Midnight Secretary Vol. 1 TP (Manga)
Publisher: VIZ Media
Release Date: September 3, 2013
Price: $9.99
Creator: Tomu Ohmi
Format: 192 pgs., B&W, Trade Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-4215-5944-5
Age Rating: "M" for Mature (18+)
ICv2 Rating: 1 Stars out of 5
 
Kaya is a baby faced 22 year old woman working as a secretary at a major corporation.  She keeps herself very prim and proper at all times so that she will be taken seriously and does her job better than everyone else.  One night she is transferred into the office of one of the most difficult directors in the company, Kyohei Touma.  Unfazed, she remains committed to doing her job better than anyone else and it doesn't take long for Kyohei to notice just how good at her job she is.  Before long however she learns the strange truth about her new boss… he is actually a vampire!
 
I wanted to like this one.  Really I did.  I do enjoy a good romance and I also enjoy good vampire stories.  Unfortunately this is neither.  This is a paper thin story with equally thin characters pretending to be a good romantic vampire story.  From beginning to end there is nothing in this book that readers won't be find predictable or even remotely interesting.
 
At one point it's tempting to say that at least the artwork is something worth enjoying but all one has to do is think about it for a few seconds to realize that the artwork is just as flimsy as the writing due to its heavy use of cliches.  From the 'serious woman who is secretly pretty' to the 'vampire oozing with sexuality and charm', the cliches are off the charts and do nothing but weigh a story down that is already drowning by the time the first chapter is finished.
 
This is a book for those who do not want to think about what they are reading.  At all.  There is nothing challenging or particularly noteworthy about Midnight Secretary.  It's just there for people to get a cheap and vanilla thrill from and that is about all.
 
Stay away from this one unless you need something to level out a table.  There are better romances out there to spend your time with.
 
--L.B. Bryant