) waiting for him. Maybe he crosses paths with Al in the future and asks him to be his partner for a while. Would Al be willing to leave Akira for someone he knows won't die on him? I doubt it, but it'd definitely be something he'd have to consider.

The main story focuses on Akira... his way of communicating to other people, his sexuality, and his past. The new assistant embalmer, Ikumi Muroi, has a crush on Akira and when Akira rejects him (in the most brutal way possible) Al asks him about it only to be told that he doesn't get turned on... he "can't get it up" for anyone. Al tries to explain to him that romantic love doesn't necessarily have anything to do with sex but Akira doesn't seem to understand. The fact that Akira may be asexual was a little shocking, but, he may be one of those rare individuals that can only feel sexual attraction after falling in love. Or not... he may actually be asexual. Either way Al wonders if he's ever fallen in love before and vows to show him as much love and affection as he can.

It's fairly obvious that Akira cares deeply about Al. Although he seems mean and stubborn about some of the things Al wants to do, Al knows that it's only because he doesn't want anything bad to happen to him. Given some of the facial expressions he makes around Al, I don't think Akira is used to feeling this way about anyone. Maybe there's hope for him being in a romantic relationship after all.

I think this is my favorite volume so far. Watching Al and Akira interact with each other is hilarious and Tsuno's ideas concerning their relationship had me rolling. He is convinced that Akira is a "S" and he damn sure acts like it! 😆 I can't wait for the next volume to come out.

[Sol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Al and Akira are like literally my OTP, even though Al can be pushy his love for Akira is so real. They both are rough around the edges -- Al tends to ignore Akira's boundaries while Akira can be really mean and rude, but the sincerity of their friendship is so real. And I don't call it a friendship to discount the romantic aspect of their relationship, but I really do think what they have right now is a base of very deep friendship (with un-talked about feelings and lots of kisses and cuddles). I just think both Al and Akira are such sweethearts and I love seeing their simple everyday lives, going to work and doing their own thing.

There are so many misunderstandings and so many troubles -- if Akira wanted, he could easily tell Al to get lost and never come back. But it's clear that he would be really lost without Al and the way Al clings to him. Because he's a super kind person deep down, he'll always be there for Al to come home to.

It sounds sadistic to say too but I love the scenes where Al cries a lot, I love that he's such an emotional and kind protagonist ;-;

Even though the beginning of the Drama arc isn't really my favorite, in hindsight it's really nice that Al is able to live his dream of being on camera. Thanks to meeting Akira, he's able to do things he could never do before when he was homeless and living in America. And he's got Akira being a strong supporter and friend in his corner. It's just lovely. Whether these two ever actually end up getting together romantically, I hope they always stay together. ;-;

[Kastie Pavlik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Generalized review for 3 & 4. Hopefully no spoilers. No major ones for sure.

Al is so adorable as a bat and sweet as a human! His personality comes through whether he's human or bat shaped, and I love that his behavior doesn't change - if he wants to cuddle with Akira, he's definitely going to try. And Akira seems more tolerant of this when Al's a bat, but as they spend more time together, he is more tolerant regardless.

We learn so much about Akira in these two volumes, with extra snippets in the special bonus text stories at the end. We can easily understand his relationship with Al and the reason he treats him like a pet. (I mean Al is basically a puppy who wants all the happy pettings and to be the bestest boy! ▼・ᴥ・▼)

I love the humor and appreciated several laugh out loud moments. I could say so much more, but I'll leave it simple. The story is interesting and fun, sometimes a little heart wrenching, and I'm really sad that we only have 4 volumes. :(

[R E · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Volume 3, we get more of the back story on Al, while Takatsuka Akira continues in his tsundere ways. A new character, Muroi, forces them to confront questions about their relationship. Again, the art is effective, but I wish this series had more nuanced line work and more nimble figure drawing.

I like the story, and it’s impressive how much mileage the author is getting out of tweaking the vampire trope, with Al being unable to control his transformations. This leads to variety of complications given he’s in his bat form during the day and a human at night. However, I’m not sure I will continue the series.

[Zian B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this volume because it shows more of Akira and Al interacting with a variety of other people, although mainly their co-workers (since Al now works part-time). It was really interesting seeing the new worker have a crush on Akira and everything else that plays out in relation to that.
This volume makes me especially curious about Akira’s background because even though he mentions it in a moment of frustration, I want to know more specifics. Also, I like the bonus content surrounding the more mature vampire (Kiev) that Al happened to run into before he met Akira. I’m also very curious going into this next volume since Al might finally get his acting moment.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked that Akira turned out to be identifying as ace (though sadly a more derogatory term is used in the story) but it was tough reading his internalized acephobia.

Personally I also read Akira as being cool and neurodivergent but since I am from the USA I can't be sure, despite this Akira stands out as different even from the other Japanese characters being more straightforward, and more confused by the apparent social conventions of his peers such as when AL first started staying with him that its ok to share clothing but not underwear.

[Jordan MacKinnon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seriously! I just love this series !! This volume was so well paced and we got a wonderful snap shot into the lives of Al and Akira! I love the dynamic that was created between the two of them with the introduction of the new character! But the fact that Akira came to look for Al after their fight because of what happened the last time... Swooning !! I cannot wait to see what an absolute disaster the filming is going to entail !!!!

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

While Volume 2 was all about action, Volume 3 focuses more on relationships. The BL vibes are higher in this one, as Al starts to untangle his feelings for Akira, while Akira remains cold towards him. It does delve a little more into both of their pasts and builds up to more romantic involvement later on. I like how both are settling into their life together while still leaving room for growth.

[Konstantin R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ignore the 3-stars. This is a great continuation of the drama. We learn about our characters more and drama ensues. Humor, too. I love how their relationship turns, subtly, into something more, something deeper.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is pure gold.

[Hisgirl85 · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Not as interesting and fast as the previous volume but moving forward.

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love ❣💘🦇

[Aurora · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I’m liking this more now that we’ve moved off the serial killer and onto a showbiz (?) arc. Although maybe this is just because I miss Skip Beat.

[-moonprismpower- · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many gay innuendos in this volume!!! So damn funny!!!!

[C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adore this manga so much....

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing, I wish this series was longer.

[Shahna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't get over these two.
I just want them to kiss.
ahahaaa
all the feelings!

[Joanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

In all honesty I have to say I enjoyed this one the most out of the other 2 so far, you get to learn more abt akira and als relationship, this also dips into lgbtq with their sexualities 😩🫶🏳️‍🌈