Rosario to Vampire

Alright, it's been a minute since I finished reading Rosario + Vampire so my memory might be a bit foggy and it's my first reviewing anything. Plus, my birthday is in two weeks so please be nice to me. That was a joke. I've been trying to use this site for more than just tracking anime and manga, but that's neither here nor there.

Now, I could go into more of my history with anime, Rosario + Vampire (which I will now be referring to as R+V) being one of my first, but this isn't about the anime so I should save it for some other time. No, this review is about the good manga and how I came to recognize the mediocrity of the anime adaptation. Fun fact: R+V and Berserk are what got me into reading manga.

STORY (7/10):

Don't get me wrong, the story is good, but you shouldn't expect a Miura coming into this series. If you've read the manga you probably know what I'm talking about. This series follows the monster of the week formula (lol) with the conflicts taking around a volume or less to resolve. This wouldn't really bug me all that much, but like with JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable, as much as I like these short stories there isn't really any overarching narrative to tie it all together.

ART (8/10):

Going back and skimming through the manga has made me realize how much Akihisa Ikeda's art style changed over the course of R+V. The art in the series isn't bad, far from it, but this isn't Sui Ishida we're talking about. In all honesty, the art starts off as good but generic-looking. Thankfully, as the series continues Ikeda develops a more distinct style that continues to look great in R+V Season II, which I am currently 5 volumes in. But one thing that always looks good is the action scenes and monster design. Ikeda's action scenes are probably the best part of the manga with some honestly disgustingly intense artwork.

CHARACTER (8/10):

At first glance, none of the characters are anything special, just some shallow archetypes with no real depth. This is made most apparent the generic brown-haired loser main character #40, Tsukune Aono. And while I did agree with that sentiment when I started the series, the characters get some much-needed depth and go beyond those archetypes as the series progresses. Especially Tsukune.


OVERALL (8/10):

I quite enjoy this series. The story is serviceable at first and only gets better with time granted you can get past the monster of the week formula (lol) that plagues most of the series. Akihisa Ikeda isn't revolutionizing the medium with his art but it is still good art. As I said it's a generic-looking at the beginning, but Ikeda develops a unique, great looking, art style and throughout the whole series has some great looking action scenes. The characters, while not the deepest out there, do have some development that makes them more than generic and are just generally fun to watch.

When I first started getting into anime I was a part of that group that only watched anime and were sick and tired of those "elitist japanese comic-book-loving fucks" that kept insisting I read their silly right-to-left books. I was wrong. I admit that. Don't get me wrong, I don't think you should exclusively read manga or watch anime. Do whatever you prefer. All I'm saying is that if you hear someone suggesting you read the source material, manga or light novel, because its "better than the anime" maybe you should consider it. It might just be.

To start off with, if you haven't read the manga, this review will contain spoilers, so read really, dont read it, you must have read the manga before you read this review, dont say I didnt warn you.

I will be diving into the basics of a review. The story, the artwork, and of course the characters.

Rosario Vampire is, to begin with, a typical shounen manga, not breaking the norm of any kind when it comes to supernatural beings and humans being thrown into the mix to make things interesting. Aono Tsukune, a 15 year old human, is put into an academy for monsters in a protective barrier from the human world. Upon arriving he meets Akashiya Moka, a vampire of the same age (but a vampire who can go out in the day, so a cool vampire...sorta). The two hit it off in a typical, love at first sight, kinda meeting as she sucks his blood before departing to the school after agreeing to be friends, only later to meet again, and the cycle beign from there for this harem style shounen manga. A small quirk in the story is that humans cannot attend this monster school, so any human there will be killed on discovery as all monsters must wear a human form (you see where I'm going with this?), so Tsukune must hide his true identity, whilst never failing to be surprised by other students true forms.

The story changes well between the whole monster school apect and its customs, to the battles between monsters (protecting the weak human) which always ends in the memorable quote of "know your place" from the inner peronality of our vampire Moka. That's right, Moka has two personalities and forms due to the charmed rosario hung n her neck by a chocker, which can only be removed by our human Tsukune. Upon removing this item, Moka transforms into her full vampire self and kicks major ass, compared to her love struck counterpart.

As the story develops, more girls are thrown into the mix to begin with ( Kurumu a succubus ad Yukari a witch) to make this a complete harem, but not before some predictable occurnces happen which didn't surprise me in the slightest. The remaining few girls, par one which doesnt come for a while, all try to attack and or kill Tsukune to begin with, before coming to the light that he is such an amazing and handsome, and also kind person and then fall madly in love with him, fighting with the other girls over who will have his heart...asides from Yukari, who wants a threesome with Tsukune and Moka, but is much to young for these things and is only in high school due to her intelligence.

Later on, a plot twist occurs (but not really) when a previous enemy returns, informing the schools police that Tsukune is a human and that Moka has been protecting him (the other girls, Kurumu and Yukari, do not know before chapter 10) so both he and moka are taken captive, as Tsukune is beaten and tortured into confessing by the police leader Kuyou, who on upon the arrival of Kurumu, Yukari (who now know he is human, but still love him regardless) and also Gin (Tsukune's only male friend) he attempts to beat them up, but is momentarily subdued by Gin, but then goes super sayen on their asses and beats them all up as well as burning them due to being a fire monster.

Tsukune beocmes desperate in the fact he cannot remove Moka's charm rosario, so things look pretty bleaque. This is the "oh no!" moment of the manga, when you're supposed to think things are going to get really bad, but we all know how these things turn out, so the story isn't surprising still.

Much to my surprise though, when Kuyou wishes to kill all of the others before Tsukune to make him suffer and decides to start with Moka, Tsukune throws his body in the path of the fireball, before falling and catching the rosario by accident, releasing Moka by accident (a constant gag throughout the series, never seems to get old though). Now left thinking things may get bad, another plot twist occurs, when for the first time in their whole relationship, Inner Moka shows caring feelings for Tsukune as she injects him with her blood to save his life from the burns as her blood can heal him as Vampire's are immortal, so their blood has the same properties. When this informaiton was revealed, I almost died with joy at the wonderous plot twist which gives things a "OMG whats going to happen now" facto, especilly after she dmits the ampire blood may also kill him as he is human, and vampire blood is volatile due to its strength (another plot twist).

