Midnight Secretary

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Midnight Secretary
Midnight Secretary Volume 1 Cover
(ミッドナイト・セクレタリ）
Genre	Romance, Supernatural fiction
Manga
Author	Ohmi Tomu
Publisher	Shogakukan
Demographic	Josei
Serialized in	Petit Comic
Original run	2006 – ongoing
Volumes	4

Midnight Secretary (ミッドナイト・セクレタリ, Midnight Secretary^?) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Ohmi Tomu and serialized by Petit Comic. The manga was later compiled and published by Shogakukan marking it as Tomu's sixteenth published work with the release of volume one ^[1].

Midnight Secretary follows the life of Kaya Satozuki, the private secretary of Director Kyouhei Touma of the Touma Company, and the secrets kept between them.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Characters 2.1 Major 2.2 Minor 3 Development 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Plot

Considered to be the "perfect secretary" yet constantly criticized for her ultra-conservative dress style by the Director, Kaya lives a seemingly normal life until she finds out that her boss is actually a vampire. Despite uncovering his identity, she dedicates herself to serving the Director to the best of her abilities. The early part of the story focuses on the trials and tribulations of Kaya's increasingly hectic workload, then shifts to the developing personal relationship between her and the Director.

[edit] Characters

[edit] Major

Kaya Satozuki

The main character of the story, Kaya starts her position as private secretary to the Director at the beginning of the manga. She dresses very conservatively when at work, citing her professionalism, yet does so mainly because of her insecurity about her child-like looks. Due to her plainness, she is initially rejected by the Director for the job, yet she proves to be an invaluable worker and succeeds in gaining his acknowledgment. Despite discovering that the Director is a vampire, Kaya remains loyal to him and does everything in her power to protect his health and secret. Over the course of the story, she starts developing feelings for the Director, and becomes torn between her responsibilities and personal life. Her blood is considered to be a special rarity, which is able to quench the Director's thirst with just a single drop. She eventually develops a sexual relationship with the director and leaves her official position as his secretary to work for a subsidiary company. Later on, she becomes the director's "midnight secretary", doing his office work at night in his mansion.

Kyouhei Touma

The Director of the Touma Company, Kyouhei is known for his capability and strictness in the business world, which is preceded by his reputation with women and his ability to charm them for his own pleasures. Soon after being appointed a new secretary, he is discovered to be a vampire after one of his "meals". Despite being a vampire, he states that they avoid killing humans and their bite doesn't turn a human into a vampire. He's very cold towards his family, seemingly not caring for their welfare or concern. The women whom he sleeps with are his "meals" whenever he needs blood to quench his thirst. Because of seeing them as a mere necessity, he shows no particular interest or love for any woman. However, this attitude becomes shaken with the introduction of Kaya in his life. He eventually becomes attached to her, despite his stated insistence that she is nothing more than food to him. At one point, he refuses to drink any other blood than Kaya's, and jumps into the midday sun to save her life.

Masaki Touma

Manager and previous boss of Kaya, Masaki is Kyouhei's older brother. Despite being related by blood, he isn't a vampire. Characterized by his sincere and caring nature for the company's employees, and the welfare of his brother, he is looked up to and admired by Kaya, whom he feels obligated to protect.

[edit] Minor

Ooyachi

Secretary to the Vice-President of the company, she is hard working and very efficient at her job. Kaya sees her as a role-model to follow.

Mr. Shuuichirou Touma

President of the Touma Company and father of Kyouhei and Masaki.

Matsushita

Personal driver for Director Kyouhei Touma, he is responsible for taking home the various women the Director has for "meals". Though knowing his employer is a vampire he remains dedicated to his job.

[edit] Development

Midnight Secretary is the third series by author and artist Ohmi Tomu that has a theme centered around vampires. The basic romantic storyline along with the vampiric theme was borrowed from her original debut manga Kindan no Koi wo Shiyou ^[2]. Several backstory concepts - such as vampires only being able to bear children with humans and the resulting offspring being completely one or the other - was also taken from her earlier works ^[3]. Tomu stayed away from traditional folklore about vampires and instead portrayed them as an upperclass with widespread societal influence. Among the common associations with vampires that were avoided or altered, bats were still used as a motif but not employed in the actual storyline ^[4]. Though not intended by the author, the series resulted into becoming a sort of cinderella complex ^[5] caused by the building mental and emotional conflict between the main characters.

When drawing the main character Kaya Satozuki, author Ohmi Tomu used actress Hiromi Nagasaku and her own sister-in-law as references for Kaya's appearance ^[6]. She also used her sister-in-law as a basic model for Kaya's personality because of her firm and resolute nature ^[6]. Kaya's undergarments were given a certain degree of attention because of Tomu's penchant for lace underwear ^[3]. The amount of exposure was increased in later chapters as the story progressed.

For Kyouhei Touma, she was careful to note various details of his appearance depending on the setting of the scene. In particular, his hair was the most difficult to draw ^[6].

The series is also noted for its more explicit content and mature themes than many others in the Josei or Seinen categories.

[edit] References

[edit] External links