By Wasan Kurata and Kewi Hayashi. Released in Japan as “Vampire Hunter ni Yasashii Gal” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Gwendolyn Warner.

This appears to be one of those rare series that is not based on an ongoing web novel, and the last volume (this one) came out in June of 2023, so I think we can assume this is the last one. It’s definitely open-ended, but not unsatisfying or anything. As it does seem to be the wrap up, though, I find myself asking once again: is this yuri? Last time I said it was the sort of series I’d call yuri in 2004-2005 or so. This second volume, I’d say, moves that forward a decade. Ruka says once more here that she’s not interested in dating guys right now. She thinks of her relationship with Ginka in very romantic terms. When a girl in the series says she has a confession to make, Ruka assumes it’s a love confession and gets flustered. And, of course, she decides to make it her life’s work to ensure that she and Ginka can be together forever. I mean, they don’t kiss, but come on.

After the events in the last book, all Ruka wants to do is spend the summer hanging out with her new bestie and showing her the fun side of life, and maybe also figuring out what she wants to do after graduation. Unfortunately Suela, a 13-year-old vampire hunter (who hero worships Ginka more than a little) arrives to say that after the fuss that just happened, she’s been assigned to monitor Ginka for a month. Still, that just means they get a cute Mexican vampire hunter to hang out with them! The beach is conquered, albeit with some difficulties. Final exams go OK. And Ruka even thinks she’s decided on her future career… though everyone she knows is against it. Unfortunately, Suela is trying to get Ginka to return and take control of what’s left of the falling apart vampire hunter organization. And she’s not the only one…

I think the thing I liked best in this book, aside from the relationship between Ruka and Ginka, is how it looks seriously at career paths and the dangers that are inherent in all of them. The dance club is being asked to collaborate with a popular influencer, but that involves investigating everything about both the influencer AND the company behind them, to make sure it will be safe for the club members. Ruka thinks she has what it takes to be an influencer, but is reminded how almost all of them fail to make any money or fame doing it, and that it will require a lot of fine details that Ruka normally glosses over. And the vampire hunters can’t figure out what to do with no vampires, especially give that they have no downtime and no hobbies. This all dovetails into Ruka once again rescuing everyone with the power of niceness and optimism, and her decision is very HER. And makes Ginka happy as well, even if she has trouble showing it.

This isn’t as lights-out terrific as the first volume, but it’s still a great deal of fun, and I love the two leads. If it ever gets a Book 3, I’ll be here for it.

By Wasan Kurata and Kewi Hayashi. Released in Japan as “Vampire Hunter ni Yasashii Gal” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Gwendolyn Warner.

I didn’t have any lights-out picks from JNC’s Anime Expo license announcements, so I decided to try a few titles that didn’t grab me but might be interesting, of which this is the first. I was curious as to whether it was a yuri title, and I think the best answer I can give is that it’s definitely a yuri title by 2005-2006 definitions of yuri. That said, the yuri or potential for yuri is not why I liked this first volume so much. We’ve had a lot of light novels featuring gyaru/gals lately, but almost all of them tend to be primarily from the POV of the male narrator, as the gyaru is a love interest (and sometimes, as is the case with An Introvert’s Hookup Hiccups, not quite a gyaru at all). This book, though, has the bulk of its first person narration come from Ruka, the titular gyaru, and she is fantastic, not only being a wonderful positive representation of the gyaru lifestyle, but even managing to tie that into the vampire plot. Because there are vampires. Or… there were.

Ruka is a high school gyaru who mostly lives on her own as her mom’s a nurse who’s usually on call. She’s having a wonderful high school life with her besties, Meiri and Hinaru. Meanwhile, Ginka is a vampire hunter who has spent much of her youth following in her grandmother’s footsteps and slaying every last vampire in the world. Now she’s succeeded, and the world is free from vampires. What’s a girl to do? Return to high school, of course, and naturally it’s Ruka’s school. Ginka, unfortunately, is blunt and socially inept, so things get off to a bad start, but Ruka is not only socially savvy but also a kind person, so she helps Ginka out. Then the two of them discover that maybe vampires are not quite as extinct as Ginka thought…

As the cover art might indicate, guys are the target audience for this book, but the bulk of it is dedicated to the growing friendship between Ruka and Ginka, and the guys who try to confess end up being jerks, losers, or both. Ruka manages to become Ginka’s best friend by virtue of being nice, outgoing, and caring about her. She’s also surprisingly OK with her occupation, possibly as Ginka saves her life more than once. As you’d expect, the plot takes a turn for the darker towards the back of the book, but I appreciated the fact that Ruka showing up in the middle of a battle was not just to get captured but that she used everything Ginka had given her to fight back as a gyaru against the supernatural, leaving Ginka to fight back as a vampire hunter. They make a terrific team. Also, I laughed when Ginka briefly did not recognize Ruka without her makeup.

So yeah, this was a terrific read for me, and I cannot wait to read the second (final?) volume. For fans of great female friendships.