Rosario+Vampire, in manga form, represents one of my favorite genres that I've self-titled and it sounds pretty harsh by itself but the explanation will make a lot more sense as I go on.

Rosario to Vampire Season I is mistake fiction. This manga is, for all intents and purposes, a ramshackle creation that's very clearly carried by the seat of its pants and a prayer pretty early on into the story. It's amateurish, it's naive, and it's pretty clearly the creator's first full story. And that's amazing, because you get to watch as not only the creator becomes more adept at telling stories and characterizing his characters but he increases the quality of the art.

Something that R+V has on a lot of other harem and harem-esque series is that not only does the main character have a pretty decent drip of personality after some time but the girls all have their own interpersonal relationships that don't depend on their relationship with the main character. So not only is there a genuine sense of rapport built between the entire cast, but it becomes reasonable and even heartwarming when moments happen that lead to the traditional "we're friends aren't we?" moments. Including a genuinely heartwrenching moment in the final volume between the main character and main love interest. Oh, and the 12 year old character isn't constantly sexualized. Like, holy shit, got it in one there.

The way the story starts is incredibly vapid. It's typical harem trash, monster of the week, heterosexual to the max. But as time goes on, they add a few interesting layers, including some genuinely interesting commentary on othering, the idea of blood purity, and how racism can fester even within groups hated by others.

And the art, oh god, the art. Ikeda goes from this admittedly charming, cutesy style to this gripping, realistic, and incredibly breathtaking and eyecatching artwork that has an incredible sense of kinetics in fight scenes and a great eye for detail. The way this man shades with his pen will make my loins quake for decades to come.

It's still got some issues, the story can be a bit bog standard, the characters don't get a ton of depth compared to in the next half of the manga, and it has some big tone problems on occasion BUT all things considered, this could've turned out far worse from how it started. But, as I said earlier, it's mistake fiction. And it's amazing what kind of quality can come out of works made by the seat of your pants and with the mind of a newcomer.