Sometimes I wonder just how damn oblivious I can be to a fact that's otherwise staring right down my face. Do you know just how exceptionally much I love Rosario+Vampire? Of course, you wouldn't since I barley mention it besides giving it a very high spot in my favorite, and for a damn good reason might I add. It took me pondering overnight while I was getting comfy to sleep as the current thought crossed my mind—did I ever make a Rosario+Vampire review? So here I am. Anyone telling you previously that a story relying heavily on ecchi-harem can not have a reasonable basis for a plot and world-building. All of that snazzy stuff. Show them this manga. Among others, there is To Love-Ru and Yabuki Kentaro-sensei—the clear king of ecchi and subtlely in how he presents the fanservice and uses every panel to do just that. Not to mention, his incredibly gorgeous art-style that will have you falling in love with girls from first glance. They all have charming, quirky, and a very colorful personality and how they present themselves to the tiniest behavior and details. It makes it harder to forget them. Unlike others, you call the best girl but forget easily as more anime keeps pouring out each season.

Rosario-Vampire is another that falls in the same category as Yabuki-sensei's To Love-Ru for me. Yes, it does actually have an anime, but it's nothing compared to the original manga. The two's difference is abundantly clear. You can tell the author, Akishia knows where to focus. While the anime counterpart is a messy fanservice wreck with no substance or direction. It's just outright awful and brings shame to the outstanding manga. That's high praise, no doubt, but I have my clear reasons. There's a reason we have a saying that tells you never to judge a book by its cover. That goes for many things, but it couldn't be more accurate for Rosario+Vampire. The anime is a trainwreck that uses fanservice forcefully and throws that shit on your face every damn second, while the cast feels lackluster. It seems like a bunch of cute waifus with solely pretty faces. Nothing else. And our lead Tsukune is the typical dense-dull guy that is unable to read the romantic vibe from the girls that are clearly not trying to do much to hide that fact. The anime goes as far as twisting and turning things to suit their own need. That's right. It's not following the manga at all. Truth be told - I somehow enjoyed it when I first watched it when I still was very wet behind the ears. But that changed as the year passed by and I matured slowly. Then I discovered the manga. Now I can't believe I enjoyed that awful mess so much before.

Even when the story concludes, the situation with harem usually ends up being platonic. It was in the anime, but the manga, on the other hand, it was clear who's heart Tsukune belonged to. Besides being touchy-feely, there is no distinct and vivid progress in the anime. After a while, you are just milking the same old cow untill it stops. Where's the signs of a story that feels passionate and tasteful from writing, direction, and execution perspective, you ask?. Nowhere. All of that was flushed down the toilet before it had the chance to form itself clearly in the form of necessary groundwork and direction. Oh, gosh, let's not forget about that whole thing our main male Tsukune and female Moka have, where they stare at each other eye. Only to repeat that same cringe-inducing line over again untill your brain turns to absolute mush from wondering what the hell was that? What if I said you don't have the same problem in the manga to the same extent? Some of the factors mentioned are in the source material and other obvious ones such as the ecchi-harem and many adorable waifus. But they are more than just a pretty face. We learn about their backstories why they act as they do. Plus, so much more you would think is merely unheard of. Weird for a harem-ecchi to care about but at the same time unique and delightful to see it in action for once.

The world here is even well-established. So are the villains and how the overall plot is structured. How it flows tells you the author cares about more than just cheap, repetitive fanservice, and shifting-back-and-forth between the same cliches. Rosario+Vampire does have some of the many elements. Stories of this nature tend to do, which I cant tress enough. But the execution is far better than many others of the same categories and not something you see on the regular. Before I get more into the nitty-gritty. I just want to quickly define what good actually means to me. It's an easy word to throw around, but honestly hard to describe. It's when the story is enjoyable or catches your interest. Above all, it is valid with what's been established by the author. As you progress on, foreshadowing is one thing of the many that get used. In this case, to clear signs of plot-holes and keep that authenticity standing. To show that this plot-thread is not coming from nowhere, it was hinted at. Besides, it needs to have harmony with what's already there and feel consistent at the same time.

