On live television, Mina Tepes, the ruler of all vampires, reveals the existence of her species to the world and states her plan to build a sanctuary in Japan for vampires, called the Vampire Bund. Using her family's wealth to pay off the nation's debt, they have agreed to let her build this safe-haven for her fellow creatures of the night. But not everyone is so easily swayed by Mina's influence, as her announcement brings about conflict with humans who believe that the queen's quest for peace is a façade.
Akira Kaburagi does not believe in vampires and gets uneasy whenever they are brought up, although he has yet to realize why. Apart from suffering a head injury a year ago, he lives on blissfully until he meets Mina. She triggers within him memories of a life he had long forgotten, and he soon begins protecting her without understanding why. But Akira's secret is far stranger than he could have ever thought possible—he discovers that he is a werewolf, sworn from birth to protect the vampire queen, even if it costs him his life. Now, as these two dance a rondo of death in the Vampire Bund, Mina and Akira find out just how deep their bond goes.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Detective
In one of SHAFT's latests, Dance in the Vampire Bund, there is actually very little to dance about. SHAFT usually has a knack for finding strange source materials and then adapting them in interesting new ways that break the troupes of their genres. Usually is the key word in that last sentence. I'm trying to write a non-bias review, but it's inevitable to say Dance in the Vampire Bund is not a good anime. But! At the same time it isn't a terrible anime. But what Bund is, is absolutely average. There's nothing this anime does to set it apart from other second-rate anime aboutvampires or political conquest. At first, everything that happens you'll feel like "Hey well I kind of thought that was coming" and by the end you'll be like "Wait? Was that a plot twist?" Note that is a review on the anime only and from what I've seen of the manga, this is a poor adaption of what could have been a much better experience.
Story: 4/10
Mina Tepes, the vampire princess has decided to establish a safehaven for all vampires. Through various means she gains political ground for the establishment of "the Bund." Of course, exposing to the world that vampires exist and that they will be Japan's next door neighbor is troublesome and the events told in this story are about them. I think. Mina also happens to own some fancy Japanese High School where our protagonist attends and our protagonist also happens to be a werewolf whose dad works directly under Mina who also happens to attend her own school. Huh? I'm confused too. The story becomes derailed whenever Akira, the protagonist, is focused on, because to be frank, the anime isn't about him. It's about Mina Tepes, but SHAFT decided to make the back plot some nonsensical love story (which only resolves with loli-rape - I'm dead serious). Oh, and be warned, there's most likely a sequel coming.
Art: 5/10
Oho. SHAFT is one of my favorite animation companies because they always do interesting things with their anime and try and tread new grounds by playing with color or 3D elements or optical illusions. SHAFT is also one of the most underpaid and overworked studios in the current anime market and thus they have an incredibly low budget. The only reason I can make sense of why Bund's animation quality was so low was because at the same time SHAFT had been working on the eye-candy "Hidamari Skecth Hoshimittsu." Almost everything about Bund in comparison animation-wise fails. The character movement is repulsive and over-dramatic. Every time a character does something they have a strange angle placed on them, then a zoom onto a random body part, followed by a slowed sentence that it wouldn't matter if it was even said or not. The only time you really see SHAFT's personal touch is when they zoom in on the eyes of the characters talking, which by the end of the anime was more of a nuisance than a pleasure. The clarity was also a huge problem. I started watching this anime in low quality TV rips, and then moved up to bigger and better looking files. There was no difference. The entire first episode had this weird green tint to it that made it unpleasing even to look at. The clarity fluctuates too (how fun!), so it's hard to enjoy when you have to up the brightness of your media player to view the episode normally. Oh, and other than Mina, every character looks boring. The main character looks like every other cliche male protagonist, and there's nothing even to set him apart from the other characters visually. Yuki, one of the female characters, is almost as interesting as Yuki from 11eyes (Note: Yuki from 11eyes sucks and she looks generic). I still like SHAFT's animation style, which is a plus for this anime, but the moments of camera genius that often appear in other SHAFT works are definitely missing here.
Sound: 7/10
Nothing to complain about. The opening and ending are both nice but nothing memorable. Character voices are fitting (I enjoyed Mina's) but once again aren't anything to flaunt. BGM was quiet and rather uninteresting most of the time, but nothing bad.