Other things then go down, Innor Moka tries to fight Kuyou, but for the first time is losing because due to giving up some of her blood, she is weaker than normal (another plot twist). then just before she is bout to be beaten, BAM, Tsukune stands up radiating with vmapire power, because due to the injections, he now has vampire blood in his body forever (plot twist again) but it only makes him a vampire for a short time (and in that time he kicks Kuyou's ass, which was a favourable plot twist form the screaming ans useless Tsukune) until the supernaturl power in the blood is fully used, then he returns to normal, just having cool blood in his body, but not how we all want it (this is where the what if factor comes into it).

As time goes by, Tsukune is injected with Vampire blood on a regular basis, to either give him power to fight, or to heal him when he is close to death, which leads to the first reason. Times like this include when he meets Ruby, who tries to kill him, before he beats her and she them becomes a harem member much lter after some other stuff goes down, and when we meet Mizore (my favourite) because he helps her from a bad guy.

After seeing so much Vampire blood injections, we begin to think there is no side effect right? Wrong. After the Mizore incident, Tsukune still has some vampire power left in the blood, so its not normal vampire blood, its dangerous vampire blood, because the power having not been used, starts to hurt Tsukune on a large scale, and the injection marks form Moka's fangs do not face, and are the main cause of his pain. this returns us to the "OMG whats gonna happen now" factor, because this little side effect means Tsukune can die. Taking advantage of his momentary weakness, a previous enemy form chapter 1, Saizo, comes to try and rape Moka again and beat Tsukune.

Saizo thinks Tsukune is relaly weak having beat him in chapter 1, only for Inner Moka to beat his ass bad. Tsukune also refferes to himself as a vampire to a threatening Saizo in chapter 1 to try and protect his human identity, to which Saizo thinks he is a lying, weaker monster, but not human.

When Tsukune is cut on his chest and left for dead by a gang member with Saizo, Moka is held back from going to the imoblie Tsukune, so she cannot inject him with blood (which they dont know about) and stop him from removing her rosario (which they do know about). So once again we have the what if factor thrown in as well as the OMG factor. When things begin to look bad, Tsukune gets up with vampire powers despite not having been injected (SUPER SAYEN PLOT TWIST) and kicks the other guys asses' before turning to Saizo who shouts in desibelief of Tsukune being a vampire. this is mainly out of fear of Tsukune's appearance, as when in "vampire mode" as it is sometimes reffered to, he takes the image of a vampire, in having lighter hair, and crimosn eyes with slitted pupils (a vampire's biggest trait), so Saizo feels stupid but wants to believe Tsukune is not a vampire (and he's right, but they dont know that) but is still beaten by Tsukune, who then returns to normal, having used the rest of the vampire power in his blood.

come the next few chapters, more emotional disputes between characters (which never seems to cease to surprise me, due to them being supposedly good friends) is all stopped when Moka is kidnapped, and Tsukune goes to save her (its his fault anyway because the bad guys dont like vampires, and they think he's a vampire after he beat Saizo, and he upset Moka, so she was left alone). When he is taken to the bad guy lair, head bad guy (or so you think) starts trying to beat Tsukune up, but When Moka admits she should be the one being beaten, the bad guy turns to her agreeing. In typical hero fashion, Tsukune says nice words to Moka about her ebing of large help to him, and how things aren't her fault, and runs towards Moka, stupidly, still in human form whilst Moka is chained up, so things look bad now.

When the bad guy swings to punch Tsukune (which will kill him in a weak human body) Tsukune suddenly gains Vampire eyes and uses vampire speed to dodge the punch much to everyones, even Moka's, surprise (he doesnt seem to care though). after doing this he releases Inner Moka who stops bad guy, and then tells Tsukune to leave the academy, because his body is breaking apart due to too much vampire blood (shown by the cracking marks across Tsukune's face coming from the bite marks on the right side of his neck).

When things get emotional and sad, the bad guy comes back with a dirty tactic of subdueing Moka using the sprinklers to spray water ( a vampire's biggest weakness) and so the OMG factor comes back as Moka bagins to lose again, and is about to be beaten by a big punch, which Tsukune bloks using the somehow lingering vampire power in his body, but pushes himself to near death in the process. Despite being dangerous as it can kill him, Moka gives Tsukune more blood to save his life, which has the biggest andbest plot twist ever. Tsukune is then no longer human but is instead a ghoul, which is like a vampire and just as strong, sorta, but is mindless, and so just kills everything.

This then leads to a very emotional scene where Tuskune starts going insane and laughing in an evil fashion as he beats a large amount of gang members close to death, even attack his harem as he is no longer himself. This is where another OMG factor comes in. Moka must kill Tsukune as there is no saving him, and she nearly does, before a robed man with Ruby (the person from before who tried to kill him) appears and saves him (who would have thought).

Tsukune is now left with vampire powers and vampire healing, but is back to normal and is "human" again, due to the help of a charmed braclet he has. Downside, when he uses his powers a link breaks, and when all links are broken, he dies (turns back into a ghoul).

If you see where I'm going from here then good. More bad guys appear and the story actually starts to continue on the climb upward, as we encounter the rela leader of the gang, who wants to destroy the barrier surorunding the school, and mke humans and monsters fight in a war against each other. He also sends lead sof bad guys to fight Tsukune, which causes him to brek more links.

Eventually when the others find out who the gang leader is, a whole bunch of stuff kicks off, and everyone is pushed to their limits to fight this guy, as Moka has been kidnapped again. Whe everyone thinks they have won, the bad guy attacksthe headmaster and starts working on his plan, but Tsukune steps into the fight and uses his powers to fight the guy, but this guy is different from the others, he can dodge Tsukune's attacks, so Tsukune get's his ass handed to him, right before he starts losing control despite all the links not breaking (apparently it can happen, I dunno). that's when the OMG factor returns when Inner Moka turns up, despitre not having removed the rosario.

More stuff goes down and the bad guys gets defeated, right before we think he might win in the typical fashion. He even helps to fix his own plan and saves the academy and barrier, before ultimately losing, which is generalaly the onlyinteresting things in the manga, other things happen like Tsukune's school festival, and the harem visiting his home, but if you want to know more, read the manga.

Now to the artwork. To begin with, the artwork is not bad, but its not winning any award either. Its very amaturish, which shows the beginning of the manga, which I thnk holds an almost endearing quality to it, as it progresses and becomes better as does the manga itself. Come chapter 10, the artwork slowly increases on a one way train to awesome street, but misses its stop, and gets off at orgasmic quality junction. the character disigns become more refined and the faces beocme much more expressive, as well as not looking so round in shape. To this day I still look at the artwork in admiraiton of how wonderful it is. By the end of the manga, the artwork had won my heart over compeltely, and it had gone from good enough, to the level that should earn itself an award without even trying.

