Anime Like Vampire Knight

Cross Academy is separated into two classes, the day class and the night class. The day class is filled with normal students while the night class is made up of gorgeous elites. However, what the day students don’t know is that the night students are vampires. This is the tale of Yuuki and Zero, guardians of the night students that keep their secret. While Yuuki is the adopted daughter of the chairman, she is happy to interact with her night student savoir Kaname. Zero, on the other hand, has an intense hatred of vampires.

This series comes from a time when Twilight was an incomplete series of books and vampire romance wasn’t quite the dead, well-beaten horse it is today. It’s overly dramatic, so emo, but a guilty pleasure for many. If you are looking for more anime recommendations like Vampire Knight, then head on down below.

Anime Like Vampire Knight

For Fans of Vampire Romance

Devils’ Line

In this world, vampires, or devils as they are often called, live among humans. The majority of humanity isn’t aware of them as they do not differ much from normal humans. A vampire does not even need to drink  human blood, but once they taste it or sometimes even just see it, they experience such lust and pleasure that they are driven crazy with desire. Anzai, a half-vampire, is part of a secret sub-section of the police force that deals with these rogue vampires that transform and go on a rampage. One day, he saves college student Tsukasa from a vampire and their fates become intertwined.

While the much newer Devils Line is a return to sexy vampires even if the main character doesn’t look too sexy a lot of the time. There is also a whole lot of government control going on of vampires that doesn’t appear to be working too well. Both shows have a focus on romance, but also have a bit of action to it as well.

Dance in the Vampire Bund

Mina Tepes, queen of the vampires, has announced her plans to build a sanctuary of vampires in Japan. However, this has attracted the attention of humans who believe her quest for peace is false. Within the country, Akira Kaburagi lives peacefully, though uneasy of vampires for reasons he can’t recall. One day when he meets Mina, his memories come flooding back, along with the discovery that he is a werewolf that was sworn from birth to protect the vampire queen.

Instead of two vampire boys going after one human girl, the romance in Dance in the Vampire Bund really just focuses on one female vampire and one man. This means there is significantly less romantic drama, and instead it is replaced with a lot of good vampire lore and some unexpectedly good world building.

Blood+

Saya Otonashi lives a dull life as an amnesiac in Okinawa City. However, her forgotten past comes back to haunt her one night when she is attacked by a creature that feeds on human blood. After being saved by a mysterious man, he forced her to drink blood, sending her into a monster-slaying trance.

While Blood+ is indeed a show about vampires and does have some romance, it is actually a show that transcends romance in terms of plot. Blood+ has a quality story behind it with some good romance as well. Vampire Knight has a lot of plots twists and a lot of squee romantic moments, but it doesn’t try to hard with actual plot.

Where Does The Vampire Knight Anime End In The Manga?

You have watched the anime, now it is time to pick up where the anime left off with the manga or the light novels.

For Fans of Handsome Men

Dance with Devils

Ritsuka, a good student, is suddenly summoned by the student council. Not only do they think she is a troublemaker, but they also have clear ulterior motives for her. Suddenly after he mother gets kidnapped, her world becomes filled with vampires and demons that all believe her the key to finding a grimoire that will allow them to rule the world.

While Dance With Devils lacks the same sort of melancholic emo side that Vampire Knight drifts to frequently, it is actually quite similar. In it, a girl finds herself surrounded by a bunch of handsome vampires and demons that all come to see her charms. The plot tries to go beyond that, but usually just drifts back to the romance aspect.

Diabolik Lovers

Yui is sent to live in a secluded mansion by her father. There she finds the six Sakamaki brothers, a family of vampires. It has been decided that she will be the sacrificial bride and finds that each brother is more sadistic than the last.

Vampire Knight can be a bit…gushy and over dramatic with its romance. This is in stark contrast to the straight up kind of rape-y romance in Diabolik Lovers. However, if you are in it for the beautiful boys and maybe have a bit of a masochistic side to you, Diabolik Lovers does indeed have some beautiful vampire boys.

Hakuouki

In 1864 Japan, Chizuru is searching for her missing father. On her journey, she witnesses a a ronin being killed by a group of white-haired men. She witnesses the Shinsengumi show up and dispatch them, but the Shinsengumi then take her captive and debate whether to just kill her. Once she reveals her father’s identity, they decide to keep her safe and help her search for him.

While Vampire Knight is more of a gothic modern setting with Victorian inspirations, Hakuouki is obviously late Edo era Japan. While Vampire Knight is straightforward with its vampires, Hakuouki plays it coy with the supernatural plot at first. Regardless, each shows off its beautiful men in spades.

For Fans of Caught Between Two Men

Fruits Baskets

When Tooru Honda finds herself homeless, she decides to live in a tent in the wilderness. However, one day she is discovered by a classmate, Yuki Souma, and invited to come live in his house. From there she gets to know many members of the Souma family, not realizing that they all are inflicted by a curse. When they hug the opposite gender, they turn into an animal from the Chinese zodiac.

Both Vampire Knight and Fruits Basket are classic shojo stories in which you find a standard female protagonist in a love triangle between two equally interesting men. Which will she choose? No matter which, it will piss off one side of the fan base.

Zombie Loan

Michiru Kita has a special skill, she can tell when people are about to die by the color of the rings around their neck. When she sees two black rings around the necks of her classmates, she tries to warn them that death is near, only to find out that they are already dead. Chika Akatsuki and Shito Tachibana are zombies that are kept alive with a Zombie-Loan contract that forces them to hunt other zombies.

Instead of being about vampires, Zombie Loan is obviously about zombies. However, that aside, they maintain a similar sort of story in which two men are fighting something, the girl kind of helps, but mostly she becomes the romantic target for both.

Do you have any more anime series like Vampire Knight? Let fans know in the comments section below.