Let me just start off by saying that this whole "the leading male is abusive" thing is a huge exaggeration if not a flat-out lie. If you don't believe me, flip through the entire series. You will not find a single abusive encounter between Kaya and Kyohei; I stand by my word on that. Not once in this manga is the leading lady hit, cursed at, talked down to, raped, forced to take drugs or coerced into doing anything that she does not want to do. She chose to be with Kyohei. Yes, "CHOSE" being the operative word (right there in big bold letters). That is what adults do: make choices. Therefore, Kaya is not a victim of any kind. She sat there and deliberated on the pros and cons of taking this man as a lover (over the span of several chapters) and, despite knowing that it could come back to bite her in the ass at some point, still chose to be with him. She LITERALLY said she was prepared to deal with the fallout from the consequences of her actions, so what is all the hate even about?

Sure, the leading male is possessive and stand-offish. I'm not saying that he isn't. And no, he doesn't treat Kaya like a special snowflake, but here's the kicker, folks: of course he's going to treat her as "less than" in the beginning because



Kyohei wasn't even raised with the same moral standards as others, so how do you expect him to act like prince charming? And for those who are saying the leading female is weak, do you know how many Japanese women can relate to this woman? Do you understand that generally, demeanor and moral values in Japan differ from those of Western countries? Many Japanese women are not out-spoken or assertive or demanding; not just the women, a lot of men do not behave that way either. Generally, they are very conscientious of their behavior and try not to stick out or be a bother to anyone. This manga was written from a completely Japanese point-of-view . Which brings me to my next point. I don't know how many times I've read interviews where manga/doujin artists say that they're either hesitant or flat-out do not want their works being translated in western countries for two main reasons (there are more, but...):

1)Because everything from nuances to important chunks of info get lost in translation
2)Because people won't be able to understand a story that's being told from a Japanese perspective. In other words, they'll miss the point...

And after reading all the reviews about the Kyohei being abusive--when he's actually nothing more than a spoiled brat--and Kaya being weak--when she's actually quite ballsy for making her bed and sleeping in it--well, I think I can actually see where those artists were coming from. And I agree with them. It's one thing to review a manga for its flaws, but it's another thing when you start bringing in all the misplaced social commentary. It's silly...

All that being said, I liked this series. The dark shading of the art really compliments the overall tone of the manga. Also, I think the pacing was great considering its volume span, and I appreciated the extra follow-up story about the female...I can't remember her name. That was a pretty good little bonus. What I liked most was the fact that Kaya didn't feel the need to "change" Kyohei and simply "accept" him instead. Kyohei isn't my type. He was selfish but not detestable and no where near the worst that I've seen thus far. Apparently, Kaya felt like he was worth fighting for though, so hats off to her on that one. There were many questions that this series left me with, which is why it gets a 7.5, so I was a little irked about that. I enjoyed this series overall though.

'Midnight Secretary' is not a generic love-love, romcom manga, and the conflict was legit (differences in culture and race, etc.), so I was actually pretty impressed. It did have plenty of romance clichés, and some of the romantic dialogue was a little corny, but I still liked this series overall. It wasn't just silliness everywhere I turned, which is percisely why I prefer Josei and Seinen.

... Last updated on June 26th, 2018, 10:14am

If I could give this manga *negative* points, I would. This is one of those books where I hate the thought of a little sister reading it and getting the wrong idea about a woman's place in the world. Forget strong heroines--this is a woman who erases herself in order to please her boss and let him sexually harass AND abuse her.

Does no one else find it appalling that she is essentially turned into a whore? She acts like she has no choice but to offer her boss blood (read: SEX) because she's "a secretary." She keeps repeating that like a mantra--"I'm a secretary, this is my job." No! Your job as a secretary is to organize your boss's appointments and reschedule clients! Your job description does *not* in fact, require you to perform acts of a sexual nature, and it's not a romantic seduction to be called in to clean up after his lovers because you're his "secretary." I'm really shocked and disappointed when I read reviews that call a heroine a "slut" because she is caught between two guys. Well, this girl is LITERALLY being told she needs to give up blood/sex as part of her job, and no one sees anything wrong with this?

