The Spring 2022 Manga Guide

This Vampire Won't Give Up!

What's It About? 

Minami has awful luck with men—she falls for their looks only to find that they're the worst of the worst. So when she finds out that her next work assignment involves a good-looking, rude-off-the-bat man, she feels just fine about kissing any feelings for him goodbye...that is, until she finds out he's the son of the author of her favorite childhood picture book series, Bride of the Vampire. But the rude son soon changes his tune, and Minami doesn't have long before she discovers the secret his gorgeous lips hide...

This Vampire Won't Give Up! has story and art by Madoka Kitaji and English translation by Joshua Hardy. Kodansha Comics released its first volume digitally for $10.99 .

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Is It Worth Reading?

Rebecca Silverman

Rating:

Don't you just hate it when your embarrassing childhood obsessions come back to haunt you? And when they somehow pair with your current ridiculous predicament? That's where Minami is – as a little girl she was obsessed with a vampire/human romance picture book, to the point where she declared (frequently) that she was going to marry a vampire when she grew up. Fast-forward to today and she's a sleaze-magnet where guys are concerned, and her latest poorly-chosen man has her swearing off good-looking guys or guys who remind her of her picture book childhood crush. So naturally the latest manga creator she's tasked with overseeing is the perfect trifecta: gorgeous, the son of the author of her favorite picture book, and a vampire.

Yes, Takumi is a vampire, because that's the kind of story this is – goofy with plenty of sexy bloodsucking. There is a lot of romance trope catnip here, too: sexy bloodsucking, a hot vampire, a fated childhood encounter that only one of them remembers, fake dating…seriously, all this is missing is a sheik and a secret baby to be the whole romance package. (And I will give bonus points if she turns out to be sexually inexperienced.) While none of this adds up to the volume being all that noteworthy or even notably good, it does make it a lot of fun, especially if you enjoy playing “count the trope” or just the overall comfort of familiarity. It's not trying to do anything new, and it doesn't need to, because it really does work just fine as the plain cake of the romance manga world.

Minami herself may be the biggest stumbling block, because she's got a fair amount of issues. Her lack of trust in her own taste in men makes sense given what she's been through – she enters the story with a laundry list of losers she's dated. Suddenly discovering that her top shoujo manga creator is both a man and a vampire could absolutely merit the shocked disbelief she expresses, and yeah, he does come on strong at first. But he also apologizes for that and asks for her permission before he bites her, so he's not completely irredeemable. Maybe that's a low bar, but the whole premise is something of a low bar – not lazy per se, but definitely not the most creative. But again, who cares? This is fun, kind of silly, and has reasonably attractive art. Even if you're not a vampire fan, it's a nice diversion of a read.

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Jean-Karlo Lemus

Rating:

After a string of failed relationships, manga editor Minami finds herself smitten with an artist she's tasked with overseeing: the enigmantic Rara Takumi. As luck would have it, Takumi is the son of an author who wrote Minami's favorite book as a child, a story about a lonely girl and a lonely vampire coming together. Fittingly, Takumi is also a vampire, and Minami finds herself trying (and failing) to not fall for the man as circumstances keep forcing her into needing to give Takumi some of her blood.

This Vampire Won't Give Up! is, simply put, a fun time. The pace is breezy and light, the leads are winsome and charming, and there's a pleasant mix of romance and comedy all throughout. The art is cute and detailed, if maybe a bit overdone with the toning. There is the occasional spelling error that takes you out of the story but the momentum just goes and sweeps you along with it, pausing only to linger in Minami's heady pining. Fans of romantic comedies definitely need to track this one down, as This Vampire Won't Give Up! is way too much fun to pass up.

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Christopher Farris

Rating:

I find myself pretty taken with This Vampire Won't Give Up! from the beginning, mostly due to the strength of its fundamentals. Heroine Minami is appealing right off the bat, as we're introduced to her via a powerful panel of her clocking her cheating boyfriend. And Takumi, the other half of the arrangement, comes off like a cute and sweet fellow who's just mysterious enough before we get to the whole vampire bit. There's a natural chemistry to the two's back-and-forth in their potential courtship, carried by Minami's litany of flustered facial expressions against the genuinely caring feeling that comes through in Takumi even with his odder predilections. It's a simple, sometimes steamy supernatural shipping setup, but Madoka Kitaji clearly has a handle on how to depict that experience.

But This Vampire Won't Give Up! also shows ambition beyond those basics. In particular, there's an element of the plot regarding a past connection between Minami and Takumi where I thought I definitely knew where it was going, only for it to surprise me with a truth that was somehow not only sweeter, but neatly sidestepped some age-related issues usually inherent to vampire romance stories. That tone is key to the appeal of this whole first volume: It's absolutely willing to get hot and heavy in places, particularly the blood-sucking scenes, as you might expect. But then it pulls back afterwards into opportunities to demonstrate what an overall great guy Takumi otherwise is, showing genuine concern for Minami and providing her with what can only be described as 'vampire aftercare', interspersed with thirsty reactions from Minami as she adorably starts to realize she might be into this whole biting thing. It makes the eventual reciprocal approach to their relationship (blood-based and otherwise) feel that much more appreciably adult, providing even more payoff as the spiciness quotient really ups itself by the end of this first volume.

Being able to pace out and portray that sense of initimacy amidst the more typically-cute courtship material is what makes everything about this book come together. Yes, one of them is a supernatural blood-sucking boi, but Minami and Takumi still feel like real people, discussing their issues with previous relationships, mixing job-related stuff into their interactions (the manga artist/editor relationship is a connection almost as novel as the whole vampire thing), or even endearing themselves to us with some asynchronous relationship communication issues like the giant dorks they really are. It's mildly weird to think that one of the most grounded, relatable depictions of adult romance I've encountered in a while would be based around one of the most stock supernatural setups, but that's love, and manga, for you.