Midnight Secretary

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Midnight secretary...actually this manga was the first Josei I read. But my opinion is based on my experience reading shoujo, seinen and mature titles, not on the shounen/action/martial arts titles I know what I must look for and what I should not expect.

Story:
He is charming, arrogant, lustful, irritating and well, a vampire. She is charming, uke (muahaha), strict, loyal and well, a secretary. The first impression is very important and you will get it very easy when they argue, even in the first chapter what a secretary should be - attractive jewel or productive employee. And since she discovers the secret of him being a ... vampire, she, as his secretary, decides that she manage his other needs (no midday appointments, gorgeous girls for meals, etc.) as well as his work needs. It is hard to say something more without spoiling T.T.

Art:
Great at times, but the details can be a little more, while keeping typical shoujo methods like the incredible "bubbles", or shining. Well, since this is josei they fit right, but I though that a little better backgrounds will contribute to the manga more than the fangirls fanservice. But the overall quality is very high, especially the moments of transformation, when Satozuka stops being a secretary and becomes woman.

Character:
Great characters, great development. They pass trough all stages of love like denial, fury, acceptance and mutual affection. In work they know what they are there for and at night they know it too. Humans have human troubles, but the vampires doesn't share them. They have other affairs, usually even more serious. And their behavior is pretty realistic.

Enjoyment:
If you want a funny gag manga you have to look elsewhere. There is some comedy relief, but most of the manga is serious, without the usual tear-jerking or laugh-inducing moments. If you don't like serious manga, have never had a job (you liked) before or never fell in love I doubt that you will understand it or enjoy it.

Overall:
This manga is precisely the sum of it's parts. Probably one of the best I have read at all. Serious, no unrealistic characters, developments or anything like it. So not everybody will like it. I recommend it to more mature or experienced (in mature/seinen/shoujo) readers. But the overall feeling is very good and it is easy to read.

This is a well-written vampire romance manga which has all the typical elements, including a fairly straight playing of the typical Japanese vampire type (not-undead, sunlight not instantly fatal, vampirism is not an infection, vampires are rich and successful). As a josei manga, this is written for a more adult audience and the initial setting is a workplace.

As in many good romances, the man and woman are not instantly attracted; she thinks he's essentially a slick, irresponsible man-whore (before she even finds out about the vampirism) and he thinks she's a tediously conservative and boringly professional secretary. Of course (since this is ... a romance) things change, but with a rewarding lack of ease and many difficulties on the way.

Heroine Kaya is an admirable young woman, and her character makes the story work. She's capable, brave, and stubborn, and most certainly not just sitting there to be rescued and swept away by a dashing hero. Said hero is proud and arrogant, but not in the end enough of a jerk to turn off the audience or leave Kaya's reactions to him unrealistic.

Midnight Secretary takes me back to the good old days when I was a giggling teenager without a care in the world, clicking through bad (and occasionally good) stories on Fictionpress and devouring them like candy instead of the books I really wanted to read – because it was addicting and easy and it got me a quick fix of what I wanted: romance with a hint of drama. It's been a good few years since I've read anything on Fictionpress, but Midnight Secretary takes me straight back to those days...because it's just like one of those stories, except in manga form.

What do we have ... here? A vampire story? How interesting. Kaya is one of the best secretaries around, and she becomes assigned to Kyouhei, a rather shrewd and arrogant man who quickly dismisses Kaya as plain right off the bat, stating that she isn't his type. She is quick to prove him wrong in more than one sense of the word, as she shows how efficient and outstanding she is at her job, and Kyouhei decides to let her keep her position. Kaya soon learns that her boss is a vampire after witnessing him partake in the blood of one of his conquests, and it becomes Kaya's mission to make sure her boss gets all the blood he needs, and make sure that no one else finds out he is a vampire.

I've heard a couple people citing that the way Ohmi Tomu, the author, treats the subject of vampires in this manga is original. If the concept that sex is what makes blood taste better is all that is needed to be original, then yeah, I guess it is. Overall, the vampires of Midnight Secretary are pretty standard: they have minor hypnosis abilities, can't stay in sunlight for long, don't sleep much, don't eat much human food, can't be around religious items. Most vampires are, of course, rich, and they have a pretty rigid hierarchy. If a vampire abandons their clan, it's not very likely that they will be able to get very far, seeing as vampires control quite a few major positions in society. Humans are regarded as nothing more than a food source and occasionally a method of reproduction. There isn't anything very jaw-dropping or mind-blowing here.

