Kaya Satozuka prides herself on being an excellent secretary and a consummate professional, so she doesn’t even bat an eye when she’s reassigned to the office of her company’s difficult director, Kyohei Touma. He’s as prickly—and hot—as rumors paint him, but Kaya is unfazed…until she discovers that he’s a vampire!!
Kyohei has been banished from his clan because he refuses to renounce his love for Kaya. But a lone vampire is a dangerous thing to be, and Kyohei finds himself cut off from the vampires' power and protection. He doesn't even have access to blood substitutes anymore! Kaya wants to support him through this crisis, but arranging "dinner dates" for him again might be more than her heart can take!
I had myself a bit of a rant during my review of vol. 4 (which was just a summary of my feelings of the entire series as a whole up to that point). And I had said in that review that all I wanted was respect; for each other and for oneself.
Did I get that with the completion of vol 7?
Honestly, not really. Ok, maybe a little. I will say that our hero (don't even ask me to try and spell his name) actually kind of redeemed himself for me. Long went his manwhore ways. So I was mega excited to see that. But he was still controlling and it wasn't until the last two volumes did he actually become a brooding, alpha-hero I wish he had been throughout the entire series.
As for the heroine, Kaya (YES, I can spell and remember this name, heh heh) she might as well had "Welcome" stamped on her forehead because she was nothing but a doormat most of the time. She blamed herself for things she had no business blaming herself for and she let some douche control and manipulate her into something she had no business being or feeling. It was hard to stand behind a heroine who let people walk all over her. UNTIL THE END! This is where I think respect finally came into play. So they finally express their love for each other. No more tip-toeing and what not. And when people constantly approached them dismissing and shaming their relationship they stood against the masses and said, "fuck you!" Okay, maybe not in that exact way, but they did continue to freely love each other and (finally) care for one another as a couple openly. I love nothing more than a couple saying, "To hell with the rest of the world," and just doing them. Love it.
So I loved the ending and find great satisfaction that the characters "grew" up and we got some of the respect I had been longing for. I could have seen this series being 5-stars completely if our hero wasn't a total whore (when he expressed interest in our heroine...I don't care about his ways before that) and that our heroine stood up for herself. Her feelings mattered. Her self-respect mattered...I just wish we got that from her.
This is as far as I get in this, so the rating is until here
LOVED IT!
I'm really shocked 'cause I just realized I was into alpha domining big, bad, powerful and dangerous guys... since a really loooooong time ago. The art drawing is beautiful and the story has a great plot with it's laughing moments as well. This one, I do remembered I read it Twice! and considering going for a third!
Kyouhei, right! ( that was his name right? was a very long time ago)... he is a vampire, weak at sunlight, wearing black and drinking blood, but the thing is that he only can take blood from the opposite sex; and the blood was in its best state in the moment of ectasy, so yeah! he had a lot of women. He had his own agenda with his dates scheduled in order tonever go without a date not even once... and of course he didn't even remember their names.
Kaya Satosuki ( I still remembered her name, XD) was an efficient and organized person that was sent as personal secretary of Kyohei by his human brother.
So, trying to make this one short, they go from despite each other, to co workers, to acquaintaces and then to fighting attraction; 'cause he didn't wan anything to do with humans, and she didn't want anything to do with a selfish asshole like him. Adding some struggles regarding vampire feeding, temper and stuffs... at the end we have a HEA.
Just need to know that I really liked the story and the drawings.
!! More of like a 2.5 / 5 // I’ll be leaving the same review on volumes 2-7 as I read them all in one day !!
Quite an enjoyable series tbh, but definitely won’t be a favourite. It was nice to read something more adult for once, though I did find myself kind of getting bored at times as the main character just monologues to herself a lot. I liked how it started to go in the last 2 volumes tho, super interesting, just sad it ended so openly!!
It ended well and I for one am impressed at the changes of both of the characters and very happy that they had the strength to stand up as one. It still has an Ugly Betty feel but as Kaya changes throughout the story, the Director begins to change and that just makes for a really good story.
Also, there is a story in the back that features Marika.
Oh as a note - this book may be a bit too graphic for those who aren't used to sex in their Mangas. It's not a "hentai" but there are certain scenes in here that are not suitable for small children - this is a 'josei' book and geared toward women who are 18 - 30.
I avid manga reader-commented to me that the last volume, made up for the smutty scenes throughout the series. So, I skipped to this last book in the series-It did indeed live up to expectations, but leave you hanging. What happen when the uber-vamp baby is born?!? I am tired of the secretary addressing her lover by his company title only-makes her a possession. He calls her by her name throughout the series. She is always lowering herself to meet his needs-it feels at times an emotional abusive relationship.
