Karin
Chibi Vampire

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**NOTE**First off this is my first time writing a review and the only reason I am doing so now is cause of the lack of reviews for this manga so if this review sucks you now know why. Also this is my favorite manga and one of my favorite animes so this review may be a little biased though it still is a great manga biased or not.


Karin is a romance manga with a vampire theme but what makes it so good is in my opinion how the author always seems to be able to add a little twist to the series ... at exactly the right time. I also love the relationship between Karin and Kenta, they did it perfectly. At first co conspirators trying to keep Karin's secret from getting out, then as friends helping each other out, then as love interests to shy to tell the other there feelings then finally(?)(don't know if they ever become married in the manga or not or got betrothed so there might be another step in the relationship though I doubt the next step will be as something like each others ex's) as boyfriend and girl friend. And sorry if I spoiled the relationship there by saying that Karin and Kenta would get together but I thought it was pretty obvious that it was going to happen I mean this is a part romance manga and the two main characters are a guy and a girl so something is probably gonna happen. Back to the review: as I have been saying this is a great manga and I love how the comedy always has some humor in it instead ob just being dumb and how the art always works perfectly for every scene. If you are looking for a rom/com with a big twist then this is a must read. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

P.S. If you want to read it you can find it all at manga fox even the last volume that haven't been released in english yet (someone translated it... thank you for translating it zonnikku)

Warning this review may contain spoilers.


First Impressions,
So I first found out about this manga by watching it anime adaptation,
Which wasn't bad per say but I wanted to see the source material for the more compeled story and Also I think of the idea of a vampire who doesn't exactly fit in with the normal vampire society in a way and shares a bit more of a connection with humans.
I think is sorta interesting.



... Story, 6/10

The story is about a vampire named karin who lives with her family.
But unlike most vampires she can walk in the day light with out problem,
Eat human food with not much hassle and the biggest thing is that she gives blood to people instead of takeing it, Thing go pretty well in till she meets Kenta Usui who has just transferred to her school.
Being in his presence triggers a increase in her blood at rapid rate which becomes massive nose bleeds with blood everywhere.
It turns out that usui has her blood affinity,
Which is basically a certain personality trait or feeling That each vampire has a likening to just by instinct.
So Karin try's to stay away of usui which doesn't work because there also next door neighbors.
Eventually he finds out her vampire nature and he decides to keep her secret and promises her family that he will look after her in the day time and they start becoming fast friends.


The first half is mostly about usui and Karin developing friend ship together which is slowly becoming love but we haven't got to that point yet and the issues that go with it.
Which is for the most part was the usual shit,
Like for example the problems that could come up with a vampire and a human in very close proximity with each other.
Like I am monster kind of thing or that karin at times can't control her vampire urges.
If you seen stuff like vampire knight or twilight it's that kind of thing.
But take away the emo mallow drama.
Because there one part where see actually nearly dies because usui going though a famliy issue with his father which triggers a reaction which nearly kills her.
Her family try's to keep them apart doesn't work and they solve the problem and they realize there feelings for one another and start becoming a couple.

Other than that there not much else to talk about expected a few back ground plot things like usui mother trying to find work, Karin older brother being an asshole and over bearing father and having to lie about your true nature to your grandma.

But it quite nice having that slow build up to there relationship,
Even if it isn't the most interesting or original in any way.
It actually mangers to get the feels aspect right which I will give credit where credit is due,
But they could have tried to make it more interesting.
And the background plots some times felt like every unnecessary filler at times.

But I did like the inclusion of how vampires can actually have a positive impact on humans depending on what emotion or felling that gets there interest.

The second half is them being a cute little couple together, getting along and building a future together. While Karin family trying to find out if there have been other vampires like her at all in history.
Things go quite well Intill a half human half vampire moves into town and gives a slightly cynical prediction of the future of there relationship because human and vampire relationships generally don't end the most happy,
Especially because mostly children that are born from those relationships are stile and most of the time they especially hate their vampire parent or the whole race in general.
Which isn't exactly good for a young couple to hear about.

Eventually this leads to Karin getting kidnapped by sied half vampire family because we find out that Karin is a rare breed of vampire which pops up every now and then and has the power to save the vampire race from it's almost certain demise as vampire birth rates are very low.
How is that Karin will be forced to give blood to vampires in till she can't any more without killing her and then will be raped in till she gives birth so there be another one so they can repeat the cycle a new.
Even though they technically don't have to go that far with it to get the results they want.

Just before I continue I was quite impressed with this concept,
The idea of how far you're willing to go in order to save your race from out was quite interesting and ingenious actually when I look back on it.
I mean you could write an entire novel based on this concept alone,
probably now over thinking this part more than i originally intended to.
But I just wanted to state for the record that putting this in was a good idea and should be given a pat on the back for effort.

