Thank you to NetGalley and Viz Media for a free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Rosen Blood tells the story of Stella, who wakes up naked in a house full of strangers. The story unfolds as many reverse harem stories do—readers are introduced to the men of the household, and Stella slowly warms up to each of them. The story was dramatic, and the art was beautiful, but this story wasn't quite for me. Stella was quick to trust the other characters even as it became clear that her well being wasn't their first priority.

Translation: JN Productions
English Adaptation: Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane
Touch-up Art and Lettering: Joanna Estep
Design: Alice Lewis
Editor: Jennifer Sherman

Rosen Blood Volume One focuses on establishing the characters and the concept of the series.

Rosen Blood Volume One
Written by: Kachiru Ishizue
Publisher: Akita Publishing Co., Ltd.
English Publisher: VIZ Media
Release Date: December 7, 2021

The story begins with a girl named Stella waking up in a bed and being confused about where she is, since her last memory was of being in a carriage. In the room with her is a man named Levi. He informs her that her carriage met an accident in the middle of the road and that the coachman was already dead when she was found. Stella had been on her way to a job and can’t afford to hire another carriage to take her there. She asks Levi if she can work there, and she gets a job cleaning and taking care of the house. While he agrees to let her stay, he seems cold and distant at first.

Stella quickly learns about the others who live in the house: a flirty man named Friedrich, a young man named Yoel, and crazy sculptor named Gilbert. As a reader, I could tell right away that there was something off about these characters, especially when they kept referencing how her scent is irresistible or that they want to take a taste of her. While we get the occasional scene of Stella wondering about these characters, she doesn’t clue into much of anything until one of the characters finally blurts it out for her near the end of the volume… that they’re not human.

But before that, Stella learns that Levi is the one who paints the pictures that she admires in the house. At one point, Friedrich makes an aside to Levi that Stella bears a resemblance to a woman he once knew, whose painting he couldn’t finish because he can’t remember what her face looks like. But later in the volume, Stella and Levi become closer to the point where they kiss. It seems like the two of them may be developing feelings for each other. Fredrich catches on to them, and it appears that he may be plotting to try to get Stella for his own.

Stella learns the truth about the men living in the house after she and Levi get close. It’s even worse when she learns that they have to eat crystals in order to sustain themselves… and that the crystals are made from the blood of young girls. This shocks Stella at first, but then she suggests that maybe they could use tears, and she volunteers to serve as their food source. This may sound strange at first, but it’s revealed earlier in the volume that Stella is unable to leave the grounds, so it’s not like she can escape and go anywhere. Likely, she believes that she needs to make herself useful in order to save the lives of other young women.

Since Rosen Blood is a shojo manga, this series seems to be setting up a “reverse harem” concept, except using supernatural beings instead of regular men. Ishizue has already established an interest between Levi and Stella, and Friedrich having an interest in her as well. While it’s not blatantly shown in this volume, I think Yoel may have an interest in her as well. The main thing is Gilbert, because he is nothing like the other three. When I said he’s crazy, that wasn’t just a minor descriptor. He’s violent and attempts to attack Stella at least twice in this volume. I’m not exactly sure how Gilbert is going to fit into this “reverse harem,” though.

As a main character, there’s not a whole lot to Stella at this point. While she’s not as bland as some of the characters from “reverse harem” otome games, she’s nowhere near as interesting of a character as any of the guys in this story. For the most part, she seems to go with the flow, until she makes a shocking discovery in the house. But I sincerely hope future volumes will see some serious character development for Stella.

After reading the first volume of Rosen Blood, I feel like this is starting out in much the same way as other “reverse harem” titles (such as Kiss of the Rose Princess), although the main difference is having supernatural characters in this story. Hopefully, as this story progresses, it will start finding ways to distinguish itself from similar kinds of shojo manga. As it is, there’s not a whole lot here to make it stand out.

When it comes to the art, the one thing I noticed is that it felt like Ishizue spent time drawing the characters with a lot of detail at the beginning, but as the volume progresses, the amount of detail goes down a noticeable amount. I would guess that as the series progressed, Ishizue didn’t have as much time to put as much detail into the art in order to make deadlines. This decrease in detail is kind of disappointing, though, because the panels early on in the volume are very striking to look at. By the end of the volume, the panels didn’t stand out to me as much.

If you’re a shojo manga reader who also likes stories with supernatural elements, or you like the “reverse harem” concept, you might enjoy Rosen Blood Volume One.

I thought the premise had promise, the art is mostly gorgeous, and there are some interesting and creepy aspects (like the brothers' statues) but this isn't the manga for me for a few reasons. First EVERYTHING. IS. SO. DRAMATIC. Just a wee bit too over the top for me, and drama and plot convenience are prioritized over a totally coherent story. Second, I'm having a difficult time with the protagonist sticking around her <spoiler>likely mass murderer</spoiler> love interest and his abusive band of brothers. I'm sure this has an audience (look at Twilight and True Crime!), but it's not for me right now.

