Tag: Manga

Dick Fight Island, Vol. 2

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Dick Fight Island, Vol. 2 by Reibun Ike
Series Name: Dick Fight Island
Genres: BL, Comedy, Erotica, Romance
Intended Age Group: Mature
Publisher: SuBlime/Libre
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-9747-2655-4
Rating: 5/5
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Description from the Book

Matthew is studying at a prestigious college, and his new roommate, Harto, is almost too much to take. Harto hails from the mysterious Pulau Yang Indah and grew up with strange island cultural practices involving…well, the butt. Matthew does his best to shield his new roommate from teasing before it devolves into actual sexual harassment, and Harto isn’t unmoved by Matthew’s kindness – in fact, just thinking of him can bring him to orgasm. But these new developments terrify him too. As his clan’s chosen warrior, he can’t risk growing weak. Will he be forced to choose between his new love and the clan that raised him?

Personal & Info

The first book is really good, so of course I had to get the second one. It does not disappoint. It’s unfortunate the series only has two volumes.

This book shares the same type of censorship as the first. The gray/black bar that does not cover much and seems to be used inconsistently.

Characters

Harto is the main character. He’s from the jewel clan, and he attends college abroad. Matthew is his roommate.

Matthew Manami is Harto’s roommate from college abroad.

Pisau is from the sun clan. He usually trains for the tournament with Yudha, but their relationship is developing more than that.

Roro is chief of the earth clan.

Yudha is from the warrior clan. He usually trains for the tournament with Pisau, but their relationship is developing more than that. He expressed the desire to move in with him during the events of the tournament.

Taring is the son of the leader of the matrilineal fang clan. His involvement in everything is insignificant.

Naga is from the dragon clan. He has history with Vampir regarding his eye.

Vampir is from the healer clan. He has shaman powers, and he tends to get a little intense.

Bulan is from the moon clan. The moon clan is in the northernmost island, and the members tend to be known for their beauty. He is crazy about Roro.

Safir is the chief of the jewel clan. He currently rules as co-king with Rej.

Rej is the chief of the healer clan and rules as co-king with Safir.

Story & Thoughts

This volume starts off with the prequel story of Harto and Metthew’s relationship. There is a little of that in volume one, but this is an expanded version. It shows what their lives living together are like at college before the tournament. It covers their growing pains as friends from different cultures, and how their relationship goes from friends to something more romantic.

After that the story jumps forward to after the events of the tournament. It addresses all the couples formed as a result of the tournament. We see how they are doing, and what progress they have made in their relationships.

Much like the first book, this one is sweet and funny. Even the stories for the characters I don’t like as much are enjoyable to read. Surprisingly, though, this volume actually has a lot more “action” than the first. There is no tournament in this one, but there is more erotic content than there was in the competition.

I think Taring got cheated in both books. In the first one, he is out in what is basically a preliminary match. In this one, he only gets a few pages. His love story is also a bit of a let down, and probably one of the only truly creepy ones in the series.

Dick Fight Island, Vol. 1

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Dick Fight Island, Vol. 1 by Reibun Ike
Series Name: Dick Fight Island
Genres: Action, BL, Comedy, Erotica, Romance
Intended Age Group: Mature
Publisher: SuBLime/Libre
Edition: Paperback 
ISBN: 978-1-9747-1720-0
Rating: 5/5
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Description from the Book

The tournament to choose the next king of the islands is about to begin. The rules are simple – whoever comes first loses!
Participating warriors protect their mighty swords with armor that grows larger and more elaborate with each tournament. But one warrior has returned from studying abroad with a technique certain to force a pleasurable eruption! Is there a competitor alive able to withstand it? Or is this deft warrior destined to become king?!

Personal & Info

I see adds for this everywhere, so I had to order it and see what the fuss is all about. Apparently it’s highly recommended by Barnes and Noble employees as well as people across the internet.

There’s a color image of all the contestants in the front. There’s also a page introducing them all by name that tells you which island they are from, with one or two extra details. The pictures on the character page are all close ups of the penis armor they each wear. It’s silly to see, but I’m glad it’s there.

Characters

Harto is the main character. He’s from the jewel clan, and he attends college abroad. Matthew is his roommate.