The characters are a little annoying to begin with, as they are all rinse and repeat chracters, all follwong the same predictable line. Later as they are given perosnalities and such, they are further explored, and although they still retian the usual rinse and repeat actions, for some reason, you just love them for it. Allthe little quirks the have and what they do you smile at or laugh at when you se eit, because its so predictable that hey would do it. ike how a prent would laugh seeing their child eat something because it was predictable they would eat it.

To conclude, I htink this is a wonderful manga, and it is certainlyby far my most favourite, I have read season 1 a dozen times over, and I am still waiting for season 2 to be updated. Despite all the flaws I have pointed out, for some reason they are portrayed so well in this manga. The predictbilities and such are shown in such a way, you almost didnt predict it. The plot twists left me keen to know more, and pleasantly surprised by all of it as I was taken down a street I didn't know, but I liked it.

If you are new to shounen manga, or even if you are a die hard veteran, this is certainly a manga you can read and enjoy with no worries. The story, as well as everything else, sorts itself out as it progresses, and before long this manga is so deep in your heart you cannot bear to part with it, and even if you can, you will still think of it and it leads you straight back to the manga which is so loveable, I myself am always captivated by it, now matter how much time passes.

I haven’t see the anime of Rosario to Vampire, just I knew it because it’s used in the videos of Porta of 2009. Months ago when start the Spanish version of Manga Plus of the Shueisha I had the surprise that they publish this manga weekly (instead of when was originally published, monthly), so I decided that was the perfect opportunity for known this classic.

The classic belong to the anime, issued to finals of the 2000s decade, was one of the biggest references for the magic harem that dominated the industry 10 years ago. And also is recognized for be a usual work for one of the favorite expressions of this community “The manga was better”, evidently I can’t opine about this affirmation, just I will give my review of the original material.

Most important manga of Akihisa Ikeda: About the adventures of Tsukune
Aono, a human, in a school of Yokais. Since the base, the context demands a motley set of characters, at least in their basic form, they make it. Accompanying to Tsukune have the exotic group of side girl more the main one, each one is a Yokai. Their personalities are adjusted according to that myth than they represent, make it easier the pure interaction in each scene, because everyone have something to give, none is of more.

At least they aren’t an excess in what´s refer to the individual approach of scene, if we speak superficially of development and thematic, few are explored against to the main duo. Could be logical and unnecessary considering than the two side main characters until receive their own individual stories, but in the respective cases don’t deepen the enough in their personality, goals or desires, of such way than to future, certain attitudes and declamations can be pass like out of place or little credible.

Instead the main duo if have their personal developments amply more worked than the rest, not in vain both were models that will be the main references for this kind of stories. With the male main character in search of more strength to defend to their love ones, and the female one dealing with the condition of their nature and the acceptation of the protective attitude of her couple.

To clarify there are more things to deepen in the character of Moka: The duality of her personality, coexistence with her nature, acceptation of the friendship and appreciation about strength. If we deepen in the previous will need an analysis and this is a review, so, just I can mention like the narrative trend that flow in her figure don’t end of set at all, definitely give her interest and until dimensionality, but stays short. Evidently, since any direction, is thinked to be explored to future.

Tsukune can have a development that now can be typical in this kind of story, that in his time must have been another execution of something already proved, but the execution was so nice that became in reference. After passing the chapter, according happen the clashes is winning more strength in contraposition to the deterioration of their personal dilemmas, reaching a last finished a notable evolution, and specially, credible.

Taking advantage the mention of the conflicts, the structure of the work also exploits the fantastic context of the premise. Each chapter turnaround of some enemy which will have to face the group for some reason, the exceptions are some stories longer of one chapter. This approach permits consecutive conflicts that are showing more creatures, like if was a bestiary. Giving it emotion to unknown it what will be main next villain to the they must face it.

To the start the battles happen for several reasons and apparently without connection, approach get moving the story its going building a global sense to everything is happen. Is undeniable that was thinked on track or the planning let lie down on the final phase, few or void hints exist about the institutions or final threats, a nonsense considering the homogenic structure of the school. Which was guilty of the limited state of what happen, since it seem happen randomly.

Likewise the approach of each situation neither varies so much, has an order quickly assimilated and few change it, can cause exhaustion, gladly the little duration avoid an wear more demarcated. Don’t leave of feel it than is little used, just need it a best event planning.

As can be expected from the synopsis, the global thematic turnaround of the coexistence and harmony between the different species, expressed to two ways: The episodically conflicts and the main romance. The first ones usually happen between some Yokai against some group member (usually Tsukune or Moka), occasionally is the main thematic down in these difference between species whose resolutions reinforces the message of coexistence, the main romance is a forbidden relation that carries to accept the differences between the two poles apart, more clear can´t be.

There are traces of racism and xenophobia, more don’t pass of that, suggestions for add more emotion to the events, authentically there isn’t approach of this, although again, neither is the predicament of the work, is the coexistence, something that really make it in a acceptable level.

Almost ironically the draw is other representation about the development of the work. Ikeda was growing up since the start to end, in begin the strokes are stiff, few charisma, low capacity of expression, bad positing and lack of impact. If well since the start have qualities for layout and the effort of full pages, the several characteristics are the one need polish, thing than happen, except the last.

Although the good layout make it easy a powerful rhythm, the draw lack impact, the punches hasn’t strength, same with power ups, again, while moving up go improving, more never manages to overcome fully this bump. Beside of continue occasionally with the stiff and bad proportions. I really liked his style more cartoonish.

Special recognition to his character design, each character is different, of growing representativeness, with memorable villains at least in visual terms. Could have taken advantage to exploits the character design through Fanservice, but don’t pass of tit touch or pantie glance, pretty much moderated in comparison with the successors.

Rosario to Vampire has been a surprise, don’t expect a work with so much personality, attractive, world building and thematic to deepen. And precisely for that I can qualified like wasted, either structure, port of the thematic and even the draw. But there isn´t need to be afraid of, there is a sequel already written, with a score below to 8 and eyeing the reviews seems to be all that the first part want to be. Thanks to Shuesiha for leaving me read and continue this special story.



Español

Aún no he visto el anime de Rosario to Vampire, sólo le conocía porque es utilizado en los videos de porta de 2009. Hace unos meses cuando comenzó la versión en español de manga Plus de la Shueisha tuve la sorpresa que publicarían este manga semanalmente (al contrario de cuándo fue originalmente publicada, mensualmente), entonces decidí que era la oportunidad perfecta para conocer a este clásico.

