VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia
CARTOONIST: Tomu Ohmi
TRANSLATION & ENGLISH ADAPTATION: JN Productions
LETTERS: Joanna Estep
ISBN: 978-1-4215-5950-6; paperback (September 2014); Rated “M” for “Mature”
192pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK
Midnights Secretary Volume 7 is the final volume of the series. Created by Tomu Ohmi, Midnight Secretary focuses on a human female, Kaya Satozuka, and a vampire male, Kyohei Tohma.
Kaya Satozuka prides herself on being an excellent secretary and a consummate professional at Tohma Corp., a tableware manufacturer. When she was 22-years-old, Kaya was reassigned to the office of the company’s difficult Managing Director, Kyohei Tohma. Kaya did not worry about her hard-to-please new boss; then, she discovered that Kyohei was a vampire. Now, 23-years old, Kaya works full time at Lakes Venture Capital (LVC), a new investment company started by Kyohei.
As Midnight Secretary, Vol. 7 (Chapters 31 to 33 to Final Chapter) opens, Kyohei is banished from the vampire clan because he refuses to renounce his love for Kaya. However, it is dangerous to be a lone vampire outside the clan, cut off from the vampires' power, influence, and protection. He even loses access to blood substitutes.
Kaya is determined to support Kyohei through this difficult time, even if it means arranging “dinner dates” for him. A “dinner date” is a woman who has sex with Kyohei and also gives him blood. Can Kaya really accept that? Will she be able to accept the big change in their relationship and an even bigger change in both their lives.
[This volume includes a bonus story, “Special Feature: Midnight Butler” and the extra, “Nekomata Today.”]
The Midnight Secretary manga is an intriguing shojo vampire manga, although it is also silly and playful, at times. I will miss it, as it is ending sooner than I expected. As this is the final volume of the series, creator Tomu Ohmi offers two big surprises and even a few small ones. Some have been previously teased, and some are obvious, considering that this is a romance manga. [Hint: think Twilight.]
At times, Midnight Secretary has been melodramatic, a bit dark, even edgy, and sometimes comedic. This final volume is all sentiment and warm cocoa. Ohmi leaves behind the potential of the series self-contained mythology and the intrigue presented by the internal and external politics of the vampire clan, especially where it concerns Kyohei. Still, Midnight Secretary had some good moments, and while I doubt that it will be memorable, I can be an entertaining read.
B+
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux
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