Pisau is from the sun clan, which specializes in fishing. He trains for the tournament with Yudha.

Roro is chief of the earth clan. He has emotional history regarding Rej.

Yudha is from the warrior clan. Yudha has a crush on Pisau.

Taring is the son of the leader of the matrilineal fang clan. He is the youngest in the competition because his clan doesn’t produce many men.

Naga is from the dragon clan. He has history with Vampir regarding his eye.

Vampir is from the healer clan. He has shaman powers.

Bulan is from the moon clan. The moon clan is in the northernmost island, and the members tend to be known for their beauty. Bulan has a thing for chief Roro.

Safir is the chief of the jewel clan. He currently rules as co-king with Rej.

Rej is the chief of the healer clan and rules as co-king with Safir.

Matthew Manami is Harto’s roommate from college abroad.

Story & Thoughts

The story is simple and erotic, but also sweet, and overall silly. The Pulau Yang Indah archipelago islands host a rather unusual tournament every four years to determine their king. There are eight islands, and each nominates a warrior to represent them. The goal is to make your opponent ejaculate first. Because of this odd tradition, the contestants wear revealing, but elaborate, armor to protect their genitals.

Despite the unique and erotic premise, the book is actually captivating and romantic, if you don’t mind dubious consent. There are descriptions and details about each of the islands and their individual cultures, as well as the characters themselves. Each character has their own backstory and their own romance. I think the quote from Reibun Ike at the end of the book describes it best: “This is a battle manga, but also a heartwarming story.”

There is censorship, but it doesn’t cover much. It’s the black bar kind, but they’re more like solid gray bars. Usually they just cut the dick in half as if they aren’t allowed to show the full shaft, but sometimes they don’t use it at all. I think it depends how much detail is in the picture.

The biggest complaint I see going around about the book is that the citizens of the archipelago apparently don’t know what a prostate or anal sex is. It sounds ridiculous, but that’s the point. It’s part of the humor, and not everyone is ignorant about it. There are characters who do know about it. It’s just the ones who are inexperienced or never thought of trying something like that who don’t know about it. Just roll with it, it’s not meant to be taken seriously.

I absolutely love this book. It’s hilarious and sexy. Few books make me laugh as much as this one does.

Rosario+Vampire: Season II, Vol. 8

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Rosario+Vampire: Season II, Vol. 8 by Akihisa Ikeda
Series Name: Rosario+Vampire: Season II
Genres: Action, Comedy, Ecchi, Fantasy, Harem, Monsters, Romance, Vampires, Witches
Intended Age Group: Older Teen
Publisher: Viz/Shonen Jump Advanced
Edition: Paperback 
ISBN: 978-1-4215-4050-4
Rating: 5/5
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Description from the Book

Average human teenage boy Tsukune accidentally enrolls at a boarding school for monsters – no, not jocks and popular kids, but bona fide werewolves, witches, and unnameables out of his wildest nightmares! And now he’s a sophomore!

On the plus side, all the girls have a monster crush on him. On the negative side, all the boys are so jealous they want to kill him! And so do the girls he spurns because he only has eyes for one of them – the far-from-average vampire Moka.

On the plus side, Moka only has glowing red eyes for Tsukune. On the O-negative side, she also has a burning, unquenchable thirst for his blood…

Personal & Info

No bump for the rating of this volume. There are still things I remember later on in the story, but there’s enough I don’t remember to consider them fresh reads from here on out.

This volume boasts a free mini-poster inside. Like volumes seven and five, it’s a fold out. This one features Aqua, the eldest Shuzen sister.

Characters

Tsukune Aono is the only human at a school for monsters. Due to various events in season one, he wears a chain lock on his wrist, similar to Moka’s rosario.

Moka Akashiya is the beautiful vampire love interest. She is considered the most beautiful girl in school, and the series likes to play up that fact.

Kurumu Kurono is the second beautiful love interest. She is the character with the largest breasts in the group, and the whole school also fawns over her, but not nearly as much as Moka.

Yukari Sendo is a twelve year old genius, and a witch.

Mizore Shirayuki is love interest number three. She is a yuki-onna, but the translation constantly calls her a snow fairy. She’s also the most considerate of Tsukune’s happiness.

