I'm flabbergasted by the high ratings this series receives. The premise - what if vampires were a repressed caste in modern society - is intriguing, but the execution of this premise is so shallow.
In fact, everything is: the villains are stereotypical and shallow, the politics of discrimination are simplified to the point of caricature (vampires drink blood, therefore they are bad and everyone hates them); everybody in the story is too quick to blame, and most are too quick to forgive; the protagonist is mainly defined by being a hesitant crybaby; etc...
Also, the pace is glacially slow for most of the story, and the ending is small-scale and unsatisfying. For instance, Chaerin could have been interesting, but in the end experienced what I can only call character anti-development...
Disappointing.

The vampire-romance genre has received quite a few blows in the past decade. That just makes it all the better when something as great as this is born from that same genre.
Don't go hating the whole of the genre just because of the past decade. The original Dracula novel was pretty much a vampire-romance.

Anyways, speaking of THIS one in particular, it is AWESOME. Excellent balance between comedy and romance. In fact, the romance doesn't really come in for a while, the author takes his time and gives us a fair amount of back story about the current state of vampires in society.
I'm a guy and I don't make a habit of reading shoujo [only read Card Captor Sakura and DNAngel when i was 12 and a bit of Switch Girl a year ago which i dropped as it went stagnant] {Edit: I've since picked up a few more}. But I would say that this shoujo is perfectly suited for men as well as it doesn't just gush on about a 14 year old girl's thoughts about her 'one true love'. It deals with discrimination/racism, parental neglect and the like. Denial for the sake of self-preservation is a large part as well.
The comedy is in frequent doses. I can't help but laugh or smile whenever a super deformed/chibi face pops up, like when someone is running away or Ma Ri's little brother is doing anything. That guy is hilarious.

I read up to ch16 in one go and would have continued to the last [17 at this point in time] if i wasn't so sleep deprived.

P.S. make sure you check out the 1:57 minute song from the soundtrack that she sings in chapter 8. It's simply great.

EDIT: mmmk, it's not so great anymore. But I'll write some more when it's over.

EDIT 2: Totally degraded siginificantly by the end.

... Last updated on April 8th, 2014, 3:45pm

Normally I can't stand shoujo manga. The so-called heroine often lacks self-respect and is dense, weak and annoying. I'm no feminist, but where's your dignity girls!? Orange Marmalade is a sigh of relief. The main character may be confused and lonely, but she's no fool. I even found myself thinking, "I wish I could be friends with her."

While this manhwa is about vampires, don't expect something Twilight-esque. In my opinion, it transcends your typical vampire plot with its depth and unique perspective. It shows the pain and angst that prejudice can cause.

Also, the artwork is beyond words! Orange Marmalade is the most beautiful manga/manhwa I've ever read. It's all in color, so even if you don't find the plot interesting, it's worth reading for the art alone.

... Last updated on June 4th, 2013, 7:04pm

It had its ups and downs but overall this is definitely one of the best webtoons out there. Beautiful art, interesting story, great comic relief, and realistic characters that definitely are not perfect but try their best anyway. There is romance, there are strong and heartbreaking themes of discrimination and prejudice (toward vampires, but relatable to real life examples like racism, et.), and more than anything, it was a story of friendship and unconditional love.

The story of Ma Ri, the vampire who just wanted to be loved and understood in a world that still hates and fears the vampire race even after they are no longer a threat, is sweet, sad and full of hope. Her friends are all likeable in their own way-- I particularly liked White Hair (whose name I could never remember--actually, Korean names are just hard for me) and the jealous blond haired girl who is not as terrible and mean as she likes to think she is. Jae Min is interesting too, and learning about his past really helps you understand him better, though for a while I was really ticked off at him despite that. Actually, there's a point for all the characters where you want to yell at them to stop being stupid and get over themselves, but that just makes it better when/if they finally pull themselves out of that rut and figure things out.

