Manga Review: Spell of Desire, Volume 5, by Tomu Ohmi

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: August 4, 2015

Volumes: 5

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 3. 4.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Kaoruko Mochizuki runs an herb shop in a small seaside town. One day, a mysterious man dressed in black named Kaname Hibiki enters her shop and reveals that Kaoruko is actually a witch. And what’s more, Kaoruko needs Kaname to help control her awakening power!

With the reawakening of the Witch Queen, Kaoruko and Kaname are called back to the coven. As his punishment for betraying the Witch Queen and falling in love with Kaoruko, Kaname has his five senses, and even his memories of Kaoruko, stripped from him. Unable to fight against such a powerful spell, the two are in despair, but they discover that Kaoruko, who has received the blessing of a white witch, may be the only one capable of breaking that spell!

Review:

We finally get to meet the witch queen. And she’s kind of terrible. She had her reasons, which we’re shown later, but I’m still not a big fan. By meeting her, though, and with what we know and learn about Kaoruko’s grandmother, we get a better view of who Kaoruko is and how she came to be this way.

There’s a big final trial in this volume to see how strong Kaoruko really is, and how strong her and Kaname’s love really is. I like how Kaoruko stood up for what she wanted and fought back, and how she did what she had to do in order to get what was important to her.

While I am not in love with Kaoruko and Kaname as a couple, their chemistry just hasn’t really hit me, but I do believe in them, and that they believe in them. I liked how they came out of what happened to them, how they fought and loved each other through it.

The ending was nice. It felt fitting and deserving after everything, and I think it worked well for Kaoruko and Kaname. It wasn’t my favorite series, but I enjoyed it.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, and Erik Jansen from MediaLab PR. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Spell of Desire, Volume 3, by Tomu Ohmi

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: February 2015

Volumes: 5

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 2. 4.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Kaoruko Mochizuki runs an herb shop in a small seaside town. One day, a mysterious man dressed in black named Kaname Hibiki enters her shop and reveals that Kaoruko is actually a witch. And what’s more, Kaoruko needs Kaname to help control her awakening power!

When it becomes known that Kaoruko has received the power of the Witch Queen, she and Kaname are ordered to appear before the coven of the Black Witches. There, Kaoruko discovers that she must become a Black Witch in order to control her rampaging powers. But that means she will be offered up to an incubus—who presents himself as Kaname as he closes in on her!

Review:

This series just doesn’t stand out to me as much as some. Her first series didn’t either, though. This one might be better, a little.

Kaoruko and Kaname finally get to the mature stuff in this volume, and I guess that’s nice. I do like that their relationship is progressing, and that they’re not resisting it. That’s appreciated. But at the same time, this puts Kaname’s spot in the coven in a bad place. Now he’s lost his position, though it’s not official until the queen comes back. I like that Kaoruko intends to fight that, though, and get stronger so that she can.

I don’t really like the black witches. They’re mean, and I don’t think Kaoruko fits in with them and their beliefs. She’s trying though, and I give her props for that.

I want to finish this series, see how it ends, and I hope I like. It’s not on the top of my list, though.

Manga Review: Midnight Secretary, Volume 7, by Tomu Ohmi

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: September 2014

Volumes: 7

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 6.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Kaya 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!!

Kyohei has been banished from his clan because he refuses to renounce his love for Kaya. But a lone vampire is a dangerous thing to be, and Kyohei finds himself cut off from the vampires' power and protection. He doesn't even have access to blood substitutes anymore! Kaya wants to support him through this crisis, but arranging "dinner dates" for him again might be more than her heart can take!

Review:

I am happy that this series is over, but I’m also satisfied with the ending.

It left me feeling like there could be more story to tell, but I’m overall satisfied with how everything wrapped up. It was a nice conclusion for Kaya and Kyohei, if a little showdown impending with the vampire community, I believe that they can handle it.

I enjoyed that Kaya stayed his secretary, and took her job seriously, as well as being good at it. But it also got a little annoying—like, she can be his secretary at work but also his wife/girlfriend/whatever outside of work. That’s okay, too. 

Overall, I’m happy with this series. It was good throughout, and the ending was very nice. I also enjoyed the extra chapter focusing on Marika. I’m liking her other series, Spell of Desire, although I hope it picks up more. There just seems to be something missing in Ohmi’s series to really grab me.

Manga Review: Midnight Secretary, Volume 6, by Tomu Ohmi

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: July 2014

Volumes: 7

Spoilers?: Some.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 5. 7.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Kaya 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!!

Kyohei has finally admitted that he loves Kaya, and he's even stopped feeding on other women. But even though they've worked out their personal issues, their dual roles as boss/secretary and vampire/human are still a huge hurdle to overcome. Can Kaya and Kyohei stand up to the disapproval of the business world and the vampire world?!

Review:

The next volume is the last one, so the climax is coming. Things are getting serious, so the next volume should be good.

There was a pregnancy scare in this volume, between Kyohei and Kaya, but then between them and the vampire clan. Kaya’s not, and the possibility doesn’t sound horrible to her, but it would cause trouble with Kyohei, his being a vampire and everything. He doesn’t want that. Which might be good for now, but I hope that they actually talk it out in the next volume. They need to talk about what they both actually want in the future.

The vampire clan is getting serious and causing problems for them, and I’m interested to see how it wraps up in the next volume, since I really am not sure.

There was also an extra chapter at the end featuring President Takasu. It really just showed that he’s a sweet, good guy. It made me actually like him, too, and really see what’s so good about him. And now I want him to have a happy ending, too. 

I’m looking forward to seeing how this series wraps up. I’m also looking forward to Spell of Desire, Tomu Ohmi’s other series being released soon.