Vampire Library

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At first glance, Vampire Library is a cliche. Super attractive human stumbles into the midst of super attractive vampires, and they proceed to confront super attractive enemies while falling in love(?). However, the manhwa is saved because its aware of these tropes, and instead of wallowing self-importantly in them to evoke "drama," it pokes fun at them with charming banter between believable, endearing characters.

The self-aware humor is far and away the best part of the series, with jokes being made constantly about the typical shoujo plot points, art style, etc. I won't list them out because they are best experienced fresh, but suffice to ... say that yes, the "sparkles" that appear around the beautified cast are used to great effect. I consistently laughed out loud at how meta some of the jokes became.

The main character, Mano, is another high point. It would have been so easy to devolve him into a timid or bland audience proxy, but instead the author gave him a distinct personality and a history that motivates his decisions during the story. Another plus is his agency within the story. Mano is an extremely active protagonist, even if the supernatural plot might be jerking him around a bit. His friendship with the chief librarian is also developed gradually and feels genuine. They don't like each other because plot, but because they get along well and have each other's backs, even if the *ahem* power dynamic is a bit unbalanced.

So far, there are only hints at the underling mysteries of the main casts' backstory, with a little information peeking out here and there. But by taking the time to organically develop the characters, I have no doubt that the more serious drama will be more impactful when it does eventually drop. I'd highly recommend Vampire Library to lovers of shoujo manga, or to anyone tired of the same old romance-laden urban fantasies, The story might be just what you need to renew your faith in the genre(s).