Ok, not only is that just plain *sad* but--I can't even count the ways that this is a horrific situation. The fact that she feels that she needs to provide sexual services to keep her job? The fact that her boss, who is in a position of authority over her, uses her like that, and finds no compunction in messing up both her private and professional life according to his whims? Or the fact that despite all this abuse, she's "in love" with him and pines for the day he recalls her to his side?

The heroine is not strong. To say she's strong because she "sticks to her guns" is laughable. It doesn't change the fact that she does nothing to even the power her "love interest" holds over her, as her boss, and as a man in general. Oh, great, she *chooses* to go work for and be in love with a guy that mistreats her, day in and day out. That makes her strong...how?

The only way she's professional is the way porn conveys that "nurses" are "professional" right before they kneel in front of some guy. The heroine is a weak woman who plays into becoming a huge victim. The "hero" is a lot worse--cruel--but this is supposed to be a manga by and for women, and I know younger girls are reading this, and for that, I really can't forgive the main character for being so weak and spineless--but being labeled as "strong and independent." That actually is what gets me so upset.

Call it what it is. The hero's a heartless jerk, and the heroine is someone so "nice" and spineless that she'll take all his crap and then call it "love." But if you want a better heroine, who's *actually* strong and professional and independent, yet soft and vulnerable at the same time, try Kimi Wa Petto. Sumire would asskick this "hero" straight from outta nowhere in 2 seconds flat.

I understand guilty pleasures. I was so prepared to read this expecting a romance. I didn't even begin to think I was in for a true, disgust-inducing horror show.

... Last updated on December 1st, 2009, 1:04am

I didn't think that the male love interest was terrible. Flawed, but not terrible. And the female lead wasn't really a pushover. She chose to be with this guy, never bitched and moaned about it, and took responsibility for the good and bad things that happened between them. Her situation might have been a bit of a crappy one, but she stuck it out like a resposible adult and coped accordingly. I think that's pretty darn admirable. You don't have to be outspoken and no-nonesense to be regarded as a strong woman. Being patient and resposible ain't half-bad either.

That being said, even if there were some elements of this story that pissed me off, the one thing that I think is most commendable about this series ("I think" being the operative phrase) is that Kaya stuck to her guns up to the very end. And also that the leading male's personality changed gradually, instead of him suddenly turning into a prince charming. As far as him being possesive, arrogant, and smug....well, he's a vampire. I know that most people feel that something like that isn't an excuse, but it's actually quite true. I mean think about it, vampires are supernatural beings that drink human blood--for food no less. Humans are usually looked upon as nothing more than sources of energy and as pets in most instances (this actually mirrors the attutide that most humans have towards animals); also, I think that his condescending, lusty attutide is pretty much dead on, as far as vampires are concerned. He was raised that way. In the end, his attitude did change. Maybe it didn't change completely, but how realistic would that have been? Gradual is good, especially in storytelling .

Anywho, nicely done Oomi-sensei, nicely done.

... Last updated on June 3rd, 2010, 6:23am

I really wasn't expecting much when I began this manga. I was surprised how addicted I got. I really liked the plot twists, including the final one, and the romance between the main characters.

Each chapter got my expectations higher and higher, the way she was ONLY focused on her job, and the way he treated women, and yet how each other became attracted to each other. The most interesting part, was how he (who just treat women as food) got so captivated by her, and how he came to treasure her and his baby. That kind of plot and that kind of character growth is the key for a great manga, with great art and an interesting plot.

... Last updated on April 17th, 2012, 5:44pm

A smutty manga with actual plot and content! I enjoyed reading it from the beginning and really loved Kaya-chan's character and personality. The ending was sweet and wrapped up the manga well but I was hoping to see more, like what happened in the future concerning the couple and the vampire clan.
Either way, the Josei was a great read and I do recommend it to anyone who's looking for smut without annoying high school girls who can't think or act for themselves (Kaya-chan is so professional, I love it!!!).

