A review by bluehairedlibrarian
The Poe Clan Vol. 1 by Moto Hagio

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is really a collection of stories about The Poe Clan, a family of vampires that live in what is possibly another plane of existence. The main characters are two children, siblings adopted by wealthy and very old parents, and turned into vampires too young. The stories generally revolve around the people who come across them, either obsessed with the beautiful younger sister Marybelle or get caught up in the machinations of older brother Edgar. The illustrations are made up mostly of whisper thin lines with all the characters having huge anime eyes. 

There's a weird thing that happens about mid-way through the book.

Marybelle, who had previously died after it was discovered she was a vampirnella, is suddenly a human girl sent away after Edgar discovers the kindly old woman who took them in is actually the leader of a vampirnella family. Marybelle is never turned into a vampirnella, grows into a beautiful teenager, and becomes friends with an older boy, who looks a lot like her brother. After she falls in love with the boy's beautiful brother, it's discovered that she and the boy are half-siblings with his father believing Marybelle and Edgar had died as babies.

I have no idea if I missed something and this was a different generation/version/timeline of Marybelle and Edgar or a ret-con that allowed for the final story involving Edgar and Alan to go off to boarding school in the 1950s. Either way it left me confused enough to dock a point off my score. 

Otherwise it's a classic vampire story focused on children turned too soon and the lives they have to create for themselves over hundreds of years.