Those who’ve ventured a tippy toe into the world of romance manga know that it’s full of crazy-specific genres. For example, magical girl manga, like
But my personal favorite mangas are vampire romances. Partly because I love vampire romances in general, but also because romance manga tends to put a twist on what American readers would consider a traditional vampire romance, making it 100x more fascinating and fun than a typical novel. I mean, manga characters tend to look otherworldly anyway, so why not go with that?
If you want to jump headfirst into vampire romance manga style, I recommend these series (and note that just because these are mangas doesn’t mean they’re okay for little kids–in fact, most of them aren’t).
Vampire Knight Shojo Beat Manga English Vol 1 5 By Matsuri Hino
Is THE vampire romance manga. There’s so much delicious drama going on in this series. Cross Academy is a school with a secret: when the regular students go home and the sun sets, it turns into a school for vampires! Yuki Cross and her best friend Zero Kiryu guard the secret of the Academy, but they have secrets of their own, a lot of which they themselves don’t even know. If you’re not reading this one you’re missing out on everything.
This is the manga that first got me into vampire romance. It’s your basic repressed-secretary-meets-jerky-billionaire-CEO story, with one twist: said CEO is a vampire. This series is like crack. Do not start it unless you have the entire day open to just binge-read it.
Average guy Tsukune is somehow accepted into Monster High, a school that–you guessed it–is filled with monsters. He quickly develops a crush on the cutest girl in school, who also happens to be a vampire. This romance vampire manga is very cute and ideal for younger readers.
Chocolate Vampire, Band 10
Another series perfect for younger readers that is suuuuuuuuper duper cute. Karin is a little vampire girl who can’t do anything right–she can’t even suck people’s blood because it gives her a nosebleed. Instead, she GIVES people blood when she bites them. Like I said, adorable and sweet.
Chiyuki is 17 years old, with a fatal heart condition. When she meets an 18-year-old vampire who needs to find a human blood partner, it seems like both their problems are solved, but in fact they’re just beginning. Think a marriage-of-convenience story meets teen vampire manga.
Two words: vampire priest. In our dystopian future, mankind is constantly at war with vampires. Esther, a nun, partners with a Vatican priest named Abel Nightroad to battle a virulent group of vampires led by the super evil Gyula. Tons of action, drama, and gorgeous art.
Vampire Knight, Vol. 11 (paperback)
Imagine if a vampire was in love with Fox Mulder and you have a general idea of this manga’s premise. Here’s the thing, though: the vampire is a little kid, and her relationship with said *adult* investigator is a bit… ambiguous. Is it an innocent girl’s crush? Is it sexual on his part, or avuncular? Impossible to say. And in case you’re starting to worry: it only goes far enough to keep the series weird and interesting without venturing into ick territory.
A reverse harem manga–one girl surrounded by a group of guys–about a princess with strange, supernatural powers. She uses cards to summon four knights, who happen to be the four hottest guys at school. The twist? They need to drink her blood to stay alive. Cute and fun, with less drama than series like
. I like that the girl in question, Anise, is independent and into sports, and more annoyed than flattered by her male retinue.
Manga 101: Vampire Knight
I’m not sure if I would technically call this a “romance manga” (yet), but there are homoerotic overtones, so let’s just say it is. Mary is a vampire who wants to die, but only one person can kill him. Unfortunately, that person is dead, so Mary finds a modern-day exorcist he thinks has inherited the “blood of Maria.” Whilst the two try to find a way to kill Mary, he protects Maria from demons. A great example of shonen ai (literally translated as “young boy love”) crossed with vampires. I love that the two male characters have female names. Gender bending!
This vampire manga series is a spin-off of the popular Blood: The Last Vampire movie, about a teenager in Okinawa with a mysterious past. You might want to watch the animé first to avoid confusion. There are also other manga spin offs of this spin off:Mito has beautiful looks, but terrible luck. After her parents died, she was shuffled around to various relatives who all resented having to take care of her. Once she graduated from middle school she was immediately kicked out and left to fend for herself. She’s tried to find work, but she inevitably gets fired when her good looks wind up causing problems. Mito finds herself living on the streets and disguises herself as a boy to avoid unwanted attention from predatory men. That’s when she meets Ruka, a vampire who’s been looking for a pretty young man to become his thrall.
Ruka has an aversion to feeding on women, so a “boy” like Mito would be perfect for the role of his dedicated food source. Trouble is, human blood tastes better when the person has been loved and cared for, and Mito has only known rejection and neglect, so her blood tastes bitter and gross. Not to be deterred, Ruka resolves to shower Mito with love and takes her in. Now Mito has a place to live, is able to attend school again, and has someone whom she can be useful to and who makes her feel wanted. It’s everything she’s longed for, but it could all disappear if Ruka discovers that she’s really a girl! Will she be able to keep her secret now that she and Ruka are living in such close proximity?
Vampire Knight Pearls: Die Neuauflage Des Shojo Klassikers
I was actually a bit surprised by how cute this manga is. Because of the set up where a thrall’s blood tastes more delicious if they’ve experienced being loved, the relationship between the two main characters winds up being quite sweet. They seem to have a lot of fun in each other’s company and both try to look out for the other. Mito is earnest and doesn’t hesitate to try and protect Ruka when she thinks someone is threatening him. Ruka, meanwhile, is cool and suave, always managing to swoop in to save the day in the nick of time. He’s also a closeted mega-nerd who loves anime and collecting figurines! This was a surprising, but welcome, twist. The fact that his anime obsession was used as an explanation as to why Ruka doesn’t want to feed on women (2D women are the only ones he’s interested in) was pretty nonsensical, but I was happy to see his character fleshed out in a way that prevented him from being just a generic trope of a love interest. Plus, Mito’s reaction to discovering his hobbies was pretty hilarious!
That isn’t to say that there are no troubling aspects to the romance, however. It’s clear that Mito is falling for Ruka mostly because he’s the first person who’s ever been kind to her and she’s desperate for affection. She was at such a low point in her life before Ruka made her his offer that she briefly contemplated suicide, so there is definitely a power imbalance at play here. Despite this, I found it easy to root for the leads as a couple, probably because they are equally dense when it comes to understanding their own feelings and it was funny to see them get flustered and fail to grasp why.
For those hoping for a sexier romance, never fear, there is plenty of sensual neck biting in this series. As an added bonus, there are also multiple instances where Mito’s secret is nearly discovered while she’s in various states of undress. So, there’s plenty of fan-service to go around!
Vampire Knight (volume Double) (tome 7)
Plot wise, the manga’s story is pretty straightforward: Mito is trying to keep her secret and Ruka is trying to transform her into a tasty dish (literally) with the power of his love. Since they get along so well, an additional element is needed to cause problems for them to overcome. Enter Ren, another handsome boy who knows that Ruka is a vampire and despises him because of it. Ren is convinced that Mito is in danger and needs to be rescued from Ruka, despite the fact that she doesn’t want his help. Ren has a complicated past with vampires that has led him to believe that Mito is being used, and, while he can be a bit of a jerk, he also raises some interesting questions for our heroine. Like, whether or not she needs to be worried about turning into a vampire herself, for example!
It’s obvious that Ren will wind up becoming a romantic rival at some point, but I’m appreciating that he’s causing Mito to think about whether or not Ruka is truly what he seems. She’s been a little too accepting of this whole thrall situation, and the added helping of drama
0 Response to "Manga Shojo Vampire"
Posting Komentar