Kyuta might be Hina’s best friend, but her real focus will always be Mao. Right? So why does she feel so weird when a cute girl asks Kyuta out? And Kyuta just thinks of Hina as the annoying otaku next door—it’s none of his business what she does in her personal life. So why does he want to throttle his buddy when he starts hitting on her? With their thoughts in such turmoil, how will the two of them manage when they stumble face-first into some mysterious vampire business?!
Suzuki Julietta is a Japanese manga artist born in the Fukuoka Prefecture. Her pen name comes from a character named Julietta Sakamoto from the seinen manga series, Air Master. She likes cats, koalas, and sharks. According to an interview with Hakusensha, she first started drawing when she was in her second year of elementary school in a sketchbook of Japonica. During her free time, she meets her friends, goes for a drink, or out for a meal. She states that although she doesn't read much, she enjoys works by Junji Itō. Her favourite character is Ashia and mentions that male characters are easier to draw in general.
Running the risk of repeating myself, this story is a slipshod mess that careens from idea to idea within a set of given guidelines based on its premise, but still manages to be pretty entertaining.
It’s funny is why, basically. Well, modestly, and when it isn’t funny it’s being wacky with occasional moments of cute. That’s not a bad thing all told, but I find it dead (har har) hard to recommend straight up.
Still, when Viktor knocks Kyuta out and ships him air freight in a coffin to Romania as part of an incredibly stupid plan? It would take a more jaded man than myself to not laugh at such chicanery.
That said, this whole potential detour to Romania is totally derailed so fast that it feels like it only proves my point about how quickly ideas get discarded in favour of the next one here.
This is ramshackle foolishness of various stripes, from vampire bars to 2.5 dimensional not-exactly-seduction. If nothing else, I feel like the mangaka is having a great time with just doing whatever (Viktor walking around town like he’s an extra from Dracula is a subtly perfect sight gag).
Amidst all this, feelings begin to quietly bubble up between Kyuta and Hina, and they’re strong enough to penetrate her otaku bias and his general tsundereness. They’ve got the functional dysfunction of a classic manga pair. Also? Hina’s Halloween costume is ingenious, no notes.
I just used several reviews worth of descriptors to basically say that there’s no point or deep meaning to this. There’s pretty much nothing by way of substance and a lot of wacky, yet it still comes together in a pleasant enough package.
3 stars - this is quite funny at times, easy to look at, has an acceptably cute romance, and zero nutritional value (I almost said stakes, but I just know I have to have said that before). That doesn’t mean it’s bad, albeit not particularly noteworthy, instead settling on being a good time. There are worse things.
Excellent volume. It mostly concentrated on Amanatsu. There’s an aftermath of his Mao cosplay, which has made him famous among Mao fans. Victor thinks that upsets Hina and makes a plan to whisk her and Amanatsu back to Romania— which backfires and he’s called home. When Amanatsu realises Hina doesn’t have a bodyguard, he takes up the protecting her himself, though he can’t explain why.
For her part, Hina realises she can really rely on Amanatsu. But then she almost drinks his blood and fears he’ll hate her now. On a happier note, she gets to meet the voice actor of Mao, the highlight of her life. And a new mysterious vampire shows up, with enough clout to get her a special fan ticket to Vampire’s Cross event. I think the identity of the vampire will prove to be interesting.
I received a free copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
This isn’t progressing at the pace I’d prefer but still has me reading each volume.
Recap: amanatsu cosplay pics go viral, a girl has him go on a date with her, hina gets sad, viktor plans to get her back to Romania, fails, and then has amanatsu care for her. He gets jealous when his friend tries to make hina his girl. Hina’s bag gets stolen, they go to a vampire cafe, vampires almost attack amanatsu, owner gifts hina a vip ticket.
Really excited to see where the story goes in volume 5! I really enjoyed this volume! It had a good mixture of plot and humor, which I felt like the previous volume didn't have.
4.5 stars. This series is so cute, but seems to have lost its way a bit. it felt like some of the chapters were more like vignettes or bonus chapters instead of progressing the story forward or developing the characters (the one with Victor's "plan" especially). While still cute and somewhat progress, not quite the 5 star level of previous volumes.
Otaku Vampire’s Love Bite Volume 4 by Julietta Suzuki is by far a slow burn of all slow burns. Hina and Kyuta are oblivious to romantic love, but as the story progresses, that obliviousness is being tested. In this volume, Viktor notices that Hina is becoming mentally fatigued over her new feelings towards Kyuta. Kyuta, forced to go on a date with another otaku-obsessed girl to protect his friend, finds that all he can really think about is Hina. These two couldn’t come around slower than a snail, but I love it. The little moments where they begin to see each other outside of just friendship are just downright cute and wholesome, and as new vampires and humans start to get in the way of this budding romance, the more they begin to question their feelings for each other. Also, behind the curtains of this story is another very powerful vampire, and it looks like this vampire may very well threaten their relationship most of all.
As always, this series (and volume) is full of filler. I liked seeing jealous Amanatsu, but I was hoping he’d finally admit his feelings. Also, how wild is it that he’s jealous his friend is whisking Hina away (trying to make her his girlfriend) during that Halloween event, but he’s fine going on a date with some rando girl to avoid his friends getting in trouble for allegedly “hurting her hand”. LMAOO I feel like we may get more development on their relationship now that Hina has drank his blood too? She seems disgusted with herself for enjoying it, which may put a wrench in things, but Amanatsu seemed to really want to rely on her at the vampire bar to protect him. He can’t truly see her as “95 percent monster” if he’s afraid of other vampires, but not Hina. I have a theory that the new powerful vampire they have yet to introduce is Mao’s voice actor… How else would he get that Vampire Cross event ticket? Anyways, I enjoyed this volume. Just wish there was more.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This has got to be one of the most unserious origin stories for how someone became a vampire. I cackled when he was mad at not being able to eat cake anymore.
Omg, omg, omg. Hina had a taste of Amanatsu’s blood and loved it. So many things for the plot were set in motion this volume and I cannot wait to see identities get revealed and feelings get confessed.
Thanks so much to Edelweiss and Viz for the DRC! This volume drops in July!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This was so cute and funny. Hina is an adorable otaku vampire obsessed with a show and collects all the merch she can get. She goes to all the events too. Amanatsu is a boy who lives next door who looks just like Hina's favorite character from the show, Mao. He helps Hina begrudgingly with things that she can't like trying the special desserts or drinks that come out for her show. It's so cute. The things that happen are funny and I just love it. Can't wait for more!
I'm so curious to learn more about the new character hinted at in this volume! He's obviously powerful, and I wonder if he'll end up being friend or foe to our main characters.
I enjoyed seeing everyone's Halloween costumes, although I would've loved to have seen Hina convince Amanatsu to dress up a bit more XD
this volume was very fun!! progress b/w hina and amanatsu yayyy. he's such a tsun, it's adorable. viktor was very loveable in this volume 😭 also i think that mao's voice actor IS the powerful vampire they were talking abt.
I really laughed during this volume. The Halloween part was hilarious. Apparently there is a cat dad vampire, I feel like I know who my fav character is gonna be. This is zany mess that is so fun. I have no clue where this is really going but it’s pretty fun.
Another "I want to like this more than I actually do" series. ^_^; Something about the humor just isn't clicking very well with me, I think, which is a shame because it's got so many other things I *do* like.