Greeting once again, everyone, and welcome to the New Year 2016!
And, as we're lucky enough to have it, a week or so ago I discovered a new series at the bookstore that I want to share with you.
If you haven't heard of it already (or haven't guessed by the title and picture), today's review is of Eiji Masuda's "My Monster Secret". (Or Jitsu wa Watashi Wa, if you prefer.)
High school student Asahi Kuromine (another series with cool and unusual names, which I love) is completely hopeless at keeping things a secret. It's not that he has a big mouth and goes blabbing to people or anything; it's just that his poker face is more like an open book. If you ask him if he likes somebody, his face will instantly give it away.
You get the idea.
Anyway, one day after school, he encounters the above silent-type schoolgirl Yoko Shiragami. With wings. And fangs. That's right: Yoko Shiragami is a vampire. Biggest secret ever, right?
Most people would imagine that she'd be doomed now, her secret being kept by the most transparent man who ever lived. But instead, Kuromine devotes himself to keeping her secret like he's never kept any secret before. (He likes her. Plus, if she's ever found out, her father will pull her out of school.)
Attempting to thwart Kuromine's intentions is the sadistic newspaper gossip rag reporter Mikan Akemi. She is a great villain. Her paper prints gossip rag fodder, even if it's made up, and not even for the reasons of journalistic integrity; she just wants to see people suffer. (How she hasn't been found out and fired by the school, I'll never know.)
Also joining Kuromine as characters are a sadist teacher who picks on him just as much as his closest friends and an emotionless rule-enforcer girl who's actually an invading alien robot. And it looks like there are other monster girls on the way, if the images I've seen in Google Image search are any indicator. Just how many secrets can Kuromine keep before he cracks?!
As I've said, the characters are well-written and unique, the story is interesting and seems to be going good places, and the not-conventionally-attractive artwork for Shiragami the female protagonist just puts it over the top. She's not your typical vampire, either, which is good. And I love how it hasn't yet degenerated into a distracting T&A fest like Love Hina (which was good in its own right) or Monster Musume (which has gotten to the point where it detracts from what little, paper-thin story there is).
I say we pick give this a read, and that we make no secret of it! (...I'll stop with the "secret" now.)
