– Customer review on 30/07/2008

I found out about this series from an online blog of a Korean manhwaga where she listed her most recent favourite manga. Vampire Knight was one of the three listed. I had already read two other works of Matsuri Hino by then - Meru Puri and Captive Hearts. I enjoyed them and also thought the art was beautiful as well (very suited to the fantasy genre) but although I like light romantic comedy fine, I much prefer stories with more depth. That was provided in Vampire Knight.

The story is set in a prestigious school called Cross Academy. The Academy is divided into the Day Class (of normal students) and the Night Class (of elite students). The Day Class and the Night Class occupy different dorms and of course their classes occur at different times so the only time that they come across each other is when the Day Class is leaving the school and the Night Class is going to the school to attend class. The students of the Night Class are all beautiful, intelligent and popular - making them the celebrities of the Academy. But there is a secret (that only very few people at Cross Academy know) - and that is that all the students of the Night Class are actually vampires.

Yuuki is the Academy Chairman's stepdaughter. She has no memories beyond the incident ten years ago where she was saved from a rogue vampire by another vampire - Kaname. Zero's vampire hunter parents were murdered by a vampire and he is also taken in by Chairman Cross. These two are the only Day Class student with the knowledge about vampires and they were appointed by the Chairman to be the Academy Guardians to protect the secrets of the Night Class from the Day Class and to protect the Day Class from the Night Class.

Kaname is the head of the Night Class dorm and also the leader of the Night Class vampires. After saving Yuuki that night ten years ago, they have shared a close relationship although it has gotten a little difficult as they became older. Yuuki and Zero also have a precarious relationship as they are always together but Zero seems to always be keeping a part of him hidden.

Although Yuuki has always known about the existence of vampires, in volume 1 she finds out a lot more about them, perhaps more than she ever wanted to. The reasons of why Zero is always so distant and of his hate for vampires (the murder of his parents are not the only reason) are also revealed.

This series unlike Matsuri Hino's other works, is very serious. As I mentioned before, the mangaka's art is very beautiful and suits this kind of story very well - making this manga an easy read notwithstanding the heavy story. There are also little humourous comic strips between chapters and the end of the book providing breaks between the heavy reading

This is a very popular series and was recently animated in Japan. I don't think only manga lovers will enjoy this one - I would also recommend Vampire Knight to all the fans of vampire novels (which includes me!) - such as the Twilight Saga; House of Night series; Vampire Academy series; The Night World series; The Vampire Diaries series; The Blue Bloods series etc. (I have read all these and loved Vampire Knight as well)

– Customer review on 14/01/2009

This is one of the most popular mangas currently being serialised in Japan's Lala magazine, and have been turned into a popular anime series. The 2nd season "Vampire Knight Guilty" finished airing in Japan in Dec 08. So far, 7 manga volumes have been released in English.

I love this series! Matsuri Hino's work is beautiful and the story is gripping. It has it all - romance, action, intrigue, well developed characters, well developed story, and vampires! XD Each chapter leaves you on the edge of your seat and I can't get enough!

Totally recommended! If you like this series, check out Hino's other works "Meru Puri", "Captive Hearts" and "Wanted" They're all great! These are of course more light-hearted than Vampire Knight. VK is much much serious.

– Customer review on 11/12/2009

this is a really good manga(book), i first founf the series by watching the anime(cartoon) then after that i was hooked, great for anyone who loves vampires

– Customer review on 16/10/2009

Vampire Knight is a really great manga. Matsuri Hino is a very talented writer and artist. Many people expect this to be "just another vampire romance story" but it's much more interesting and meaningful then that. This book is only the begining of the series but it builds up to amazing events. I will worn you, The story starts off quite light-hearted but it gets darker.

The basic story is about a girl named Yuuki who's first memory is when she was 5 years old when she was attacked by a vampire and saved by another vampire called Kaname. She can't remember anything before that and so she became adopted by Kaien Cross. He wishes for Vampires and Humans to live together peacefully, which is eventually Yuuki's dream too. She grows up, meets Zero who was in a terrible incident which led to him being adopted by Kaien Cross and hate vampires. Kaien Cross then creates an academy where vampires (including Kaname) go to as well as Yuki and Zero who are now first years and are the "guardians" of the school who keep the two dorms, the night dorm and day dorm away from each other so they can protect the secret of the night dorm being vampires. There is a strong relationship with Kaname and Yuuki as well with Yuuki and Zero except that he is hiding somthing from her.... I wonder what it is?

This book is very interesting as is the rest of the series, it's beautifully written, drawn and has humourous, sympathetic, awesome characters. And even if you hate gore and blood this story isn't hate horror-like and is a great book. Vamire Knight is a very popular series and is a good book. You have to read it guys ^_^