Context Japan has no tradition of vampires in literature and other media; the archetype was imported from works of western fiction beginning in the 1930s. Science fiction critic
Mari Kotani has argued that in Japan, the vampire as a specifically western figure represents a hostile "
other," particularly following the
Second World War and subsequent
occupation of Japan by the United States. However, Kotani notes that in
shōjo manga (girls' comics), the west is often depicted as idealized and utopian, typically a result of the cultural influence of Hollywood cinema, American literature, and western fashion; the figure of the vampire, as a western cultural product, is thus viewed positively in this
shōjo context. In her youth,
Moto Hagio disliked stories featuring vampires, as they were depicted as "villains who attack human beings." In 1962, the manga artist
Shotaro Ishinomori published the
one-shot (single-chapter) manga
Mist, Roses and Stars, a science fiction story about the tragic life of a vampire girl, in the manga magazine
Shōjo Club. Hagio became inspired by the manga, and began to conceive of her own "beautiful vampire story" about a vampire who "long[s] to return to a normal human existence" but is "rejected by humanity." In 1971 Hagio published
The November Gymnasium, a one-shot about an all-boys school written as an early adaptation of her later series
The Heart of Thomas. The story made Hagio realize that she preferred writing stories about male protagonists, and she thus decided to have the protagonist of her vampire story be a boy. She created the term "vampirnella" after misreading a word while searching for terms that could be used as a substitute for "vampire"; attracted to the vaguely Italian sound of her invention, she adopted it for the series. At the same time, Hagio had developed an interest in
costumes; she began to write
The Poe Clan after becoming inspired by the idea of a story about an immortal protagonist who wears the attire of different historical periods throughout their life.
Original production and publication Hagio made her debut as a manga artist in 1969; by 1972 she was still considered as a novice, and thus was only permitted by her editor to publish short one-shots. Hagio originally conceived of
The Poe Clan as a trilogy, with each part consisting of roughly one hundred pages and set respectively in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. In order to publish the story under these editorial constraints, Hagio adopted two strategies: first, she began writing
The Poe Clan as a series of one-shots that functioned as standalone stories, but which featured serial-like interrelated narratives and recurring characters. Second, she focused early chapters of
The Poe Clan on Marybelle and other female characters, as
shōjo manga stories featuring male protagonists were less readily accepted in this era. In the February 1972 issue of
Bessatsu Shōjo Comic, Hagio announced that she would begin publishing a story in the magazine on vampirism; the announcement took the form of an illustrated poem depicting Edgar and Marybelle entwined.
Limpid Locks of Silver, the first chapter of what would become
The Poe Clan, was published in the subsequent March 1972 issue. Hagio wrote several other unrelated manga one-shots in the next several issues of the magazine before publishing the second chapter of
The Poe Clan in July 1972. Upon the publication of the third chapter in August 1972, Yamamoto realized that Hagio was creating a serialization; faced with this
fait accompli, he allowed
The Poe Clan to continue as an official serial, permitting Hagio to freely publish her originally planned trilogy. Hagio concluded her original trilogy in July 1973, but began conceiving of new chapters for the series during its serialization; she spent the next year developing new ideas for
The Poe Clan before launching her next serialization,
The Heart of Thomas, in May 1974. In June 1974, Shogakukan launched its
literary imprint Flower Comics, which publishes
tankōbon (collected volume) editions of
shōjo manga serialized in the company's magazines;
The Poe Clan was the first manga series to be released under the imprint. The
tankōbon edition of
The Poe Clan sold out its initial print run of 30,000 copies in three days, an unprecedented sales volume at the time for a
shōjo manga series that had not been adapted into an
anime. Hagio completed
The Heart of Thomas in December 1974; in that same issue,
Bessatsu Shōjo Comic published a new illustrated poem by Hagio announcing the publication of nine new chapters of
The Poe Clan. The series resumed publication in January 1975, with eight chapters published in
Bessatsu Shōjo Comic and one chapter in
Shūkan Shōjo Comic, with the final chapter of the series published in June 1976.
Revival Following the conclusion of
The Poe Clan in 1976, Hagio repeatedly declined requests to create new chapters of the series. Hagio has continued to create additional sequels to
The Poe Clan following the conclusion of
Haru no Yume: • ''
, which began serialization in the May 2018 issue of Flowers
before going on hiatus after the July 2018 issue. The series returned in the March 2019 issue, and concluded in the June 2019 issue. Unicorn'' was collected as a hardcover released in July 2019. The series immediately went on hiatus, and returned in the June 2020 issue. Its second and last volume shipped in November 2021. • , a short comedic one-shot, was published in the July 2020 issue of
Flowers on May 28, 2020. • , which began serialization in the July 2022 issue of
Flowers on May 27, 2022. ==Media==