But sadly it came to little to late and it was around 10-15 chapters intill the manga ended.
So it kinda phones it In.

So after these slightly fucked up events Karin is put in a state where she isn't exactly a vampire any more she actually more human than ever now because of reasons I don't want to spoil.

So her family comes to a very painful choice to removes karin memories of them so she can live happily as a human with usui and not have to be dragged down by vampire society and the things that come with it.
With usui being the only one who knows the truth.

Which is quite the bitter sweet ending,
Because the happiness that was made for them was done at a great personal cost.
Which did for some reason spark a reaction out of me.
So I guess it did it job in that respect.


But there was a few problems I did have,

Like for example and I don't like being at anime adaptation in manga reviews
But in the anime there quite a few episodes where they where hanging out doing school stuff and Karin vampire issues come out is pubic and hi jix follow.

What I am trying to say is that in the anime they gave more detail in the beginning of there relationship together and i feel for the manga that was I missed opportunity.

Also I wished they went into more depth about the vampire world and some of it's history.
Because from what we know the reason why quite a few vampires are in Japan in because a half breed outed most of the vampires in Europe to the local religious institutions.
And I would like to know the reason why that half breed did it.
Because those actions nearly put vampires in the grave for good.

Characters, 6/10

Karin as a character is ok.
She has a simple personally which is done well.
She basically very lively and some times a little clumsy at time.
But nothing to deep or out there as far as personally goes.

But I did like her whole trying to find a place to fit in and be happy which was nice to see.

Usui at first glance he kinda looks like a thug at time.

But is actually quite smart also quite a friendly person,
Although he may be at times rough around at times.
But what made me slightly interested in him is that,
He this person who is livening almost on the bottom rung and who dream is to work hard and get himself in a better place economically.
Which I feel is very relatable to most people out there today and I myself personally can relate to this as well.


The side characters.

Most of them are kind of forgettable and kinda basic.
Which is fine.

But the only characters that stood out to me was usui mother or Karin brother or little sister.

Because they where probably on page more but also because they had I bit more to do with the story.

Like Karin younger sister Anju for example.
Who keeps an eye on her sister but also takes part in some of the more human activities that Karin dose.
And you kinda feel bad when her vampire powers become fully developed that she can no longer take part in any of those things with her sister or hang out with any of the human friends she has made.
But what I really liked about is that it basically says that no matter how much you like the human world as a vampire one day you will have to walk away from it and leave it behind for good.
Which I thought was very interesting even though they didn't go much in depth about it.

Art, 5/10

The art is fine it's manageable to say the less.
There are a few planels that do look nice when compared to the rest of the manga.
The backgrounds could use a lot of work because some of the back grounds need more focus.

It has quite the cartoony cute style to it,
It a bit to flashy for my taste.
But at the same time it's very good that showing the emotions of the characters.
So it that regard I actually quite like it.

The character designs I am not the biggest fan of.

It's just the design make it kinda hard to take these characters seriously when something actually serious is going on.





Enjoyment, 6/10

I guess I enjoyed it for what it was.
Because it's very basic and to the point.

Plus I found it quite relaxing at times and I thought some of the elements the manga had where slightly interesting.

Also after re reading this I felt that my enjoyment is a lot more lesser than the first time I read this or watched the anime version which isn't exactly perfect.
But I had more fun with it back then.
But at the time I was getting into anime and manga.
So maybe it just the effect of getting more experience into the medium as a whole.




Overall,6/10

After thinking about it I do feel that this is probably a good recommendation for those who don't really have much experience with the anime or manga in general.
So it's a very good entry level manga.
If you want to chill out and watch a basic romance play out.

But for those who are quite a bit of experience you are going to be slightly bored with it and probably won't waste you time watching it.
Unless you just want something very basic.

Can a bad ending ruin an otherwise good manga? Yes. For me, in the case of this one, it can.

It's just baffling the way this one wrapped up. Honestly, I don't even know how to write this review. MAL suggests not including spoilers in the reviews, but so much of why this story landed with a massive thud for me is because it has one of the most rapid turn arounds from good to bad I've seen in a story.

Just the fact that our protagonist loves her family, is devoted to them, and her family loves her and cares for her, just for ... it all to be erased from her memory and for her to be left a total orphan? It's just an extreme solution to a problem that seemed like it could have had more than one fix (or at least had the writer been a bet more deft, she could have come up with a less extreme solution).

So yeah, I guess I get to be the one person on earth who doesn't like Karin / Chibi Vampire. I don't think the journey fixes this, it's just not good.