Nightschool: The Weirn Books by Svetlana Chmokava

Title: Nightschool: The Weirn Books
Mangaka: Svetlana Chmokava
Age Group: Teens
Series is: Ongoing with 2 volumes
Volume(s) Reviewing: 1
My Rating: 4/5

There are things that go bump in the night when the day sleeps. From vampires to demons, all exist without human knowledge. Like students, these paranormal beings can also go to school and earn their own diplomas. Unlike regular schooling, their education is far from normal.

Alex is a young weirn (witch) who has been home-schooled for her education. There are magic and mysteries lurking within the Nightschool, at which her older sister, Sarah, works at and for some reason, there is a mysterious force that draws her to the school.

I am a big fan of Dramacon, a very popular series by Svetlana Chmakova about a romance that buds through an encounter at an anime convention. Unlike her light and romantic series through Tokyopop, Nightschool reveals a darker side of magic and supernatural beings.

Throughout the first volume, the story flips between Alex's, Sarah's, and the Hunters' point of view. Hunters, from what I gathered, are a group of skilled humans who go after paranormal creatures that impose some sort of threat to the community. Quite a bit of action is involved when the readers are seeing the story from their side. Not only that but Chmakova added her adorable chibis and humour that her old readers will recognize.

I have always adored Chmakova's art style. They are somewhat manga-like but with her own twist. I absolutely love the diversity in her character designs in this series, seeing that she needed a lot of different characters throughout for different roles.

Manga readers who are new to her work will instantly be charmed, not only by her drawings but by the series as a whole. I recommend this one for sure, but go check out DramaCon too! There is a huge cliffhanger in volume one of Nightschool and I am looking forward to see how everything develops in the second!