Chibi Vampire (Karin) Volumes #10-#14 by Yuna Kagesaki



FYI: I will not be providing summaries for the final 5 volumes of this series since I don't want to spoil the series for future readers that may want to read the series.

I will keep this review short and sweet. Well, maybe not too sweet. This is the first manga series I have read and while I did enjoy it I felt that in Volumes #10 and #11 that the series was sliding backwards and getting too cutesy again.
I did like where the story was heading though and I'm glad that Karin's sister Anju and her Grandmother were bigger characters in these final volumes. I still found her brother Ren to be a complete asshole though and I wish he would have just buggered off too be honest.
When I read volume 10 a few days ago I was glad but when I read volumes 11-14 today I was sad. You see I hate when a series ends. I just hate it so I will try to avoid reading the final book or volume as long as possible. This time I made myself get it over with fast.
While I did find the series had its ups and downs, high points and low points I'd still recommend them. However, I HATED THE ENDING WITH EVERY FIBER OF MY BEING! Sorry. but thats just how I feel. I wish it had turned out differently and now since I've read this series I think I may take a break from the genre but I'm not so sure since my reading is based on my moods.
I think that I may need to give myself a few days and add to this review once htings have settled but I don't think time will make me change my mind about anything. I'd give these volumes:

★ ★ ★ 1/2

Chibi Vampire (Karin) Volumes 5 - 9

*Note: Since I'm reviewing 5 volumes at once I will only be providing the summary for volume 5 since I don't want to ruin it for others.

Summary:
Karin continues to come to terms with her feelings for Kenta, but her flirting will have to be put on hold for now. Karin's grandmother is in town, and that's enough to put her entire family into a panic. Elda Marker is no silver-haired, cookie-baking matriarch. She's a hot and heavy vampire vixen with a taste for blood, but a distaste for everything else having to do with the human race. So how can Karin possibly tell her about her new human almost-sorta-not-quite-boyfriend? It's going to be one freaky family reunion that you're not going to want to miss! Also in this volume, get a glimpse into the Maaka/Marker family past in a side story that focuses on grandma and grandpa!
Summary taken from Goodreads.com

This series FINALLY got good! Unlike the precious 4 volumes these 5 did not annoy the hell out of me and make me want to torch them....okay maybe they weren't that bad but frankly they were just okay. So that is why I was so relieved to see the series picking up steam.
Karin and Kenta are still bumbling along the road of adolescence trying to figure out how they feel about each other and the fact that Kenta's dead beat dad and Karin's perverted Grandma come into the picture doesn't make it any easier on the two love birds.
I found that the story is progressing in a nice way and the writing has gotten much better. I'm thinking that maybe the reason that I didn't like the first 4 volumes as much is because of my newness to the genre. I am glad though that for whatever reason that these are getting better. I feel like Karin and Kenta are evolving from the cutesy 13 year olds that they seemed to portray and are now acting more their ages.
I can only hope that the series continues to get better and I'm glad that the artwork is still wonderful I definetly recommend these more now and can't wait to read the final five volumes.
I give these 5 volumes:

★ ★ ★ 1/2

The Flower of Life Volume One by Fumi Yoshinaga

Summary:
Forced to enroll one month late after recovering from a serious illness, Harutaro does his best to remain optimistic about enrolling in a new school. The other students try to make Haru feel welcome – especially his chubby, loveable pal, Shota – but Kai Majima, president of the manga club and all-around hard case, seems intent on making Harutaro’s high school life a living nightmare. Join Harutaro as he makes new friends, learns to draw manga and discovers surprising facts about his “kinda gay” teacher!
Summary taken from goodreads.com

I'm starting to think that Manga will always be hits or misses with me. I really thought this one would be better because  though it's still a Teen manga it was more mature. Unfortunately the only thing to save this volume from a one star rating was the artwork. If it weren't for the artistry I doubt that I would have even finished this one.
The story was odd. It seemed very much like Yoshinaga was trying to hard to make the story seem more real. Sadly she just couldn't pull it off in my opinion. I found the story to be very flawed, it stopped and started with the frequency of a jackhammer. The characters were boring and I found the whole school setting to be dull.