The boss-subordinate relationship in this manga is played out really well. The mix of an obnoxious executive and a diligent secretary is a rare find in josei mangas dealing with office ladies a.k.a. OLs. Usually, the office lady is incompetent and clumsy, but the heroine here is extremely talented but not without fault though. She's the type to stick to her sense of duty to the point of giving a 100% of herself. This weakness is taken advantage of by her boss who also appears to be a supernatural heartthrob.

I was first turned off by the whole vampire concept. However, when I read the first chapter, I found myself finishing the series in one night! I even came to like the vampire twist because of how the vampire society was conceptualized in this manga. It's truly a josei gem!

The beginning of Midnight Secretary started out really good. I liked the characters, and I liked the slightly gothic esque/older fashioned drawing style- it worked for this manga. I also loved the gradual attraction between the main couple.

However somewhere around the middle of the manga, there were a few things that grew redundant and really got on my nerves. First, Kyohei's self-hatred thing was taken too far to the point where I found it degrading to Kaya and off putting. He'd make Kaya chase after him, accept her, then reject her. Although the self-loathing act is cliche, I tolerated it since I understand his point of view, but it just grew tiresome. Also, some will probably find this manga demeaning to women considering Kyohei's possessive, heartless tendencies and Kaya's inferiority. Truthfully, I like it when the guys are possessive, so it didn't bother me so much, but there were moments where I was turned off by his attitude. Thankfully he improves. Also, it may appear that Kaya whores herself just for the sake of her job. While her mentality is always "I must protect my boss", I think its apparent that the real reason why she has sex with Kyohei is because she loves him, and heads into it this well aware that her love may not be returned. And then there's the whole thing where they are always talking about "Producing the best blood". Yea I understand that Kyohei needs high quality blood to survive, and Kaya wants to protect him but it's strange to constantly talk about "producing good blood" during like 90% of their intimate scenes..

Yet despite this, I still plundered through and found this manga oddly addicting.. Even though I disliked Kaya and Kyohei during the middle portion of the series for the few things i mentioned above, I still really liked them as a couple. And thankfully the series got better near the end where we finally get past that annoying middle stage of them rejecting their love for each other, and Kyohei finally begins to accept his feelings, further developing as a character. I found it endearing to watch these two progress as a couple together. There were some real sweet moments between the two, and some hot intimate scenes (heh).

And then came the ending..which also knocked off points(spoilers may be ahead)
I'm aware that I might be sounding greedy, and in some cases, cliff-hanger endings work, but the pacing was just totally off in the last chapter. The pacing was the same as the usual chapters (not fast but not slow) and then the story just cut off..

In all, despite all the flaws, Midnight Secretary proved to be a guilty pleasure to me.. and in the end I still love Kyohei and Kaya. I still hope that the author puts out an extra chapter in the future though..

... Last updated on December 29th, 2013, 3:11am

i am so glad that i actually stumbled upon this manga i am throughly enoying it so far!

i especially love the female character kaya-san she is so down to earth and level headed not like Yuri21 said she doesnt run around like a chicken with its head cut off

as for our gorgeous director he seems as a hard a** at first ya' know like sesshou from inuYasha but as the story gets more into the plot it reveals that he's actually like a child but he's also protectful

but yeah i would so reccomand this its AWESOME!!!!!!!

... Last updated on March 27th, 2008, 10:52pm

... till it moved to selfish jerk/pathetic woman in love territory.

Having said that, I stuck around mainly cuz the heroine was so awesome. Loved her spunk in the beginning chapters, and that kept resurfacing throughout at odd points (like how refreshingly self-aware and perceptive she was about people and her situation) in the manga which made me sympathize with her sometimes. Although it's also a pathetic lack of self-respect if you're enduring that kind of situation.. "It's all part of my duty as a secretary" *rolls eyes*

At least they improved it towards the end, but some parts in the middle (considering I liked the heroine very much) just made me sad.

... Last updated on May 16th, 2013, 1:37pm