While I have yet to read any of Ohmi's other works, if her art is consistently anything like in this manga, it's pretty good. Nice and fluid, she really knows how to make Kaya, the main female lead, both adorable and professional. Kyouhei is also pretty good looking for a vampire. However, the immersion really falls flat when the manga artist draws guys as broad as mountains. Seriously, a man does not need to be as big as a house to be cute, all right? There are also some parts where the anatomy seems a bit off, but then again, it could just be due to scaling problems. The backgrounds are pretty typical and not often detailed, but they do the job.

Since this is a “smut” manga, there is some sex. Most of it is near the beginning half of the manga, and it really eases off the sexuality by the end. That doesn't mean there isn't quite a lot of innuendoes, though, and even before the smut starts, there are quite a few so-called “hot” moments. The sex scenes, where they exist, are never very explicit. By the end, it's mostly just kiss scenes that are emphasized. Again, there are times when the anatomy just looks really weird, and there was more than one moment where I spent trying to figure out how exactly something was supposed to work.

As far as characters go, Kaya and Kyouhei are pretty likeable overall. Kaya is a no-nonsense, perfect secretary, but she's not without her flaws. She is a workaholic to the extreme and is most happy when she's doing her job. Unfortunately, mixing her romantic life with her occupation isn't really the best thing for her, and she goes on for at least half the manga rationalizing her actions and her feelings with “it is my duty as a secretary”. That line got really tiring after the umpteenth time, particularly since what Kaya did could be seen as little more than degrading to herself. Letting a guy tug her around just because she apparently has “delicious blood”? Really? She even says herself that she is pretty sure that Kyouhei only sees her as a food source, and she still allows it because she is “his secretary”.

While she is partially at fault, Kyouhei also has some flaws to own up to, himself – he's certainly not in the clear. As a male romance lead, he's your pretty typical “tall, dark, and handsome”, complete with the stubborn jerk personality. He gets off the wrong foot with Kaya at first, and pretty clearly doesn't want her around. Thankfully, he warms up to her quickly, and changes his tune from a rude superior to a pompous ass. Which sounds better? Well, let's read on to find out. He doesn't call Kaya names and he quite clearly takes her opinions and being into regard; he looks out for her and, all in all, he is attentive to her needs and desires. He is also a possessive, selfish brat, but Kaya's a-okay with that, so that's less of a flaw and more of a minor annoyance. It can occasionally be amusing, though.

But Kyouhei's biggest problem is his inability to actually tell Kaya about his feelings. Sure, the first drama llama was understandable; yes, we get how he doesn't want to have feelings for silly humans, yes, we understand that. But then he admits to himself that he loves Kaya, and he doesn't even tell her that, not even when she's obviously in pain about it, and not even when she self-deprecates herself in front of him, stating that she's simply his secretary. He just goes along with it as arrogantly as possible. Despite the fact that he admits his own feelings to himself, he still has trouble dealing with them – which I would actually be okay with if he bothered to clear up Kaya's misconceptions and at least make attempts to alleviate her distress, but he doesn't. It's a cycle of acceptance, then rejection, and acceptance again. It's only when Kaya says she loves him that Kyouhei finally responds in kind – and it's back to the misunderstandings again.

There are other characters apart from Kaya and Kyouhei, and for the most part, they are handled tastefully. Most don't get much past a superficial label, such as “the kind-hearted manager”, so there definitely isn't much depth to any of them. They serve their purpose of existing and assisting in pushing the plot forward, however, and they play their parts well enough. Some characters that might have been included more or expanded on are left alone once their usefulness has passed. Usually, this is to make either Kyouhei or Kaya look good. Once that's over, they rarely appear again with a few exceptions.

That brings me to Midnight Secretary's most blatant and debilitating flaw – the pacing. Or rather, the manga's length. To be quite frank, Midnight Secretary could probably do with five or ten chapters less in its overall count, seeing as most of it is a repetitious running in circles by a woman who is overly conscientious and a man who is overly stubborn. It's exhausting and annoying, especially since the majority of it doesn't even need to exist. It's there just for the sake of drama, just to make the manga longer, to the point that it feels artificial. It isn't helped by Kyouhei's and Kaya's brooding. To the manga's credit, there are some events that I feared would bring about new drama and heartache for the characters – and were promptly and neatly wrapped up in one or two chapters, so that's something.

