GRAN FAMILIA, Vol. 1
Writer/Artist: Kenji Hamada
Publisher: Titan Manga (print)
Translation: Motoko Tamamuro
Letterer: Skylar Rutan
Publication Date: Sep 30, 2025
Rating: 15+
Genre: Supernatural
Gran Familia has retaught me a lesson that I had learned back when I was a kid: Never judge a book by its cover. I kind of wrote it off when I saw this white-haired young man in a pin-stripped tux lounging on a red armchair; there wasn’t anything that screamed out “You’ll like this!” at me. Even the synopsis, about a vampire who wishes to co-exist peacefully with humans, felt rather basic.
But I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed Gran Familia. Hamada pens a story about a world divided into humans and supernatural beings called demi-humans or demis for short. Demis are only a sliver of the population, but because of their powers, are persecuted. This results in fear, animosity, and hatred from both sides, but the protagonist, a vampiric demi named Leo, hopes to create a world where the two species can live peacefully with each other.
Interestingly, it’s hinted that Leo wasn’t always like this. Someone in the familia, his father or a father figure, was an enormous influence on how he saw the world. It then raises the question of what triggered this change in mindset and where this father figure is now.
Gran Familia touches on the concept of a found family through the employees at the restaurant, Zack and Rose. However, we don’t see much of them unless they’re there as back-up or to add humor to Leo’s scenes. Clearly, they’re important to Leo, but apparently not important enough for the readers to know more about. It would’ve been nice if the found family theme was explored more through adding the demis (and humans) that Leo saves to the family. It would’ve fit well with what Leo says later in the volume: “Everyone on my turf is family to me.”
Much of the humor comes from Leo’s two personas: the clumsy and forgetful restaurant manager who makes you question his competency and the leader of the Gran Familia who inspires fear with a simple utterance of the family name. And Kenji Hamada differentiates the two personas clearly through the vibrant artwork in little details like the shape of his eyes, how his hair is styled, and most importantly his clothing. I really liked Hamada’s character designs as each character was distinctive (I especially liked Aria’s design).
Although Leo appears happy-go-lucky, you can see the little cracks in his facade in moments like when children invite him to act out the war between the humans and demis, or when he sees demis get mistreated or killed just for existing. There’s sorrow and pain that he desperately hides, but he never wavers in his resolve, which makes it hard not to root for him to succeed in his dream.
The first volume of Gran Familia sets up the story and characters well with great world-building and memorable characters. While it contains six standalone stories, it didn’t feel too disjointed for me because it had Leo’s dream threading through it. The narrative format of the story reminded me a little bit of Black Butler because it also started off with unrelated stories before eventually settling on a main conflict which I hope Gran Familia does as well.
