Rosario to Vampire: Season II

Without a doubt this is a must-read manga, the story expands a lot to make a great action-ish manga to read but it had to tone down the ecchi/harem/romance from the first season to put in more of that sweet actiony goodness. The story is far more interesting then that of the first season with many new enemies and allies, I'm trying not to spoil anything for anyone who hasn't read this masterpiece, but if you haven't, WHY ARE YOU READING THIS REVIEW, YOU SHOULD BE READING THIS AWESOME LOVEY, ACTIONY, ECCHIY, HAREMY MANGA OF AWESOMESAUCE, go and read it now, trust me, you won't regret it ^_^ read more

It was a breath of fresh air when the Shounen Jump title Rosario + Vampire came out, bringing with it an interesting take on the harem genre, within a Monster Academy setting. But alas it came to an abrupt end, along with the Monthly Shounen Jump magazine. Fortunately it was popular enough to warrant a continuation in the form of Rosario + Vampire II.

Rosario + Vampire II being a Shounen, Supernatural, Harem manga, with a bit of Comedy & Action thrown in for good measure. Although this is technically a sequel, R+V II feels more like a reboot, as it re-introduces the characters and setting from the ground up. Making it fairly accessible to those who have yet to read its prequel. Even if that means having to rehash various moments of character development or plot elements from R+V (especially regarding Tsukune). But now it is set during their 2nd year in the Monster Academy, a couple months after the madness during the school fair and begins with the male protagonist getting right into the usual comedic-mishaps with his harem. Nevertheless the mangaka has learnt some lessons from his previous outing, as the whole "monster of the week" angle has been scrapped completely for a more character-driven tale. With the tales ranging from the 2 chapter outings, to some fairly lengthy arcs that shape the rest of the story.

This means that the characters end up a whole lot more fleshed out, from being given their own chapters to shine; whether that is in combat, or just some character-building. Yes that includes even the likes of: Kurumu, Mizore, Yukari and Ruby; making them all worthy members of Team Tsukune. Of course Moka, being the "best girl" gets a whole volume of back-story to herself. As for Tsukune, he continues to progress from the badass he eventually became towards the end of the prequel, which is all fine and dandy. Yet there were some missed opportunities where the mangaka could have taken things further with Tsukune's relationships with the girls, if only he wasn't too afraid to stray from the status quo.

Now I remember reading R+V and witnessing a mangaka go from several panels of mediocre scribbles, to artwork that's beyond what you'd expect in a harem. Now I have to say the artwork in R+V II is superior to its predecessor, simply because the mangaka had already found his own style to settle on and so there was no need for him to improve that much upon it. So the pages contain characters with a superb level of detail put into their facial expressions, fully fleshed out vistas and some rather elaborate monster transformation designs. Though be warned, as towards the end things do get Gantz-level gory once the story intensifies.

In the end R+V II helped remind me that a harem manga can be very entertaining, by not even being much about the harem in question but by just being an enjoyable & rather compelling to read (even if that means turning it into a shounen battle manga). Although this manga has its fair share of flaws, like the usage of the "shounen power-up trope", there's just so much to like about it. I like how it feels when the mangaka takes a step back to assess the various relationships; whether in a jokey manner (like in Ch.23), or a more serious manner (like in Ch.17). I like the contrast in the artistic style and quality between the comedy and action. But most of all I like how this is a harem with a solid plot and a well-developed plot at that. I just wish it ended better, but that seems to be the wish I have with most manga & anime out there.
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I love that Rosario+Vampire gets progressively darker as the series goes on. While the first couple of books were just a generic harem comedy (but with monsters!!! omg), by the end of season I it was clear there was far more potential here than probably even the author initially thought.

Story: 7
Season II opens with the usual R+V harem hijinks, then gradually introduces some fun and interesting new characters. Not long into the story, the new main villain(s) begins to move into the picture. Akihisa Ikeda is continually experimenting with all different subject matter this time around; everything from class struggles to abandoned children. None of these are discussed to any great extent, but they're still there, and it's better to not go all the way than go too far and seem like you're talking down to your audience. The story was never really the selling point of Rosario+Vampire, anyway, so it does its job more than well enough.

Art: 8
I've always been a fan of Ikeda's art style, with his excellent balance of detailed linework, inspired monster designs, and of course, cute girls. The characters are instantly recognizable, and you would remember them if he decided to cut them out of the story and bring them back years later. His one fatal flaw is the under-drawings: the base models that just get drawn over with hair, clothes, etc. If an artist skimps out on these, then the final product, no matter how well-rendered, will always appear slightly off to a wary eye. When he gets it right, however, everything clicks are the results are fantastic. At the time of this writing, 35 chapters have been released, and some of the battles thus far have been mind-blowing. Not Berserk-level mind-blowing, mind you, but still pretty darn impressive.

Characters: 7
As stated before, the artist certainly knows how to design visually appealing characters. Whether they can match that appeal with their level of depth is another matter. Tsukune continues to be an incessantly nice guy, which is nice, but not particularly interesting. Outer Moka is thankfully being given more personality, and slowly becoming a character that actually deserves to be the lead heroine. A common criticism of the series is Inner Moka is often eschewed in favor of Outer Moka, though this finally seems to be balancing out as the vampire culture is explored. Kurumu and Yukari roughly keep their same level of importance as they have in the past, and fans of Mizore might be a bit disappointed, as she is pushed to the background again, save for one major arc solely dedicated to her. Just like the first season, those given the most thought are the villains and the characters that are only present for one arc and then are never mentioned again. Though to be fair, this is often the case with every piece of writing, and not just Rosario+Vampire.

Enjoyment: 9
With a series like this, enjoyment is what it really comes down to, and R+V does not disappoint. This is one of the most consistently entertaining manga out right now, and the month-long wait between chapters can be quite painful at times. The fight scenes are well-thought out, and hot girls fighting monsters is always cool. Ikeda also seems to have taken some pointers from the anime, because the fanservice is also better (they even have nipples every once in a while \o/ ). It's rarely distracting, though; unlike the anime, he knows better than to throw in a pantyshot at the scene's most dramatic point. Did I mention how wonderful it is there are even legitimately dramatic parts in the first place? Because that's a good thing. Certainly one that makes it more enjoyable.

Overall: 8
Despite its shortcomings, R+V Season II is still an incredibly fun manga, and a large improvement over Season I. Everything is better; the story, the art, the characters, the fanservice. It's a stretch to call it great, but it's definitely very good.


And now g2g do homework why the hell did i even write this i'm such an idiot read more

Part two of the series is just as great as the first part maybe even a little better now. With each of the girls trying to get Tsukune to be there's with inner Moka (Her Vampire half) getting in the way of Tsukune trying to be with the other Moka. And with Moka's half sister Kokoa also getting in the way every now and again.