Fangfang Huang is a freshman, and the son of the leader of a Chinese mafia.

Lingling Huang is Fangfang’s undead big sister.

Story & Thoughts

Pretty much the entire volume consists of Moka’s backstory. We learn what her relationship with Aqua was like when they were kids. More significant vampire lore is addressed, and we learn more about Moka’s mother, Akasha. The story is intense and heart wrenching. The only comedy parts in this one are the bonus comics.

Kurumu uses an ability we’ve never seen before. She’s always been able to do it, but hasn’t had reason to until now. I’m not sure if it makes her tail gross, though…It looked slimy.

I imagine some people would probably be upset because this volume is super serious, but I love the serious volumes. The funny ones are great, too, but I enjoy both ends of the spectrum. I feel like a series needs a decent balance of both to be good. This series has some serious volumes and some funny ones, as well as some that cover both equally, so I think it’s great.

This volume doesn’t even wrap up this adventure, yet. It’s one of the longest events in the series. This book and the one before it focus on Moka’s backstory, and it looks like the next one will continue the invasion on the Huang house with the combat portion.

Rosario+Vampire: Season II, Vol. 7

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Rosario+Vampire: Season II, Vol. 7 by Akihisa Ikeda
Series Name: Rosario+Vampire: Season II
Genres: Action, Comedy, Ecchi, Fantasy, Harem, Monsters, Romance, Vampires, Witches
Intended Age Group: Older Teen
Publisher: Viz/Shonen Jump Advanced
Edition: Paperback 
ISBN: 978-1-4215-4026-9
Rating: 4/5
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Description from the Book

Average human teenage boy Tsukune accidentally enrolls at a boarding school for monsters – no, not jocks and popular kids, but bona fide werewolves, witches, and unnameables out of his wildest nightmares! And now he’s a sophomore!

On the plus side, all the girls have a monster crush on him. On the negative side, all the boys are so jealous they want to kill him! And so do the girls he spurns because he only has eyes for one of them – the far-from-average vampire Moka.

On the plus side, Moka only has glowing red eyes for Tsukune. On the O-negative side, she also has a burning, unquenchable thirst for his blood…

Personal & Info

Since I’ve already read a large chunk of the series before, 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.

This volume advertises a mini-poster inside. This one is a fold out, like volume five, featuring Moka and inner Moka separated by a mirror. Again, I can’t imagine why anyone would tear this out.

Characters

Tsukune Aono is the only human at a school for monsters. Due to various events in season one, he wears a chain lock on his wrist, similar to Moka’s rosario.

Moka Akashiya is the beautiful vampire love interest. She is considered the most beautiful girl in school, and the series likes to play up that fact.

Kurumu Kurono is the second beautiful love interest. She is the character with the largest breasts in the group, and the whole school also fawns over her, but not nearly as much as Moka.

Yukari Sendo is a twelve year old genius, and a witch.

Mizore Shirayuki is love interest number three. She is a yuki-onna, but the translation constantly calls her a snow fairy. She’s also the most considerate of Tsukune’s happiness.

Fangfang Huang is a freshman, and the son of the leader of a Chinese mafia.

Lingling Huang is Fangfang’s undead big sister.

Story & Thoughts

This volume focuses heavily on inner Moka. Now that she is out all the time, she’s socializing more than she ever has before, and her experiences are giving her more feelings than she is used to. She thinks this is a weakness forming, but she has the other Moka talking to her to help even things out and give her advice. It’s like seeing their relationship backwards, which is probably why the first chapter has the title Reverse.

The group is traveling to get Moka’s rosario repaired. The last two chapters are probably the most important. We get a look at a chunk of Moka’s childhood and see her family. The most important part of it seems to be the introduction of her third and final sister. We have not seen her, yet, so these flashbacks are covering a bit of what she is like.

Between those events and the usual shenanigans, there’s also plot building going on in the background. Fairy Tale is making moves and plans they have already put into motion are under investigation. There are some familiar faces returning, and not for anyone’s benefit.

I always enjoy the volumes that delve into character backstories. It’s also nice seeing inner Moka as more of a person. She deserves to be more than just the person who shows up when people need saving.

