Rosario+Vampire, Vol. 4 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: 978-1-4215-1906-7
Rating: 4/5
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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.
I can’t remember for sure, but I think the anime is significantly less accurate by this point. I can’t say for sure which episodes start to stray, because it’s been a while, but I know for sure the anime introduces another character before the events of this volume. That character, in the manga, is introduced after these events.
Honestly, looking at a list of the episode descriptions, several things appear to be changed or out of order. I HIGHLY recommend just reading the manga. I will no longer be mentioning the anime after this review due to the massive amount of differences.
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.
Ruby is a new witch character, who may or may not be significant later.
Story & Thoughts
It’s the start of summer vacation at Yokai Academy. The gang goes to the human world for a club field trip to practice some investigative journalism. Gin stays behind to attend summer school, and Miss Nekonome is the chaperone, although she isn’t much of one.
The entire volume focuses on the trip and the events that occur. We get more insight into the rift between witches and humans. Of course, Yukari also experiences a little character growth, since the volume’s theme is witches.
This is the first time we get to see any combat involving Yukari. Her techniques seem simple, but effective. I would guess her cards probably have metal edges. If they don’t, then the force she manages to put into them is amazing.
Another witch by the name of Ruby appears in this volume. I can’t remember how significant she is in the manga later on, but I know the anime liked to throw her in frequently for cameos. She shows off some cool witch abilities we have not seen in the story until now.
This volume ends in a major cliff hanger just when things are getting super serious. I recommend having volume five ahead of time, so you don’t have to wait.
Notable Issues
In a panel that recaps what species everyone in the group is, Moka and Kurumu’s species are mislabelled as switched. I’m surprised this mistake made it through editing.