El clásico corresponde al anime, emitido a finales de la década de los 2000, fue una de las grandes referencias para los harems mágicos que tanto dominaron la parrilla hace 10 años. Y también es reconocido por ser una obra predilecta en una de las expresiones preferidas de esta comunidad “El manga era mejor”, evidentemente no puedo opinar respecto a esta afirmación, sólo daré mi reseña del material original.

Manga más importante de Akihisa Ikeda: Sobre las aventuras de Tsukune Aono, un humano, en una escuela de Yokais. Desde la base, el contexto exige un conjunto variopinto de personajes, y al menos en su forma básica, logra cubrirlo. Acompañando a Tsukune tenemos al exótico grupo de chicas secundarias más la principal, cada una correspondiendo a un Yokai. Sus personalidades se ajustan conforme a ese mito que representan, facilitando la pura interacción en cada escena, porque todas tienen que algo para aportar, ninguna sobra.

Al menos no son un exceso en lo que se refiere al manejo individual de escena, si hablamos superficialmente de desarrollo y temáticas, poco son exploradas en comparación al dúo protagónico. Podrá ser lógico e innecesario considerando que las 2 secundarias principales hasta recibieron su propia historia individual, pero en los respectivos casos no se ahonda lo suficiente en su personalidad, metas o deseos, de tal manera que a futuro, ciertas actitudes y declamaciones pueden pasar como fuera de lugar o poco creíbles.

En cambio el dúo protagónico si tienen sus desarrollos personales sobradamente más trabajados que los demás, no en vano ambos fueron modelos de los que se convertirían los próximos protagonistas de este tipo de historias. Con el protagónico masculino en búsqueda de más fuerza para defender a quienes quiere, y la femenina lidiando con las condiciones de su naturaleza y la aceptación de la actitud proteccionista de su pareja.

Cabe aclarar que hay más cosas para hondar en el personaje de Moka: La dualidad de su personalidad, convivencia con su naturaleza, aceptación de la amistad y apreciación sobre la fuerza. Si profundizará en lo anterior necesitaría un análisis y esto es una reseña, entonces, sólo puedo mencionar como las corrientes narrativas que desembocan en su figura no terminar de cuajar del todo, sin duda le dotan de interés y hasta dimensionalidad, más se queda corto, siendo evidente desde cualquier dirección, es pensado para explorar a futuro.

Tsukune puede tener un desarrollo que ahora puede parecer típico en este tipo de historia, que en su tiempo debió haber sido sólo otra ejecución de algo ya demostrado, más la ejecución fue tan buena que se volvió referencia. Tras el pasar de los capítulos, conforme ocurren los enfrentamientos va ganando más fuerza en contraposición al deterioro de sus dilemas personales, llegando a último término a una evolución notable y, especialmente, creíble.

Aprovechando a la mención de los conflictos, la estructura de la obra también explota el fantástico contexto de la premisa. Cada capítulo gira alrededor de algún enemigo al que deberá enfrentar el grupo por alguna razón, las excepciones son algunas historias que abarca más de un capítulo, este planteamiento permite conflictos consecutivos que van presentado más criaturas, como si de un bestiario se tratase. Dotando de emoción al desconocer cuál será el próximo villano al que habrán de enfrentarse.

Al comienzo los encontronazos suceden por razones variadas y aparentemente sin conexión, conforma avanza la historia se va construyendo de un sentido global a todo aquello que está pasando. Es innegable que fue pensada sobre la marcha o la planificación se dejó recostada en la fase final, al comienzo pocas o nulas pistas existieron sobre las instituciones y amenazas finales, careciendo de sentido considerando la estructura tan homogénica de la escuela. Lo cual llevo a que se limitará lo que ocurre, puesto que parece pasar al azar.

Así mismo el abordaje de cada situación tampoco varía tanto, tiene un orden rápidamente asimilado y poco cambiado, puede generar agotamiento, afortunadamente la poca duración evito un desgaste más demarcado. No deja de sentirse potencial desaprovechado al que sólo le hubiera bastado una mejor puesta de sucesos.

Como podría esperar de las inferencias de la sinopsis, las temáticas globales giran alrededor de la convivencia y armonía entre las diferentes especies, manifestado a través de 2 formas: Los conflictos episódicos y el romance principal. Los primeros suelen ocurrir por las disputas entre algún Yokai contra algún miembro del grupo (generalmente Tsukune o Moka), de vez en cuando es la temática principal cae en estas diferencias entre especies cuya solución refuerza el mensaje de convivencia, el romance protagónico es una relación prohibida que lleva a aceptar las diferencias entre dos polos opuestos, más claro no puede ser.

Hay tintes de racismo o xenofobia, no pasan de ser eso, sugerencias para agregar más emoción a los sucesos, auténticamente no hay tratado de esto, aunque nuevamente, tampoco es el predicamento de la obra, es la convivencia, algo que si logra abordar aceptablemente.

Casi irónicamente el dibujo es otra representación sobre el desarrollo de la obra. Ikeda fue mejorando notablemente de comienzo a final, en principio los trazos son acartonados, poco carisma emiten los dibujos, baja capacidad de expresión, mal posicionamiento y falta de impacto. Si bien desde el comienzo cuenta con dos cualidades la maquetación y el esfuerzo en páginas completas, los demás apartados eran los que necesitaban pulirse, cosa que ocurre, a excepción de lo último.

Pese a la buena maquetación que facilitaría un poderoso ritmo, al dibujo falta de impacto, carecen de fuerza los golpes y poderes especiales, otra vez, mientras avanza va mejorando, más nunca logro superar al completo este bache. Además de seguir ocasionalmente con el acartonamiento y erradas proporciones. Eso sí, me gusta cuando son dibujos más cartoon.

Sobrado reconocimiento a su diseño de personajes, cada personaje distinto, de creciente representatividad, con villanos recordables al menos en términos visuales. Podría haberse aprovechado para explotar el diseño de personajes a través del Fanservice, no obstante, no pasa del roce de pechos y vistazos de bragas, bastante moderado en comparación a sus sucesores.

Me ha sorprendido Rosario to Vampire, no esperaba una obra con tanta personalidad, atractivo, mundo y temas que profundizar. Y por eso mismo puedo calificar como no me deja de parecerme desaprovechado, ya sea desde la estructura, el puerto de las temáticas y hasta el dibujo. Pero no hay que temer, una secuela escrita, con puntaje superior al 8 y que ojeando las reseñas tiene pinta de alcanzar todo aquello a que aspira esta primera parte. Gracias a la Shueisha por permitirme leer y continuar esta especial historia.

