Night Exile (Yoru no Kakaku) Manga Review

Alex wanders the world in search of his lost memories. His aristocratic looks with naive wish for memories of home draw people to him. Some will be kind to the young man's affliction while others have darker plans. All face judgement when the full moon rises awakening the blood-thirsty monster hidden within Alex's soul. 

 My Thoughts
Beauty easily hides the ugly darkness within
The people in Night Exile (Yoru no Kakaku) are drawn to Alex for his beautiful looks and naive innocence to find memories of the home he longs for. I will admit I was taken in too. How could I not want to help a young man who looks aristocratic yet has the simplest of desires? Not to forget the pity which strikes me at having to imagine life with no memory. I also fell for his charm and forgot one of my most important lessons manga has taught me: if it is to beautiful to be true stay away or you will be the next victim. 

If draining people dry as a vampire were the height of
Alex takes blood like a vampire but only for the memories within
thrill in Night Exile it would fall under major cliche boringness. Akino had a brilliant idea to stand out in a new way I never thought I would experience. Instead of drinking blood for sustenance, Alex does it for the memories. Every full moon gives one night of drinking other's memories. The next day both he and the victims have no memory of their time together. I wasn't sure precisely how this scenario was going to work. When I began I assumed each chapter would be almost like another one shot. Every experience new but the overall plot outline the the same.

Blood's memories do not lie. Careful who you take advantage of.
Night Exile has a beautiful horror in the darkness of people's manipulations. Some honestly care for the young aristocrat but many prefer to take advantage of an amnesiac. They care more for using greed to gain their heart's wish. The story ideas are deliciously refreshing. Even when Night Exile begins to become more of a story than one shot there is still the element of manipulation. Easy to play on a person who will not have a memory of what you've done to use them.

Night Exile's initial artwork felt bland with little in the
way of style. The characters looked like just one dimensional line works then a professional manga. I was warry this was going to be the manga quality but Night Exile surprised me. I saw the artist grow with every new chapter. By the end I saw the work of a truly awesome manga artist. 

 To the Reader
The unique supernatural in Night Exile
Those looking for a new take on the supernatural vampire-human drama will enjoy where Night Exile is able to take them. Instead of standard blood-letting it is all about the memories within the blood. Victims don't need to face death to suffer for their sins. Those who love the drama genre will be right at home with Night Exile. There are so many moments of drama. Especially when you are dealing with the dark desires of a human heart. 

Naturally tragedy will always follow such a sad
situation. I can't see floods of tears but certain moments hold potential for a tear or two. No worries on a horrifically depressing ending either. While I wouldn't go so far as to claim it is the happiest way to end it; I wouldn't call the finale darkly tragic either.  Point being, Night Exile is a short but pretty good manga read if you are looking for supernatural with a touch of unusual. It would be really nice if it were longer but what it does with eight chapters is worth reading.

 Details
Name(s): Yoru no Kakaku; Night Exile; 夜の過客 ;  暗夜過客 ; 暗夜过客
Author(s): Akino Matsuri
Artist(s): Akino Matsuri
Release: 2004
Chapters: 8
Genre(s): Drama; Supernatural; Tragedy; Historical
Status: Complete
Anime: No