Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut
Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut is a Japanese science fantasy light novel series written by Keisuke Makino and illustrated by Karei. Shogakukan have published seven volumes since December 2016 under their Gagaga Bunko label. The light novel is licensed in North America by Seven Seas Entertainment under their Airship light novel imprint. A manga adaptation with art by Sojihogu was serialized online via Kodansha's Comic Days website from March 2018 to March 2023 and was collected in two volumes. An anime television series adaptation by Arvo Animation aired from October to December 2021.
The novel is set in an alternate version of the post-World War II era. The rival superpowers of the Zirnitra Socialist Republics and the United Kingdom of Arnack have dominated planet Earth and have entered a space race which they view as the only option for their expansionist plans. The vampire girl Irina Luminesk is chosen for training as the first cosmonaut, while a young male cosmonaut candidate is assigned as her handler. While instructed to treat Irina impersonally as a mere test subject, he starts bonding with her and eventually falls for her.
Plot
With the conclusion of World War II in 1945, the world is divided between two major superpowers: the Union of Zirnitra Socialist Republics in the east and the United Kingdom of Arnack in the west. With their borders set on earth, both superpowers look to space as the next frontier for expansion, sparking a space race. However, the Zirnitra Union has a trump card in the form of Irina Luminesk, a vampire whom they hope to use as a test subject to spearhead research into achieving the first human spaceflight. In order to ensure her training goes smoothly, the young cosmonaut candidate Lev Leps is assigned to be her handler. While he is instructed to treat Irina as nothing more than a test subject, Lev cannot help but be fascinated with the young vampire girl.Characters
;Irina Luminesk;Lev Leps
;Anya Simonyan
;Mikhail Yashin
;Roza Plevitskaya
;Slava Korovin
;Lieutenant Victor
;Natalia
;Fjodor Gergiev
;Lyudmila Halrova
;Narrator