it has good animation
Dance in the Vampire Bund tv Review
Official anime site: http://www.vampirebund.com/
Story & Characters
This is a Review of Dance in the Vampire Bund :
Story Introduction :
Vampires , werewolves and the beasts of the night. Their all labelled as mythology and their existence were questionable until one day , a small blonde girl declared to the whole world that she was the Queen of Vampires and has built a nation which was once a landfill next to Japan. However , she later soughted for Akira , a seemingly ordinary student whom she seem to be attached to.
Terminology :
Vampires : The beings of the night. Like in mythology , their weak against sunlight and a stake through the heart , however , their still generally much more powerful compared to humans. However , apparently , Vampires are able to apply a special gel on their body which lasts for 15 minutes , which allows them to move about in the sunlight. If a human is bitten , they may still be able to be saved if given an early vaccine.
Werewolves : Unlike mythology of which werewolves only transform in the full moon , the werewolves in this story transforms at will and they will retain their conscience. However , werewolves might not be able to transform if they had a certain medication of sorts.
Stigma : Artificial blood that might satisfy the hunger of the vampires.
True Blood : I'm pretty sure you'd be pretty used to this term if you had watched plenty of vampire Animes. These are vampires that excels over all other normal vampires.
Main Leads :
Akira Kaburagi Regendorf :
A fairly average young student. In the light of the recent events , he felt uncomfortable upon the fact that people are
talking about vampires these days and he had also lost his memories not too long ago for an unknown reason. However , he
starts to regain his memories and realises he had made a promise with Mina Tepes , the Queen of Vampires , a promise he
is determined to keep.
Personality :
He dislikes seeing sacrifices being made pointlessly and was initially quite naive at first. However , he is determined
to keep the promise he made to the Princess when he was a child , not because of loyalty , but out of his feelings for
her.
Mina Tepes :
The Queen of Vampires , Mina Tepes. Mina has proclaimed to Japan that she is using the landfill next to their country to
build a Vampire Bund , a sanctuary and a home for Vampires. Despite her child-like appearences , she is a powerful
vampire who is actually much older than she appears to be.
Personality :
Mina Tepes can be extremely cunning , aggressive and also possessive of Akira , whom she cherishes dearly ever since she
met him when he was young. However , she can also be kind and perhaps what one would call "feminine" ; showing
the vulnerable side of this Queen which she was supposed to be.
Overall :
The storyline is generally dark..or rather , really dark...and that's quite something coming from a 12 Episode
Anime.
Generally speaking , the Anime remained quite loyal to the Manga , though several characters were swapped out and the
introduction is altered , along with several minor editings. However , the plot , otherwise , moves in the generally
same course as the Manga. ( Well , I'm fairly impressed how they managed to compact most of the information into 12
Episodes :O )
The cast of characters were not particularly unique , but it's a nice twist as the story goes by and the viewers
realise some of the characters weren't as bad as they are thought to be , due to the actions they took and the
events that happened because of their actions. Initially , the audience might not be able to tolerate Mina's
aggressive and possessive nature but as time goes by and as things get explained further , the viewers start to see her
in a better light as the explanation and course of her actions were explained. Essentially , the viewers were thrown
into a misunderstanding and realising their true nature later.
Things also get a bit political in the first few episodes , due to the usage of blackmail and threatening. Then , in one
of the episodes , Mina's plans to stop...well , I ain't gonna say it due to spoiler reasons but it was so good
that even Lelouch's fans would be pleased , along with some of the slight twists that this Anime have to offer.
However , the characters weren't exactly developed in a sense that the viewer would actually grow to love them , I
can't quite say why but something's amiss. Perhaps the atmosphere of the Anime were too dark? Or was it the
fact that the characters do something evil to achieve something for the greater good?
However , I have enjoyed the unique romance between Akira and Mina , their time and existence , their lifespan and
status , their roles and power are all different and knowing that fact , Akira devoted himself to protecting Mina after
clearing much of his doubts and Mina herself , believes in the promise that Akira made and devotes to building her
Vampire Bund.
The ending suggests that there may be a Season II as well , but I'm not too sure about that.
Rating:
Art
Artwork Review :
The Artwork , too , was loyal to the artwork style of the Manga.
Well , the one thing I don't quite like is the method of switching the camera view to a particular character. They
used a blank screen of , for example , yellow ( Which if for Mina I suppose ) and after the bright color which had
potentially provided some damage to my eyes which lasted for a second , we zoomed into the character in question.
The other thing is , they seem to like to zoom into the eyes a lot for some reason. Well , I'm not particularly
against this one though.
One more thing , I don't know whether the artist is lazy or it is to enchance the effect ( Which worked out pretty
well ) , some scenes were replaced with REAL LIFE images. It's a fairly unique concept in terms of Anime standard
so I don't think I would mind this too much , though it's fairly unsettling to see the scenes switch in this
manner.
