Rosario + Vampire Season II: Volume 9

I've had enough of the Fairy Tale story.  I've tired of Moka's past.  I'm ready for them to move on.

Vampire Knight Volume 14

Kaname doesn't deserve Yuki.  She's so much more devoted to him than he is to her.  Of course, Yuki doesn't deserve Yuki either.  For a love triangle it's messed up.  Interesting to see more of the history of this vampire world.  My sympathies are still with Aido.  He's just trying to protect Kaname and those he loves.

Rosario + Vampire Season 11 Volume 8

That's a lot of back story to explain why Moka has the rosario.  Neat story but i felt it really took away from the action of what Ikeda is trying to create.  Most of the main characters have been lying on the floor while the mob forms at the door.

Rosario + Vampire Season II Volume 7

These are getting harder and harder to read at work as they become more and more risque. 

The story progresses though.  The dynamic between inner and outer Moka is quite interesting and I wonder why other vampires don't seem to need the Rosario like Moka does.  I want to find out more about what happened in her memory to her mother and her oldest sister Aqua.

Vampire Knight Volume 12

I thought it was odd when the last volume I read involved Yuki going out on her own. From what I remembered they were getting ready for a soirée. Turns out I missed one.

Anyway, Volume 12 is proof that pure bloods are dicks. From Kaname's efforts to control Yuki to no one objecting to a vampire commitng suicide by turning a vampire hunter, to Sara's treatment of Zero. Ichijo and Aido have the unenviable positions of tending to pure bloods who won't listen to reasonable suggestions.

Rosario + Vampire Season 2 Volume 6

This is just starting to get a little creepy.  Creepy's not quite the right word but it's at least unsettling.  Ruby is clearing a sadist, and anxious for Tsukune to be the one to hurt her, Yukari has always been bisexual but when the chance for polygamy comes up all the girls (save Moka) are on board.  Ikeda breaks the fourth way repeatedly in this volume, from suggesting the Tsukune would be great in slash manga to arguing whether Rosario is "moe".  Fangfang struck me as a tribute to Ranma 1/2, being androgynous and hanging around with a panda.

I'm curious where Ikeda's going with his inner/outer Moka being unable to switch places and inner Moka being the one on the outside when there's no fighting happening.

Vampire Knight Volume 13

There's more backstory in this one than there has been for awhile. Kaname comes off a bit less creepy. He's not Yuki's brother! But Zero does. I don't like vampire Yuki either. Aido's starting to seem the most stable.

Rosario + Vampire Season II Volume 5

Aww... Gin has a crush on a senior student (now graduate).  That's cute.  He's a favourite so it was nice to see him in an expanded role. 

As for the regular cast, I'm not sure how I feel about Tsukune's enhanced powers.  I like ghoul-Tsukune, but now that he can access the power at any time it seems to defeat the "average human teenage boy" that the manga is based on.  He and Moka are getting closer and closer to that first kiss though.  I wonder if this one will have an ending or if Ikeda will try to keep it going after they graduate.

Vampire Knight Volume 11

I like Zero a lot more than the Yuki and Kaname.  I'm actually sort of rooting for him to find someone like Yuki's best friend Wakaba.  Yuki's just not worth it now, there's something wrong with her, and it's not because she's a vampire.

Rosario + Vampire Season II Volume 4 Love Bites

So I thought that Mizore's story was weird.  Ruby's story is just creepy.  Creepy and wrong.  I wasn't expecting sado-masochism from my manga.

Rosario + Vampire Season II Volume 3 Love Bites

Mizore's kind of creepy, but she gets that honestly from her mother.  Her whole village anyway.  Mizore's story has been the most "monstrous" of the individual stories of the girls.  I have a feeling that snow fairies are some Japanese legend that I've never heard about.  That or Ikeda is able to build a myth better than I thought he'd be able to.

Chibi Vampire Airmail

This is a collection of stories set in the world of Chibi Vampire but not about the characters of the manga themselves.

I was disappointed in how Chibi Vampire ended. So I wasn't really that interested in reading more adventures. Really, of the four stories in this volume. There's only one that I really liked, and it had nothing to do with Karen or Kenta or the Marker family. So a bit of a bust really.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Twilight

Hmmm... Well, that's a little anticlimactic. After all this time, Angel is the Big Bad. And he and Buffy are getting superpowers as some kind of reward. Maybe if I read Angel as well it would make some sense but not so much right now. I'm a little disappointed. Oh well, Spike's crashing the party that should make things interesting (and I'm an Angel girl).

Rosario + Vampire Season II: Test 2 Magical Candy

I guess this season is supposed to focus more on the supporting characters - like Yukari and Koko in this volume. It was a fun read, more for the guys I think though, but I'm waiting for more Tsukune.

Rosario + Vampire Season II: Test 1 Monster Fruit

A new semester, and a new season, of Rosario + Vampire begins and this volume reads like it. It's a reminder of everyone who was in Tsukune's harem and who he really wants and it set up... nothing really. The last season surprised me in that it actually managed to seem like there was a story arc. I'll have to see if this one does the same.

Vampire Knight Volume 10

Hmmm... There's still a bit of a battle going on in this volume but the majority is back story to explain what's going on. It was kind of needed at this point. Unfortunately, Hino seems to be trying to set up a love triangle between Rukia, Kaname and Kain. Since Kaname is already in a love triangle with Yuki and Zero I don't think this one works. Plus I like Kain and am sorry that he's ultimately going to be disappointed. Unless he and Zero team up...

Hellsing Volume 10

It's finally finished. The publishing of Hellsing seems to have been a bit hit and miss. There never seemed to be a schedule, Hirano must miss a lot of deadlines. That being said, the art didn't seem as sharp in this volume. It was still good, just not as good as I expected.

All in all, I was a little disappointed with the finale. Alucard drops out half way through the book and the danger is resolved by Integra and Seras. Then, when you think it might actually mean something, Alucard comes back from the dead. Plus, I was really unimpressed with the method of the killing of the vampire. Someone does not understand Schrodinger's cat.

Rosario + Vampire Lesson 10: Magic Mirror

This is the final volume of the first "season" of Rosario + Vampire and I think that Ikeda has grown as a mangaka. It struck me because a character from an early story makes a reappearance and both the story and the art are better than they were.

Rosario + Vampire Lesson Nine: Monster Mamas

It was fun to see the relatives of the main characters in this volume. They were all pretty much as expected. The story was a classic farce.

Rosario + Vampire Lesson Eight: Shikigami

So it appears that there's actually a plot to Rosario + Vampire. Who knew? Or at least Ikeda has managed to link disparate thoughts together into something resembling a plot.