One particular issue I have with the structure of Midnight Secretary is that it recaps or summarizes part of the manga at the beginning of nearly every chapter. Why is this annoying? Because when I'm reading a manga, I don't want to have two or three pages reiterating what I already know, especially since I might actually have to read bits and pieces of what is on those pages thanks to an ongoing conversation or something of the like. I highly doubt you go about your day every morning thinking, “You see, I was hired by my boss not too long ago, and then I discovered that he was a vampire, and so I have to do this and this. It's really hard, but I do it anyway.” If you do, I'm sorry, that's just plain odd. To some extent, I can understand why the manga is structured in this manner; since it is a monthly serialization, sometimes readers can forget what occurred, and it's an okay ploy for pulling in readers even if they hadn't read previous chapters or volumes. Still, it did occasionally get on my nerves. It may have just been my impatience, though.

Now on to some minor gripes I have with the manga. Well, there's really only one that immediately comes to mind: the fact that Kaya still calls Kyouhei “Director” or “President”...even after they get into a relationship. Kyouhei calls her out on this a few times, but it doesn't really come up for more than one or two chapters and then it's forgotten. Kyouhei, for his part, rarely calls Kaya by her first name, but overall he has a much easier time of doing it than Kaya herself does.

As a romance manga, Midnight Secretary gets some things right, such as an actually mutually reciprocated relationship and making it evident that the leads actually care for each other, which is especially important with such a stuck-up man like Kyouhei. It gets some things wrong, too, but that doesn't make it inherently bad. It definitely keeps it from being great, though. Shorter is sometimes sweeter, and in this case, it definitely would have benefited.

This was my second vampire manga. That being said, if you expect to pick it up because you want to read about "strong" vampires and their battles, this is not it. It's a romance like the category says.

A short summary, Kaya, loves her job, she is possibly the best secretary there is (no joke). She gets transfered to Kyouhei, Touma's department and even his egocentric self notices that she is the best. In between all the women that he sees and his weird (slutty) behavior, it's no spoiler that she finds out he is a vampire (that's the basis of the manga). He is used ... to getting his own way and extorts her into staying with him regardless of her wanting to leave. Where does Kaya draw the line between responsibility and love?

The characters, it mainly centers around Kyouhei and Kaya, once in a while you will get characters that stays for more than one chapter but they soon pass.
Kyouhei s is a jerk, I'm not kidding he has the I'm better then you mentality. But you could see how he struggles to understand himself and change and that made me change my opinion of him....a little.

Kaya is a workaholic and I loved her for it. She loved her job and wanted to do it to the best of her abilities and sometimes her jobs suck her dry (no pun intended). And I really wish she'd stop calling him 'President'.

The art was ok. Some parts of it they made Kyouhei look huge next to Kaya and I'll be honest I was a little afraid for her. Other than that, It was fine. I did love how they change Kyouhei's hair to be when he worked and when he was playing.

I recommend it, it's cute and serious, don't expect to be laughing at every page and it does have ecchi scenes, it is a josei manga after all. And even though it's a romance it is not a bubbly sort of romance, it's a grown up romance.

Enjoy

The idea of romantizing vampires is a mix bag for me. Now I'm all go for new ideas to redefine the genre like how zombies is going, but some shows to be a big fail with some exceptions. This happens to be one of them as it show a vampire romance done right. Here is my review of it.

Story:8/10
The plot follows Kaya as she found a job as a secretary to Kyouhei who is mean playboy. But then she later found out that he is a vampire and must work for him as his permanent secretary in order to keep his secret. Now ... as expected in a romance story they go threw the trails of love such as Betrayal, Affection, acceptance, etc. This works well as it actually show progress on how the plot unfolds. Now this meant to be taken serious for the most part. There is some humor to break it up a bit and it really made me laugh at times. But there are some things that I wish they could of explain more like the vampire clan and the power that they mention when meeting the leader. But in the end the plot is well paced and I don't feel that its rush in any way.

