Is My Monster Secret Worth Reading? Review & Where to Read
Quick Answer
Worth it if you want a harem rom-com that leans hard into gag-manga energy and keeps a real couple at its center the whole way through, rather than stalling the romance for 22 volumes just to keep the love triangle alive.
Quick Verdict
“Built around a dumb, lovable premise and committed to its gags for over 270 chapters, with a central couple that actually moves forward instead of treading water.”
Best for: Readers who want a goofy, fast-paced harem comedy with a vampire-girl romance that's allowed to actually progress, not just tease.
Not for: Readers who find constant fanservice gags, nosebleed jokes, and over-the-top reaction faces exhausting.
- Type
- Manga
- Genres
- School Life, Romance, Supernatural, Comedy
- Status
- Completed
- This review
- Minor Spoilers
- Author
- Eiji Masuda
- Publisher
- Akita Shoten
| Quick facts | |
|---|---|
| Format | Manga (shounen), 276 chapters, 22 volumes |
| Run | 2013–2017 · completed |
| Community score | AniList 7.8 |
| Content | Frequent ecchi fanservice gags, nosebleed/perverted-reaction comedy, a large harem cast with rotating love-interest antics |
Overview
Asahi Kuromine has one problem that defines his entire life: he cannot keep a secret. Say anything around him and it's basically public knowledge within the day. So when he falls for his quiet classmate Yoko Shiragami and immediately discovers she's a vampire hiding her identity to stay enrolled at a human high school, the premise writes itself — can the world's worst secret-keeper protect the one secret that actually matters to him?
My Monster Secret takes that one joke and builds an entire long-running harem comedy around it. As the story expands, Asahi ends up surrounded by more classmates hiding supernatural identities — an alien, a werewolf, eventually even the school's principal, who turns out to be an ancient demon with the appearance of a child — each one adding a new wrinkle to the central problem of a boy who can't shut up trying to protect the people he cares about.
What it does well
The central gimmick earns its 22-volume runtime better than you'd expect. Instead of repeating the same "will he blurt it out" joke forever, Masuda keeps finding new angles: new secrets, new stakes, new ways for Asahi's honesty to backfire or — occasionally — actually help. That variety is what keeps a gag-driven premise from running out of road.
The bigger surprise is that the romance isn't frozen in place the way so many harem comedies keep theirs. Asahi and Yoko's relationship has real forward motion across the series, which gives the later volumes a sense of destination instead of just more of the same triangle being endlessly re-litigated. If you've been burned by long harem series that refuse to ever resolve anything, this is one of the ones that actually does.
The cast variety helps too. Each new "secret" classmate isn't just a reskinned version of the last one — the alien, the werewolf, and especially the ancient-demon-as-school-principal each bring a different comedic register, which keeps the formula from feeling like it's just cycling the same joke with a new face attached.
Where it falls short
This is a fanservice-heavy comedy, and it doesn't hide that. Gym-class "contests," exposure gags, and a steady stream of nosebleed-triggering situations are a constant presence, not an occasional spice. If that style of humor wears on you rather than amuses you, this isn't going to convert you over 22 volumes — if anything, the repetition will grate harder the longer you read.
The side cast outside the central triangle doesn't always get the same care. A few of the supernatural classmates stay defined by their one joke for stretches at a time, which can make the wider ensemble feel thinner than the premise initially promises. And despite the central romance's genuine progress, the later chapters still lean on some of the same comedic beats established early on — the formula evolves, but not as fast as a 270-chapter run might suggest.
Verdict
My Monster Secret is a long-running harem comedy that actually does the thing most long-running harem comedies are afraid to do: let the central romance go somewhere. If you can take the constant fanservice gags in stride, Asahi and Yoko's relationship, and the rotating cast of hidden-identity classmates around them, make for one of the more satisfying long-haul reads in the genre.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths
- Asahi Kuromine's one defining flaw — he physically cannot keep a secret — is used constantly and cleverly, turning every new supernatural classmate into a fresh excuse for farce instead of a repeat of the same joke.
- Unlike a lot of harem comedies that freeze the central romance to keep tension alive, Asahi and Yoko's relationship actually moves forward across the run, which makes the back half feel like it's going somewhere instead of stalling.
- The 'secret' gimmick (vampire, alien, werewolf, ancient demon posing as a school principal) gives the cast enough variety that the gag formula doesn't go stale even deep into a 22-volume run.
- Masuda's art is expressive in exactly the way this kind of gag-heavy comedy needs — reaction faces and comedic timing land, which matters more here than detailed backgrounds.
Weaknesses
- The fanservice is constant and broad — gym-class 'contests,' exposure gags, and nosebleed jokes show up often enough that readers sensitive to that style of humor will bounce off early.
- Side characters outside the main triangle get less development than the premise promises; a few of the 'secret' classmates stay one-joke characters for most of their screen time.
- 22 volumes is a long commitment for a gag-comedy structure, and the back half occasionally repeats beats from earlier arcs even as the central couple progresses.
Similar Titles
Another long-running harem comedy that eventually commits to resolving its central romance rather than stringing it out forever.
The Testament of Sister New Devil
Shares a publisher and a supernatural-harem setup, though it leans more fantasy-action than gag-comedy.
Prefer to watch? There's an anime
Actually, I Am: see where to stream it legally, plus episode guides and trailers, on Watchanimee.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is My Monster Secret finished?
Yes. It ran from 2013 to 2017 and wrapped at 22 volumes, so the whole story (and the central romance) has a real ending.
Is there an anime adaptation?
Yes, a 12-episode anime aired in 2018 covering roughly the first several volumes, but the manga goes much further and actually finishes the story.
How long of a read is this?
At 22 volumes and 276 chapters it's a genuine long-runner, closer to a season-long commitment than a quick weekend read.
Does the romance actually go anywhere, or is it stuck in harem-comedy limbo forever?
It actually progresses. Unlike many harem series that freeze the central relationship to preserve tension, Asahi and Yoko's romance develops meaningfully as the series goes on.
