Yeah, it is a bit smuttier now. They become lovers. Kaya is still funny and a good character, although her boss is still a slutty jerk.

In regards to the plot, I would have rate it 2 stars. It is a bit MEH, because it is not original. It is something I have read to boredom. "Plain" secretary + womanizer, cold-heart rich handsome boss who turns out to be a vampire. Everybody thinks he is dangerous, would never love, blah blah, until the plain girl changes his mind.

But this manga is well written and I liked the Kaya. She made me laugh several times, she is sarcastic when the situation requires it, and I loved that. Specially after the first kiss. Not a blushig, silly maiden (so far).

I knew this manga a long time ago, but I did not want to read it because I thought it was smutty. It is not, thankfully. And although I still don't get why many things (why she lets him drink her blood, why is he a vampire and his brother not, why would she fall for her slutty boss), I was pleasantly surprised with how it turned out, and I may continue reading this series.

In this volume of Midnight Secretary, Kaya is having trouble managing her time between her reassignment to another office and her time spent as Kyohei’s “special secretary.” She spends her days working hard to get the new office’s secretaries trained, and her nights seeing to Kyohei’s needs. When she catches her new boss’s eye, things begin to go South.

 

What’s great about this volume is that I finally got to see Kyohei struggling with what’s growing between Kaya and him. He’s starting to care for her, but that’s leaving him feeling conflicted. He doesn’t like his dependence on her blood. He certainly doesn’t like feeling jealous when he notices her boss’s interest in her. I think his reactions are a bit overdramatic, but I guess it’s understandable considering he’s always felt independent and even superior to humans. It’s just nice to see him emote. Kaya has let herself fall for Kyohei completely, no matter how much she tries to hide behind it as a job. She likes being his lover, and when she’s deprived of that for a time, she misses it much more than she ever would have anticipated. I’ve read this in other reviews on this series: this is straight up paranormal romance for women. So, if you like paranormal romance and you want to read some manga, this is a good series. There are some definite misogynistic themes, but I’ve found that easy to overlook. Sometimes, it’s all about knowing and understanding what you’re reading.

I loved the first volume of this series so much that I purchased the next three without hesitation. I was expecting more fluffy fun. Unfortunately, this volume went in a direction that made me very unhappy. I really hope this series rights itself over the course of the next couple volumes, or I'm not sure I'll be able to continue with it.

The first half of the volume wasn't so bad. I enjoyed the brief appearance of Kyohei's mother, who shed a little more light on how vampirism works in this series and revealed some of the reasons behind Kyohei's cold behavior towards his family and most humans. Kaya's realization that she was in love with Kyohei didn't come as a surprise, and I already knew that realization would lead to hurt feelings and inner turmoil on her part.

It was painful to watch Kaya become so absorbed with and upset by her feelings for Kyohei, but I could understand it. I think my problems with this volume didn't really begin until after Kyohei found out that his brother had offered Kaya the option of being reassigned. He acted like a complete and utter jerk, seeking Kaya out at her home and verbally striking out at her when she refused to let herself be swayed by him.

The thing is, this volume could have been saved. There were indications that being separated from Kaya upset Kyohei, even if he wasn't willing to admit it, and Kaya was still enough herself to be able to be someone else's efficient, perfect secretary. She didn't necessarily need Kyohei in order to continue on, and the stage was set for Kyohei to realize he was being an ass and try to redeem himself.

For this to have all worked out, Kyohei needed to do some groveling before Kaya could go back to him. There would still have been issues they needed to deal with – they were still boss and employee, and at least one other person in the company knew their relationship had become closer than was appropriate – but at least Kyohei would have acknowledged that Kaya was someone worthy of his respect and consideration.

Unfortunately, that's not how things happened.

Kyohei saved Kaya from getting hit by a car, exposing himself to sunlight and weakening himself in the process. Kyohei's loyal driver later went to Kaya and begged her to see Kyohei, revealing to her that he hadn't been feeding as much as he should since she'd left. Kaya went to Kyohei and then slashed her wrist, forcing him to either drink her blood or let her die. After he'd drunk his fill and they'd had sex, Kyohei asked if she'd be his secretary again. Kaya was still enough of a professional to say that she'd continue with her job at Erde, as she'd promised Kyohei's brother, but she told Kyohei that she'd come work for him in secret in the evenings.

First off, I don't care that Kyohei revealed his feelings somewhat via his actions, by weakening himself in order to save Kaya – in my opinion, he still should have been forced to say at least some of what he felt for her before she ran back to him. I was hugely uncomfortable with the scene in which she slashed her wrist, because she seemed to be saying that loving and serving Kyohei was more important to her than even her life. And agreeing to publicly work for Erde, while working for Kyohei in secret?

(spoiler show)

Where did the professional, career-minded Kaya that I loved in the first volume go? The woman who was so ethical she investigated her own boss for drug use/pushing and would have turned him in if that had been what he'd been doing?

This volume's ending angered me. Kyohei was a jerk who should have groveled but didn't, Kaya was a disappointment, and the sex happened at least a volume or two too early.

Extras:

Occasional author's notes relating to the series, plus an afterword from the author.

 

(Original review, with read-alikes and watch-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)