Rosario to Vampire
Rosario+Vampire

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After years within the anime & manga community, I have come across a particular argument time & time again; "the manga/light novel/visual novel is better". This is usually in a bid to get people to check out the original source material, after witnessing a lacklustre anime/live action adaptation collapse in on itself.

Well Rosario + Vampire is a perfect example of such a case, whether you enjoy this kind of manga or not, the community has come to a unanimous agreement that this particular manga is worlds better than it’s unexpectedly popular anime adaptation. And it’s surprising how serious people get about it, given that ... it is merely a Shounen Supernatural Harem manga, with a bit of Comedy & Action thrown in for good measure.

Yet there’s no need to come into R+V expecting a fantastic story; as this simply is just your average high school Rom/Com, with some monsters thrown in. Well that’s how it is at first, as Tsukune Aono (a.k.a. Generic Male Protagonist No.91), through some odd circumstances, ends up as the only human in a Monster Academy. Now if he were a sensible human being he would GTFO, but sometimes going to school is more important than one’s well-being. Well it may also have something to do with the attractive girls throwing themselves at Tsukune, giving him less of a reason to leave. And there we have our story, with Tsukune tying to enjoy his Harem Haven, whilst dealing with life-threatening monster encounters, all while trying not to reveal his human nature to rest of the student body.

Sounds like one heck of a school-life fantasy, but the actual content does get somewhat stale and repetitive; with Tsukune getting into the usual mishaps & misunderstandings. Then closing things out with a monster spawn and having some contrived reason to force an altercation of sorts with Tsukune or the girls… rinse & repeat. So it’s good that the mangaka quickly realizes that this is a stale formula, rather quickly and focuses on developing the characters through more in-depth mini-arcs, which is a welcome change from the previous episodic storylines.

The characters are what help elevate R+V, but even with that said; there’s nothing unique about the character set-up to set it apart from your average harem. We have yet another “loser-kun” as our male protagonist, who somehow happens to attract cute girls like a magnet. The cute girls in question come in a variety of shapes & sizes but I like that there’s more to them than their initial personality traits. Each of them has some depth to their character, to ensure that they are more than just an otaku’s dakimakura (love pillow), which helps make them all appealing in some way. However we come back to Tsukune, who’s even less appealing and less developed than the generic villains, until about the point where the anime & manga storyline splits off. It is from that point on that Tsukune undergoes some surprising developments… for the better.

In my opinion the best as aspect of R+V is the artwork, which comes in 2 varieties. The most prominent being the usual day to day high school occurrences, with fairly simplistic yet serviceable artwork and then there’s the pockets of action, with bloody intense artwork. The characters & monster designs are somewhat imaginative but they tend to lack detail in their features. However when expressing a distinct mood or emotion, the mangaka makes fantastic use of shading. And I must add that the artwork undergoes some dramatic improvements, as the mangaka improves as an artist, along with the story.

Overall Rosario + Vampire is a mediocre harem manga that eventually grows into something that people, who crave more than the odd flash of pantsu-service, can enjoy. Unfortunately it is a manga that has an issue with inconsistencies in the story, creating some noticeable plot-holes, and inconsistencies in character behaviour, creating some questionable moments. Even with its issues and the incredibly repetitive “monster of the week” set-up in the earlier chapters; it is good when the story breaks free from its episodic shackles, to surprise the reader with a fairly in-depth set of stories & characters. Thus allowing me to recommend R+V, to anyone who is not initially turned off by the premise of reading such a manga.

Rosario + Vampire isn't anything special. Now I'll start by saying it isn't your typical harem manga, being set in a school full of different monsters, so I'll start with a good note and applaud them for abit of originality on that part.

But the praise dies there; the same recycled plot device and non-existant character development gets painfully old fast, the characters in general are so generic it's unbelieveable, like "here's typical loser harem protaganist"surrounded by lots of women who love him...*yawn* Now atleast with other harem mangas the setting changes abit, like there'll be a scene in school, then maybe at lunch or after ... school at someone's house or in town, this manga always has the same settings, and always the same suspicious character who ends up being the villian for that chapter, it's more predictable than scoopy doo. Alot of fan service is presence, I mean i'm not complaining i'm a guy afterall but it seems to me that the fan service is used to cover up for the flaws of the series, like they think people won't notice if they shove a chest into the readers face.

There's now a second series of the manga out but I couldn't care less, I haven't read it but I'm guessing that they've probably made the characters abit older and added a new fanservice girl.

So to summarize:
- The setting is pretty original; applause
- The art is also good so thumbs up to the artist
- Same recycled plot device; very predictable
- Generic and uninteresting characters; non-existant development
- Lack of settings makes the story get boring fast
- Over reliant on fan service; used to cover flaws
- Typical whinny protagonist

So, a show that's been plagiarized by none other than our great ecchi lords Gonzo, yet everyone keeps praising the manga for not being the same battle harem. Well... too bad, because that's exactly what it is! Rosario to Vampire at its core is a school harem with battle shounen elements. It is Season II where the battle shounen elements take precedence and overshadow the harem so much that you will forget it's entire first season aside from ONE key event.

RECOMMENDATION: Read this as a school harem with supernatural elements and you'll have an okay time. The structure is largely episodic building up to a ... shounen style fight for the climax of the chapter along with a trademark friendship lecture that is expected of Shounen JUMP manga. You won't feel disappointed and you don't have to rush through either. You'll have fun with the likable cast and their quirks, but don't expect much of them as realistic characters, since a lot is covered up by the plot elements, but there is catharsis and tidbits of proper development to be found here. It may be worth your time, but don't expect much, this isn't THAT different from the Gonzo adaptation, it's better, but not by much.

