Rosario to Vampire: Season II

Imagine a 13 year old boy in 2011, who just started to watch anime.
I was fascinated by the anime. I watched it multiple times and somehow just loved this whole setting.
A few years later, i realized how bad the anime really was, but still couldn´t hate it, because it was so nostalgic.
I then read on a forum, that the manga was much better than the anime, but still wasn´t into reading it, because I don´t like Harem that much.

Now, 9 years after watching the anime for the first time, I finally got myself to reading it.
And wow.
I am flashed.
I don´t like how the anime starts (like the start of season 1 and the ending of season 1), because it is very much just ecchi and harem and well... I´m not really into that.

But the middle (Chapter 9-35) of season 1 was really really good.

I was like, Tsukune, finally not being a dumb weakling who is only out there for boobs?
That´s just nice. And he feels like a real Shounen-protagonist.

After the weak start, the story really begins. And it´s insane. I nearly cried a few times and I just love what happens.
Badass-Tsukune is just such a insane cool character.
Also in this season, every main character gets development and it just feels so right.

If you know the anime, you would think of this as just a funny comedy anime with a lot of ecchi, but the writer made such an insane story out of this and uses the setting for a perfect conflict.

I can´t even describe how i am feeling right now, knowing how the series ended.
I love it. My heart was beating so fast, when all those things happened.

I can´t understand how they could make such an anime out of this masterpiece of a manga.

Booooring choice by me, right? I'd defend this manga with tooth and nail: You can always find something objectionable in a story or piece of art, the point of an overall 10/10 grade is to argue that those failings *don't matter*.

Certainly, the story meanders a bit in the beginning (if only to set the scene and flesh out the characters), but nothing about the story stumbles or makes little sense: every chapter flows logically and accomplishes what it was set out to do. Maybe you don't particularly prefer the subject character or the corny lesson at hand, but this comes with the territory of storytelling. Maybe the fights end too quickly, or are schizophrenic in how quickly the tides of battle turn - I've come to accept the predictable + unpredictable aspects of manga, and so... I suggest you remember your favorite manga and how problematic or predictable *it's* fights can be.

The story is weak on one aspect: the ending. As effective as the plot is, with an impressive coda going into the last arc, it still feels "too soon". It's an amazing final arc - but did it have to be the "final arc"? No. No no no. Not in the slightest. In fact, reading the first 20 chapters, you can't help as though the story was unceremoniously sped up, resulting in this grand, logical, yet deliberately-quick ending.

The epilogue is amazing... but it commits the biggest sin in media: leaving you wanting more. I'm no longer a child in a bed, satisfied with "that's a story for another time." If you're going to tease me and tantalize me with so much possibility, I'm going to close the book upset and... for lack of a better word, blue-balled.

The characters are amazing? I do understand that some of them don't hold up under scrutiny: Ruby in particular had a lot more to contribute...

...but is it enough to deduct points? If anything, it highlights how every character almost begs for more pages and opportunities to grow and evolve. Even the two major characters, Moka and Tsukune, through all of their changes and tribulations, remain compelling protagonists with compelling futures... that the epilogue can only tease us with.

You're allowed to not like this manga, mind you. I give this manga a 10 in enjoyment because it's story and focus appeal to me: people maturing and facing an uncertain future. People struggling with what they wish to become in life, what they must sacrifice to hold onto their dreams and idealism. It's a romance at the core, but the humor reminds us to not be so melodramatic.

Why, yes. I still dream of a sequel, to this day. The material, the potential, is definitely there. The IP of Rosario Vampire barely sets foot outside of its little neighborhood, and when it does, it's almost always to great benefit to the story. With so many dimensions and magical places to discover, it was tragic to only get a peak through a crack in the door. Show me Yukari's hometown, with brooms flying everywhere. Let them become exchange students and visit a monster-school in the heart of a haunted German forest. Show me Succubi and Incubi, print the entire monster dictionary!

So many directions, so much fertile ground for storytelling. Alas...

The story of Moka and Tsukune definitely continues on in my heart... but someday, I hope to see it in print.

This is one of the first few manga I read and I enjoyed the first season of the manga, but this is better in every way, you can call me bias but this is something that I suggest everyone at least try. If you can get past the lows of the first season (e.g. pacing) this makes it worth it, though the end is slightly rushed, you still get a sense of resolve and you get to witness an author showing off his skills he's practiced for a decade. Overall it's an extremely solid manga and if you enjoy harem and romance you'll enjoy this.