A young man by the name of Morioka Kouhei is looking to become a photographer but unfortunately he has the gift of catch ghosts on film where ever he goes. One night he is sent into a strange castle in Germany to capture some photos for a paranormal magazine he works for. It’s in this castle he comes across Hazuki the japanese vampire girl. It seems that Hazuki has been expecting him and tries to lure him into her clutches by offering him a present of a kiss. When Kouhei rejects her present things seem go from bad to worse when what looks to be her butler with a ominous voice finds them and starts busting the place up. What we later find out is that Hazuki is trapped in the confines of the castle by other vampires and that she needs a someone to help her escape. During the ruckus the butler is causing Hazuki does manage to sink her teeth into Kouhei’s neck and expects him to her slave from now on and help her escape. Unluckily for her though as Kouhei seems to be immune to her curse and refuses to be her slave. But after a bit of explanation Kouhei helps her out and they escape the clutches of the butler with the ominous voice and travel to Japan to search for her mother. However, other vampires, including Elfried and Count Kinkell, manage to track Hazuki to Japan. Where they will stop at nothing to retrieve her. Stylistically Moon Phase is a moody and quite well art directed anime. While the animation doesn’t scream that wads of yen were spent you do get the impression that care has been taken to makes sure everything is silky smooth. But looks can be deceiving. Things fall down with the slightly odd character presentation. You have the dark femme fatale vampire theme mixed with some, at times lame comedy and wooden characters that suddenly burst into overacting in a major way. What is more creepy than cute is the repeated line of ‘Kitty ears mode.’ While it is in japanese you do get the feeling there is something weird and childish going on here. Having said all that there are certainly some points of interest. The love struck antics of the character Anzai Hiromi over Midou Seiji are at least comical enough to give you a rye smile at times. I was expecting a little more meat in terms of story but it felt convoluted and cute rather than complex and brooding like other vampire anime. But what to compare Moon Phase to? Who knows? You will have to trust me when I say it is at least work a look if you’re into cute romantic comedy anime for younger audiences. Two stars.