Rosario+Vampire, Vol. 3

Rosario+Vampire, Vol. 3 by Akihisa Ikeda
Series Name: Rosario+Vampire
Genres: Action, Comedy, Ecchi, Fantasy, Harem, Monsters, Romance, Vampires, Witches
Intended Age Group: Older Teen
Publisher: Viz/Shonen Jump Advanced
Edition: Paperback 
ISBN: 978-1-4215-1905-0
Rating: 4.5/5
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Description from the Book

All-around average student Tsukune can’t get accepted to any high school save one…but on his first day, he finds the rest of the student body doesn’t appear average in the least. Best of all, the cutest girl on campus can’t wait to fling her arms around his neck! Wait a sec’ – are those her teeth around his neck too…? Tsukune’s going to have one heck of a hickey when he gets home from Monster High! But does he have a chance in H-E-double-hockey-sticks of raising his grades at a school where the turf war isn’t between the jocks and the nerds but the vampires and the werewolves?

Personal & Info

Since I’ve already read a large chunk of the series before, and seen the anime, I’m giving the volumes I’ve already read a slight bump in rating to show how much I liked it my first time through. I don’t want my familiarity with the series to hurt the score. There is less thrill when you already know what happens, so I’m accounting for that. The bump is only about a half star.

If you want to watch the anime, I can say from experience the first few episodes are fairly accurate. However, as the show goes on it becomes very much less so. The manga is way better. I highly recommend reading the series if you want the best experience. I can say this from experience even though I haven’t finished the manga before. The difference is that significant.

Characters

Tsukune Aono is your every day incredibly average underachiever human with no special skills.

Moka Akashiya is a beautiful vampire love interest.

Kurumu Kurono is beautiful love interest number two. She is the big booby lady.

Yukari Sendo is an eleven year old genius, and a witch.

Gin, also known as Ginei Morioka, is the editor of the school newspaper club.

Story & Thoughts

I remember being on the edge of my seat back when I first read this volume. This one picks up where volume two left off in dealing with the protection committee. The story ramps up in the first two chapters as the gang takes on Kuyo, the committee leader. Tensions run high, and we learn another vampire capability.

The second half of the book deals with the fallout of the battle. Tsukune is uncomfortable with what Moka did, and his grades are slipping. If he doesn’t pass his mid-terms, he’ll have to attend summer school.

Considering the school’s purpose is to help monsters learn to blend in with humans, and looking at all the stuff that happens at the school, I find it surprising the school board isn’t super strict about everything. It seems like people and faculty are breaking rules all the time and nobody cares. I doubt that teaches anyone how to blend in. Clearly the protection committee hasn’t been doing their job.

The four panel comics at the end of this volume function as a fun Q & A. They are not at all serious, and we don’t necessarily get any answers to all the questions. Ms. Nekonome doesn’t appear in this volume, so she takes over this bonus section.