Stella awakes, naked, in an unknown bed in an unknown house. She questions aloud how she got there because the last she knew she was traveling in a carriage to her new employer after her sister, the last of her family, died. Levi, who is seated next to her, says he found her and the carriage driver was dead in the carriage crash. The carriage crashed into a thicket of thorns outside of their home. Stella begs for a job at Levi's home and receives one as a maid. She meets the other men that live in the house. They all have their quirks but one actually attacks Stella and calls her delectable. The others save Stella and chain and muzzle the attacker in a secluded section of the home. Stella feels as if something strange is going on but she can't place it.
This story was very weird. It was also flat with no real development or any interesting story line. Stella is constantly assaulted but she laughs it off which is terrible.

I was drawn by the cover and love vampires, but I thought this was underwhelming. It had a very basic vampire shoujo plot and characters, but nothing really made it stand out from other series. I will still check out the next couple of volumes to see if anything changes.

It's a bit peculiar that I do like vampire stories, but maybe it's the translation that has the story somewhat hazy for me. The art is beautiful though. - Main character's carriage gets attacked and awakens to a home of beautiful men - except they aren't too normal.

Thank you to Netgalley for granting me this ARC

I mean, you can't REALLY go too wrong with a bunch of sexy vampires lusting after a pretty girl right? The thing that always bothers me about most manga though is that once again, the female character has absolutely no agency over her own body or fate. Why must all manga women be complete and utter doormats?

The artwork is beautiful, the story…. Well, that doesn’t come across to the same standard of the artwork. That’s a shame because while the hot vampire trop is probably a bit old now it can work. At times the chapters felt jumpy, and Stella is annoying. The scene at the end reminded me of Midnight Secretary but whereas I could by an overly devoted Secretary thinking that offering herself up was a valid plan (it’s a stretch but to the character is made sense) that same scenario does not work for Stella. It could be because of the character development, the way the story is put together in the first volume….

I don’t really want to reject this based on the first book as volume 1 is always a bit here and there but I’m not sure on how keen I’d be to continue this. The artwork though…. So pretty.

I love a manga with beautiful artwork and the art style in this volume is absolutely gorgeous (even if the viz media watermark is a bit destracting). I love the dynamic between Stella and the others though I get a little frustrated at all the secrets (which is how I imagine Stella feels the same way). I love that throughout the volume they all become closer and the secrets start unraveling. I really want to know what exactly is going on with Stella though. Who she really is and how she fits into the story and background. Is she a reincarnation? A ghost? A different creature altogether? The posibilities are numerous and the way that Ishizue gives us just enough to keep going while still keeping so many secrets within the narrative is awesome.

Can't wait to see what volume 2 has to hold! Are the beautiful boys of the thorny manner vampires or something different? Guess we will wait and see!

Do you like sexy vampires with a Bluebeard twist? If the answer is yes, then <i>Rosen Blood</i> may just be the series for you, because that's precisely what it is: hapless human girl Stella is en route to her new employer's home when...something...happens on the road. The next thing she knows, she's waking up in a gorgeous but unfamiliar room with a handsome young man named Levi by her side. He tells her that she was the sole survivor of a carriage accident in the predatory thorn forest, but that's not entirely truthful. We can mostly fill in the blanks from there, but the story does do some interesting things with its mythology, and there are still plenty of questions by the end of the volume, making it feel like reading volume two is going to be a good idea. It is very reliant on the idea of a handsy reverse harem, which isn't going to work for everyone, but it's an interesting enough story with lovely Gothic art to make it worth checking out.

This is definitely a guilty pleasure read. You are reading for the artwork and the steamy scenes. The plot is there but it's in the background compared to the characters and "romance".
I honestly enjoyed my time reading this but I can tell it will not be for everyone.

I didn't enjoy Rosen Blood as much as I hoped to. The art was gorgeous, but it did little to help a very generic story. I found all of the characters to be annoying especially the main character. I might read the second book but I really didn't care about anyone in this so probably not.

Stella wakes up from a beautiful dream, and finds herself in a strange bedroom in a luxurious manor. Watching over her is Levi, a dashingly handsome young man, who explains her carriage crashed and he saved her, but the driver met his unfortunate demise. Stella was on the way to be a live-in maid at another manor, so she pleads with Levi to employ her as a maid, and he accepts. He introduces Stella to the other residents, one whom attacks her. Stella starts to notice strange things about the manor’s residents, and she’s disturbed that they won’t let her leave to go to the village. Despite their strangeness, Stella finds herself falling for Levi, and the two grow extremely close. When her attacker breaks loose and starts being vicious again, the residents must let Stella in on their secret: they are vampires, and they must do something terrible to keep themselves sane and non-violent.

