Tears of Nosferatu by 70年式悠久機関

I have the very, very bad habit of buying series out of order. It's not just a manga, or dōjin thing: I've done it as far as I can remember with books, films, and so on. Result, I am flooded with 'volume two' or 'four' of this and that series, with varying degrees of follow-up depending on quality. The dōjinshi I'm reviewing today, lucky volume three (to be fair, it was written in a very, very tiny font...) is one of a series I will definitely seek to complete, considering the material. Keep in mind that the review refers to this volume, as it's the only one in my possession.

Tears of Nosferatu is a four-volume series by circle '70年式悠久機関', sobriquet for a certain Okito Endō (who also happens to have some mainstream published manga to their name). It dates from 2001, and present itself as a high-quality dōjin publication, from the embossed cover to the full-color gatefold. From what I could gather, having started halfway through the story, Tears of Nosferatu is the slice-of-lifeish story of a female vampire, inexplicably named Chocolate, and her retinue of  assorted live-in demonettes and such. Don't be fooled by the 'vampire' tag: there is very little violence, even less blooduscking, and the general threat level is generally pretty low. Think Rozen Maiden, but with demons instead of dolls. Well, there are also dolls, as this volume's story pits Chocolate and friends against a suspicious dollmaker called Werther (who doesn't appear on the character list - instead we get a 'Brams', who doesn't appear at all...).

So, nothing particular innovating when it comes to story and plot. The real selling point of this dōjinshi (and Endō's output in general, from what I can gather) is the artwork: full of detail and flair, it has a wispy, willowy tract that really reminds me of Oyari Ashito, with some added floweryness. A warning thought: there is some borderline non-h loli content. Reader beware.

All in all, an excellent dōjinshi that, unfortunately, I have began halfway through. I'll make sure to pick up the rest, if only for the art.