Oct 2, 2010
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
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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