Iqura Sugimoto has his good share of illustration in manga like Summer Wars and has been credited in both story and art in other works, like Nana Maru San Batsu. Most of these manga are positive and sunny with adventure lurking around the corner, but he knows how to make things darker too. Imagine that one day, you wake up finding out that a part of you is gone. Concretely, Aiko’s arm has been replaced with one that apparently thinks on its own. Protected by a certain Sudo, she uses her new brutal powers to protect those who she loves.

A lot of manga here deal with what happens when you thought you were perfectly normal and you suddenly find out that nope… that beyond being normal, you could be considered a monster. This sharp contrast and the rejection that comes out of it by society can be found in Variante and Blood+. Our confused heroines have to find out exactly what happened while they eliminate their enemies and deal with her feelings towards their male companions. If you are into cute girls who can stand her own amid a pool of blood, Variante might be a good option for you.

Masayuki Takano has some experience with manga that follows up weird and dark themes. He also has works full of action, so he knows how to attract the fans of the night. Ok, so maybe all those liters of blood in vampire manga make you feel dizzy. You still like action, adventure and the occasional red liquid spill, but not in such a brutal way. Don’t worry, because we have a recommendation for you. Meet Misaki, a sweet twelve year old vampire who lives with Kuroe, a human investigator fascinated with the creatures of the night. Kuroe puts his life at risk constantly on his missions, worrying Misaki and making her eventually turn him into a vampire.

If what you like about Blood+ is the human personality of Saya, Misaki will make you remember her. Also, her relationship with Kuroe mirrors that of Saya and her guardians and friends. We can say that some loyalty bonds run thicker than blood here :p The style of this manga is classy and gothic, so it is a pleasure to the eyes. So, if you want all the good points of Blood+ without missing the mysterious and action part, just give Blood Alone a try.

Kumiko Suekane is none other than the creator and illustrator of Blood+ Adagio. She has a long experience in the shoujo manga world with supernatural and action touches. Imagine a world that has become full of magic. That sounds like so much fun! There is one bad thing, though: there are no more girls in this world. So, what happens when the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication agents find the only surviving girl? Expect lots of comedy, adventures… and a secret hidden dark side.

So, you definitely are not into gory vampires, but you don’t mind mysteries and weird creatures lurking in the corners. Well then, meet Yuki, the super special last girl in the world that has a double personality and can transform by day and change back by night. This self sufficient girl who at first looks vulnerable reminds us of Saya. Also, the illustration style is very similar between these mangas. However, Hajimari no Glashma probably has the most different story from Blood+.

Touya Tobina has some experience in adventure manga with strong willed heroines, mainly in a school and present era scenario. Thus, it is not surprising that she attempted to create a similar story to Blood+. Protecting humans from the creatures of the night is not easy. That is why Hachiouji Takamichi, the descendant of a hunter family, has to choose carefully who will be her companion for the task. Her current jiujiu (loyal servant) is too cute but too weak to fight, so Hachiouji ends up adopting two half-wolf puppies half-humans. They will spice up her supernatural life.

Hachiouji is similar to Saya even physically, specially if we take her Blood+ version with cute short hair and big eyes. Both heroines are strong and independent, although also distant from normal humans. The most evident difference between the stories is the drawing style. Touya has a good hand to switch between the serious and action driven scenes to a cute super deformed style for the sweet moments that will make you squeal with delight.

Akira Himekawa is the pen name of two different manga artists who don’t want to disclose their identities. They have released a lot of work since 1991, especially stories about Zelda and Tetsuwan Atom. Therefore, we can see they have a dab for fantasy and adventure. So your thing is not vampires, but you like the creatures of the night. Maybe you would like a dragon? Kiya has a special DNA that gives him dragon hybrid abilities. However, he and his sister Koyomi have to be careful of not being captured by creature hunters.

Here we have another story of an outcast, like Saya in Blood+. We also have hostile humans trying to capture Kiya, while he is trying to grasp his peculiar situation as quickly as he can. The action in this manga is non stoppable and has its good share of violent scenes, just like Blood+. Perhaps the most relevant difference between the two stories is that Saya has the objective of killing quiropterans, while Kiya just wants to protect his sister and himself.

Sayaka Mori has a peculiar style on her stories, where she combines the bizarre and the super cute with horror and gore. You never know when something will turn dark or startling while you read her manga! Pupa was so successful that an anime adaptation was released in 2014. The story follows two siblings, Utsusu and Yume Hasegawa. They have been infected with a virus called Pupa, which can turn people into flesh eating monsters. Only that in the case of Utsusu, the virus gives him regenerative powers and a darker and more violent personality than his usual tranquil self. As both siblings have lived sad, abused lives, it is Utsusu’s strongest wish that Yume can be happy. Thus, he will do what it takes to protect the world from her flesh craves, while protecting Yume from the world who wants to destroy her.

What is interesting about Pupa is how it resembles the vampirism topics in Blood+ without even being about vampires. We have powerful supernatural beings who don’t fit in with humans. We also have violent battles and the wish to carry on living despite being “abnormal”. Also, we have some siblings romance that reminds us of Saya and Diva to a certain extent.