I keep asking myself why didn't I read this sooner?!?!Actually I know why : because of a stupid reason.While browsing the database of one of my favorite manga websites,I stumbled upon this manga.The title was good,the summary was good,everything was good except for the "ecchi" part included in the genre tags.So I just thought to myself : nah!I'm not in the mood for reading ecchi stuff.This is for boys,maybe some other time....So I kept on avoiding Rosario + Vampire ( actually those ecchi stuff are barely noticeable;they're not even worth being called ecchi,so I avoided this manga basically for nothing XD) .But after continuously hearing and reading about it almost everywhere I decided to finally give it a try.

STORY : I gues this might be the only weak point of this manga.However,even if the story is,well,more or less a cliche story (vampires + mosters school + hero with no power whatsoever/ hidden powers - basically elements that we encounter in many other manga as well),the author's style and the superb art transform this average story into an unforgettable experience!Moreover,I can't find even a single detail that I don't like about this story.The adventure is harmoniously combined with romance,comedy and a lot of supernatural , offering the reader the occasion of experimenting a wide range of emotions : delight,suspense,curiosity,impatience,happiness etc. Truthfully, a fascinatig and pleasant story.

ART :Just like I mentioned earlier,the art is absolutely irreproachable.The characters are superbly drawn in extremely varied situations : while fooling around,while being nervous,angered,worried,while fighting,while expressing their feelings and so on.There isn't a moment whatsoever when the characters aren't being expressive.On the contrary,they're emotions are so easy to read the reader himself will be immersed in the story without even realizing it.

CHARACTERS :This somehow reminds me of harem genre.An average boy,with no particular qualities -besides being kindhearted ad a loyal friend maybe - surrounded by plenty beautiful and talented women - and even a 13 years old girl.Of course,he is in love with the most beautiful and powerful of them all ("know you place!" I would say if I were Moka XD).But of course Moka,also likes him a lot so they go through all hardship together.What a perfect couple!The other girls are fun too.You'll definitely like them!And they all fight for his sake...What a like guy,isn't he ? XD

ENJOYMENT : I can't find enough words to describe how much I enjoyed this manga!If there were higher marks than 10 I would surely give the highest to Rosario to Vampire,but since 10 is the only mark possible,then I'll give this manga a 10 + for enjoyment ^_^

As a conclusion,whether you like shounen manga,or shoujo manga,or supernatural manga or whatever other genre,you should at least TRY to read Rosario to Vampire.I guarantee you will be so into it that you'll read it in no time.I think this is a manga that will suite anyones tastes.

Now to talk about what I consider to be one of the best cases of the manga being superior to the anime, Rosario + Vampire.

Story - 10/10
15 year old Tsukune Aono enrolls at the Youkai Academy, due to the fact that no other high school will accept him, and while walking from the bus to the school, a girl named Moka Akashiya crashes into him - who reveals herself to be a vampire by sucking Tsukune's blood. After arriving at the school, he quickly realizes that the school is actually a school for monsters. And it turns out that Moka is in his class.

The story in the manga isn't exactly ground breaking on it's own, but it's actually like it's completely different from the anime - mainly because it feels like they take more time to flesh out the characters, as opposed to the anime, which felt like it was basically trying to rush to introduce all of the characters from the first season (I cannot comment on the second season, since I have not seen it, and to my understanding, the second season of the anime is not adapted from the manga). True, they do establish that this is a harem by introducing Kurumu in the second chapter, but after that, whenever a character is introduced, it feels like said character is actually being introduced to the story, instead of being forced into the story. Also, the fight scenes actually feel like fight scenes - they don't have a lot of fanservice, so it's easier to take them seriously. Also, the manga has a lot more content than the anime - however, I'm not going to list out all the things that the manga has that the anime doesn't, since that would be spoiling the manga, and it would also take me a long time to do so.

Art - 9/10
The anime has ONE advantage over the manga in this area: it's colored. Other than that, I would actually say that the art in the anime was a downgrade from the art in the manga (although I think that the studio responsible for making the anime adaptation is to blame for that).

Character - 10/10
While the personalities of the characters in the manga are similar to their anime counterparts, as mentioned previously, they have more time to develop, and as a result, they feel more fleshed out. Also, because there's more content in the manga, we actually get to see aspects of the characters that the anime doesn't show. For example, Mizore and Kurumu's parents are actually introduced - and it's apparent that the traits of those 2 are passed down.

Enjoyment: 10/10
This has easily earned itself a spot on my top 5 favorite manga, and I'm definitely going to read the second season. Stay tuned for when I eventually tackle the second season of the manga.

RIYL: Sekirei, Claymore, Immortal Regis

I write this review with a clear purpose: This is not your usual harem ecchi rom-com as like Love Hina or To Love-Ru.

I am not sure about the anime version but I for one am impressed with the story and the progression of what happened, but with a few reservations.

[Story:7/10]
Like every harem ecchi rom-com, the story is not that good. Honestly, the manga is more geared towards shounen, with a risk for adventure rather than real ecchi. What's refreshing is the comedic presentation and the "fight against monsters stronger than us using teamwork" theme. O, and the way the monsters were presented was rather interesting, although I'm not sure if the facts are accurate.

Anyways, story-wise I think the overall is quite coherent except that some villains who appeared once would never appear again even if initially, they seem like part of the main environment, with little explanation or closure regarding their whereabouts later on.

[Art:8/10]
Gotta say that initially I wasn't fond of the main characters' designs and the background was also lacking in details at times. However, what impressed me was the action scenes and expressions that depicted the scenarios the characters were in well. Aside from that, the designs of each character was quite distinct so there never was any issue differentiating between any character. However, there were some inconsistencies in the character drawings, but overall, the art picked up from the first chapters to become better and better over chapters.

[Character:8/10]
Regarding characters, there are 2 main parts about it I would like to cover. 1 is regarding the personalities and the other is regarding character development. Character consistency is pretty good so I'll not be covering that.

Personalities-wise, I think that each character has a role in the manga, whether it is for comic relief, for romance, or others. The personalities are diverse yet the way the manga brings them together to face challenges is quite exciting, probably because none of them is imba without weaknesses or repercussions. So in a way they need each other, but it is not in such a superficial manner that one would get bored after repeated challenges. And I think one good thing is that each of the characters do treat each other as a "friend" most of the time instead of "someone related to Tsukune", so it's refreshing to see friendship in such a manga instead of harem rivalry.