This is a pretty typical vampire romance with a young lady who is inexplicably alluring, and several young, handsome men vying for her attention. All four of them make comments in quick succession about how wonderful Stella smells, and they're all attracted to her despite Levi being her obvious choice. This story also uses the vampire trope of fatal attraction: even though Stella keeps finding out terrible things, she is still unable to stop herself from falling in love. There is discussion about the vampires doing even more evil to damn their souls, so there's a dash of Buffy and Twilight in there as well. There is a slightly different spin on vampirism introduced right at the end, so hopefully there's something new that can keep readers interested.

​Ishizue's illustrations are the typical of shōjo: very detailed characters and scenes but lots of blurred backgrounds that draws the emphasis on the characters and their expressions. The character outfits were, for the most part, beautifully designed and drawn.

VIZ rates this for Teen Plus, which is probably for some of the violent elements (when Stella is attacked) in this volume. There might be more later on in between Levi and Stella that would make this series a little less appropriate for younger audiences.

Sara's Rating: 6/10
Suitability Level: Grades 10-12

This review was made possible with an advanced reader copy from the publisher through Net Galley.

Thank you NetGalley and Viz Media for the arc copy of this manga.

First off, it’s historical. A girl going to be a maid wakes in a house after an attack. She agrees to be their maid. But she notices things are not quite normal.

Sorry for such a vague description, but it doesn’t come out until December so I’m avoiding spoilers.

I liked it a lot. It’s darker than other shojo vampire manga I’ve read. I loved that it’s more entrenched in the horror genre. The characters are all different. They all have issues they’re dealing with as they deal with the newcomer within their midst.

Stella seems quiet and door mat like, but she has gumption. It’s subtle but it’s there.

It almost feels like a reverse harem, but there’s a definite pairing. I enjoyed the complications in their developing relationship.

For those that like any type of vampire story you’ll like this.

Thanks again NetGalley and Viz Media for allowing me to review the book.

Thank you to VIZ Media, NetGalley, and Kachiru Ishizue for the opportunity to read this manga in exchange for an honest review.

Waking up naked in a mansion has Stella absolutely confused. Handsome manor dweller, Levi, explains that Stella's carriage was in an accident and that he saved her. She can stay and earn her keep by being a maid...for a house full of attractive vampires!

Stella doesn't know they are vampires, and there are some nice creepy scenarios in this volume. Definitely some spooky moments. And some romance! Both equate to a nice heart-pounding read.

The scenes are a bit sporadic and ransom, and the character development is quite lacking, but the art makes up for the story in this particular work. Definitely something I'd recommend for older teens and Shoujo readers.

If you like semi-spicy vampire stories, you might like this one! It’s more of a romance over a horror title.
It's got a couple of interesting lore notes, such as the crystals everyone munches on, but it's still only the first volume, so it's not too heavy on any backstory, yet. It's a fast-paced read, with interesting enough characters to keep attention. Surprisingly, a relationship gets established early. I'm curious what these other handsome fellows are doing here, and what exactly our main character plans to do starting with the next volume. I had fun with it! It's a breezy read for a dark, cold night!

Reading <i>Rosen Blood, Vol 1</i> really took me back to my high school days when I was reading series like <i>Pet Shop of Horrors</i> and <i>Vampire Knight</i>. Typically, it takes a bit of time to really get into a manga series as well as to set up the overall plot, which is why it felt a little... airy story-wise. While readers do meet the core characters, there isn't too much information given about them regarding development. I'm hoping that will change within the next volume, but I know this will appeal to readers in need of a vampire manga. The art is very lovely and will attract attention simply by the cover alone (it's what caught my eye).

Recommended.

Sadly I did not enjoy this at all, it was to scattered and it moved to quickly. There was no catalyst as to how she figured it out, or explanations on anything. The characters just were, like you already knew them and that just made it more confusing .I loved the artwork, but I will not be looking for number 2.

I haven't read any vampire romance or vampire shojo in quite some time, so I thought I would give this one a try. This used to be my favorite, go-to type of manga 15 or so years ago. I just kind of got burned out on it. This was a refreshing take, while feeling familiar at the same time. The art is simply gorgeous and the whole vibe is so gothic and atmospheric. I'm interested enough in the mystery surrounding the vampire men, the forest of thorns, and Stella's doppelgänger to check out the next volume. A solid dark romance manga!

3.5 stars

I like when manga authors create new and creative vampire storylines. I am not as much as I was in High school, but I still enjoy them.

I will be reading more of this manga as the story got very good at the end, but I have one thing to say: our MC isn't the brightest. One guy licked her blood from a wound, and she didn't think about it or REACT! LIKE WTF!