Tag: Monsters

Rosario+Vampire, Vol. 5

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Rosario+Vampire, Vol. 5 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: 978-1-4215-1907-4
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.

Characters

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

Moka Akashiya is the 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.

Mizore Shirayuki is a new love interest.

Story & Thoughts

The first chapter finishes the adventure from volume four. After that, there are two chapters introducing my personal favorite character, Mizore. She is weird, quirky, and misunderstood, but I love her.

From what I recall about my first time reading a large chunk of the series, Mizore’s parts of the story tend to be unsettling and sad. There’s a pretty scummy teacher in her section of the volume. Mizore herself can be a little creepy sometimes, but I find her character interesting and relatable.

There is more scummy behavior in the last chapter. This time by other students, including Saizo, the guy from volume one. We learn a little about mixed blood monsters here. It’s obvious by now that monsters are no strangers to discrimination, both doing it, and being victimized by it.

Tsukune’s health takes an interesting turn. Will it be for better or for worse? I actually don’t know, because I never finished the series to find out what happens.

I like that this series doesn’t put all the focus on one character. Everybody seems to get their own opportunities to shine and show off their skills. Tsukune and Moka usually get most of the spotlight, but the others have their moments, and I love that. It’s like they get their own special episodes/chapters to shine.

Mizore pretty much takes over the bonus comics in this volume. She’s my favorite character, though, so these are my favorite ones so far. They add a little more character introduction for her regarding her abilities, and just plain silliness.

Notable Issues

There seem to be a significant amount of typos in this volume.

I’m a little confused because volume three calls the math teacher Kagome Ririko, but this volume calls her Ririko Kagome. Which is it?

On one panel, Saizo Komiya is labelled as a werewolf. I don’t think this is correct. Even if he is hypothetically half, I don’t think the term werewolf is accurate. He looked nothing like a werewolf when he transformed in volume one.

The translation for Mizore’s monster type seems odd. I can see how one might get that translation, but yuki-onna or snow girl sounds better than “abominable snowgirl.” It sounds too close to abominable snowman to me, and that’s something drastically different than what she is.

Rosario+Vampire, Vol. 4

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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.

Rosario+Vampire, Vol. 3

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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
Amazon Barnes&Noble RightStuf ThriftBooks

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.

Rosario+Vampire, Vol. 2

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Rosario+Vampire, Vol. 2 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: 978-1-4215-1904-3
Rating: 4/5
Amazon Barnes&Noble RightStuf ThriftBooks

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 couple 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 personal 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 introduced in this volume. She is an eleven year old genius.

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

Story & Thoughts

This volume is primarily monster of the week style. Only one significant main character is added in this volume. She’s not very likable at first, but that gets better.

I recall coming across some adult themes with gross behavior my first time reading the series. This volume has the first encounter with that kind of thing. In chapter three (Test 7: Deadline!), there’s a really slimy guy who doesn’t care about privacy, discomfort, or consent. This particular chapter might be triggering for some people who are more sensitive to this kind of content. I will say, nothing physically sexual happens. At most, there is a boob grab. Use your own discretion when determining if you can tolerate this content.

I like how this book has a chapter focusing on Kurumu. I think it’s important that Moka doesn’t always steal the show. Kurumu is also capable, and we get to see more of her abilities here.

The story also gets more serious in this volume. There are more continuous events between chapters instead of isolated encounters. The protection committee is their first real big bad type threat. The first conflict is resolved in one chapter as usual, but the overall problem will continue past this volume. It’s not just a one and done like everything else has been.

Rosario+Vampire, Vol. 1

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Rosario+Vampire, Vol. 1 by Akihisa Ikeda
Series Name: Rosario+Vampire
Genres: Action, Comedy, Ecchi, Fantasy, Harem, Monsters, Romance, Vampires
Intended Age Group: Older Teen
Publisher: Viz/Shonen Jump Advanced
Edition: Paperback 
ISBN: 978-1-4215-1903-6
Rating: 4/5
Amazon Barnes&Noble RightStuf ThriftBooks

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

Initially, I came across this series back when I was in high school. Every time I went to Barnes & Noble, I would see a display of volumes from the series. I managed to read a large chunk before obtaining my own copies, which I used to continue reading the series. I dropped off reading manga for a while, though, so I never got to finish it. It wasn’t until earlier this year, I think, that I finally finished my collection, so I can go back and read it from start to finish.

I still like this book, but since I’ve already read it before, and seen the anime, I’m giving it a slight bump in rating to represent how much I liked it my first time through.

If you want to watch the anime, I can say from experience the first chunk is 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 personal 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. He is the male lead in this harem story.

Moka Akashiya is a beautiful vampire love interest. Everyone thinks she’s the prettiest girl in school and they all hate Tsukune for being around her.

Kurumu Kurono is beautiful love interest number two. I’ll let the book tell you her species. She is the big booby lady.

Ginei Morioka, or Gin, is the head of the school club our main characters join. He is a pervert.

Ms. Shizuka Nekonome is Tsukune’s homeroom teacher. She is very obviously a cat, and looks like the sexy librarian type.

Story & Thoughts

As the first volume, the focus is introducing the main cast and getting to know them a little. This book has four chapters, and introduces three significant characters. The chapter that does not introduce anyone important instead teaches us a little more about vampires.

There’s also a monster of the week element to the story. Each chapter seems to have an encounter with a different monster, usually resulting in some sort of beat down resolution. There are also “Bite-Size Monster Encyclopedia” informational boxes for most of the monsters once they’ve been unmasked. Unmasking in this case meaning shedding their human disguise.

The ecchi part of the series generally starts in chapter two. That’s when it starts to emphasize things like big boobs, swimwear, panties, etc. However, it’s a little funny that Moka’s combat scenes are always conveniently censored with shadows or something in the foreground to block it. At least it looks natural, unlike the blatant censor they use in the anime.

Art style is always a memorable thing when it comes to manga. Each artist has their own style, and while some are similar, they all have their own identifiable features. I love the art style for this series. It has its own charm that stands out to me.

There are some silly four panel comics at the end. I love when manga have those. My favorite one in this volume is Kurumu with the cookies.

Notable Issues

Some of the translation choices are interesting. I’m not sure if I noticed with my first read way back when, but most of the effect text uses odd spellings. For example, skweez and krash come up a lot instead of the regular spellings. I have no idea why this is a thing.

I don’t remember where, but in one of the scenes where Moka changes, someone said her hair turns from brown to silver. That must be a mistake or typo, because I’ve never seen her usual hair color be anything except pink. I don’t think pink can be considered any shade of brown. They aren’t anywhere near similar in color.