Well sort of - I mean this was a manga …. But I finished
The romance peters to an end - our couple are now expecting and getting married. Of course - why am I surprised?
Not many surprises here but not too bad either. Unfortunately, the volume ended a little abruptly. I needed an epilogue or a sequel. I wanted to know more about the baby and the vampire leader.
Overall a satisfying conclusion to this series. Ive never had such a love hate relationship with a series in my life. I went from wanting to punch kyohei every time his face popped up on page, to thinking hes hot, back and fouth. The plot points in this book were quite ridiculous, and made me laugh out loud, but at least the plot was THERE and i enjoyed it.
Also the bonus feature at the end?! "Midnight butler"?!?! Maybe i have a soft spot for submissive men but I LOVED THIS!! GIVE ME A WHOLE STORY ABOUT A SUBSERVIENT HUMAN MALE AND FEMALE VAMPIRE PLEASE!!!!!! NYOOOOM!!!
This is a smutty manga between a secretary and a Vampire.
This did bother me a little in terms of the toxic masculinity and how the heroine was treated by the main love interest. But it did have a slow burn aspect that I adored and it was super steamy and sexy. Just want I needed and wanted when I needed and wanted it. I read all 7 volumes in one day.
What a horrible end to the year 😀.... Idek why do i do this to myself coz from the first volume I knew I wasn't gonna like it and I still continued reading 💀
FML was pathetic asf and MML was shitty asf and the whole time I felt like punching them straight to their face. Plot (if it was even there) was mid. In short this manga did a good job at testing my patience 😀🔪
This series was a good time. It's very predictable and I wouldn't call it a new favorite but I loved the art style, the characters, and I still found it very compelling. I got the first volume on sale and thought it would be just ok...but after finishing that first volume I knew I needed the rest and finished them all in about a week.
Yes, I rated this series vols. one after the other, because I marathon read them one after the other. Was that smart of me? Meh.
*SPOILERS FOR THIS WHOLE SERIES!!!!! YOU'VE BEEN WARNED*
I mean, I got what I paid for (a type A secretary falls hard for her corporate vampire alpha-hole-at the jump, at least-of a boss... smut and shenanigans ensue), but also a bit more, although by the end, I was still wanting more. Wishy washy, I know.
I liked the whole I.D. crisis these leads are working through -Kaya is a driven woman cursed with a baby face, no one takes her seriously. But her work ethic is something to be envied (reminds me of the season 2 finale in FX's The Bear. Side note, if you haven't seen it, do so immediately!). But unfortunately, she and Kyohei have pigeon holed her into the role of secretary/sustenance and that's all well and good until love blossoms between these two! I loved that she has to tell him that she's still in his employ/treat her as such, even while donning her wedding gown, our girl is still calling the shots. *Her dedication to her job was never the issue (in my opinion, she became overworked once she tried masking her affection for Kyohei/spinning all the plates in an effort to distract herself, rather than face her feelings). I feel like her her ID moment was when she realized that her career could be jeopardized for someone that was becoming just as important. And how she's got to find a work-life balance/learn proper communication between head and heart. -Kyohei was born a vampire from a vampire mom and a human dad, meanwhile his brother lucked out and was fully human, despite coming from the same genetic pool. Kyohei was never accepted completely by humans or the vampire clan, which makes his towards Kaya quite distressing to me, as it makes him in danger of further isolating himself from the the clan. Not only that, but by the end, Kyohei has a full-circle moment, in that he learns to accept that, much like his parents, his unconditional/unconventional love bore a child. One that he's already learned to love... even if they're slow to come around (more on that later).
Gender politics come into play here: Kyohei has viewed women as food/warm bodies up until Kaya. And Kaya's dedication to her job (literally giving blood, and at times sweat and tears to it) has inklings of subtle feminism: *True, she does the office work for men (all her bosses are male), but it's not so much her looks (seeing as she keeps her true beauty tightly wound up in bun/behind glasses all day), but her work ethic/attention to detail that make her attractive. She's in charge of these men in reality, dictating when they eat, who they'll see, and her training the other secretaries puts her in a position of authority.
Loved that it's religious adjacent objects that cause weakness and it's not life-threatening, and that moment in the final volume in the woods when Kyohei gets down on his knees and kisses Kaya's stomach through her coat, coaxing their unborn baby into trusting him (turns out, in an effort to protect its mother, a vampire baby will turn its mother's blood "poisonous" to ward off any vampire who tries to feed on her while she's pregnant and this includes its father).