I can’t help feeling bad for Fangfang. He gets treated so poorly all the time. All he wants is to have friends and do right by his family.

Rosario+Vampire: Season II, Vol. 6

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Rosario+Vampire: Season II, Vol. 6 by Akihisa Ikeda
Series Name: Rosario+Vampire: Season II
Genres: Action, Comedy, Ecchi, Fantasy, Harem, Monsters, Romance, Vampires, Witches
Intended Age Group: Older Teen
Publisher: Viz/Shonen Jump Advanced
Edition: Paperback 
ISBN: 978-1-4215-3831-0
Rating: 4.5/5
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Description from the Book

Average human teenage boy Tsukune accidentally enrolls at a boarding school for monsters – no, not jocks and popular kids, but bona fide werewolves, witches, and unnameables out of his wildest nightmares! And now he’s a sophomore!

On the plus side, all the girls have a monster crush on him. On the negative side, all the boys are so jealous they want to kill him! And so do the girls he spurns because he only has eyes for one of them – the far-from-average vampire Moka.

On the plus side, Moka only has glowing red eyes for Tsukune. On the O-negative side, she also has a burning, unquenchable thirst for his blood…

Personal & Info

Since I’ve already read a large chunk of the series before, 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 tell I’m getting close to the parts I have not read before, because my memory of some of this stuff is foggier. For example, I didn’t remember who Fangfang was. I am absolutely certain I still remember some events that have not yet to occur, so I still have some to go before I actually catch up to that point.

The cover advertises two free mini-posters inside. Honestly, these are no different than the standard color images we see in every volume. These ones aren’t even fold out like the last one. They are both Halloween in theme. One is Inner Moka reading a book, and the other is Yukari watering a plant. However, these “mini-posters” are not perforated for easy removal, nor are they actually two separate posters. They are back to back, so if you choose to tear them out, you can only display one side of it.

Characters

Tsukune Aono is the only human at a school for monsters. Due to various events in season one, he wears a chain lock on his wrist, similar to Moka’s rosario.

Moka Akashiya is the beautiful vampire love interest. She is considered the most beautiful girl in school, and the series likes to play up that fact.

Kurumu Kurono is the second beautiful love interest. She is the character with the largest breasts in the group, and the whole school also fawns over her, but not nearly as much as Moka.

Yukari Sendo is a twelve year old genius, and a witch.

Mizore Shirayuki is love interest number three. She is a yuki-onna, but the translation constantly calls her a snow fairy. She’s also the most considerate of Tsukune’s happiness.

Koko Shuzen is Moka’s little sister. She thinks Tsukune’s only redeeming quality is the taste of his blood, but she doesn’t go around biting him like Moka does.

Ruby Tojo is a witch met in season one. She currently works for the school to help keep the students safe. This now also entails supervising Tsukune’s training.

Ginei Morioka, also known as Gin, is the Newspaper Club’s president. Normally we hardly ever see him.

Fangfang Huang is a freshman, and the son of the leader of a Chinese mafia.

Lingling Huang is Fangfang’s big sister.

Three of the girls’ parents show up for sports day: Fujiko Sendo, Ageha Kurono, and Tsurara Shirayuki.

Story & Thoughts

This volume is more chill and fun than most of the others. There are no super serious adventures, but a couple new monster types are casually introduced as the story progresses. The tone at the end of the volume, however, is more serious.

The first two chapters introduce the Huang family, primarily Fangfang. Tsukune has a well known reputation now, so a representative of a Chinese mafia wants to recruit him. Jokes and shenanigans ensue from there.

The third chapter focuses mostly on Yukari. She gets a real look at herself from a different perspective and must deal with feeling self-conscious for the first time ever. Fangfang is just along for the ride in this chapter.

We get to see more of inner Moka in the final chapter. It’s another rare opportunity to see her out for a whole day. This time, she attends school for a full day, and her rivals in love try to analyze her skills to find a weakness.

After the usual end of the volume four panel comics in the back, there are a few pages of extra ones. The additional comics address fan mail concerns about the series regarding moe. Things like if the series has enough of it, if the creator even knows what it is, and drawing the characters in that type of style.

