Death by Desire: A Vampire-Lycan Love Story

While I'm not a huge fan of the artwork in this story, both characters appear much too middle-aged for a shoujo audience. However, the premise somewhat demands it, so I'll overlook that. Overall, there is very little character development, and it's exceedingly obvious that characters do things because they're "supposed to."

Koutaro and Ema work in the same research facility, and it's clear that Ema has developed quite an infatuation with the serious and disinterested Koutaro. Ema has also recently become fascinated with playing the piano and is planning to perform for an audience soon. Unfortunately, her teacher, who was supposed to accompany her, has injured herself.

But that's not the real twist. What really sets the stage—and is completely impossible except in shoujo world—is that Koutaro turns out to be the instructor's BROTHER. Ema has never seen him at her house before and had no idea about his heightened musical or teaching abilities. Of course!

Anyway, the plot is thin, the story is too short, and it lacks intimacy or execution. Everything unfolds like clockwork: initial attraction and flat-out rejection, chance meeting, growing feelings, sudden urgency to distance from each other, unexpected climactic arrival, and a kiss. Ugh. If you're a fan of the mangaka from 7 Kiss or Love Lover (which were significantly better than this one!), you might read this out of curiosity. But otherwise, you're not going to gain much from this one.

Girly shoujo manga aren't exactly my favorite genre, so out of the 5 one-shots, I only read the first: "...Curtain".  

Story: 7/10  
Definitely this manga's strongest point. The author managed to pack a lot of romance development into just a few pages, though perhaps at the expense of some depth at times. The curtain gimmick is really engaging and adds a lot to the narrative.  

Art: 5/10  
Not a fan of this art style, but even setting that aside, I think it's fair to say the art is lacking. The eyes appear somewhat "floaty" (if that makes sense?), and backgrounds are occasionally missing altogether.  

Characters: 5/10  
This is where the story falters. I use two different criteria for evaluating story and characters, which is why the story still scored well. However, the characters fall short. The male-sensei seems to act solely as a plot device, doing only what's necessary to move the story forward, with little agency of his own. Conversely, the main heroine is overly internalized—most of her actions occur within her mind, leaving her active participation in the story virtually nonexistent. Both protagonists feel more like tools for advancing the plot than actual people.  

Overall (6/10) and conclusion:  
I hesitate to give this one-shot such a high score, yet a 5 wouldn't do justice to its above-average plot, despite the weak execution by both main characters.

As with all shows and mangas that have more than one story, I will be splitting them up to discuss individually.  

First is "Curtain." It’s a sweet tale about how a young girl and her love end up living under the same roof. As is typical for a rather young and naive girl, she struggles with tasks like cooking, which leads to her revealing these little problems to her love. Despite her innocence, she didn’t tell anyone about her birthday, so when Shibasaki finds out, he goes through great lengths to ensure she has a cake and candles. In the end, they confess their love for each other, leading to a bit of intimacy. The artwork is gentle and charming, with soft shadows that enhance the romance within the manga chapter.  

The next story, "Love Duet," features a girl who borders on being a stalker rather than just naive, as she even takes pictures of him at work. She ends up playing the piano with him after his sister has an accident. Eventually, it becomes too much for her to handle, and she requests another teacher, but during their final performance, he accompanies her on the music. The artwork retains its gentleness but adds a comedic touch. I appreciated how the characters here had distinct personalities compared to the first couple, and this one-shot didn't rely on sexual content, avoiding any explicit scenes altogether.  

"Straight Days for You" offers a surprise in that the woman appears to be the stronger individual. She stops someone who has stolen the man's wallet and later discovers that this carefree guy she helped works on creating spices for her company. Being a strong-willed and diligent worker, she initially thinks little of him, assuming he isn't doing his job properly. Through him, she learns to slow down and think about herself rather than work all the time. In the end, he rescues her from issues with her boss, and they learn to accept each other. If you're looking for a non-sexual story, this is the one to choose, as it focuses purely on their relationship development.  

"Impassioned Drawing" revolves around two architects who don't seem to see eye to eye. Unbeknownst to their company, the two are actually in love and living together. If the company discovered their relationship, it would result in one quitting or leaving the company entirely. When they must collaborate on a major project, it drives them apart, leaving the woman uncertain whether to leave the company or set aside her feelings. This one was filled with drama, almost breaking my heart as the woman fights to bring the man she loves back into her life. The artwork remains consistent with the others, so there's not much to add on that front.  

Surprisingly, the continuation dives back into "Impassioned Drawing," revisiting the same characters. We follow the woman questioning if her lover truly loves her despite his lack of outward expression. I found this confusing since he did everything possible to keep them together. This chapter was frustrating because the premise was that the woman wouldn't allow him to have sex with her until he apologized for not showing his feelings. Unlike the previous story, this one revolves heavily around sex, diminishing the depth of their earlier sweet drama and making the characters feel less substantial.

I randomly found the manga of this on a site, barely read half a chapter than saw it had a webnovel. I came here to see the tags and wow it seems worse based on the comments

I need to know one thing before I read this, does the MC get over his hang ups with killing and become ruthless?

Trash from beginning to end

There's chamber of commerce 100 fking times in a single chapter

CH 430. Looks like the translater might have fixed the numbers issue from the previous chapters going forward. Now it seems what has been listed as dollars are correctly called 'Chinese Yuan'. This makes much more sense and truth be told I looked up the exchange rate online early on myself and simply read it like this previously, but it is nice if it will be corrected going forward. Still a very entertaining read btw.