Holiday Review #22: A VAMPIRE IN THE BATHHOUSE

 Of course, it's also fun to take figures of horror and put them into wacky situations for the sake of comedy.  For example, you could have...

A VAMPIRE IN THE BATHHOUSE (Sento to Vampire), by Niko Izuki.  First published in 2021 and first published in North America in 2025.

PLOT:

Luka Edelmondt Finsternis might be a regal, dashing vampire, but sometimes he gets curious about the human world and needs healing that his mage-in-training cannot provide.  His curiosity leads him the bathhouse run by Sakura Amamitsutsuki, who needs some extra help running his father's place.  Thus, Luka makes a deal: he will work for Sakura in return for free use of the baths...and a bit of blood now and then.

STORY:

So A Vampire In the Bathhouse is basically "what if Thermae Romae, but with a vampire instead of a Roman?"  It's very much the same sort of fish-out-water comedy, albeit without all the historical trivia.  How much you get out of it will depend on how much amusement you get from the idea of a classy centuries-old vampire using magic to scrub tubs like a schlub and dealing with everyday struggles like 'cooking a bento box' and 'going to a summer festival.'  Unless you just got into manga, you've seen these scenarios riffed upon countless time already, but A Vampire in the Bathhouse manages to get at least a few mild chuckles out of it.

At the very least, Izuki doesn't try to deny the inherent homoeroticism in Luka and Sakura's arrangement, even if Sakura certainly tries his best to do so and it never goes beyond some brief off-screen neck biting.  Mostly he's here to either introduce a scenario for Luka and his various magical assistants to solve with magic or to be the butt of the joke.  She does make up for it with the very sincerely sweet relationship between Sakura and his elementary-aged brother Umanosuke, with Luka easily slotting into their cozy family dynamic.

There's an attempt towards the end to give Luka a rival vampire to give some semblance of plot to this thing, but even that ends up becoming just more fuel for gentle comedy and shenanigans than anything of real consequence.  Anything else would spoil the vibes of this book, which in the end is more about the simple joys of everyday work and being part of a larger community.

ART:

I wouldn't blame anyone for looking at this artwork and expecting something a little more explicitly BL in flavor.  Izuki definitely does not shy away from drawing these handsome vampires in all of their glory, particularly in the bath.  Even then, their look is more Castlevania than Hellsing, with handsome faces, long hair, and well-muscled butts you could bounce a quarter off of.  The only thing marking them as supernatural creatures are their long, elf-like ears and their chiseled good looks, and Izuki takes every opportunity possible to show off the latter.

In comparison, Sakura and the rest of the humans are rounder and simpler in looks, although their proportions are fairly realistic.  That goes double for Umanosuke, who looks like a doll with his nearly perfectly round head and equally round eyes.  That being said, Izuki puts a surprising amount of effort into the clothing.  There's a lot of costume changes for everyone in this book and it's all drawn quite well.  They also put a good deal of care was put into the backgrounds.  While the sights seen in this book are fairly ordinary, Izuki puts effort into making them look as cozy and inviting as possible.

RATING:

It's weird that A Vampire In the Bathhouse is more successful at nurturing those cozy iyashikei vibes than anything else I've reviewed this month.  I think the big difference is not the fact that vampires are involved but the fact that it has a sense of humor about itself.  Even if the jokes are predictable, it goes a long way towards balancing out those sugary sweet vibes, leaving you with a book that feels refreshing instead of cloying.

This book is published by Kodansha Comics.  It is currently in print.

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