Tomu Ohmi

All right guys let's keep a few things in mind: I read this before it was licensed way back in the day when it was fan translated. This is more accurately considered "Josei" then "shoujo" (which is kind of like the difference between "middle grade/young adult" and "New adult") and while this volume involves very little nudity succeeding volumes feature it pretty heavily (especially between the two main characters).

What does it take to be a "perfect" secretary? Kaya is determined to be such show more to Director Touma no matter what it means. Running ridiculous errands? Fine. Enduring his rude remarks about how 'plain' she is? Bring it on. Helping to schedule his "meals" with the women that he has sex with so he can drink their blood? Oh sure--wait what?!

Ohmi has an interesting take on vampires in this series; far as I can tell they can't be made, only born and only between a human and a vampire. As such there's few enough of them in existence. Much of the popular folklore about them is false also. They only need a meal once or twice a week to sustain them, direct sunlight weakens (but doesn't kill) them and its the power of faith (of any religion) that hurts them, not the artifacts or words.

Touma is your basic Alphahole Hero--he's arrogant, rude, condescending, womanizing (though that's partially out of necessity) and controlling. He chides Kaya constantly about her "plain" appearance and makes unreasonable demands even BEFORE Kaya finds out he's a vampire. Kaya for her part is more timid in these early chapters, but what seems softness and hesistance on her part morphs into just how committed she is to being the BEST secretary she can be under any circumstances.

What kept me interested back then and now was the struggle Touma and Kaya go through to find their happy ending (oh come on its a romance, despite any other trappings, so yes there's a HEA). Ohmi doesn't have them jump into a relationship--while Kaya is struck by how attractive Touma is, his arrogant attitude (his "pride" as a vampire) turns her off as much as the little nice things he does interests her. In this volume we see them bicker, fight, joke and frustrate each other.

For Kaya her job as a secretary is who she is--its everything she's wanted to repay her mother for raising her. She takes her job seriously, works hard and when its appropriate she speaks her mind. Because of this "pride" as a secretary she's at odds with Touma--who has a chip on his shoulder against humans (including his own family), a chip on his shoulder about women (which granted, we come to find out is not entirely unreasonable) and is perfectly fine with manipulating Kaya's sense of duty to get her to stay by his side.

The artwork is a bit more dated and sometimes seems odd--most of the men are tall, well built and almost aggressively sharp shoulders (and almost always in suits, which makes sense since this primarily takes place at a corporate building). The women, even Kaya who despairs of being a "babyface", all are hourglass figures. This changes as the series progresses and we meet more characters, but it holds true here. Touma stands out because he's dressed dark with dark hair while Kaya stands out for much the same reasons--many of the other minor characters fade into the background.

If you want a heroine who has purpose and goals, this is for you. If you want a vampire romance with all the traditional trappings therein, this is for you. If you want to see Touma and Kaya run themselves ragged trying to convince each other and themselves that they are fine without the other, this is for you. Give it a shot--after all don't you have any pride as a reader? show less

Yes, in real life, boss/employee romances are a bad thing, but I love them in fiction. I've wanted to try Midnight Secretary ever since I learned that it was a boss/employee romance with supernatural elements. I picked up the first volume and read it after a particularly horrible day at work. The verdict? It was lots of fun, and now I want to read more.

I loved Kaya. She hated how baby-faced she looked and yearned to be taken seriously, so she purposefully dressed to make herself look like show more her personal vision of an efficient secretary. That meant severe outfits, a severe hairstyle, and glasses, even though her eyesight was fine. When her boss insulted her looks and gave her a huge amount of work in order to try to scare her off, she gave him a super-professional smile, privately cursed his playboy behavior, and then did her best to prove that she was the best secretary ever.

It took me a bit longer to warm up to Kaya's boss. His instant dismissal of Kaya because she wasn't hot-looking didn't earn him any points, and I hated that he threatened Kaya's mother's job if she didn't keep his secrets. I think it helped that Kaya easily (too easily?) adjusted to being a vampire's secretary and combated Kyohei's arrogance with a pleasant, professional mask and quietly perfect work.

Kyohei was one of those arrogant playboy types who's secretly adorable. I enjoyed his private amusement over Kaya's efforts to learn his vampiric secrets, and I thought his reaction to Kaya trying to protect him at a Christmas party was great. When he learned that her glasses were fake and that she wore them as a kind of secretarial uniform, instead of forcing her to stop wearing them so she'd better fit his definition of hot, he supported her.

There is a bit of low-level jealousy in this volume – Kyohei seemed to dislike, but be resigned to, Kaya's attraction to his brother, and he forced Kaya to cancel what he thought was a date with another man by deciding that the two of them needed go to a party that he had previously decided to skip. This was all done in a way that worked for me, although the bit where Kaya was forced to cancel her date pushed my comfort zone a little.

