Tsukuyomi: Moon Phase

Freelance photographer Kouhei Morioka is traveling to a castle in Germany to take photos of paranormal activity for his friend Hiromi Anzai, editor of an occult magazine. Upon entering the castle, he's confronted by a young girl in a white dress and cat ears who calls herself Hazuki. She takes a keen interest in Kouhei and offers him a kiss, but she instead reveals herself to be a vampire, sucks his blood, and turns him into her slave.

Much to Hazuki's dismay, however, Kouhei is unaffected by her bite. Hoping to escape the castle and her possessive butler Vigo, Hazuki instead forces Kouhei to help her. With the help of his powerful exorcist cousin Seiji Midou, the two make it out safely. Finally free, Hazuki flees to Japan in search of her mother. Not long after Kouhei returns home, he discovers Hazuki has nested in his home, where he reluctantly allows her to stay. Meanwhile, other vampires set out to find the missing Hazuki.

Equal parts gothic and adorable, Tsukuyomi: Moonphase is a charming and mystical story where two unlikely allies form a unique bond in an attempt to defy a society of immortals.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Hazuki Main

Saitou, Chiwa Japanese

Morioka, Kouhei Main

Kamiya, Hiroshi Japanese

Artemis Supporting

Ishige, Sawa Japanese

Haiji Supporting

Yamazaki, Vanilla Japanese

Elfriede Supporting

Kakazu, Yumi Japanese

Midou, Seiji Supporting

Sakurai, Takahiro Japanese

Midou, Hikaru Supporting

Kadowaki, Mai Japanese

Editor in Chief Supporting

Iijima, Hajime Japanese

Midou, Koharu Supporting

Maruyama, Hiroko Japanese

Frieze Supporting

Nagahori, Miho Japanese

Clinkenbeard, Colleen Producer, Script, ADR Director

Cook, Justin Producer

Kubota, Mitsutoshi Producer

Yoshida, Hiroshi Producer

Reviews

Aug 21, 2014

bearvarine

Recommended

I really enjoyed this series. It is one of the few I have actually watched twice.

The thing about this series is that it is almost more interesting as a survey of the Japanese Occult than for the story itself.

The story is about Kohei Morioka who is a photographer for hire. He investigates a castle in Germany but while there, becomes ensnared with Hazuki, a young vampiress. She bites him and tries to make Kohei her slave, but something goes wrong with her magic and she cannot control him, a fact that enfuriates her. In fact, he takes pity on her and ... tries to help her, unaware of the bigger mysteries behind how she came to be a vampire.

It takes time to develop a liking for the two main characters - Kohei and Hazuki. Kohei is way too over-patient with his impetuous and willful charge Hazuki, and Hazuki is a pretty selfish girl. But as the two adventure together, slowly a connection is made which becomes key in the final episodes. It is cute and humorous, and an enjoyable watch, but not necessarily the best there is in this genre of anime. Definitely an enjoyable watch though.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Jan 25, 2025

Destron

Mixed Feelings

I'm not sure how I felt about this series to be honest. I think if I had to describe it with one sentence it would be "it was ok" - I agree with the review that said Phase Moon didn't seem to know what story it wanted to tell because it was trying to be a mixture of a vampire story and a rom/com which on the surface isn't bad, but I don't think they executed it well enough.

I want to talk about Hazuki for a moment as she is the main part of the show. For the most part I found her to ... be fairly unlikable. I may be slightly biased in this opinion as Hazuki came across as a Tsundere character and I personally don't like Tsundere characters. The only one I do like is Asaka Taiga from Toradora. A lot of the times I found her to be loud and annoying. Lashing out when a lot of the time it wasn't necessary. She did have her moments in which she was sweet and actually a solid character, but then she would over shadow that by acting like her normal self again. It just got tiresome after a while. For the most part she came across as a brat which you could say is normal for a teenager. However, to say Kouhei did so much for her, she was way too ungrateful which really did not come across well.