Character development-wise, it's not that bad but not that good either cos only history of some of the main characters was delved into, but still each character could be seen from their actions to be seen as who they are. I think the interesting development is rather with Tsukune as compared with the rest of the characters. Nice development indeed, something which is very characteristic of shounen mangas.

[Enjoyment: 10/10]
Sweet, bitter at times, but overall a yearning for every next chapter would be how I describe it. Not a lot of ecchi, mind you this manga is not a "undergarment-rush" type of manga, with reference to To Love-Ru and Love Hina, neither does it have a lot of "accidents", but there are a lot of happenings which if they seem miraculously coincidental, would have a scenario where it seems plausible enough not to seem silly (Or in my own words, miracles by the author's hands).

[Overall: 8/10]
This is a shounen harem with a bit of romance and ecchi manga. And yea, I do think that any power-up seen in this manga is more plausible than Luffy's Second and Third Gear, with the drawbacks compared to the power-ups.

Ok that's it, enjoy reading XD.

Ever been so bad at school that you can't pass an entrance exam? Well that's how Tskune felt, until his parents enrolled him in Yokai Academy, a school that has no entry requirements, to ensure he could have a proper education. Tskune thinks the hard part is over, but he has no idea what's in store for him...

Story (6/10) - Obviously there is more in-depth story in a Manga than an Anime adaption, and this had a nice ending to buildup to the sequel.

Art (7/10) - The art in the Manga was a little different at first compared to the Anime, but that's to be expected. It was pretty good in my opinion.

Character (6/10) - Being the outcast among the outcasts of his classmates of his new school doesn't stop Tskune from being who he is.

Enjoyment (6/10) - This was a good read, and I can't wait to read the sequel!

Overall (6.25/10) - Rosario to Vampire is interesting, but just not for everyone. Curious to see how this will end...

So i came in to this expecting a story more centered around monster high school. But was disappointed with this being more of a drama filled story.

Not to say it's a bad story and some of the drama isn't even bad. It's just if i remember correctly we don't get a single chapter not involving some evil scheme or some big thing happening. Except maybe towards the end.

The story also lacks consistency. We have Moka the main female lead. She is one of if not the most powerful person in the school of monsters. Yet we are getting scenes where she can't handle things or is easily taken out. There is also a good amount of scenes that result in rape almost happening with her. This got very distracting to me and was annoying.

There is also something else to mention that is annoying. The Rosario. One of the worst plot devices in this story. This thing is constantly making bad situations into even worse ones because Moka has this. The entire gimmick is that when the Rosario is on we have the main character that is just a step above normal humans in power. But for whatever reason she limits her self and wears the item and then we get her second half that has all the power and is able to beat just about anything.

The Rosario was not needed and i think hinders the actual story. I could go into more detail about why the Rosario shouldn't have been a thing. But i'm trying to keep this brief.

We have the main character now "Tsukune" He is an alright character that kind of turns into a generic Japanese school boy that has all these girls chasing after him. He is the only one Able to take off the Rosario as mentioned before. He is also the victim of Power creep. At first it was nice to have the MC be for the most part be out of his league with all the monsters around him. But in later chapter he starts to become really strong and kind of annoying. Thankfully in some of the final chapters it seems to be forgotten.

Lastly, The story starts to drag on near the end. I personally believe chapter 18 or 20 is where it starts getting ridiculous in the stories happening. Such as giant sunflowers attacking a city. But thankfully chapter 35 or 34 the story gets back on track and doesn't have these serious plots that are involving the fate of human and monster kind. We get more laid back plot for the rest of the story and a funny one at that too.

Over all i wish the story wasn't so drama oriented and it didn't turn into such a cliche harem type of thing. But it's still kind of fun to read.

Ok, i dont usually say this about many mangas but...... ROSARIO VAMPIRE ROX!!!
it has a perfect amount of adult humour, immature humour, comedy, action and storyline!!

the only downside to this manga is that the battles between moka and the monsters all end the same.
it's all she has her rosario pulled off, tsukune is almost dead, moka bites him and infuses her blood, tsukune turns into a rampaging human x vampire, he punches the monster, blood comes out of their mouths and it just goes over and over!!!
But other than that, the art, story and characters are totally awesome.

If you enjoy Ikki Tousen or any teenage type manga or anime, i recomend Rosario Vampire

Rosario + Vampire isn't anything special. Now I'll start by saying it isn't your typical harem manga, being set in a school full of different monsters, so I'll start with a good note and applaud them for abit of originality on that part.

But the praise dies there; the same recycled plot device and non-existant character development gets painfully old fast, the characters in general are so generic it's unbelieveable, like "here's typical loser harem protaganist"surrounded by lots of women who love him...*yawn* Now atleast with other harem mangas the setting changes abit, like there'll be a scene in school, then maybe at lunch or after school at someone's house or in town, this manga always has the same settings, and always the same suspicious character who ends up being the villian for that chapter, it's more predictable than scoopy doo. Alot of fan service is presence, I mean i'm not complaining i'm a guy afterall but it seems to me that the fan service is used to cover up for the flaws of the series, like they think people won't notice if they shove a chest into the readers face.

There's now a second series of the manga out but I couldn't care less, I haven't read it but I'm guessing that they've probably made the characters abit older and added a new fanservice girl.

So to summarize:
- The setting is pretty original; applause
- The art is also good so thumbs up to the artist
- Same recycled plot device; very predictable
- Generic and uninteresting characters; non-existant development
- Lack of settings makes the story get boring fast
- Over reliant on fan service; used to cover flaws
- Typical whinny protagonist

I'll try my best to net let Season 2 influence my ratings on the first season, but I can't promise anything.

