Kou is a half-werewolf, half-vampire who works at his mom's café. Because of a traumatic incident in childhood, Kou avoids making personal connections with humans for fear his vampiric nature might put them at risk... Until one day, his childhood friend, Itsuki, reappears in his life and — in spite of Kou's protests — becomes his coworker at the café!

Itsuki is determined to rekindle their friendship, but Kou must keep his distance to avoid putting Itsuki in danger... again. So when Itsuki insists that Kou use him to "practice" drinking blood, Kou reluctantly agrees, only to realize his growing feelings for Itsuki— and Itsuki's newfound feelings for Kou— may result in an altogether different kind of craving...

My Fluffy Moody Crush has story and art by Nayuta Nago. Translation by Jacqueline Fung and lettering by Vibrant Publishing Studio. Published by Tokyopop (October 14, 2025). Rated M.

Rebecca Silverman
Rating:

Rarely has a title that isn't just the name of the protagonist been so accurate. Itsuki's crush Kou is, in fact, both fluffy and moody. Not tsundere, though; he's genuinely going through mood swings because he can't quite reconcile his past actions with his present feelings, and he's also struggling with his half-vampire, half-werewolf heritage and what that might mean for his romantic partner. The poor boy's an emotional mess, to the point where, as Itsuki notes, only his fluffy puppy tail is honest.

What's nice about this is that none of it feels contrived. Almost any lore you care to consult tells you that vampires and werewolves aren't pals, so Kou comes by his issues honestly. And as a demihuman, he's fully aware that he's much stronger than his childhood best friend Itsuki, something that a little slightly-sexual experimentation with bloodsucking really drove home. He can't imagine that Itsuki would genuinely want to see him again, much less that he'd want to be involved with him. Kou sees himself as a dangerous predator to the point that after Itsuki comes back into his life he voluntarily wears a muzzle.

The general drive of the story is that Itsuki is trying desperately to get through to Kou. The two were separated in childhood not because of the bloodsucking incident, but because Itsuki's family moved, but the two things are inextricably linked in Kou's mind, something Itsuki has to get past if he wants to manage a romance. It's a lot of one step forward, two steps back, which does make the eventual resolution very nice. It does feel a little abrupt, though, as if the creator wanted to make this a longer story but ran into problems with that plan. The single explicit sex scene (which does merit the M rating) still feels like a natural progression of the relationship, though, which is good.

My Fluffy Moody Crush may not be groundbreaking, but it is very cute and delivers on what the title promises. It's just a sweet little treat with nice art and a sweet story, and if it feels like it might have been a better two-volume series, it's still hard to argue with what we got.

What's not to love about a boy and his vampire dog lover?

This story is calculated to be appealing in exactly the way Disney parks are imagineered to be entertaining. The specific elements here are chosen to have high appeal to a very wide audience with demi-humans like vampires and werewolves, an emotionally stunted tsundere male lead in a cute bestiality-friendly BL. All it needs is a roller coaster and some themed snacks, and we're all set for world domination.

The chosen plot roller-coaster is milked for everything possible. Pathos and bathos, which lead to anagnorisis, until Kou is just rejecting Istuki because he can't stop himself. Eventually, Itsuki and Kou manage to share feelings and bodily fluids. Their sex is meant to be adorably innocent, but I am not the audience for adorable innocence, and I found their conversation cringeworthy at times. On the positive side, there was good consent throughout.

The demi-human world-building is a little wasted, but it gives Kou a chance to be both vampire and werewolf, so Team Kou covers all the bases. Itsuki, as a human, allows for the physical weakness and emotional strength needed in one partner, so Kou can be the physically strong, emotionally fragile, taciturn type so many women find so attractive. Darcy with a tail, if you will.

Speaking of women, can we get a shout-out to Mom, who is both very sharp and dumb as a block as the plot demands? Love her.

As a one-shot manga, this is cute. I don't think it would stand up to multiple volumes. Kou isn't a character type that wears well over time. Itsuki's unrelenting patience and cheerfulness would get on all of our nerves.

If you are looking for a bit of BL tail, My Fluffy Moody Crush checks a lot of marks and can appeal to several folks looking for a lightly spiced human/ demi-human love story.