VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia
CARTOONIST: Tomu Ohmi
TRANSLATION/ENGLISH ADAPTATION: JN Productions
LETTERS: Joanna Estep
ISBN: 978-1-4215-5944-5; paperback (September 2013); Rated “M” for “Mature”
192pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK
Manga creator Tomu Ohmi made her debut with the romantic supernatural series, Kindan no Koi wo Shiyou (Let’s Make Forbidden Love), in the June 2000 issue of the popular Japanese shojo magazine, Petit Comic. Her shojo manga, Midnight Secretary, was also featured in Petit Comic.
Midnight Secretary focuses on 22-year-old Kaya Satozuka. She prides herself on being an excellent secretary and a consummate professional at Tohma Corp., a tableware manufacturer. So, when she is reassigned to the office of the company’s difficult Managing Director, Kyohei Tohma, Kaya is unconcerned. Then, Kaya discovers Kyohei’s secret.
As Midnight Secretary, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 5) begins, Kaya gets a new assignment at Tohma Corp. She is Kyohei Tohma’s new executive secretary. The young managing director is rumored to be prickly and quite attractive, both of which turn out to be true. However, Kaya is unfazed… until she discovers that Kyohei is a shameless womanizer and a vampire.
Although I’ve only just read the first volume of the Midnight Secretary manga, I am a fan, and I can’t wait to read more. It is more humorous than racy, but the “biting scenes” can come across as intensely passionate as a romance scene in a yaoi manga. Midnight Secretary’s sex-by-vampiric-innuendo may be why it is rated for mature readers.
Visually and graphically, Midnight Secretary sometimes looks as if it comes from some pre-World War II era. Much of that is due to Kaya’s conservative look – in terms of her clothing and hairstyle. Creator Tomu Ohmi seems to want to make sure that Midnight Secretary does not look like just another vampire manga. It isn’t.
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux
The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.
No comments:
Post a Comment