I think this volume is a little funnier than usual, since nothing particularly serious happens. It’s all shenanigans and chaos. Gin shows up a few times. We hardly ever see him in general, so it’s nice when he’s involved in something, even if it’s silly.

Rosario+Vampire: Season II, Vol. 5

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Rosario+Vampire: Season II, Vol. 5 by Akihisa Ikeda
Series Name: Rosario+Vampire: Season II
Genres: Action, Comedy, Ecchi, Fantasy, Harem, Monsters, Romance, Vampires, Witches
Intended Age Group: Older Teen
Publisher: Viz/Shonen Jump Advanced
Edition: Paperback 
ISBN: 978-1-4215-3691-0
Rating: 4.5/5
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Description from the Book

Average human teenage boy Tsukune accidentally enrolls at a boarding school for monsters – no, not jocks and popular kids, but bona fide werewolves, witches, and unnameables out of his wildest nightmares! And now he’s a sophomore!

On the plus side, all the girls have a monster crush on him. On the negative side, all the boys are so jealous they want to kill him! And so do the girls he spurns because he only has eyes for one of them – the far-from-average vampire Moka.

On the plus side, Moka only has glowing red eyes for Tsukune. On the O-negative side, she also has a burning, unquenchable thirst for his blood…

Personal & Info

Since I’ve already read a large chunk of the series before, 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.

This volume includes a small fold out poster of Moka holding a watermelon carved like a jack-o’-lantern. Do people actually tear these out? It’s not even perforated. I feel like I’m ruining the book if I remove it.

Characters

Tsukune Aono is the only human at a school for monsters. Due to various events in season one, he wears a chain lock on his wrist, similar to Moka’s rosario.

Moka Akashiya is the beautiful vampire love interest. She is considered the most beautiful girl in school, and the series likes to play up that fact.

Kurumu Kurono is the second beautiful love interest. She is the character with the largest breasts in the group, and the whole school also fawns over her, but not nearly as much as Moka.

Yukari Sendo is a twelve year old genius, and a witch.

Mizore Shirayuki is love interest number three. She is a yuki-onna, but the translation constantly calls her a snow fairy. She’s also the most considerate of Tsukune’s happiness.

Koko Shuzen is Moka’s little sister. She thinks Tsukune’s only redeeming quality is the taste of his blood, but she doesn’t go around biting him like Moka does.

Ruby Tojo is a witch met in season one. She currently works for the school to help keep the students safe. This now also entails supervising Tsukune’s training.

Ginei Morioka, also known as Gin, is the Newspaper Club’s president. Normally we hardly ever see him.

San Otonashi is an alumnus of Yokai Academy. She was the president of the Newspaper Club when Gin was a freshman.

Story & Thoughts

This entire volume encompasses one event. I think it’s the first volume in the entire series to do that. It’s summer vacation time again, and this whole volume is “the beach episode.” But don’t let that fool you, some cool stuff actually happens, so it’s not just fan service.

The Newspaper Club goes on another one of their vacation trips to the human world. This time, they go to the beach. Everything is all arranged so they will be staying with a former member of the Newspaper Club, San. San is also the main focus of the book. Using her as an example, we get to see what it’s like for a monster who has graduated from Yokai Academy and continued on to live in the human world.

Fairy Tale shows up, being the main villain for the season. And so does Gin! We hardly ever see Gin, so this is a pleasant surprise. He even sticks around for the whole book. Well, sort of. He’s off doing something else while the main group is dealing with their own problems.

I think this volume has more typos than usual. Aside from that, it has a great story. The insight into a monster living in the human world among humans is something the gang is curious about as they all wonder what their own futures will be like. Obviously this is only one example, so they can’t base expectations off it, but it gives them hope, and it’s good insight for the reader, too.

We also get to see a new monster type. Unlike the usual set ups, we get to see a good version and bad version of them. Normally we only see one, and the gang beats them up, end of story. There’s a little more to it this time.

Manga Haul March 2023

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About

This haul also contains some comics, because I figure they are similar enough to share the same post. Any time I get comics, they will be in the manga hauls. They will be in the manga section of the index as well whenever I review any.

All of these are Amazon purchases, except for Noragami and Detective Conan.

