MANGA REVIEW | "Otaku Vampire’s Love Bite" - Volume Two
Poor Hina. All this vampire wants is to live a normal life in Tokyo, surrounded by friends and her favorite anime merch. Alas, the life of a bloodsucker isn’t one that is normal by any means, meaning that there’s far too many things that’ll be thrown Hina’s way to keep her away from normalcy. In the second volume of Otaku Vampire’s Love Bite, a familiar face and a new rival appear to keep Hina from having an average life.
The first to reenter her life is Viktor, her vampire servant. Although Hina has grown up quite a lot, Viktor can’t help but still see her as the tinny child he once helped raise. Literally swooping her off her feet and back to her apartment, the vampiric bodyguard induces more headaches than aid in Hina’s life. It’s enough to push her neighbor and human pal Amanatsu to lend a hand in her situation, but all it does is transfer Hina’s headaches to him.
Now due to vampire rules, Viktor finds himself living in Amanatsu’s apartment. Although he’s no slouch, Viktor’s not exactly making the human’s life easy. In fact, Amanatsu has to go out of his way to show Viktor what kind of person Hina really is, and why she’s far different from the little vampire girl she once was. It’s a fun and funny learning exercise, especially when it comes to catching up to what it’s like to live as an anime fan in the middle of the big city.
Otaku Vampire’s Love Bite soon shoves Amanatsu and Hoshino (who still hasn’t revealed his true self to his buddy) into school festival mode. There, the angel cafe they plan to help run is placed in dire straits, after a paint mishap. But all it takes is some outside-the-box thinking — alongside a willing female vampire — to fix the problem. However, as the cafe is run, a second headache shows up to case some more trouble to Hina.
Enter Fujimiya, a vampire with an unhealthy addiction to maid cafes. Not knowing how school festivals work, Hina becomes his new maid obsession. Hina attempts to keep the situation under control, until she sees what sort of power Fujimiya has. Without the ability to command him, Hina quickly sees that this new face will more than likely keep being a nuisance for quite some time.
Thankfully, despite her introverted personality, Hina already has three people who have her back. The neighbor, the bodyguard, and the fellow otaku brother-in-arms all have the gusto and determination to keep Hina safe. Their reasons may differ, and one of them is surely starting to fall for her, but they somehow make an unpredictable camaraderie that has the back of a common friend. It’s a nice arrangement, even if each person adds more headaches to everyone else.
Volume Two of Otaku Vampire’s Love Bite continues doing a good job building its world. The new faces are entertaining, and the bond between Hina and Amanatsu keeps on strengthening. It’s clear that they will be the focal couple of Julietta Suzuki’s latest series, but when those emotions finally take hold is still up in the air. Nevertheless, Otaku Vampire’s Love Bite delivers enough humor, cuteness, and heart that make it worthy enough to crash its apartment for a hot minute, even if the main tenant desperately is trying to throw you out!
FINAL GRADE:
Promotional consideration provided by Chantelle Sturt of VIZ Media.
