2022 EDIT: Yeah, I don't care anymore. I haven't for a long time. I should never have been so forgiving of that godawful ending. 'Chibi Vampire' or 'Karin' can be a cute, funny, daring and decent vampire series, but that final volume, that ending, ruins everything. Literally. For it renders the entire 14-volume manga series utterly pointless, and it turns out that Karin was never even the main character. No agency, no choice, no character, no point, nothing. There is some sexist and stupid garbage present, too (see my original review below for references).
What a terrible, terrible ending.
Final Score: 3/5
Original Review:
Series overview:
'Chibi Vampire' (original title 'Karin', after the main character) is a 14-volume manga series with various problems. There are a ton of plot holes; the "heroine", despite being a cool addition to the vampire lore in that she's a reverse-vampire who can only give blood to humans (or else she gets gushing nosebleeds), is nevertheless a pretty typical female lead found in shoujo titles, and she feels an absolute failure when she thinks she can't give her boyfriend children or a big family (seriously, that's one of the conflicts of the last half of the series); Karin's older brother Ren is a complete bastard with no real redeeming qualities, even for a vampire; there are some horrifying implications of rape; and lastly, the ending infuriated me, partly because it makes no sense (go forth more plot holes), but mainly because it's a slap in the face to dedicated readers who believed Karin to be the main character (slight spoiler: turns out she isn't really), and who had hoped that all of her development - and her accepting of who she is - would come to something. It doesn't. Karin doesn't even get any say or choice in what is the result of her story arc. What a crock.
However, I still really like 'Chibi Vampire'. It is one of my guilty pleasures. The humour is something I could latch on to - dark and macabre, yet with heart. I especially love the scenes with Karin and her bizarre vampire family - they may be cold, but in their own socially-awkward way they love her in spite of her being a reverse-vampire, which are highly unusual. The manga's artwork reflects this; it's drawn moe-style where all the female characters have big eyes, but it has a sharp, cut-and-tongue-in-cheek knife edge, with an overall shadowy, old-fashioned 'Nosferatu' horror touch. Karin's nosebleed scenes are particularly gruesome.
I have heard the mangaka, Yuna Kagesaki, might be a fan of cartoons such as 'South Park', and it shows in 'Chibi Vampire'. I also like the more original take on vampires - they are born, not made, from vampire parents, and the children develop their vampirism through a process in puberty.
If the plot is a mess, then the highlight of this manga, aside from the comedy, is the characters. Each and every one of them is memorable and endearing in their own strange way.
Karin Maaka (aka Marker from her European origins) is the reverse-vampire middle child of her vampire family. She may be self-pitying, an embarrassment-magnet, a bigger cry-baby than Usagi Tsukino, and the Butt Monkey of her own series, but she's a hard worker and very caring and considerate of others. Typical shoujo heroine traits, I know, but Karin at least stands out by being a reverse-vampire girl - plus the constant butt of jokes who still keeps going for the sake of her family and friends (and she has wonderful and supportive female friends, such as Maki).
I adore Kenta Usui, Karin's love interest. He's as much a hard worker as she is, since he lives in poverty and doesn't take anything for granted. A really good, misunderstood guy who's not a pushover and is also a little naïve about romance and teenage relationships. Kenta is the kind of understanding boyfriend Karin needs; important for when he finds out about her vampirism. In a lot of ways these two kids are very similar, minus the vampire bit, and they make an extremely cute couple. They are more believable and have better chemistry than most other vampire-and-human couples I can think of, that's definite.
Kenta's mum Fumio is a saint and a saviour - a young single mother who suffers from depression but keeps looking forward and smiling for her son. A frequent victim of sexual harassment at work, she gets fed up with life and society, and even when she has good moods (once brought on by Karin giving her blood to her), they fade in time (a good subversion of expectations). Both an optimist and a pessimist, it's easy to relate to someone like Fumio. A nice change in conventional, trope-laden storytelling is that Kenta's parents are still in good terms with each other despite living apart (they broke up because of Fumio's overbearing mother).
Karin's parents are hilarious, as is her grandma Elder who looks exactly like her granddaughter but with long silver hair. Her brother Ren is, as I've stated, an utter bastard and he doesn't even deserve to have anything else said about him, and not just because of spoilers.
Karin's younger sister, Anju, is a developing vamp. This creepy child is more mature than Karin and fits the big sister role much better than she does. Anju wears Gothic Lolita-type dresses and carries a parasol to keep from the sun. She is an introvert: quiet, reserved and seemingly not that interested in the lives of others, including Karin's. Her constant companions are a memory-erasing bat and a doll possessed by the soul of an axe-wielding serial killer. Anju is occasionally shown to have a disturbingly-close relationship with her brother Ren (one of the many reasons to believe him a sicko). In later volumes her character develops along with going through her first bloodsucking stage as a vampire. The lonely little girl will have to leave her human school and mortal friends, with whom she is just growing to like the company of. As it turns out, she is more capable of affection than she first appears. Adorable and adorably scary, but misunderstood and sad, I like Anju greatly.
Nothing much else to add that I care to remark upon. The rest of the characters are okay, and the series, even when it grows darker and the stakes get higher (pun unintended) as it progresses, never loses its zaniness. This humourous, macabre but loving manga is quite an admirable feat. In my personal opinion, 'Chibi Vampire' is different from most other supernatural comedy manga and anime for the reason that it seems to be more ambitious and full of life. At times it really shines in clever ideas and in realising its full potential.
The manga isn't unnecessarily mean-spirited or cruel, although I think its ending is forced for the sake of shock value, and a lot of the story makes no sense at all. But if you can look past the plot holes and love the individual characters - as I did - then I'm sure you can enjoy 'Chibi Vampire'; especially if you are a fan of humour that's darkly-twisted, similar to a black comedy.
I have seen the anime, and it is okay. Lighter than the manga, and funny. It does take different directions, especially with its own conclusion which happened before the manga series ended (probably for the better), but it is still very likeable.
Bloody and fun. If you're looking for something different from mainstream shoujo and shonen manga titles, I recommend 'Chibi Vampire'.
Final Score: 3.5/5
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