Comics

Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Lost Adventures & Team Avatar Tales

This is the first comic omnibus recommended to read for this series. The Lost Adventures are stories that take place during the events of the TV show. Team Avatar Tales takes place later. A reading list I looked at implied that section should be read way way later, but I doubt it matters. My guess is they were both put in this book because they can be read close together.

This is the hardcover library edition. It looks like the library editions might be the best ones to get. Some of the comics only have the library editions as hardcovers. They seem to have more content than the paperback versions, too. At least, that’s what the descriptions seem to imply.

What is it?

A comic omnibus of The Lost Adventures & Team Avatar Tales building more onto the story from the TV show Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Search

From what I gather, this is the third omnibus in the reading order. I got the third before the second because it was cheaper at the time. I think this one is the library edition. There’s another version of the omnibus, but it looked like it was paperback only. This one is hardcover, and the description implied it had more content than the other version.

What is it?

A comic omnibus of The Search that continues the story from the TV show Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Manga

Black Cat, Vol. 14

I only need four more volumes for this series: 15, 16, 18, and 20. They’re out of print, so my collection for these advances slowly with pre-owned copies.

What is it?

An action adventure starring an ex-assassin gunman turned bounty hunter, and supernatural powers.

Detective Conan, Vol. 2 (Japanese Edition)

This book is a late birthday gift. With this volume, I now have one through three of this series in Japanese. I like to look through them every so often to see which words and phrases I can pick out. It’ll be a while before I can actually read them, but they are good motivation to keep me learning the language.

What is it?

A mystery series in which a secret organization turns the protagonist into a child via medicine.

Flame of Recca, Vol. 14 & 15

I think there are about eighteen more volumes in this series. Slowly, but surely, I’m working my way to getting them all.

These are out of print, so I buy all of them pre-owned.

What is it?

An action adventure featuring supernatural powers and magic items with a similar vibe to Yu Yu Hakusho.

Noragami Omnibus, Vol. 4 (volumes 10-12)

I can probably start reading these any time now. As long as I don’t read them one after the other and work them into a rotation, it should be okay. I just don’t want to catch up to the release and have to wait. At this point, I’ll just add them into my rotation whenever I feel like getting around to them.

What is it?

An urban fantasy focused around gods and the spirit world.

Tail of the Moon, Vol. 13

This series is almost complete. There are only two more volumes left, and then I can put it on my list of things to read.

What is it?

A romance story about an incompetent ninja girl sent to woo Lord Hanzo.

Rosario+Vampire: Season II, Vol. 4

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Rosario+Vampire: Season II, Vol. 4 by Akihisa Ikeda
Series Name: Rosario+Vampire: Season II
Genres: Action, Comedy, Ecchi, Fantasy, Harem, Monsters, Romance, Vampires, Witches
Intended Age Group: Older Teen
Publisher: Viz/Shonen Jump Advanced
Edition: Paperback 
ISBN: 978-1-4215-3544-9
Rating: 4/5
Amazon Barnes&Noble RightStuf ThriftBooks

Description from the Book

Average human teenage boy Tsukune accidentally enrolls at a boarding school for monsters – no, not jocks and popular kids, but bona fide werewolves, witches, and unnameables out of his wildest nightmares! And now he’s a sophomore!

On the plus side, all the girls have a monster crush on him. On the negative side, all the boys are so jealous they want to kill him! And so do the girls he spurns because he only has eyes for one of them – the far-from-average vampire Moka.

On the plus side, Moka only has glowing red eyes for Tsukune. On the O-negative side, she also has a burning, unquenchable thirst for his blood…

Personal & Info

Since I’ve already read a large chunk of the series before, 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.

Characters

Tsukune Aono is the only human at a school for monsters. Due to various events in season one, he wears a chain lock on his wrist, similar to Moka’s rosario.

Moka Akashiya is the beautiful vampire love interest. She is considered the most beautiful girl in school, and the series likes to play up that fact.

Kurumu Kurono is the second beautiful love interest. She is the character with the largest breasts in the group, and the whole school also fawns over her, but not nearly as much as Moka.

Yukari Sendo is a twelve year old genius, and a witch.

Mizore Shirayuki is love interest number three. She is a yuki-onna, but the translation constantly calls her a snow fairy. She’s also the most considerate of Tsukune’s happiness.

