Fans who have been in the anime community since the early 2000s will remember the shelves of bookstores being stacked with titles that nobody remembers nowadays. With Tokyopop going out of business until recently, many of its IPs were lost to the annals of time unless picked up by another distributor. They were often short series that never received anime adaptations or OVAs, and weren't discussed much online. One of these forgotten-but-still-worthy titles is Vampire Doll: Guilt-Na-Zan.
Sometimes simply referred to as Vampire Doll, the series follows the exploits of the titular Guilt-na Zan. Guilt-na is a vampire who was sealed away 100 years ago. He's brought back by Kyoji Yotobari, a modern day exorcist who lives in a mansion with his younger sister Tonae. While Guilt-na is initially happy at being brought back, he soon realizes there's a problem: he's now inhabiting a wax doll that looks exactly like Tonae, except for his blond hair. He also lacks access to his full power. Rather than being able to conjure terrifying magic, Guilt-na can conjure up sweets. Kyoji explains his reason for bringing the powerful vampire back was simply because he needed a maid. Thus begins a series of shenanigans that now plague Guilt-na's new life.
As the odd group of friends get to know one another, they begin taking on strange cases that require a more mystical approach. They meet new creatures and characters along the way: Guilt-na's bat friend Vincent who moves in with them, a desert demon named Dune, and even Kyoji's twin brother Kyoichi, who acts more like a Saturday morning villain than a powerful exorcist and prefers the moniker "Night Veil."
Kyoichi wants to defeat his brother and steal Guilt-na in order to take over the world, but he's so incompetent that he can't even get Vincent to stay on his side. It also doesn't help that Guilt-na can return to his true form by drinking the blood of the younger sister Tonae, though this only lasts for ten minutes. Kyoji explains that this is because of Tonae's "pure heart." We also learn that the doll Guilt-na inhabits was made by Kyoji for Tonae, who was very sick as a child. This is why it looks exactly like her.
Vampire Doll: Guilt-Na-Zan is a short manga series, being only six volumes long. It takes a more comedic approach to its material, but it's a lighthearted story about found-family and how kindness can change a person. While it doesn't offer much in the way of scares, its adorable cast carries the story with their distinct personalities. Written by Erika Kari and distributed by Tokyopop, it features a gorgeous art style that blends the cutesy shoujo style with a gothic aesthetic.
One drawback of Vampire Doll is that the stories can seem disjointed and over-the-top at points, but overall it's a cute, fun story that doesn't take itself too seriously. The series never received an anime adaptation, but maybe one day it will get an OVA. Fans of vampires, dolls, or cute girls in frilly clothes will enjoy Vampire Doll: Guilt-Na-Zan for what it is: a story about what would happen if you put a powerful vampire lord into the body of a cute, teenage girl.