Art:7/10
The art is done very well. The detail on the characters are very nice and it seems that its in good care. The expressions Kaya made really is very funny to look at. But the backgrounds are average which is strange as I think if she put more effort to it, it could of made it the best looking manga. But for what it is, its fine for shojo standards

Characters:8/10
The character are very believable. Kaya is a strong woman as she is passionate and his relation with Koyuhei is very interesting. She and Koyuhei knows what they are in day and night. They are just so believable that I actually care in hoping that they will be together. Plus the behavior they have is really realistic. The side characters rage from supporting them in what they do to enemies that tries to stop them and they did a good job on helping developing the main leads. And they did have develop to their characters but not much in my opinion.

Enjoyment:9/10
This is best romance about vampires so far. This proves that it can be done right. I recommend it for people who wants a good well thought out romance about vampires.

Overall:8/10 This is the greatest manga

As an 'office lady' myself I've started to read "Midnight Secretary" which falls in the Josei category. It's about a 22-years old super secretary, who gets a new boss. In the first chapter she discovers his secret; he is a vampire. And a good-looking one too (well, if you like those typical manga love interests :)).
And of course she can't resist his charms, after learning to deal with his horrible boss attitude. They'll end up in bed too, of course, and he discovers that behind that tight bun and those glasses hides a cute girl.

What I like about this series is that I ... recognize so much of her secretary work. I've been working a secretary for many years, but not a 'real' secretary like her. She reminds me of my younger self, because I always too wanted to be recognized because what I did, and not for my looks. However, I never deliberately made myself uglier than I was, dressing in an ultra-conservative style.
I like how she runs around, organizing the office-life of her manager. It looks real. It amuses me, because I recognize so much of it.

What I didn't like in the manga was that stupid blush the secretary always gets when the manager kisses her, or in bed. She's the typical shy but obedient Japanse girl; no initiative at all, except when she's working in the office.

All in all, I liked this manga a lot. The romance was cute, the office work was spot-on.

The first few chapters of Midnight Secretary was just average and I did not really like how Kyouhei was drawn (but there were times he looked really delicious). I wish the author had given Kaya a bit more personality rather than simply focusing on her status as the perfect secretary.

For many chapters, it was only Kaya's thoughts that were often expressed but I understand the necessity of this since it was a one-sided love at first. Later, I got to realise Kyouhei's depth which made me like his character more.

The author focused too much on sex, wealth and arrogance which I feel are only part ... of a vampire's signature. She made mention on the fact that they possessed enormous power but did not explore this avenue well. But I loved how sher tweaked up the vampires' characteristics rather than making it too cliche.

What I did enjoy was how Kaya was dedicated to her job despite her relationship with her boss (I haven't found this in many mangas). She was composed and only lost control at certain times. Another unique element was the circumstance surrounding her severe secretary look. I also enjoyed Kyouhei's transition from acting all mighty to taking her feelings into consideration and acting more human.

Overall, this story had great potential but unfortunately, it was not fully explored but it was great to read.

I liked the concept of how vampires are born in this series. I am a HUGE fan of the vampire genre and am always interested in different takes on the "traditional" vampire character. Overall, the storyline was very good, it flowed well and had good dynamic characters. It would have been nice if the writer had continued on in the plot a little more, the ending was more of a cliffhanger. The animation had a sense of sharpness to it, which I like. Overall, really enjoyable vampire romance series...

Midnight Secretary is enjoyable if your looking for something light without a lot of twists and complications. The story is mostly told through Kayas perspective. She is a fairly strong character with a great dedication to her work. The leading male is a typical one, nothing special about him nor much depth to to him. The story in a whole is simple, and common but still enjoyable.

The art is nice. I like the way the lead female was drawn. She was soft and very sweet but also had her tough Secretary look as well. The lead male however, I felt looked just like the ... lead male of many other mamas I have read. He wasn't bad just not too original.

Overall I did enjoy this manga. It had some sexiness to it with the vampires, which I always enjoy. I also enjoyed some of the Predictability of it, which for some that's not enjoyable. The end for me was greatly lacking. It was a very open ending, which I don't mind given the right place in the story, but I feel there should have been some more chapters. But, I am big on a good ending.

This is an excellent story for anyone. It's not your typical vampire story but it's more unique. I enjoyed this manga very much and would recommened it to anyone.

