Rosario+Vampire Volume 7 cover image is courtesy of barnesandnoble.com.

Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”

15-year-old Tsukune Aono was an average student, so he failed to gain admission to any high school.  He ended up at Yokai Academy, which should be named “Monster High,” because every single student is a monster – a fact Tsukune learns only after he arrives.  He makes a friend in Moka Akashiya, a teen vampire who loves to sink her teeth into Tsukune’s neck every now and then.  Tsukune still has troubles with grades, but that probably pales in comparison to being caught in turf wars between vampires and werewolves.

As Rosario+Vampire, Vol. 7 (entitled Exorcist), Moka is trying to kill Tsukune… but only because she’s being controlled by Mako Yakumaru, one of the revenge-seeking monstrels (mixed breed monsters who hate purebred monsters).  Then, Moka disappears.

THE LOWDOWN:  It’s like the Addams Family dreamed up their own version of Professor Xavier’s School for Gifted Students, but Rosario+Vampire’s monster school setting puts a crazy, but welcomed spin on the high school romance.  Although this is a “Shonen Jump Advanced” title, Rosario+Vampire has a gothic, shojo manga (comics for teen girls) vibe because of its large, diverse cast of female characters  Like Chris Claremont on classic Uncanny X-Men, Rosario+Vampire creator Akihisa Ikeda is very good at creating rich, complicated female characters.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  With the tease of Strawberry 100% and a menagerie of B-movie monsters and mythological creatures, Rosario+Vampire will delight a diverse group of readers.

A-