I can't wait to see where this series goes. I've read manga adaptations of Harlequin romance novels, and those are usually crap. Although Midnight Secretary isn't one of those, it has the feel of a Harlequin romance novel adaptation done well, if that makes any sense. There's the prim, professional secretary who's maybe a little too devoted to her boss. There's the playboy boss with the tendency to brood when his secretary causes him to feel actual emotions. There's the perfect, golden-boy brother who provides the opportunity for a slight love triangle, plus a bit of mystery – I really want to find out more about Kyohei's relationship with his family and why he's the only one who's a vampire.

Oh, I almost forgot. One bit of warning: the series is a little racy. There are a few instances of bared breasts, and Kyohei's bite practically counts as sex.

Extras:

Very little. A few sidebars and a one-page comic-style afterword from the author.

(Original review, with read-alikes and watch-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) show less

I loved the first volume of this series so much that I purchased the next three without hesitation. I was expecting more fluffy fun. Unfortunately, this volume went in a direction that made me very unhappy. I really hope this series rights itself over the course of the next couple volumes, or I'm not sure I'll be able to continue with it.

The first half of the volume wasn't so bad. I enjoyed the brief appearance of Kyohei's mother, who shed a little more light on how vampirism works in this show more series and revealed some of the reasons behind Kyohei's cold behavior towards his family and most humans. Kaya's realization that she was in love with Kyohei didn't come as a surprise, and I already knew that realization would lead to hurt feelings and inner turmoil on her part.

It was painful to watch Kaya become so absorbed with and upset by her feelings for Kyohei, but I could understand it. I think my problems with this volume didn't really begin until after Kyohei found out that his brother had offered Kaya the option of being reassigned. He acted like a complete and utter jerk, seeking Kaya out at her home and verbally striking out at her when she refused to let herself be swayed by him.

The thing is, this volume could have been saved. There were indications that being separated from Kaya upset Kyohei, even if he wasn't willing to admit it, and Kaya was still enough herself to be able to be someone else's efficient, perfect secretary. She didn't necessarily need Kyohei in order to continue on, and the stage was set for Kyohei to realize he was being an ass and try to redeem himself.

For this to have all worked out, Kyohei needed to do some groveling before Kaya could go back to him. There would still have been issues they needed to deal with – they were still boss and employee, and at least one other person in the company knew their relationship had become closer than was appropriate – but at least Kyohei would have acknowledged that Kaya was someone worthy of his respect and consideration.

Unfortunately, that's not how things happened.Kyohei saved Kaya from getting hit by a car, exposing himself to sunlight and weakening himself in the process. Kyohei's loyal driver later went to Kaya and begged her to see Kyohei, revealing to her that he hadn't been feeding as much as he should since she'd left. Kaya went to Kyohei and then slashed her wrist, forcing him to either drink her blood or let her die. After he'd drunk his fill and they'd had sex, Kyohei asked if she'd be his secretary again. Kaya was still enough of a professional to say that she'd continue with her job at Erde, as she'd promised Kyohei's brother, but she told Kyohei that she'd come work for him in secret in the evenings.

First off, I don't care that Kyohei revealed his feelings somewhat via his actions, by weakening himself in order to save Kaya – in my opinion, he still should have been forced to say at least some of what he felt for her before she ran back to him. I was hugely uncomfortable with the scene in which she slashed her wrist, because she seemed to be saying that loving and serving Kyohei was more important to her than even her life. And agreeing to publicly work for Erde, while working for Kyohei in secret?Where did the professional, career-minded Kaya that I loved in the first volume go? The woman who was so ethical she investigated her own boss for drug use/pushing and would have turned him in if that had been what he'd been doing?

This volume's ending angered me. Kyohei was a jerk who should have groveled but didn't, Kaya was a disappointment, and the sex happened at least a volume or two too early.

Extras:

Occasional author's notes relating to the series, plus an afterword from the author.

(Original review, with read-alikes and watch-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) show less

I got into the series for a few different reasons - 1) vampires (which I have always loved and will always love, even when they fade out of popularity for a while, as always happens); 2) Kaya is a pretty strong character, which I like, and 3) I was testing out manga and this was a readable series.

Kaya is less strong-headed in this book, and she puts up with a lot of bullshit from Kyohei. Kyohei, unfortunately, has gone from alpha in the first book to alphasshole. He's completely rude and show more inconsiderate to Kaya, and Kaya just takes it because she figures out fairly early in this collection that she's actually, rather inexplicably, in love with Kyohei, though he has never treated her all that well. He treats her like a jerk for most of the collection, all in the name of "vampires normally don't care about humans but he may or may not be falling for Kaya and his reaction to this earth-shattering news is to treat her like a total doormat." Meh.

But the series IS readable, and even though Kyohei is beyond annoying to me, I want to keep reading. show less