Character: 4/10
Vampires, werewolves, tigresses, oh my! DERP. Mina Tepes is the one interesting character in this entire anime and every other character exists solely to support her. She's the under-estimated soon-to-be queen of vampires who tries and fights the old traditions of vampires to finally reveal her people to the world so they will not longer be persecuted. Kind of like a Martin Luther King Jr. of vampires, except in the form of a ten-year-old girl and not black. Hey, strong lolita leads are cool in all (Pani Poni Dash! I'm looking at you) but SHAFT needed to realize that there were other characters in this anime. The list includes a Chinese Tigress, a blood-sucking "older sister," a vampire with massive eyebrows, a priestess, and about thirty five thousand big breasted women. There's actually very little to say about any of them except that they're bland. As soon as they're introduced you know exactly what their personality is. Mina is the only dynamic developed character, and thank god she is, because more than half of the anime is spent following her around. Akira on the other hand manages to grab as much time as Mina and ends up wasting it all. He's inctredibly undeveloped and the only point of appeal (kind of) is that he is a werewolf. COOL (BUT NOT REALLY). Even when he's a werewolf he most of the time gets the crapped knocked out of him and that's when a Deus ex Machina comes into play. Yuki is also an undeveloped annoying "for some reason it's a harem" bitch who gets in the way of the main "relationship" between Akira and Mina. She has absolutely nothing that separates her from other female characters in any anime ever and could easily be a background character that accidentally wandered onto the foreground.
Enjoyment: 5/10
SHAFT tries to do the impossible and fails when they tried to make a show about political warfare with a touch of "romance" and then ended with a harem and fighting with plot twists as original as "I AM YOUR FATHER". It's frustrating seeing how much potential this show had. I can safely say that after such a thrilling experience I wiped the anime off my hard-drive and will have probably forgotten most of it by tomorrow morning.
Overall: 5/10
That isn't to say that there aren't worse anime, because hot damn there are. I thoroughly enjoyed when Mina was on camera and thoroughly disliked whenever she wasn't. The annoying "wait for season two where we explain what the final episode was even about card" is pulled too. The only thing I can say is that for an anime about vampires, this show falls right into the pit with the other ones already out there, and unlike Hellsing, does not bring massive guns or blood. It brings one thing and one thing only - Mina Tepes - and if you don't like it, then this anime is definitely not for you.
lonehunter88
To be honest, it's really surprising to see so many reviews giving Vampire Bund such a low score. For me, it was absolutely the best vampire anime I've ever seen. I can't really say that I'm obsessed with vampires, but it's certainly an interesting genre. Unfortunately there isn't really a lot of animes which use this theme to its fullest. In that sense, Vampire Bund has managed to utilize all the glory of the vampire legend and myth. Story: 10 As it goes with most vampire stories, Vampire Bund's plot revolves around the vampire princess, or vampire queen. However, it's really the subtle things that impresses methe most. I suppose most people would just pass them off as whims, but SHAFT has a knack at making an impression of the subtlest things which brings the plot together. Most vampire stories seem to forget that time moves, and are always trapped in one time-frame but Vampire Bund is nothing like that. Vampire Bund's story spans centuries of vampire history and glory, and the darkness within. It shows that vampires are not just creatures sleeping in coffins locked away in the middle ages, but also advance in technology and culture as humans do. It's an enormous theme and it's certainly not an easy task to depict it, but SHAFT does a great job. I suppose most people expect there would be a 2nd season because there's still another last boss and because of the manga, but if I'm not wrong, SHAFT doesn't intend on making a sequel. It's a lot better leaving the ending as it is and letting the audience imagine the story after, or just read the manga.
Art: 8
It doesn't get any better in abstract animation than with SHAFT. They make the simplest scenes look cinematic and grand. It seems they have been slacking a lot since ef, though. Basically, there's very little movement and lots of shadows. Vampire Bund seems to be lacking in the shadow effect SHAFT loves so much, however. In a sense, it could have been a lot better. However, it's still very impressive nonetheless.
Sound: 7
The OP and ED are not the best you can get from anime songs, but it's complimentary. On the contrary, the sound effects are excellent, as expected from SHAFT. Many scenes would have been very empty and felt meaningless without the sound effects, but SHAFT always makes it worthwhile with the perfect timing and tone.