I was so disappointed in this one that though I do have the next two volumes checked out of the library I doubt that I will be reading it. I don't recommend it to anyone but I strongly advise borrowing it from your local library to try it out before you buy it.
Due to the art work which was lovely I give this

 ★  1/2.

Vampire Knight Volume One by Matsuri Hino

Summary:
Cross Academy is attended by two groups of students: the Day Class and the Night Class. At twilight, when the students of the Day Class return to their dorm, they cross paths with the Night Class on their way to school. Yuki Cross and Zero Kiryu are the Guardians of the school, protecting the Day Class from the Academy's dark secret: the Night Class is full of vampires!

Yuki Cross has no memory of her past prior to the moment she was saved from a vampire attack ten years ago. She was adopted by the headmaster of Cross Academy, and now works alongside Zero to guard the Academy's secret. Yuki believes that vampires and humans can coexist peacefully, but her partner has different ideas...
Summary taken from Goodreads.com

I went into this book with low expectations. Since I had a bad experience with Chibi Vampire I thought that Vampire Knight would follow the same fluffy pattern. Thankfully I liked this one more than Chibi Vampire.

I really admired the hardwork Matsuri Hino put into the artwork of this volume. It was stunning (despite the Sailor Moon skirt on Yuki can we get anymore stereotypical?).  It was wonderfully done.  It was nice to see that there was a connection between the art and the story.  I also like how the author added in little side bars explaining how the book came to be.

I really like Yuki but I don't like Zero and I feel wary when it comes to the Vampire Kaname and the Headmaster of Cross Academy. I was surprised about what happened to Zero and I can honestly say I was no expecting that. It made for a good twist.  I hope Yuki is more of the focus in the next volume.

I will be continuing this series and I hope that it gets even better. I enjoyed this volume and so I'm giving it ★ ★ ★  1/2 My hopes are that the story will get a little stronger. Though I enjoyed this volume I found some areas of the plot to be a little weak/flat. I recommend this to Manga lovers who want something a little less fluffy to read.

Rasetsu Volume One by Chika Shiomi

Summary:
R to L (Japanese Style).
Rasetsu Hyuga works for an exorcist agency where she uses her special powers to banish evil spirits. There's a story behind the red flower mark on her chest though — it's a momento left by a powerful spirit who vowed to claim her on her 20th birthday. Unless Rasetsu can find true love by then, she is fated to become his.
Yako Hoshino, a young man with spiritual powers of his own, comes to the agency seeking help with a possessed book. He's seen a lot of strange phenomena in his day, but the last thing he expects to see is Rasetsu bearing a striking resemblance to his old love Yurura!
Summary taken from Goodreads.com


I grabbed this one by chance off the shelf in the library and didn't have high hopes for it. Though in this instance I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this book since I haven't had the greatest luck in this genre thus far.

I thought that the overall premise was good. It was nice to read a more mature manga. I definately found myself giggling over some parts. Rasetsu is adorable. As for Yako...I don't care too much for his aloofness but hopefully he changes as the series goes on. I am interested is reading more about his past. I find it intriguing that Rasetsu looks so much like the ghost girl he used to love.

I hope the next book in the series is just as good if not better than this one. Unfortunately my library only has the first volume in the series in the system so it looks like I'm going to be having to buy the rest of the series in order to read this.

I recommend this book to people who enjoy T+ manga and those who like their manga less fluffy. My final rating for this volume is a ★ ★ ★ ★ read.