The story is about a woman who has no confidence in herself because of her baby face looks. She is set a challenge to work with her new employer who is extremly handsome (If only looks could kill) who is always brings a new woman to the office everyday. She stumbbles on him having sex with one of his partnets and sucking her blood. Now that she knows his secret she can no longer leave his side ... and becomes his new host.

This story is romantic and full of passion. There are challenges ahead that can can be overcome with a lot of hard work. The storyline is great, The art is beautiful, Great characters and Enjoyable. It is something that you could read over and over again. Unlike the Twilight movies this will without a doubt make a girls heart skip a beat.

What I found most captivating about the plot was the forbidden romance between human and vampire. That isn't to say that it hasn't been done before, though. Typical to come with idea is the set of problems that accompanies the union of two species... oh, a human and vampire couple are uncommon, everyone will look down on us, blah, blah. The driving point of this manga was the relationship between the two main characters Kaya and Kyohei. Throughout the series, Kaya tries her hardest to come out on top and fight off Kyohei's overly dominating personality, so if you don't like men who are initially ... pricks (and usually stay so), you may dislike the plot. Forbidden romance, however, always is always unusually attractive to readers.

I didn't find the romance to my liking very much when Kaya did realize she loved Kyohei, though. While romance is indeed the main focus of the tale, it seemed to be a physical attraction more than anything else, which I despise. However, given Kyohei's vampire qualities, it was probably supposed to be like that. Seeing the kind of responsible person Kaya was, though, I had hoped she'd think better of it. Then again, the heart is a hard thing to control once it's in love.

As usual, Tomu Ohmi's artwork is absolutely divine. I love the way the mangaka draws female body structures, luscious hair, and eyes that glitter and look into the distance. The men tend to be a little too perfect to me, with their eyes slanted just so and all broad-shouldered. I always like her women much better. Nevertheless, I liked to stare at her art a little longer than necessary while reading the manga just to study the detail.

Right off the bat, Kaya seems like a little lady who doesn't mess around, sporting a tight bun and glasses at all times. But the truth is that she doesn't need prescription glasses and she's more comfortable with her hair down. She dresses that way to look like a responsible adult. Otherwise, she has a cute baby face which she fears no one takes seriously. When I realized how pretty she was without dressing up like that, I wanted to see her with her baby face all the time. I came to appreciate this little fact about her, though. It was original and unique, just like she was.

Initially I liked Kaya's sense of professionalism, but when she suddenly fell in love with Kyohei, I didn't like her so much. She does grow up while she's enamored of him, though. She takes her job as a secretary very seriously and uses it as a pedestal to be commanding, take a stand, and say what she needs to. In that sense, she's a very strong main character. Of course, however, her only weakness is Kyohei.

I don't find anything very special about Kyohei. Yes, he's very handsome, rich, and has a lot of power in both business and politics, but that's how many romantic interests are in josei. He's also an arrogant playboy. Who knew?

But anyway, despite this, I grudgingly admit that he does experience character development in the manga. He's different around Kaya and soon comes to realize that she's the only woman for him. (Also a cliche, some uptight girl unraveling a Don Juan.) His pride never changes, but his thoughts about life as a vampire do now that she is here.

However much I expected, I did enjoy reading Midnight Secretary. Some parts were funny, like when Kyohei's actions aggravated Kaya. It was also interesting reading about office work, to be honest. I know secretaries do paperwork and take calls, but Kaya really takes it to a new level. I'm not sure I enjoyed the vampire thing, but it was all right. Overall, it was fine, not shabby.

There comes a time in almost every shoujo fan's life when the sugary sweet stories become too much to bear and josei starts looking more and more appealing. Bearing in mind that josei has heaps of tropes of its own (some more tolerable than others), let's talk about 'Midnight Secretary', one of the most well-known and, at the same time, divisive, josei manga out there.

Story - 7/10

'Midnight Secretary' is the story of Kaya, a young woman who wants her hard work to not be dismissed on account of her childish face. Her "business always" attitude attracts the displeasure of her boss, Kyohei, and pisses him ... off even further after she discovers his secret. There's actually quite a bit of humor in the beginning, mostly stemming from Kaya and Kyohei constant attempts to outwit each other and discover weaknesses to exploit. Kaya's inner thoughts in particular are hilarious, as she often mentally chastises Kyohei for his arrogance and looseness with women. Kyohei doesn't really care about Kaya until they develop a relationship outside of work (of course). That's also the point where the drama ramps up and the humor is left in the dust, unfortunately; light-hearted scenes are rare after Kaya and Kyohei become romantically involved.