Story:
The basis of this manga is the harem genre. If you don't like harems, fear not, for there is more to it than just that. First of all, we have an interesting setting, a human at a monste school with monster girls all over him. And while the romance is always there, the main focus soon turns to the fights. Rosario + Vampire is a unique mix between Action and Romance that should offer something for everybody. And if you're not sure if you wanna read something labeled Ecchi, don't worry, there is very few nudity (I only remember one time breasts are actually shown). Due to Tsukunes development caused by Mokas blood, the story stays interesting, even though the basic formula stays the same. The bad guys could have used a bigger variety of motivation for starting fights than just "I want to beat Tsukune cause he's like really strong" or "Damn that Moka is so hot, gotta kill her boyfriend", as it can feel a little repetitive.
7/10

Art:
The artwork is really, really awesome. The backgrounds look pretty good, especially the graveyard in front of the dormitories. The fight scenes all look good as well, you always have a clue what's going on. But the most outstanding feature are the characters. Everybody in Rosario + Vampire is incredibly pretty, the girls AND the boys. Even Tsukune, who looks rather plain compared to all the other handsome dudes, is not too shabby. Even though I'm a Mizore guy, I gotta say that Moka (both of them) is one of the most beautiful girls I've ever seen in an Anime or Manga. The more serious a scene, the more detailed the characters are drawn and it never feels out of place. Seriously, there is nothing bad I can say about the artwork.
10/10

Characters:
Being a Harem Manga at heart, you wouldn't expect very deep characters. But some of them have more meat on their bones (insert dirty joke here) than similar ones from other works. Tsukune for example, while he is our boring friendly everydude in the beginning, he evolves quite a bit, thanks to the vampire blood injected into him. As far as male harem leads go, he's pretty interesting. The female lead is a split personality, one being the "boring" nice girl, the other being a ruthless and seemingly heartless ass-kicking machine (that legs, DAYUM!). As Inner Moka only develops feelings for Tsukune very late in season one, we don't get much drama out of it (yet). The rest of the cast didn't have much time to shine (again, yet), but Kurumu is pretty interesting as far as beta females go. Despite being a succubus and throwing herself at Tsukune every chance she gets, she is actually not a pervert at all, even being ashamed of somebody seeing her panties. That's a weird combination, but she makes it work. She has a kind heart and would never force Tsukune to sex her (even though that's exactly what a succubus is supposed to do). All I can say is, the characters are interesting, but they could be a little deeper (Season II ahoy).
8/10

Enjoyment:
Comedy, Romance, Action, Drama and some mild fansevice, Rosario + Vampire offers something for everybody. Likeable characters and a story that, even if it's not necessarily a great one, keeps moving forward, on top of that and you have one of the most entertaining Manga of the past decade. People who want Romance without Action or Action without Romance will have a hard time getting into R+V, but if you don't mind some genre mixing, you will be entertained a lot. You should definately give it a try.
9/10

Overall:
8.5/10

Ah Rosario+Vampire, my first encounter with this series a sour one manly because I watched both seasons of the Anime version first. I was not really impressed since it was just your stereotypical harem Anime that it actually made me facepalm more than once. Afterwords I was interested to see if the source material was any better (i.e. the Manga) and I got to say this is what the Anime "SHOULD" of been. The story was good, the fights were well done and even characters are better portrayed here. So with out further a due, here's my review.


The Story:

The story begins with a regular ordinarily human boy named Tsukune Aono who accidentally attends to Youkai Academy, a private school for monsters. There he must keep his true identity a secret in order survive because if anyone finds out that he is in deed human, he'll be kill on the spot. Lucky for him he makes some new friends (who happen to be beautiful girls who all fall for him) that fight along side him and one of his new friends, Moka Akashiya, so happens to be the legendary monster, a Vampire. The whole setting for this story was really well made in my opinion and in fact had some really good monster facts that I didn't even know about. The relationships that Tsukune has with his friends is relatively strong, especially with Moka. Also each challenge that they faced was pretty tough but they manage find a way and pull through. If I had to give any flaws it would be that the first few chapters can take a while to get up to speed, some of the fights can end abruptly and Tsukune and Moka can misunderstand each other a lot under certain circumstances but the story has a whole is good so I can't complain.


The Art:

In the first few chapters of this series, I found the art to be good but nothing to spectacular. As I read more chapters though the art got better and better, especially with the characters and battle scenes. For instance the characters faces early on were nicely drawn but in later chapters each character had much more emotion in there faces and can tell what they are going throw, it was nice to see. Although the battle scenes I think were the most unique. They had such good angles and foreshortening on characters arms and legs that it was really nice to look at. I really give props to the Mangaka on that.


The Characters:

Here I would like to talk about each of the Main Characters of this series one at a time (this part may take a while, sorry)....

Tsukune Aono: At first he doesn't do much in beginning except shield his friends so he can protect them and removes Moka's rosary to awaken her Vampire powers. However by chapter 10 he really starts to man up and eventually because a bad-ass with powers of his own. I really grew to like his character throw out the series and additionally he really likes Moka and tries to spend every moment with her.

Moka Akashiya: Now there are two sides of Moka in Rosario+Vampire. The pink haired Moka is the one who first meets Tsukune and is very nice, smart and the considered to be the most beautiful girl at Youkai Academy. She quickly befriends Tsukune and tells him that she is a Vampire, however her Vampire powers are sealed away due to the rosary that she wears around her neck. She can't take it off herself but it turns out that Tsukune is the only one who can and when it does come off, the pink haired Moka transforms into her true Vampire form complete with red eyes and silver hair. The silver haired Moka can kick your ass very quickly and tends to be more violent. I liked both Moka's, pink haired Moka shows that not only does so truly care for Tsukune but her friends as well and silver haired Moka is such a bad-ass.

Kurumu Kurono: She's might be the most energetic of the group and is also a Succubus. She was OK when she was first introduced but soon I grew to like her too when she started to trust her friendship with Tsukune, Moka and the others and she can hold her own in a fight when needed. She really likes Tsukune and often tries the most to win over his affections throwout the series.

Yukari Sendou: The youngest of the group since she is a genius student who skip a few grades. She is also a Witch who can use magical attacks such as tarot cards and most common a washtub that she uses to drop on peoples heads (mostly for comic relief). Not only does she really like Tsukune but also really likes Moka too and claims she wants to be with both of them. She may be my least favorite in the series but she is likeable and plus she's really funny when she picks fights with Kurumu.

Ruby Toujo: Another Witch who at first was a enemy that hated all humans but thanks to Tsukune and company, she becomes their ally and friend. I don't have much to say about her without giving away that might spoil anything except that she does see Yukari as a very good Witch friend and she to really likes Tsukune. And unlike Yukari, I liked her a lot and found her to be a better Witch.

Mizore Shirayuki: Without a doubt, my favorite character in the Manga. She is a Yuki-onna (Snow Women) who can freeze water into ice and can use ice and snow as a weapon. She can also create ice clones of herself and others. She always seen with a lollipop and like every other main girl, she really likes Tsukune. So much so that she stalks Tsukune everywhere he goes from behind trees, bushes, etc. She often freezes any of the other girls who tend to get to close to him. Plus she seems to be the only one who can tell how Tsukune is feeling and would do anything for him see him happy, even if its not what she really wants in the end. Clearly that is enough to make her my favorite character.