I could go so much more in-depth, but this is to scratch the surface of what's good to me. Akishia's Rosario+Vampire has those values for me, and that's what makes me love it so much and hold a deep respect for this work. I mentioned the bad guys to the antagonists are well-written. That's right, from ideals, values, flaws that show they are more just evil, and you can even sympathize with them. Oh, did I forget to mention? As far as harem and ecchi go, in my honest opinion. This has the most fulfilling, satisfying closure I have ever seen where you feel both happy to have witnessed such a rich and memorable journey. And sad at the same time when you come to the realization there is no more. Honestly, speaking. The story feels complete, but it has more than enough potential to keep going for another part, if not more. It's all thanks to the author, the great Akihisa Ikeda, for not rushing ahead and carefully with consideration, planning every element before it ensues. I would absolutely love a sequel so damn much. I pray it will happen one day.

There are many consistent issues of all kinds with harem-ecchi stories that never seem to be dealt with a lot of times. I have mentioned some priorly. Still, one glaring issue that is almost constant is the main male lead's execution. Tsukune in Rosario+Vampire is every damn bit cliche-generic-dull like any other but unlike most. He actually grows quite impressively, not just from a power-stand point but from personality and behavior. Which makes him more complex than most leads of the harem-ecchi's. Btw, all of this and more had already been implied in the details and is not coming out from the left field. Akihisa is not writing or drawing blindingly. I did touch upon this lightly earlier as well, but seriously, the art for Rosario+Vampire is gorgeous and highly detailed. It conveys emotional expressions through the faces with great clarity. Akihisa is one of my favorite artists out there. I am not joking when I say he can really draw.

Comedy is a very subjective topic, but with Rosario+Vampire. I did have my share of laughs and giggle since. I love most, if not all, of the characters. We do have side cast and while not as fleshed out like the main male and girls. But I can't help myself to care and enjoy them likewise since Akishia cares enough to make you care about them. There are lots of gorgeous depictions of background here as well. Even the action scenes flow smoothly and are easy to follow along and visualize what's happening than most manga out there. Akihisa knows how to make hype-inducing, frightening-chilling moments to WTF scenes. And make them really hit hard, draw your whole attention, engage you, and cause an extreme explosion of an enthusiastic burst. Never have I had such a blast reading a harem-ecchi before. This is easily one of the few stories that impacted me so damn much. I can read it over again without getting bored. I am already getting tempted as I am pouring on my passion for this shounen ecchi-harem. OMFG! That's right. There is even gore here with details of limbs being chopped and so forth. Akihisa is not kidding around. That's extraordinarily rare in harem-ecchi, which makes reading this even more of a good time.

I think I've said enough about Rosario+Vampire. Seriously if you don't have anything to read. Consider giving this a shot, and you might find yourself not disappointed. Of course, it's not for everyone, and so if you are not in the right mindset, it might not impress you as much. But if you do love your abundant share of adorable waifus with unique properties and is an absolute sight for sore eyes. A main character that doesn't stay the same and grows tastefully and pleasantly. Tsukune grows from shy-annoying to a badass. It has a well-developed romance and harem that actually goes somewhere and gives you a clear message about if your ships sailed or not. Rocking one hell of an incredibly gorgeous art-style and an author that does not shy away from grotesque details even when it's a Shounen at the core.

Then I say hell yes to give Rosario a read. It's the ecchi-harem version with lots of action version of Iruma-kun. That's one way to explain Rosario+Vampire. The first part focuses on fleshing out the character, giving you a rich introduction to the world, and setting up the real meat and potatoes for the second part. If you want to know my rating, the first season gets an 8/10 and the sequel a strong 9/10. It's severely underrated. Not many sadly know about this ecchi-harem RomCom gem. I can't thank Akihisa-sensei enough for writing and drawing such refreshing and passionate harem with flourishing and delectable ecchi aspects. It's a little bit over 100 chapters with both parts combined. I was able to knock it out in two days. I can't recommend this sweet and spicy harem-ecchi enough. No doubt one of my all-time favorites.