Japanese vampire dramas: Blame Twilight

You know the Twilight phenomenon has spun out of control when you’re on the Tokyo subway and every poster in sight advertises a teen vampire TV saga. "Koishite Akuma" (The Loving Demon) debuted in July and has already accumulated forums of fawning fangirls.

You can attribute that to the show's lead: a pretty, vaguely male youth with Photoshopped fangs sticking out of the sides of his pout. The story is much like Twilight: the new boy in town is a budding vampire who falls in love with a human at school and struggles with his urges to guzzle blood and sleep in coffins. The show only airs on Fuji TV in Japan, but fans have uploaded subbed clips on YouTube.

Not even "True Blood" or "Vampire Diaries" can slake Western viewers’ thirsts for vampire entertainment. So last August, American Asia-culture web site Crunchyroll licensed a 2008 Japanese TV series, RH Plus, for online streaming.

Based on Suwa Ayako’s manga, the plot follows four dreamy male vampires who live in an ornate manor and help the police solve crimes. The characters’ “boy’s love” tension makes Robert Pattinson’s shirtless scenes pale in comparison.

Both vampire dramas are doing well in Japan and have fans overseas. I’ll wager that Chinese or Korean versions will pop up next on the small screen…