There are cons: -Kinda forgot Kaya's mom was around... like at all. Then the final two volumes roll around and she's all up in 'em. -There's a ton of repetition from vol. to vol., annoyingly wasting frames talking about what the reader just read. Why? -The clan is only important when the plot needs them; it's apparently a big deal that Kyohei gets kicked out, but I was under the impression that they never fully accepted him anyway due to his patronage? And also, in the final two vols., we get this whole "vampire children are important to us; Kyohei, you need to create one". Umm, so they can end up lost as he was? -Kaya had a pregnancy scare in vol. 6... but then turns out, she's actually pregnant in vol. 7. What was the point of having the scare at all? -The Vampire butler bit was cute and all, but I'd much rather have had an epilogue showing Kaya and Kyohei with their future child, on it's literal birthday, or something. Family portrait would've sufficed.
Despite the angry tone in my cons, no, I'm not angry I read this series. It's escapism mixed with some analysis. Isn't that what I'm always on the hunt for?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I wanted to protect you, so I offered you my body... your kiss had the taste of blood...
Dopo ben 8 giorni ho finito Midnight secretary, un manga composto da 7 volumi. E' la quinta opera che leggo della Ohmi e stavolta devo dire di essere rimasta un pochino delusa. Non fraintendetemi: mi è piaciuto perchè ha una bella trama, le scene smut sono sempre delicate e passionali allo stesso tempo senza risultare volgari, lo sviluppo della storia non è banale anzi, e tutta la vicenda è metafora di una tematica molto attuale e importante come quella della condizione lavorativa della donna. Però stavolta non mi ha preso come speravo e vi dico subito perchè: i primi 2-3 volumi sono intriganti eppure a lungo andare diventa un pò piatto e ripetitivo, non c'è tanta azione e non succede nulla di eclatante ed inoltre penso sia il suo manga meno sovrannaturale visto che, tolto il fatto che il protagonista maschile sia un vampiro, per il resto potrebbe essere una storia normalissima con il solo susseguirsi di eventi che si concentrano maggiormente sulla relazione amore-lavoro tra Kyouhei e Kaya. Mentre le altre sue opere erano più coinvolgenti e in cui c'era azione o quantomeno misteri da svelare (che poi fossero prevedibili è un'altra cosa, hanno comunque tenuto viva la mia attenzione) qui non succede praticamente nulla. Per quanto concerne i personaggi, pure in questo caso ho da fare un appunto, per Kyouhei: sexy e cazzuto quanto vuoi e dolce quando VUOLE, ma i suoi fortissimi orgoglio e arroganza me l'hanno reso antipatico! Ok, è fatto così e deve essere accettato per ciò che è (come del resto tutti dobbiamo essere accettati dalla persona amata soprattutto per i nostri difetti e lati oscuri, piuttosto che per i pregi; altrimenti è troppo facile amare solo quest'ultimi) però niente... non sono riuscita ad apprezzarlo appieno pur piacendomi in generale questo tipo di personaggio; Kaya invece, con la sua faccia d'angelo e bambinesca che cerca di nascondere dietro una maschera da segretaria perfetta e stacanovista, mi è piaciuta molto perchè, anche se ovviamente cede al tenebroso di turno, non è una protagonista senza cervello anzi è una donna forte e indipendente che resta nelle proprie convinzioni, pur lasciandosi trascinare dalla passione per il suo capo. In definitiva ripeto: mi è piaciuto, il finale è abbastanza soddisfacente e continuo a pensare che la mangaka sia meritevole nel panorama degli josei ma se dovessi fare un confronto è l'opera che mi ha entusiasmato un filo meno, assieme a L'incanto della strega... I più belli e soprattutto quelli più intrisi di significato per me restano Anata ni hana wo sasagemashou e Kurotsuta yashiki no himegoto. Purtroppo devo anche ammettere che ero partita leggermente prevenuta nei confronti di Midnight secretary in quanto i vampiri & Co non mi fanno troppo impazzire ^^' adoro di più le storie con yokai e demoni come le due sopracitate. Pazienza, capita che di un autore preferito non possa piacere tutto allo stesso modo! Anzi mi stupirei del contrario. In ogni caso mi sento di consigliare quest'opera (come tutte le altre) in particolar modo a chi è fan sfegatato della mangaka e a chi ama i vampiri; per chi invece vuole approcciarsi a lei, consiglierei le mie due preferite o anche Barairo my honey... semplicemente leggetela perchè merita sempre e spero che l'Italia si decida a portare il resto dei suoi manga! Io li acquisterei di sicuro.
