Kaya works herself into a stupor while trying to get back to Kyohei’s side.
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Tomu Ohmi
Translation/Adaptation: JN Productions
What They Say
Kaya has been temporarily reassigned to another company, but she won’t let that keep her from her lover, Kyohei. She’s appointed herself as his special secretary, and she spends each night at his condo helping him work and quenching his thirst for her delicious blood. Love suits Kaya, but trouble looms now that she’s caught the eye of her other boss!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Between the booty calls and the extra work load, Kaya was headed for a crash. It happens in this volume of Midnight Secretary, and it forces both of the lead characters into some actions that might hurt their careers. At the same time those actions are paving the way for a future in which hopefully they will find some balance in their lives.
Kaya is surrounded by good men, men who are much better than Kyohei, yet she’s never attracted to them. Better bosses, potentially kinder lovers, and yet nope, she is stuck on Kyohei. To that end she’s been working during the day setting up the secretary pool at the subsidiary and at night being Kyohei’s personal assistant. Without even realizing it she’s been trying to look more beautiful for him.
A brief comment on the art and setting at this point. Between all the talk of secretaries and these powerful men in suits, along with the slightly 90’s looking character designs, I keep feeling that this story is set in the wrong decade. Everything about it screams 1980’s to me. If it weren’t for the cell phones and style of the casual clothing, it might as well be the 80s. It’s throwing this weird dissonance of place, I feel like I’m reading some 80’s romance novel or something.
In Kaya’s mind she constructs a careful plan to get transferred back into her original job so she can work directly for just Kyohei again. Her plan puts even more stress on her and backfires magnificently when they ask her to be the office manager at the subsidiary. That was pretty much Kaya’s breaking point. She collapses in Kyohei’s arms and turns into a blubbering mess. It’s cathartic to watch miss perfect finally admit that she can’t control everything that is going on. It also forces Kyohei to act like a human being for once and show some real concern and affection towards her. However brief that is before he’s back to playing games. It does force him to admit to himself that he does indeed love her, and he hates himself for it.
Except he’s not a human, he’s a vampire, right? The vampire stuff is just clearly a hook and doesn’t have any real bearing on the plot, at least not right now. Kyohei could be any other controlling boyfriend at this point. There’s one scene where he basically stalks her when Kaya’s out with her current boss for a drink, and constantly tells her she’s his. Emphasis on his.
Then, after all that Kaya’s been through, Kyohei tells her that he’ll handle everything, just trust him. Then he disappears for over a month, quitting his position at his family’s company and going incommunicado with everyone. It’s like he just wants to watch her get all bothered by his absence. Healthy relationships are built on trust, and he tells her nothing about his plan. He just shows back up and tells her that he’s starting a new company and to come work for him, even though he knows she’s in a year long contract with the people she’s working for. Thankfully, she tells him no. Sadly, I don’t see her standing firm on that stance.
In Summary
Right now Midnight Secretary is a perfect example of when two adults who should know better keep making poor decisions. I couldn’t call Kaya and Kyohei’s relationship healthy by any stretch of the imagination. What you have here are two incredibly career minded individuals, each in their own way, in a highly unprofessional relationship that is starting to take it’s toll on both parties. Kyohei is a petulant, childish asshole whose pride dictates his behavior. Kaya knows this, even rants about it to herself at one point, and still can’t stop from loving him. If things are going to work out, they need to find the correct balance and Kyohei needs to stop playing stupid childish games.
Content Grade: B –
Art Grade: B
Packaging Grade: B
Text/Translation Grade: B
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: January 7th, 2014
MSRP: $9.99