The first episode and few after that was really good. I was really getting hooked on the story it was telling. A mysterious vampire girl trapped in a castle, trying to escape a demon keeping her hostage when she wants to escape to go find her mother and lead a normal life again, all whilst having an alternate persona. I thought it was really interesting and I was really looking forward to where the story was going. Then it turned into more of a comedy anime. The last 8ish episodes of the series also felt pretty forgettable too and I found myself not caring as much towards the end which is a shame as I felt like it had a strong start.

Overall, I didn't hate this anime but I wouldn't watch it again. I watched the OVA after just so I could say I've finished the series and even that was just ok at best. Slightly disappointed as I've wanted to watch this for a while and the last Vampire anime I watched was Seraph of the End which I loved.

6/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Jul 29, 2019

PankiePea

Not Recommended

Despite the bad score I gave this show, I don't think it's completely irredeemable. I actually really enjoyed some episodes individually, but as an overall experience though from start to finish I'm not sure I can recommend it.

The first thing we see in episode 1 is a gothic castle, shrouded in mist that really sets a creepy, atmospheric tone that I found pretty enchanting. By the 3rd episode the tone completely shifts and we're getting cutesy arguments between the tsundere main vampire girl, Hazuki, and Kouhei, her unlikely rescuer. It's actually hard to believe it's even the same show at that point, and the ... series continues to flip-flop between these two tones. The episodes vary greatly: comedy, drama, slice-of-life, romance, and action.

The plot of the show tends to come to a stand-still when the show is tackling more lighthearted themes, but I think these are actually probably the best episodes. These are the episodes where we see Hazuki and Kouhei develop as characters the most, and they were the ones I found myself the most emotionally invested in. The side characters are mostly good too, with Hazuki's guardian spirit, Haiji, stealing the show (though I'm sure some people will find her extremely annoying). None of the side-characters are ever developed very much though, unfortunately, and because of that I found myself massively preferring the episodes that centered on Hazuki and Kouhei.

The "plot" episodes tend to be more focused on action and are... not so good. There is very little explanation of how magic works in this universe, so the viewer is mostly left in the dark on what the hell is actually happening in any given fight scene. The show also has some problems with consistency. Characters randomly gain and lose abilities, and rules that are made early on for combat are later broken. The story is pretty nonsensical in general though, certain plot elements are never explained properly, and it was hard for me to get invested in it.

As far as romance goes, there is VERY little. Hazuki and Kouhei mostly have an older brother/younger sister type relationship. Though they do toe the line on a couple instances. It's a bit awkward since Kouhei is older and Hazuki is like 14.

The comedy is hit-or-miss. There are a couple of pretty funny moments, but it massively overuses random objects (usually wash-bins) falling on characters heads.

The worst part of this show is after episode 16/17 though. The last 8 episodes are extremely bad. Characters make decisions that border on nonsensical, villains randomly appear and then disappear, and there is a whole lot of extremely forced drama. The ending is extremely unsatisfying and leaves massive plot holes and unanswered questions. There are also none of the lighthearted episodes we previously saw in the series in this last batch. I actually wish I had skipped these ones because they left a bad taste in my mouth about the series overall.

The art is pretty okay for an anime from this time period, and I massively prefer the art-style of the anime to the manga. The music is actually pretty great. It's suitably creepy when the atmosphere demands it, and whimsical when something comedic is happening. The opening, "Nekomimi Mode," will probably be hit-or-miss for most people. I personally don't like it but it is extremely memorable at the very least.

Overall, it's an OK show, but I'm not sure I can recommend it. If you do watch it, I strongly advise you don't watch the last 8-ish episodes, due to the severe drop in quality.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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	Poll: Tsukuyomi -MOON PHASE- Episode 15 Discussion kage-bunshin - Mar 29, 2009	7 replies	by keylowss »» Jan 13, 8:44 AM
	Poll: Tsukuyomi -MOON PHASE- Episode 9 Discussion kage-bunshin - Mar 27, 2009	6 replies	by keylowss »» Jan 10, 7:39 AM
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