The action sequences , to be honest , was a bit disappointing. The gore sequences made me a bit squeamish but they
really need to work on the battles , I enjoyed the fights in the Manga more than the ones in the Anime.
As for the Opening and Ending sequence...well , we can clearly see the devotion they bear towards each other , no? (
Though the first Ending was just a picture of Mina I think )
Rating:
Sound
Music Review :
Well , you know what I'm like for this sector...I'm no talent in music so I'll just leave this be.
Though I might want to add that the music is quite fitting of the dark atmosphere of the Anime.
List of Openings , Endings and BGMs :
Friends ( Opening )
Tsumeato ( Ending )
Seiyu :
Almost forgot about this one... *Face palm*
The Voice Actor for Akira is...Nakamura Yuichi , who had played Ikuto of Shugo Chara , Tomoya of Clannad ( Well ,
that's quite a surprise... ) and Graham of Gundam 00 ...Oh yeah , he had also played Alto of Macross Frontier. Meh
, I shouldn't let the voice actors surprise me anymore =.=
Much to my surprise , Aoi Yuki ( Literally translated as...Blue Snow? :O First time I understood the full name of a
person though ) , is quite new to the voice acting industry. She had played Ichigo...no , not the one from Bleach ,
don't be so shocked , it's the one from Yumeiro Patissiere. She also played Noel from...no , not BlazBlue ,
but So Ra No Wo To. She had also played Korone from the newly(?) released Ichiban Ushiro no Dai Maou. Well , she IS an
actor after all , but her voice acting does sound like a professional's :O
Rating:
Presentation
This is a Review of Dance in the Vampire Bund :
Well , all in all , this is certainly a unique formula of romance. Perhaps not the darkest one yet ( Hey , there ARE
twisted Romance Animes out there you know? ) but definitely not the lightest. The dark atmosphere is almost unbearable
:O
*ahem* Anyway , this Anime is quite loyal to the Manga , though with quite a bit
of differences.
During one part of the storyline , my jaw dropped when one of the characters ( masked ) have a feminine figure when
it's a masculine one in the Manga. ( In fact , I paused , rubbed my eyes , went to the toilet and washed my face
and stared very hard at the curve on "his" chest. Hmm... Oh wait , that made me sound like a perv :O )
Well , dropping this subject , I was very disappointed in the battle sequences in the Anime. In the Manga , I was
entertained by the battles but in the Anime...their somewhat slow-paced and they don't quite provide as much as a
impact , even when compared to the Manga.
Overall ( Others ) :
Age Recommendation : 16 - 17+
Genre : Supernatural / Vampire , Gore , Ecchi , Action , Suspense
Romance :
As I mentioned before , the romance in this Anime is rather unique. It's not particularly sweet , somewhat dark to
a certain extent and definitely not what you call lovey dovey. Nor did they drag out the romance till the confession is
did at the last episode since their mutually aware of each other's feelings. Let's just say it's a lot
more about devotion , understanding and the belief you have in your partner and staying together despite knowing the
great difference in their lifetime and status....gah!! I'm starting to get a headache!! ( I can't quite
describe it , sorry :P But rest assured , it's not one of the cheesy romance you see everyday )
Gore :
Well , this Anime is actually quite gore-prone. Blood is splattered left , right and centre. Limbs are cut off and there
are quite a bit of suggestive sound effects here and there. But it's not quite at the level of Elfen Lied yet I
suppose. The stub of the sliced limb isn't clearly visible but the impression is definitely there.
Fan-Service :
Rather than the...playful type of fan-services you see in other Animes. These Ecchi content involved in this Anime is
say...a bit more adult-like and definitely somewhat dark. Sheesh , just how dark can things get in this one? Though to
be honest , the fan-services involved , at times , were unneccessary. I mean , does the vampires need to actually suck
blood *there* ? Do they need to remove the clothings of their victim just to suck some blood? :O So there's
actually quite some reference to...you-know-what.
Oh yeah , the censorship system is also a bit awkward , I mean , mysterious beams of light and fog covering the
important parts out of no where is what I call unnatural. At least use a prop such as a crate or something to block it ,
or position the hands and legs in such a way that nothing can be seen. Well , I suppose it's due to a censorship
problem the developers face during the last few episodes , I guess their pressured to make it cleaner.
Trivia :
- I think it's fairly obvious by now but there's a Manga for it. The story is quite different but the major
events that had happened is generally the same. Though to be honest , it's advisable to read the Manga as well.
Rating:
Final Verdict
8.3333 (good)
Reviewed by z827, May 03, 2010
Comments
-
emina07 Mute Member May 28, 2010
-
Buchou-dono May 30, 2010
Ahhh.
I guess I will giving it a try and be watching...
Nice review. -
rukasu04 Mute Member Aug 12, 2010
Nice review :P
-
SchRita Aug 27, 2010
Well, I watched this but personally, I liked the manga better.
-
patriz0 Oct 07, 2010
THANKS..
-
Baraka-Senpai Jul 05, 2011
good anime. Sexy and fun.
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