Rosario + Vampire by Akihisa Ikeda

Title: Rosario + Vampire
Mangaka: Akihisa Ikeda
Age Group: Older Teens
Series is: Completed with 10 volumes
Volume(s) Reviewing: 1
My Rating: 4.5/5

Being a C-student, Tsukune Aono is unable to get into any of the schools he applied to. Finally, he managed to get into one. Only to find out that it is a school for demons and paranormal creatures! He must not let anyone on campus know that he is a human or it will be the end of him! There, he befriends a cheerful girl, Moka Akashiya, who turns out to be a vampire with a double personality!

Will Tsukune be able to survive this school year as creatures from left to right attempt to get rid of him??

This series has been out in North America for awhile now but it never crossed my mind to pick it up. I guess since vampires tend to be an in or out thing, depending on the trend, I was holding out on most vampire-related stories altogether. Except Rosario + Vampire came out to be a pleasant surprise!

So you have Tsukune who is surrounded with danger constantly because he is unwilling to leave his new vampire friend. Because of this, he gets thrown into troubling situations quite few times. Luckily, if he removes the rosario that Moka wears around her neck, her dark and sexy side unleashes and helps him out. With Moka and a beautiful succubus hanging onto him, his male classmates get pretty jealous as they don't understand how he get the girls! I don't know where my opinion lies for Tsukune yet. Same with Moka. I think I would need to read a couple of more volumes to decide.

I found Kurumu Kurono, the succubus, to be my favourite character thus far. Although she was a little violent in the beginning and the persistent kind, I found her personality and character design to be so cute. I'm pretty sure she wouldn't end up with the protagonist (because it is always like that) so I do hope things turn out for the best for her in the end.

The art is most appealing too. Ikeda can draw cute girls to aggressive, yankee-looking dudes. I love how the mangaka gives a panel close up to a character so you could see a glimpse of their eye or some part of their body to show their true personality. It very clean and it has great transitions of scenes.

Volume 1 of Rosario + Vampire proves to be an addicting read through its humour, action, and paranormal world! I am going to look for the next volume for sure! Manga fans should definitely give this series a go!