Manga Review: Midnight Secretary, Volume 1, by Tomu Ohmi

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: VIZ (Shojo Beat)

Publish Date: 2013

Volumes: 7

Spoilers?: Not really.

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Wishlist Thursday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Mad Men meets Vampire DiariesKaya Satozuka prides herself on being an excellent secretary and a consummate professional, so she doesn’t even bat an eye when she’s reassigned to the office of her company’s difficult director, Kyohei Touma. He’s as prickly—and hot—as rumors paint him, but Kaya is unfazed…until she discovers that he’s a vampire!!

Kaya quickly accustoms herself to scheduling his “dinner dates” and working odd hours, but can she handle it when Kyohei’s smoldering gaze starts turning her way?!

Reads R to L (Japanese Style) for mature audiences.

Review:

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this volume, although I was optimistic about liking it. I’ve seen it online a whole bunch, as just about anytime I search for a smutty josei to read it comes up, but the vampire element always seemed to turn me off (I’m much more a contemporary than a supernatural). And I think I was expecting it to be more hentai ecchi, although I’m not sure why, because that was a wrong impression.

But then when VIZ announced they were releasing it, I jumped right on board. (VIZ seems to have jumped right on the josei wagon, and I really hope that it works well for them, because I’ve happily joined them on it.)

Kaya, our heroine, starts working for Kyohei Tohma, the director of a big company, who is skeptical of Kaya’s abilities, would much rather have a secretary that is solely pretty to look at, and seems to be big on the womanizing. But Kaya proves to him from the get-go that she knows what she’s doing on the job, and she’s not bothered by his annoyance with her looks, even after he finds out that she pulls her hair up and wears fake glasses to hide her baby face. And then she finds out that Kyohei is a vampire, and that’s why he’s with different women so often.

First: I like the art. It’s not particularly gorgeous, but it’s very nice to look at. It’s pretty when need be, showing Kaya how the author wants her portrayed: plain when at work, but very pretty at other times.

I like Kaya. I’m waiting to get to know her more before forming a full judgement, but I like what I’ve seen. She stands up to Kyohei, she’s good at her job, efficient, she’s firm on her beliefs; I like how she stands up for her looks, and her general reason for how she dresses for work. She’s caring, too, and I enjoy her growing attraction to Kyohei. Their relationship hasn’t grown to the physical (although there were a couple glimpses, which I really liked), it’s still budding, and I like seeing it form slowly. It mostly starts because he has to drink her blood, and I liked how that happened, and generally like his vampire habits being a part of their interaction.

We haven’t gotten to get to know Kyohei too much, but I’m intrigued by what I’ve seen, including his relationship with his family, and his vampire past.

This volume was very much an opening to the series; I really like what I’ve seen so far, and am really looking forward to the next volume.