Koko Shuzen is Moka’s little sister. She thinks Tsukune’s only redeeming quality is the taste of his blood, but she doesn’t go around biting him like Moka does.

Ruby Tojo is a witch met in season one. She currently works for the school to help keep the students safe.

Kahlua Shuzen is Moka and Koko’s older sister. This volume spells her name “Kalua” but two and the internet spells it the other way. I don’t know why they are different. Someone must have made an editing mistake somewhere.

Story & Thoughts

This volume picks up where three left off in Mizore’s village. It takes two chapters to wrap up that event. We get some foreboding warnings as foreshadowing for things to look forward to.

The next two chapters are some I think are highly memorable. My first time reading this was years ago, and I still remember pieces of these chapters vividly. Inner Moka gets to come out to play more as Tsukune is beginning his training to control his power. It’s nice to see more of her outside of purely combat.

There’s a Castlevania reference in that section I never noticed before. I didn’t know much of anything about Castlevania back when I first read this, but I know enough now to recognize the name of the whip. It’s a pretty obvious reference, so you’ll know it when you see it.

The last chapter of the book focuses on Kurumu. She’s at her wit’s end regarding how to improve her chances with Tsukune. This chapter brings up her ability that we haven’t seen in a long time, her charm mind control. It mostly shows she can still do that, but the chapter is also a bit sad as we see Kurumu struggle with her emotions.

What do we learn from this volume? According to the combination of chapters and bonus comics, we learn which characters are masochists.

Season II is focusing more on the characters themselves, rather than monster of the week like season one. I love season one, but I also love how connected to the characters this season feels.

Rosario+Vampire: Season II, Vol. 3

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Rosario+Vampire: Season II, Vol. 3 by Akihisa Ikeda
Series Name: Rosario+Vampire: Season II
Genres: Action, Comedy, Ecchi, Fantasy, Harem, Monsters, Romance, Vampires, Witches
Intended Age Group: Older Teen
Publisher: Viz/Shonen Jump Advanced
Edition: Paperback 
ISBN: 978-1-4215-3268-4
Rating: 4.5/5
Amazon Barnes&Noble RightStuf ThriftBooks

Description from the Book

Average human teenage boy Tsukune accidentally enrolls at a boarding school for monsters – no, not jocks and popular kids, but bona fide werewolves, witches, and unnameables out of his wildest nightmares! And now he’s a sophomore!

On the plus side, all the girls have a monster crush on him. On the negative side, all the boys are so jealous they want to kill him! And so do the girls he spurns because he only has eyes for one of them – the far-from-average vampire Moka.

On the plus side, Moka only has glowing red eyes for Tsukune. On the O-negative side, she also has a burning, unquenchable thirst for his blood…

Personal & Info

Since I’ve already read a large chunk of the series before, 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.

Characters

Tsukune Aono is the only human at a school for monsters. Due to various events in season one, he wears a chain lock on his wrist, similar to Moka’s rosario.

Moka Akashiya is the beautiful vampire love interest. She is considered the most beautiful girl in school, and the series likes to play up that fact.

Kurumu Kurono is the second beautiful love interest. She is the character with the largest breasts in the group, and the whole school also fawns over her, but not nearly as much as Moka.

Yukari Sendo is a twelve year old genius, and a witch.

Mizore Shirayuki is love interest number three. She is a yuki-onna, but the translation constantly calls her a snow fairy. She’s also the most considerate of Tsukune’s happiness.

Koko Shuzen is Moka’s little sister. She thinks Tsukune’s only redeeming quality is the taste of his blood, but she doesn’t go around biting him like Moka does.

Ruby Tojo is a witch met in season one. She currently works for the school to help keep the students safe.

Tsurara, Mizore’s mother, appears in this volume. Her last appearance was in Rosario+Vampire volume nine during the school festival.

Story & Thoughts

This book starts off with a random chapter involving Gin. It’s been a good while seen we’ve seen him. He is rather useless as club leader, since he is basically never around. The chapter paints him as a villain yet again. Girls at Yokai Academy are targets for a prankster going around tearing up their clothes.

The rest of the chapters focus on Mizore. Big surprise considering she is on the cover, right? The gang goes to Mizore’s village for the weekend. There is some kind of ceremony she is going to attend, and her mother requests she bring guests.