Now there are some supporting characters that were good but the only one I'll mention here is the Bus Driver on account that he was very mysterious and really cool.


Enjoyment:

It took a couple of chapters for me to really start enjoying this Manga but I feel it succeed during chapter 10. There were moments that I found it to be funny at times. The main characters were likable throw out the series and I enjoyed how they overcome many obstacles. Plus the art was very nice to look at from time to time.


Overall:

I may not like the Anime but the Rosario+Vampire Manga is a very good read. It may start off kind of slow but give it time and it will reward you with a good story, good battle scenes and likeable characters. So if you enjoy your Mangas with Monsters, Werewolf's, Witches, Lizard Creatures and of course Vampires, than give this one a shot. It may be right up your alley.



Final Score Card:

Story: 7/10
Art: 8/10
Characters: 8/10
Enjoyment: 8/10

Overall: 8/10

I must admit that I've seen Rosario+Vampire anime even before starting reading manga, so I had some sort of expectations. Generally, Rosario+Vampire is story about human guy Aono Tsukune, who couldn't find any other high schools that would accept him except for the Youkai (monster) academy, which is actually protected by grand barrier preventing humans to enter. What is the real reason that he's able to enter the academy remains a secret.

Alright, let's move on. In the very beginning of story, he bumps into beautiful vampire Akashiya Moka and they start to get along very well. She's not that ordinary kind of bloody murderous vampire, so stay calm. Moka's inner powers are rated as S-class, but it's sealed by silver cross on her neck, which provides complete makeover of her appearance and personality. So as the result we have very nice, charismatic and overally perfect girl you could only dream about.

Storyline (8) itself is filled with lot of action featuring supernatural powers of all kinds of monsters usually containing funny aspects. I couldn't possibly give it better score, but I guess you can expect that from most of slice of life genre. Note that I don't look down on a story at all, it's actually really catching, still it's more about amazing characters than story I guess. As a time passes by, he meets several more girls, who initially appear as either enemy or absolute stranger, but resulting in falling in love with Tsukune.

Characters (10) are generally really funny, so I got to like them very fast. I guess it can be called a "guy and a harem" as he always has girls around. Main character is caring guy with strong will and great potential. Althrough he's human in school of monsters, he's never acted like scared wreck.

If you have watched anime before, do not expect that much love atmosfere. Even though I'm huge fan of ecchi, I must admit that I actually liked manga better. Story is much more understandable in manga and has main events in better order. My overall score is (9).

May contain slight spoilers. So be warned.

Story: 4

Well, there is hardly any plot at all. It basically follows a generic formula(of the most generic kind i've ever read) of meet some new bad guys every chapter or two, give some basic generic cliche background, and then fight. It would not matter that much, however, the fights are just as generic and boring as the story, and so are their powers. Even the fights formula is generic, and they always start and end the same way(you'll know when you read it). Rinse and repeat. There is no suspense whatsoever, except for perhaps one arc which concerns Tsukune, but even that goes nowhere. Hopefully the second season picks up where that left off, and the whole series starts to explain some things and there is a story happening, and is not just filler after filler. However, i'm not going to hold my breath.

Art: 8

This is the best thing about the series. It has a pretty good clean style, and plenty of fan service. The monsters are pretty nice to look at, and what fighting there is is clean and easy to understand what's going on. But that doesn't say much, because the main characters always do the same move, so you're basically just left looking at the new bad guy of the week.

Character: 5

There is hardly any character development. They all have their basic background stories, and that's about it. And that is only given so that there is an excuse to set up the fights, and to give some panty shots or to pull Tsukunes head into their chest etc. The main character is the most boring and useless guy you will ever have the displeasure of meeting. All his harem girls are also one dimensional caricatures, and serve no purpose except fanservice, and each chapter they all act the same way and this gets repetitive fast. If it was enjoyable, and they were like cameo's, it wouldn't have been so bad. However, they are main characters, and there isn't even one character who i actually really liked(which isn't normally the case, because even if i hate the main characters, there's usually one support character i really like, but that's not the case here). No redeeming features at all.

Enjoyment: 5

I was not really excited about any chapters at all, it's mostly just from looking at fanservice/art that garners the most 'enjoyment'.

Overall: 6

I was very disappointed by the reviews that this series got, and was totally surprised with the relative high ratings.. i picked this up because it was a recommendation from Mx0(which i hold in high regard, even though it's an unfinished series), but in my opinion, Mx0 totally blows this out of the water in terms of plot, characters, and enjoyment(and even art, so in every way heh). While it may share similar settings, the quality and enjoyment could not be further apart. Do not be tricked like i was(both had 8+ ratings). Do not expect anything close to Mx0. If Mx0 was an 8, this is more like a 5-6, and that's only because the artwork was decent. Story and characters/enjoyment really sucks hard in this. There's no suspense or awkward situations at all, like how in Mx0 he had no magic power, and in this one he's meant to be human and no magic either, it does not explore those themes at all, so i feel kind of tricked by the recommendation.

I did finish this however, so i guess it's not THAT bad(well, to be fair, the first volume or two was kind of interesting, but after that, you will just get disappointed as you realize that it's not going to go anywhere, and that's too bad because i think the setting had potential, but the mangaka did not take it down that road at all, ie could of made it darker/more serious and less 'kiddy'). However, it's also not good at all(and with just slightly above average art, but for an ecchi series, it's just average since it's to be expected), and i would not recommend it to anyone except the most bored manga readers with very low standards when it comes to characters, plot, and enjoyment, and who is a hardcore ecchi vampire fanboi, and who have not read very many manga series, because that way you can read this with a low standard and move onto better stuff, since if you've already read other better stuff and then read this(as i have), you will be utterly disappointed and bored, and even slightly offended with how cliche and generic the story is. It's like the mangaka treats it's readers with disdain and even knows his story is crap/nonexistant, yet he still doesn't care and knows it's readers will keep buying the manga regardless.. kind of reminds me of Haruhi and the endless 8 arc.. lol

Yes, i'm going to check out the second season/series, so i guess it's readable and will pass the time, but it's the most generic harem/ecchi/vampire/monster story you'll ever read, so don't expect anything except the most averageharem/ecchi/vampire/monster 'story'(or rather, decent artwork with some filler story thrown in as an excuse to show said artwork), but with above average artwork(which is to be expected from a ecchi title). I would recommend Mx0 a hundred times over, and then recommending another 100 harem/ecchi/supernatural titles before even mentioning this.