And with that... The STORY:
An episodic school harem where almost every chapter we encounter a jerk villain in one sense or another building up the relevant conflict until the climax where the main character is hurt and enables the One-Shot fix-it plot device to march in and stomp over the problem. Rinse and repeat ad nauseum. Be sure to add some other girls in order to have harem catfights, you always hold off your most badass character. The villains are irredeemable one-time caricatures of school bullying, stalking, obsessions and the like... and you have yourself a "great" story.

Well... until the author gets a hang of how to build up an arc, add some intrigue, change the setting to the contemporary world, have villains with ulterior motives and themes to them. Including Light Yagami wannabe because why not. It's not handled extremely well either, but it was certainly a step forward from the episodic throwaways. Though I wish it had a more proper climax for an ending arc, but it was an awkward enough time for the publisher as well to close one of its serialization magazines.

The ARTWORK is serviceable. It can be attributed to the old scans I was reading, but it just looks plain. But the simple thing is that the mangaka had to appease his edit. No panty shots of the badass, despite her signature move being a kick while dressed in a short school uniform skirt. Comedy is relegated to being a chibi background on small panels.
But it also shows that there is a sense of style when it comes to the villains, they are all drawn as horrors, beasts, heck, even Eldritch abominations later on. Too bad on the heroic side the most stylish thing we have are ominous eyes and a goth girl. The focus on the eyes when important was extremely good, as it is important both aesthetically and thematically to establish the thought process of the characters and what they're feeling. The framing is excellent and adds to the mood of the climactic scenes.
Alas it isn't until Season II where the mangaka goes crazy with well composited, detailed two-page scenes. Here it's like flexing his creativity to get a feel for how they would look like and there are still present here.

The CHARACTERS on the other hand... ugh. The protagonist is your generic shounen harem lead - Tsukune who is always standing up against injustice and putting himself in unnecessary danger... Look you fucking idiot, just call in your overpowered friend and have her deal with it for you, she won't mind, it's not like she cares about irredeemable villains either, I doubt she would listen to your stupid shounen lectures about the importance of others.

Then we have the main love interest- Moka, who is sweet, altruistic, caring and harmonizing. She's likable and the shadow character complimenting her presence make for a good dichotomy from a reader standpoint. But romance wise she just feels disconnected in a sense, just being sweet doesn't cut it for me. A romantic relationship, establishing and going through one takes a lot of effort, compromise and one has to accept the faults of the other. It's just how it is even if we feel something indescribably wonderful and sorrowful at the same time. Yes, yes, the complimentary personality of hers, she's just the badass, but there's nothing more to her, she's cold and distant, but yet so cool and is shown to be compassionate at times, but that's not played up to any significance whatsoever here because the status quo of shipping every girl of the harem must be upheld!

This is where the main contender for the romantic relationship comes in- Kurumu. She's a succubus, she's a creature of deviance and yet she wants Tsukune to truly love her without any cheap tricks she would use in her nature to devour men's souls through intercourse.. ahem... sorry, but that's the essence of her monstrous nature really. Alas it's only an ecchi, there is nothing that resembles sensuality or sexual frustration here, it's all just a high school romance. Kurumu joins as a rival to Moka for Tsukune, she's energetic righteous, emotional, upbeat, her main quirk is loving to throw herself into Tsukune with her (supposed) G-cups suffocating his face. Her monstrous nature get sidelined and she's only able to fly... such a badass!

Yukari, the loli witch. She also likes Tsukune, but she also likes Moka, she ships them, or at least doesn't mind their romance. In the harem, she's just the quirky loli. There isn't much to her, she has her quirks to add to the group, along with being the "school genius" which gives her the power of exposition dumping the reader and the cast at what they're facing.
Mizore is the ice girl stalker... that's it. Her quirk is to always be stalking behind a bush, table, pillar... you get the point. What she adds to the harem catfights are the straight man comments which I personally love. Pointing out the stupidity of of Kurumu's outbursts, and her arguments with Yukari.
And lastly Rubi who is introduced later and just makes appearances here and there not really playing any role as a part of the harem. She's mostly a decoration because she has the most distinct character design out of everyone.

So with that I'm just not impressed. Aside from Rubi, no one is fleshed out significantly to understand where they're coming from. The rest are just social exiles for whatever reason accepted by Tsukune so they can obsess over him for arbitrary reasons in order to have comedy skits, yaaaay! There is catharsis to be found in some villain arcs, but they are so few and far between, and in some cases rushed so it lacks impact. But it is a good showcase of spectacle coupled with catharsis. Not great, but serviceable at least, if not for the shounen lectures. Alas I could care less about these archetypes, it's the presentation on the panel framing that makes them powerful, not my dedication or intimate understanding of the characters or their themes. I simply can't empathize with them outside those extreme scenarios whose purpose is spectacle first, not personal drama. And as I mentioned the villains are all irredeemable with a few exceptions, one of them which gets retconned for extra salt.

Thus hindering my ENJOYMENT of immersing myself in these characters' lives and struggles, which are sidelined immediately for the next episodic chapter. The world had potential, but it's just concepts thrown in to add an artificial layer of drama to make up for the lack of actual character drama in order for the reader to root for the good guys. I don't like harem jinks either, there is no focus on each character, all we see are binary relationships between a pair. Moka is the peacekeeper, Kurumu is the bashful, reckless tomboy, Yukari is the smart one, Mizore is the observant straight (wo)man, Tsukune is the self-insert blank slate until the shounen switch in his brain is activated for his death wish each time, but at least that still gives him a character trait.

So in the end it was a chore to read through most of the time and thinking about it, it has ignored quite a few elements, not to mention most of the episodic characters never had significance all throughout Season II, which is what most praise this series for.