This section covers some information on Mizore’s childhood, as well as her culture. At one point, I said Mizore’s parts of the story tend to be unsettling and sad. That comes out significantly in this volume. It always pulls at my heart strings.

There is a cliff hanger. As with most volumes, the events are cut off to be finished in the next volume. The cliff hanger is not huge. It’s the kind where someone unexpected shows up.

Kurumu really shines in this volume. Her passion and determination are important to the drama of the story and holding the group together. She always seems to be on an emotional rollercoaster, acting like she is furious and hates someone, and then expressing her compassion for them two minutes later. I think she significantly outshines Moka here. Moka and Yukari and the rest seemed to take a back seat to Mizore, Tsukune, and Kurumu.

The bonus comics at the end are silly, as usual. No questions, mostly a bunch of sillies about what happened in the last few pages.

The volumes that focus on Mizore always tend to be my personal favorites, but she is my favorite character, so it’s not surprising.

Rosario+Vampire: Season II, Vol. 2

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Rosario+Vampire: Season II, Vol. 2 by Akihisa Ikeda
Series Name: Rosario+Vampire: Season II
Genres: Action, Comedy, Ecchi, Fantasy, Harem, Monsters, Romance, Vampires, Witches
Intended Age Group: Older Teen
Publisher: Viz/Shonen Jump Advanced
Edition: Paperback 
ISBN: 978-1-4215-3137-3
Rating: 4.5/5
Amazon Barnes&Noble RightStuf ThriftBooks

Description from the Book

Average human teenage boy Tsukune accidentally enrolls at a boarding school for monsters – no, not jocks and popular kids, but bona fide werewolves, witches, and unnameables out of his wildest nightmares! And now he’s a sophomore!

On the plus side, all the girls have a monster crush on him. On the negative side, all the boys are so jealous they want to kill him! And so do the girls he spurns because he only has eyes for one of them – the far-from-average vampire Moka.

On the plus side, Moka only has glowing red eyes for Tsukune. On the O-negative side, she also has a burning, unquenchable thirst for his blood…

Personal & Info

Since I’ve already read a large chunk of the series before, 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.

Characters

Tsukune Aono is the only human at a school for monsters. Due to various events in season one, he wears a chain lock on his wrist, similar to Moka’s rosario.

Moka Akashiya is the beautiful vampire love interest. She is considered the most beautiful girl in school, and the series likes to play up that fact.

Kurumu Kurono is the second beautiful love interest. She is the character with the largest breasts in the group, and the whole school also fawns over her, but not nearly as much as Moka.

Yukari Sendo is a twelve year old genius, and a witch.

Mizore Shirayuki is love interest number three. She is a yuki-onna, but the translation constantly calls her a snow fairy. She’s also the most considerate of Tsukune’s happiness.

Koko Shuzen is Moka’s little sister. She thinks Tsukune’s only redeeming quality is the taste of his blood, but she doesn’t go around biting him like Moka does.

Ruby Tojo is a witch met in season one. She currently works for the school to help keep the students safe.

Story & Thoughts

The story continues the mistaken phantom plot from volume one for the first two chapters. The combat is actually more amusing than usual. There’s comedy thrown into it, and this is the first time in Season II that we see Tsukune’s transformation.

I think the second half of the book is the best part. These two chapters focus heavily on Koko, which is fitting since she is on the cover of this volume. She befriends Yukari, which is not that surprising since they aren’t that far apart in age. They seem to have a lot in common.

It’s club recruitment time again, and Koko wants to get stronger She debates which club to join, which leads to various shenanigans. Koko is insistent on not joining the news club, even though she doesn’t have a good reason. These two chapters are adorable and funny. They revolve around Yukari and Koko wanting to grow up because they are tired of being considered young and small.

The four panel bonus comics in back of the book also focus on Koko. The first two highlight how blatantly tsundere she is, and the other two are about her pet Batty. He is unexpectedly heavy.

This is not relevant to the story, but I love how all the people in Moka’s family seem to be named after drinks. Moka. Koko. Kahlua. We don’t meet Kahlua in this volume, but her name comes up in a flashback.