Kana is a student at St. Agatha Academy who does her best to help wherever she’s wanted, especially as she can no longer fulfill her scholarship for the track and field team. There are rumors of strange and dangerous people in the city, but Kana pays little attention. She’s more worried about finding a part-time job, at least until she’s attacked by a frightening stranger in an alley and another stranger comes to her rescue. But are they strangers?
Kana is shocked to reconnect with her childhood friend Aki, who she’d believed to have died in a tragic accident. When he saves her from a deadly accident, Kana discovers he has many dark secrets and she is now a thrall… to a vampire! Will she become a monster too, or keep her sweet and loving nature?
The cast of characters is fairly typical for a manga romance. Kana is unsure of her feminine appeal and is eager to please. Her best friend Rie is a perky dynamo who teases Kana about her lack of feminine attributes, yet always sticks up for her. Kana has two brooding heroes, Aki, who tries to act tough but has secrets he’s not revealing just yet, and bad-boy Jin, who feels guilty over Kana’s accident and wants to protect her. The art follows the characters: Kana is tall and cute, but awkward and Aki personifies “dark and brooding.”
This manga made me giggle, to be honest. It’s clearly meant to be dramatic and romantic, but I’m not the right audience for that genre. There are lots of dramatic pauses, deeply brooding stares, and I kept waiting for people to faint or make dramatic declarations (I was not disappointed). Kana is too sweet to be believed, thinking the best of everyone, even when they’re literally attacking her, and Aki has “bad guy who’s really a good guy” tattooed all over him (literally). The characters are stereotypical and the plot predictable, but it was still a fun read, even if I couldn’t suspend enough disbelief to completely get into the story. Fans of paranormal romance will enjoy zipping through this title and eagerly awaiting future volumes to find out the fates of the characters. Will Kana protect her friends and family? What is Aki’s secret? Will Jin become a good guy or a bad guy?
He’s My Only Vampire is rated Older Teen and includes mature language and sexual innuendo, so I’d recommend it for the upper range of teen readers and adults who like paranormal romance. However, it doesn’t have any really graphic content, and readers of other popular vampire manga like Rosario + Vampire will find nothing shocking in this dramatic romance.
He’s My Only Vampire, vol. 1
by Aya Shouoto
ISBN: 9780316336666
Yen Press, 2014
Publisher Age Rating: OT
