Shido is a vampire detective who doesn't remember why he's a vampire, solving cases that blur the line between noir investigation and occult horror while his maker hunts him. The show treats its premise like a guy who just wants to do his job, except his job involves demons and his past is literally walking toward him. Comedy undercuts the dread at exactly the right moments. It's 1998, this thing predates the vampire detective saturation by years, which means it gets to play the bits straight before anyone tired them out. By the final episode you understand why Shido keeps working cases instead of running.

Shido Tatsuhiko works as a private eye, but he is also a vampire who remembers almost nothing of his past. He takes on demonic creatures called Nightbreed alongside Yayoi Matsunaga, a female government agent; Riho Yamazaki, an orphaned teenager who serves as his assistant; and Guni, a small green imp. All the while, Cain, the vampire who turned Shido into what he is, is looking for him. The twelve-episode TV series from 1998 mixes action, comedy, horror and mystery.