Character: 8
As it is, the story revolves around one person, the vampire queen. But this doesn't mean everyone else are just pawns. Yes, the side characters may seem to have very little screen time, but they make a powerful impression every time they come onto the chess board. Unorthodox as it may be, Vampire Bund never depicts the mains as powerful and unbeatable. Instead it shows that they bleed and feel the pain, and don't live on their own but are supported by various characters.
Enjoyment: 10
Vampire Bund is one of the few animes I've managed to finish in just a day. It's so enjoyable and interesting that I couldn't take my eyes of it. The conversations, culture, history, philosophy, and action makes every minute worthwhile. I haven't read the manga, and I probably would in a while, but I doubt I would enjoy it as much as the anime. It's beyond my mind that the beautiful abstract animation by SHAFT can be depicted in manga form.
lovethemtodie
I was hesitant to watch Dance in the Vampire Bund, after all the bad reviews and ratings it was given, but I was surprised to find myself entertained by it. So much that I finished it all in one day. I decided to give a summery of the anime because I dont believe the synopsis is fair to it. Story: A 17 yr old boy has had all his memories erased due to an incident that happened a year and a half ago. What he does remember is a promise he made to this girl seven years ago, to always be together. That girl turnsout to be the Queen of the Vampires, who he meets again, and shares a special bond with her. And so the story begins.
The art is beautiful. So much detail, and colors.
The sound is ok. I didn't really pay any attention to it, to be honest.
Characters: Really well developed considering there was only 12 episodes to work with. If you put attention, you're not left lost or confused.
Enjoyment: I don't know why everyone gave it such low ratings. I really liked Dancing in the Vampire Bund. Though, the first episode made me dubious. It's said that the audience bases their opinions of what they're watching within the first 10 seconds of their program. Well, I'm glad I gave it till the second episode.
Overall: 8.5
Dance in the Vampire Bund was everything I was looking for. Supernatural with romance and some action (the blood was a bonus).
Anyone looking for a action-packed romance anime, should definitely give this a chance.
Sorry if it's not the best review, I'm still an amateur at this:P
To all you "Not Helpful" and "Helpful" people too, feedback is appreciated. [;
Shadesblade
I did not read the manga so the review is based entirely upon the anime. I don't really describe what happens in the series and spoils are from none to very little. Look at the description if you wish to know what the anime is fully about. Story-7: Wow, vampires that have been hiding among us for centuries! I've never heard of anything like that before! That was sarcasm, if it wasn't obvious enough. Honestly though, yes it is overused and this anime doesn't pull it off as well as many other books or movies. But it doesn't have to. What I find very well doneis how they justify their ability to hide and survive in the time they have been oblivious to common humans. In the beginning the story is very poorly developed but everything starts adding up around the latter half of the series. Don't give it up too fast.
Art-8: Everyone loves a naked 10 year old right? But seriously, it's not as bad as everyone is making it out to be. Although there are times when where they directly focus on her sexuality as a child, these are usually short and aren't that bad. So people should just take a chill pill. The animation moves in a way that Bakemonogatari does (yes I'm using it as an example, but in a good way) in that random motions and images are presented and there is a lot of emphasis on speech. Overall, expect fight scenes to have a dark undertone and blood is apparent when bodies are being cut in half. But that's just being realistic isn't it?
Sound-6: The background music doesn't stand out. The voice actors also don't really make themselves apparent. I do, however, enjoy the sounds that represent pain. They are far more realistic than many other animes and have almost a surreal quality.
Character-8: The characters are bland and some come in and out of existence way too suddenly. You're left with a "Who the hell was that guy?" kind of feeling a lot of the time. Despite this the Vampire princess is actually a very complex person and it stands to reason that most of the character development revolves around her. The rest of the characters are basically just there although some things do get explained during the last couple of episodes. I don't see enough character development based off of Akira but i still like his interactions with the rest of the characters.
Enjoyment-9: I actually enjoyed this series very much. Although the whole series wasn't "excellent," it was still a good watch. There are some very unpredictable moments which surprised me when I first read the reviews, stating that it is completely unoriginal. Oh and the princess' true form is sexy as hell, even though it uses a light effect instead of skin for representation.