Today’s post is on Midnight Secretary, Vol. 7 by Tomu Ohmi. It is 192 pages long and is published by Shojo Beat. The cover has Kaya and Kyohei on it. As it is the last volume in the series you need to have read the first six volumes in the series to understand the story. There is mild foul language, sex and no violence in this manga. The story is told from third person close of the main character, Kaya. There Be Spoilers Ahead. From the back of the book- Kyohei has been banished from his clan because he refuses to renounce his love for Kaya. But a lone vampire is a dangerous thing to be, and Kyohei finds himself cut off from the vampires' power and protection. He doesn't even have access to blood substitutes anymore! Kaya wants to support him through this crisis, but arranging "dinner dates" for him again might be more than her heart can take!
Review- This is a good ending for a good series. Kyohei has been cast out of the vampire clan and to protect Kaya, they decide to get married. Of course it is not that easy but true love overcomes and all that. Kaya finds herself pregnant and the baby is a vampire, who is protecting its mother from other vampires including its father. The vampire clan wants the baby but Kaya and Kyohei will not bend on that. So they are still out of the clan but the baby is going to change things. Kaya and Kyohei get married and they walk off together into the moonlight. I enjoyed this series, it was fun, had a decent love story, and great art. If you are looking for a good josei series, then you should read this one, I fully recommend Midnight Secretary.
I give this volume a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this manga with my own money.
Now THIS is a kind of guilty pleasure that I can enjoy unironically! The artwork is beautiful, with crisp, clean lines and easy to follow action. The erotica is delicious while surprisingly tasteful. The story is entertaining albeit cliche, with juuuuust enough angst and conflict to keep the reader invested.
Compared to the other Trash Manga I've been reading lately, Midnight Secretary is definitely a cut above the company. For one thing, despite the very "trashy" premise (a perfect secretary chooses to give her body and soul to her hot, asshole, vampire boss..... I mean. Come on!), there's still a certain.... something about this series that made me less ashamed for enjoying it than previous manga titles. Maybe it's the fact that the protagonist actually has agency and integrity? Maybe it's because the male lead actually likes his women to ENJOY THEMSELVES in bed? Maybe it's the pretty art? Porque no los dos?
Sometimes a story just does "trashy" material better than others. This was a pure, exquisite cheesecake that I happily indulged in consuming, and devouring the remaining half in one day.
And it all...kinda just ends. The character relationships aren’t even all fully resolved, leading to some rushed plotting that might have made more sense if the series had ended at ten volumes instead of seven. As it is, it goes the route of predictable and safe, especially for a 00’s/10’s vampire series, squandering the characterization built up — just for things to end up in the way they were both trying to avoid. It’s actually pretty frustrating! I did like the series overall, don’t get me wrong, but I would recommend it for the sexytimes rather than the plot progression. If you’ve read any vampire romances at all, you can probably guess what territory this series covers.
Well, yet another final volume to a manga series. Dawn of the Arcana and now this. Well there are others but at the moment, just those two that I read recently. Anyway, this series was weir, interesting and I wasn't sure about the MC or the love interest. But throughout, there's moments where they do get character development so that's nice. And the facial expressions, the hair and eyes especially are drawn really well. Ending was good.
I reread Midnight Secretary this year, and I don't know if I read it the first time with rose colored glasses or what, but it lost a star from a few years ago to now. Upon reread, the story felt... weird. Kaya went from quietly disliking Kyohei to loving him from volume 1 to 2 without much explanation, which is briefly touched upon near the end of the series but feels a little weak as an explanation. Kyohei came across as really abusive and love-bombing, repeatedly stating he put her through emotional pain because "he shouldn't be feeling it alone". This is especially apparent in volume four, though they get together in volume 5... but the series is over two volumes later. Over half the series is spent on a couple I feel like I can't root for because she's complacent to him taking blatant advantage of her and treating her like nothing more than food. There's only so many times he can say "you will give me the highest quality blood" before it starts to feel like that's all he cares about. Volume 6 is spent on barely-explored plot points/conflicts/characters/elements that would have been interesting if it was woven through the whole story. Volume 7 is the real saving grace in the way that I'm a sappy person and it's a sappy volume, and thankfully the open ending feels a lot more satisfying this time, more true to the story.
Ignoring Kyohei being an abusive jerk, I now get why the whole Kaya flip-flopping between "I'm a woman" and "I'm a secretary" is important to mirror her and Kyohei's similar internal conflicts and their different ways of dealing with them, but it's so frustrating to read it so many times that I can't admire it after seeing her cry and oscillate between the two.
This series, after reread, is giving sunk-cost fallacy, but maybe that's due to my recent escape from a bad relationship and I'm projecting. Still, the series looks lovely in my collection, so maybe I'll warm up to it again in a few years.