So yes, it's sweet, sad, funny, and the loose ends were tied up quite nicely in the end. It's the kind of story that leaves behind a pleasant hopeful feeling that even though things might get hard, there are still good things to appreciate in life and there's always going to be something to look forward to.

This story is much more than what I thought. It's not just about high school, or romance, or drama. The true heart of this story is about discrimination. The story is based in a world where vampires are real and they live among us. Not only that, but they have many rumors about them (many not true) and people hate them with prejudice.
This story is very hard for me to read, but also hard to put down! For many of today's youth (in America but also in many other Western countries), it is hard to imagine this type of deep-rooted hatred of a race or people. However, humans have historically been very prejudice. It was not that long ago (and in some countries - still) that people were banned from living in certain areas just because of the people belonged too. This touches on that subject in a way as to not offend any specific group. If vampires were truly real, how would people react? Would we be friends with them? Marry and love them? Would we throw stones at them or banish them? How about tie them up and burn them like "witches" used to be?
I have not had a series get such strong emotions from me in a long time. Being half white and half "other", I understand all to well what it is like to have people turn up a nose at you. Read this with caution, but I HIGHLY recommend it!
If you have a teen or pre-teen, you might want to read this along with them. It is much more than a love story and might need a few discussions.

... Last updated on January 24th, 2014, 11:06pm

Hmm, surprisingly refreshing. I mean, there must have been a lot of stories like this, right? But for some reason THIS one feels so new and fresh. I'm not sure why.
And the best part is that I even like both the main characters, they're both just interesting and odd characters at the same time.
I'd say you should check it out whether you like or don't like shoujo and whether you're a girl or guy.

The start of the story was typical but it was FUNNY. However, the author ran out of ideas to write pretty fast, LIKE SUPER FAST. It's a continuous repetition of the same teenage angst except with "vampire issues." The girl is most frustrating. Despite all these rationalizations from the author that keeps telling the readers of how afraid the female MC is about exposing her vampire identity to her BF, it's ultimately unconvincing and selfish of her.

Another unconvincing thing about this series is the world setting for racist-like treatment that vampires get. It's basically a setting of vampires being discriminated as monsters. What's unrealistic is that people act too illogical to the point that everyone sounds like they're preschoolers. It's the type of situation where the whole world is against you for no reason just to make the heroine's discrimination from bad to worst.

Another point is the stagnant character developments. After 100 chapters, the annoying MC and the ignorant side characters still are annoying and ignorant except for a few. The character are too flat and 2d. The antagonist, which is basically a rival who continuously tries to dissuade the female MC's foolishness to get a human BF, is too flat. Despite this antagonist's situation and surroundings (where humans shower him love), he keeps thinking that his is a victim of vampire discrimination. Makes no sense. Same for some of the other characters. The side characters have one characterization and the author keeps hammering that to the readers but then if there's a crisis these characters do 180 degree turns just to satisfy the situation...

Ultimately, this is a coming of age story for the characters in a setting of vampire discrimination with romance as the driving plot. However, the little character developments along with flat/bipolar characterizations make reading this story frustrating and pointless.

... Last updated on March 30th, 2016, 11:09pm

There were very high ratings and it generally recieved good comments so i gave it a go but i decided to drop it after 17 chapters. I'm not sure if it gets better later on or not but i just really could not stand the main guy, Jung Jae Min, he was just plain creepy and a bit like a stalker too. Although she, Ma Ri, made it quite clear she didn't like him and frankly she didnt really seem to want anything to do with him he seemed to just ignore that and continue to think she has a thing for him and putting her into situations she doesnt want to be in. He practically refused her turning him down and then continued as if it never happened. Personally if this ever happened with a friend of mine i would be very concerned for her safety as the guy seems crazy.

... Last updated on April 22nd, 2014, 12:51pm

I love this! This is really good! Usually, Vampire shoujo manga is always the male lead that is the vampire, and stuff like Twilight ... If you're sick of this kind of plot, then this story is definitely refreshing for you , because it turned out another way round! You should try it out, instead of hesitating about reading it or not when you didn't know how good it is! ;D
Recommended!