The story is built on tropes you've surely seen elsewhere: young woman hell bent on making it out there, boss/secretary affair, vampire lusting after human and hating himself for it, and a certain plot point near the end reminiscent of another popular vampire series. In the later chapters, Kaya unfortunately loses some of her dry wit in favor of increasingly melodramatic moments of remarking that she's a secretary (i.e. not just a bedwarmer) and wondering what she means to Kyohei, as well as Kyohei bringing up that her blood is "special" every time he drinks from her, and his pride as a vampire. It's boring to read multiple chapters in one go and have it brought up again and again. However, considering all that, it's a pretty solid office romance that often focuses on Kaya as a person, and not only as an affair partner to Kyohei.

Characters - 8/10

Kaya is a pretty decent lead. Smart and very capable, she sticks up for herself and has a poker face to die for, though the occasional moment of moping around is inevitable. Typical asshole playboy with a ~dark secret~, Kyouhei sports a smug grin at all times and constantly berates Kaya for, well, being human; even though he tones it down somewhat later on, his arrogance still stands as part of his established personality (which was honestly refreshing, as many stories tend to go the route of having "mean" male MCs "redeem" themselves and change radically by the end; not here!). The side characters (Kaya's mother, Kyohei's family etc.) are developed according to their purpose of moving the plot along and reveal more about Kaya or Kyohei when they appear.

Art - 8/10

The art is clean, with mostly good proportions and attention to backgrounds. True to its shoujo roots, the characters are pretty or handsome, with nary a plain looking one in sight; Kaya has HUGE watery eyes and a tiny mouth and nose, which can be a bit distracting in close-ups. Otherwise, the male and female characters look fairly similar, outside of small variations, but are easily distinguishable from each other.

Enjoyment - 9/10

I find myself coming back to this manga occasionally, even if it's just for a few chapters. Although as a whole it doesn't bring much new to the table of josei office romances, Kaya is a good character who doesn't throw herself at the feet of the male MC the moment he expresses interest in her, and it's fun to see the relationship between her and Kyohei progress.

Overall - 8/10

I'd absolutely recommend this if you're interested in passionate office romances with a supernatural twist. The sex scenes are hot and tastefully done, and the relationship between Kaya and Kyohei progresses at a reasonable pace, with none of them throwing themselves at the other. To me, 'Midnight Secretary' was very enjoyable to follow, but I can see how others might find it repetitive and unoriginal, and lose interest along the way. But, if you like josei in general, give this one a try!

I used to have doubts about smutty mangas. I thought it would be sappy love and lots of sex, but I've been constantly surprised by mangas like Hapi Mari, Emma, Kimi wa Pet, Mars and, now, Midnight Secretary. Yes, there's sex, but it's not the focus and it's actually very beautiful or very sad depending on the situation.

These stories are captivating, realistic (to a certain degree), and downright amazing. I really enjoy them. This one in particular was fun because it was "supernatural," but perhaps that made it a bit more sad. The fact that they're so different, that they come from different worlds and ... there's a certain amount of effort to keep a distance is very disheartening. Even after they realize they're love there are still walls up.

But the heroine is amazing. A constant annoyance in manga is a weak character. Yes, women are sensitive, yes, we tend to cry about stupid things, but crying all the freaking time is unacceptable. I think Kaya was beautiful, strong-willed, professional, but still just a soft-hearted woman. Yes, she had her moments, but it's okay every once in a while. That's normal.

I also really liked Kyouhei. I'm really into successful businessmen in mangas, not really because I like their condescending attitude, but because when a guy puts you before his business, that's some sweet love. I also like how they could have anyone, but they chose someone average and not glamorous.

I also like family background in mangas and many mangas lack that. Family and friends, that's what makes you into the type of person you are so you can't just cut that out and focus just on a relationship. Whether it's trying to escape a family, look for your family, fit into your family, I love when it includes that. There's more to life than sex and your lover.

Love, passion, family, business, drama, that's life and when you have all those balanced in a manga, that's a good story.