Chibi Vampire Volumes 1-4 (Karin #1-#4) by Yuna Kagesaki

Summary: Karin is a cute little girl who also happens to be a vampire...with a twist. Once a month, she experiences intense bleeding from her nose--we're talking gushers! In other words, she's a vamp with blood to spare, so rather than stealing blood from humans she actually gives her blood to them. If done right, this can be an extremely positive experience that benefits the "victim" as much as the vampire. The problem is that Karin never seems to do things right!
Summary taken from Goodreads.com

Since I don't want to give all of the plot away to potential readers I will not be adding the summaries for the volumes 2-4 in this review thus I will only be providing the summary and cover for Volume One.I hate when too much of the plot is given away by reading the summaries when the volumes at hand are reviewed in bulk such as these.

Now on to the review!

I'm not sure what I was expecting when I decided to grab these off the shelf in the teen graphic novel/manga section in my library last Thursday. Perhaps I was drawn to the covers. I'm a sucker every once in awhile for a cutesy book. This happened to be one of those occasions.

So yesterday I started reading them and was immediately drawn to the artwork. I'm fast coming to love the manga/anime style. I mean I was a fan of Sailor Moon (still am but now I pay homage to that show on the down low).  I mean I think the main character Karin is adorable. She's so tiny and cute! I had high hopes for this series since I was so impressed with the artwork but sadly the stories leave much to be desired.

I stuck it out through the first 4 volumes of this 14 volume series and I haven't seen any real plot progression. I find the story to be quiet boring and the characters to be very one dimensional no matter how cute they are. I especially hate Ren, Karin's older brother is a complete ass, her mother is a b!tch and her father is a little creepy. Speaking of creepy her little sister has a doll that's possessed by the spirit of a serial killer who murdered 13 people with a kitchen knife...but I actually liked that part. I love me some creepiness.

I think I may stick this series out just because I want to see what happens but I highly doubt that the author will impress me, which makes me sad since I so wanted to like these more than I did. It could also be because though this series is rated T+ for older teens it's still to kid like for me.

So far I'd give these 4 volumes 2.5/5 stars each as a rating and would only recommend them to younger teens, who like really fluffy manga. But I strongly urge those who decide to read this series to borrow them from the library and not buy them until you're sure you like them.

Maximum Ride Manga Volume 1-4

It's been about 6 years since I read the first book in James Patterson's first book in the Maximum Ride The Angel Experiment. I honestly don't remember much about the the novel version but I do remember that I enjoyed it a lot.

Let me say that more often then not when a book is adopted to a different style things get lost. Its much the same as reading a bad translation of a book written in a different language. I was pleasantly surprised to find that from what I do remember from the regular print books was carried through for the most part into the manga versions.

I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed seeing Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy and Angel drawn on paper. The artist did a wonderful job depicting them. I think Angel was so cute and it was nice to see the characters come alive on the pages. If you like fast paced adventure, the Max Ride series or just love manga I highly recommend you reading these 4 star reads!

P.S. Will be adding more to the review later.

Emma Volume One by Kaoru Mori

I can't believe that while I live in one of the most multi-cultural cities in the world that I have not given manga a chance before today. It's a shame really I've spent the last 21 years living under a rock it seems. I mean how can I have lived in a predominantly asian community almost my whole life and not have piced one up before today? Alas, life is filled with such regrets.

Anyway, about the book itself. It wasn't great but it wasn't bad either. I found it to be a cute little story. I liked Emma, but felt she should say more. Her employer intrigues me. I like her a lot but I am not a fan of Hakim, or Mr. Jones Sr. William is still meh for me.

I like how the story was set in England and how the author/illustrator paid close attention to make it seem real. A prime example is the use of Mudie's Lending Library.

In the next installment I hope that Emma comes out of her shell a little more and I hope that Hakim goes away along with Mr. Jones Sr. William can stay but that's only because I'm not sure whether I like him or not. Maybe the next book will help me decide whether I do or not.

I found this to be a cute 3 star read and I'm glad I started my manga reading career by reading this.