2014 was a MUCH simpler time, wasn’t it? I was in my second semester of community college, living out in the desert (don’t worry, the coyotes were chill), and I had no idea what manga was. I mean, technically I knew that manga was what a lot of anime were based off of. I knew that my faves like Dragon Ball Z and Yu Yu Hakusho were based on manga, but why would anybody sit down to read them when they were right there on the TV?!
And to be honest, I can’t really tell you why I gave Rosario + Vampire a shot. Maybe it was the promise of cute anime girls-No, yeah, it was totally that one. I’m not gonna pretend otherwise. Teen me was beyond sexually frustrated because, again, I lived in the desert. And I was boooooooored. Also I think they (whoever “they” were) sold it to me as Harry Potter but main guy goes to a school full of monsters…?
Like I said, simpler times. And so to escape the time bomb that is 2020 for a short while, let’s revisit the very first manga I ever read from beginning to end: Rosario+Vampire
Our main boy Tsukune Aono is your very ordinary, very average, very human guy who ends up transferring to Yokai Academy. As previously mentioned, it’s a school for all manner of monster known to legends. We’ve got werewolves, sirens, mermaids, bird-people, witches, kitsunes, etc. But can you guess what all of these monsters have in common? Yep. They’re all racists! As in kill-humans-on-sight levels of racist! FUN!
But everything’s gonna be okay because the very first friend Tsukune makes at school is a ditsy, rosy sweetheart named Moka. She’s a vampire, but not just any vampire. A bipolar vampire. See she wears a rosary around her throat that only Tsukune can remove. When that happens her other personality comes out to kick ass and never fail to call Tsukune out on being basically useless. I remember finding it refreshing for the main protagonist to be called out on his shit, making him want to fix and that and become more proactive. At least in the manga…
Of course, with this being a harem manga (story where the main guy/gal has multiple love interests) there are other monster girls vying for Tsukune’s heart. And as far as casts go it’s pretty well balanced.
We’ve got (nonnegotiable) best girl Kurumu; a busty, blue-haired succubus who feeds off love and sex and wants to kill all the other girls so she and Tsukune can play videogames together. Next up we’ve got Mizore; an ice-maiden who Tsukune (really Moka) saved from being sexually assaulted and now wants to have his babies. And last and definitely least there’s Yukari, a preteen witch who wants to kill Tsukune so that she can hook up with Moka. But then Tsukune saves her from some racist bullies (witches are considered half breeds and considered just barely better than humans) and now she wants him and Moka.
It’s all very dumb, very ridiculous, and I LOVE IT.
But you know what I didn’t love? The anime adaptation.
It’s not love that’s motivating me to write this, but hatred. You see, I sacrificed some time to sit down and watch both seasons of the anime. 26 episodes. Roughly 8 hours or so…Sigh…I mean, up to this point I’ve been joking about how ridiculous R+V’s premise is. And I’m not going to start claiming it’s a work of art by any stretch of the imagination. BUT there are only so many panty shots I can take, guys. While the manga gradually evolved into a pretty solid battle manga, the anime (especially the second season) is basically soft-core porn. To prove my point I’m going to give very basic outlines of the both the manga’s and anime’s second seasons to as to compare the two.
Mild but not insignificant spoilers incoming
Manga: So after all the girls (inevitably) find out that Tsukune is a human, this sets off a chain of events where they have to face off against a terrorist organization of monsters dedicated to breaking the masquerade, destroying the human race, and placing monster kind as the rightful rulers of the world. Because of their love for Tsukune, each of the girl has to reevaluate the inherently racist beliefs that has been instilled into them by monster society. Together, forming the Newspaper Club, they’ve got to level up and take on monster terrorists, all while figuring out the secrets of Moka’s rosary and why she’s so powerful and DAMN! IT. IS. AWESOME! There’s honestly nothing cooler than watching two monster girls beating the shit out of each other.
Anime: Panties, panties, panties. Boobs, boobs, boobs. The anime follows the bare bones of the manga’s plot, but it’s so dedicated to flipping over backwards to give fan service that it’s damn impossible to absorb any of the serious moments between Tsukune and the girls during the few and far instances they occur. It’s like the anime wants to make its cake and eat it, too, but it’s too impatient to wait for the cake to finish cooking! So all we’re left with is this doughy, sludgy mess!
What frustrates me the most is that most people will only ever watch the anime, and I can totally see why. Television as a medium is far more accessible and time saving than sitting down and popping open a book. And there’s also the added feat of learning how to read a manga (right to left, training yourself on following panel layouts, etc.) that some people simply aren’t will to commit to. Hell, I know people who straight up refuse to watch subtitled anime!
Rosario+Vampire came to an end in 2014. As writing this, the mangaka, Akihisa Ikeda, has only just recently begun work on a new manga. Sure, I’d love to finally get R+V Season 3, but if this new manga does well it might reinvigorate interest in Rosario+Vampire. And I’ll always welcome more fans to this monster mash. I might do a deeper dive one day, but for now I’m content to simply hold the door open like an usher.
But until then, going back and flipping through each page is like shifting through old letters or family photos. I get teleported back to the much simpler time of 2014, experiencing the laughter and tears all over again. Rosario+Vampire isn’t groundbreaking art.
But it is that cute, ditsy, way-too horny friend who kept me company when I really didn’t have any. Have I experienced better since? Sure.
But you never forget your first.
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