Midnight Secretary review

Jerakor6
Apr 03, 2021
There comes a time in almost every shoujo fan's life when the sugary sweet stories become too much to bear and josei starts looking more and more appealing. Bearing in mind that josei has heaps of tropes of its own (some more tolerable than others), let's talk about 'Midnight Secretary', one of the most well-known and, at the same time, divisive, josei manga out there.

Story - 7/10

'Midnight Secretary' is the story of Kaya, a young woman who wants her hard work to not be dismissed on account of her childish face. Her "business always" attitude attracts the displeasure of her boss, Kyohei, and pisses him off even further after she discovers his secret. There's actually quite a bit of humor in the beginning, mostly stemming from Kaya and Kyohei constant attempts to outwit each other and discover weaknesses to exploit. Kaya's inner thoughts in particular are hilarious, as she often mentally chastises Kyohei for his arrogance and looseness with women. Kyohei doesn't really care about Kaya until they develop a relationship outside of work (of course). That's also the point where the drama ramps up and the humor is left in the dust, unfortunately; light-hearted scenes are rare after Kaya and Kyohei become romantically involved.

The story is built on tropes you've surely seen elsewhere: young woman hell bent on making it out there, boss/secretary affair, vampire lusting after human and hating himself for it, and a certain plot point near the end reminiscent of another popular vampire series. In the later chapters, Kaya unfortunately loses some of her dry wit in favor of increasingly melodramatic moments of remarking that she's a secretary (i.e. not just a bedwarmer) and wondering what she means to Kyohei, as well as Kyohei bringing up that her blood is "special" every time he drinks from her, and his pride as a vampire. It's boring to read multiple chapters in one go and have it brought up again and again. However, considering all that, it's a pretty solid office romance that often focuses on Kaya as a person, and not only as an affair partner to Kyohei.

Characters - 8/10

Kaya is a pretty decent lead. Smart and very capable, she sticks up for herself and has a poker face to die for, though the occasional moment of moping around is inevitable. Typical asshole playboy with a ~dark secret~, Kyouhei sports a smug grin at all times and constantly berates Kaya for, well, being human; even though he tones it down somewhat later on, his arrogance still stands as part of his established personality (which was honestly refreshing, as many stories tend to go the route of having "mean" male MCs "redeem" themselves and change radically by the end; not here!). The side characters (Kaya's mother, Kyohei's family etc.) are developed according to their purpose of moving the plot along and reveal more about Kaya or Kyohei when they appear.

Art - 8/10

The art is clean, with mostly good proportions and attention to backgrounds. True to its shoujo roots, the characters are pretty or handsome, with nary a plain looking one in sight; Kaya has HUGE watery eyes and a tiny mouth and nose, which can be a bit distracting in close-ups. Otherwise, the male and female characters look fairly similar, outside of small variations, but are easily distinguishable from each other.

Enjoyment - 9/10

I find myself coming back to this manga occasionally, even if it's just for a few chapters. Although as a whole it doesn't bring much new to the table of josei office romances, Kaya is a good character who doesn't throw herself at the feet of the male MC the moment he expresses interest in her, and it's fun to see the relationship between her and Kyohei progress.

Overall - 8/10

I'd absolutely recommend this if you're interested in passionate office romances with a supernatural twist. The sex scenes are hot and tastefully done, and the relationship between Kaya and Kyohei progresses at a reasonable pace, with none of them throwing themselves at the other. To me, 'Midnight Secretary' was very enjoyable to follow, but I can see how others might find it repetitive and unoriginal, and lose interest along the way. But, if you like josei in general, give this one a try!
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Midnight Secretary
Midnight Secretary
Auteur Ohmi, Tomu
Artiste