Overall-8: If it's taken for what it is it can be very enjoyable. I'll probably get lots of haters for this who try to only see the things wrong the with the anime and people who just can't sit back and enjoy. Sigh...well this is long enough already so I'll just end with saying if you like it, awesome, if you don't like it, that's cool, and if you've never seen it, you should give it a try.
starfarts
This is a spectacular piece of shit and I can't recommend it to anyone, no matter how vampire anime deprived they might be. My #1 criticism is the colossal shitshow that is the art style. It's difficult describe with words, but it's that kind of "art" where someone throws a whole lot of motifs around that *should* be artistic but the way it's all put together just produces a cringy mess. Art in general is highly subjective, but in this anime it's comparable to showing up at a high-class show in Paris and instead of seeing masterful works through the centuries you actually see what happenswhen a methhead eats twenty tacos then goes potty on some canvas. (I'll leave further art comparisons alone since getting into the whole "inflated art prices are actually thinly-veiled attempts at money laundering" isn't anime related.) The nail in the coffin (HA) for me was the poorly Photoshopped photographs that are spliced in generously; in the final episode, there's an obvious picture of New York City with the Empire State Building right in the middle...despite the series taking place in Tokyo. Lmao.
My second major complaint is the loli crap. Fetishes are one thing, and DanceBund certainly does the whole "my body may LOOK like a nine year old, but I'm ACTUALLY a seventy-four thousand year old vampire queen" meme to justify showing prepubescent T&A, but it's the literal child molesting during a later arc that really pissed me off. There's a boy and he's shown making out (complete with pornographic spit exchanges and sound effects) with a grown woman before they fondle and so on. I get that Shaft were trying to be edgy--and again, I don't care at all about personal fetishes--but this was just fucking gross.
My third primary complaint is the shitty storytelling. As the series progresses it becomes constructed more like a crappy Youtuber shouting at a camera about whatever hot topic is in the news: jump cuts, jump cuts, jump cuts, random pictures, random Photoshopped images, random colors, jump cuts, cump juts, tuj mumps............it all just melts together with the terrible art direction to cement my opinion that this was directed by an idiot. And it didn't HAVE to be! The actual narrative is pretty good even in spite of the dumb central plot (vampire-werewolf forbidden love). There are ever-so-brief glimpses of what could have been, like political scheming, vampires revealing themselves to the world, artificial blood, power struggles, and more, but it's all lost in jump cuts and shitty Photoshopped images.
I don't recommend anyone watch this. There are zero redeeming qualities at the end of the series, and I honestly regret wasting any amount of time on this steaming turd.
Aeonic
At the starting of the winter season Dance in the Vampire bund was touted to be the best of the anime winter line up. However, the show did not amount to all the hype. D in Disorder is a befitting name for this show. Be wary of Spoilers. Story-The story begins with Mina Tepes (The Queen of vampires) unveiling the existence of the vampire on a game show. What happens afterwards came as a surprise..At first you thought the show was about protecting the existence of vampires and somehow requisitioning a school as a corporate asset will stifle all insurrection.Right. Only opaque flashbacks are shown betweenthe Kaburagi and the heroine. Why did he a werewolf willingly protect the Queen of vampires? We shall never know. Before this show seemed to have that allure of becoming a political thriller in combination with a supernatural series. Instead we get a disjointed story about a guy who has little reason to have feelings towards his so-called master and then an arcane human enemy that we don't know about. I beg the question why didn't a person of the Japanese goverment become an enemy of Mina Tepes in her plans to create a utopian environment for vampires?
Then we have the school setting. Do you really think kids will be a monumental threat to the Queen of vampires designs? These supernatural stories always base themselves upon using the high school setting as their background setting. The main character rebels against Mina tepe's hegemonic rule over his classmates, even though supposedly they have a master to servant relationship. Oh wait, there's more. Yes, if you thought this story was dysfunctional think again. A couple of episodes later.There's a planned coup to usurp the Queen of vampires position. This segment comes after the fighting between her former servant and the vampires. One of the nobles tried to seize power.The servant comes to the aid of his master again even though he tried to extirpate her from top to bottom not to long ago. This show ends with the abortive coup and the consolidating of her power. Let's seize more high schools, so I Mina Tepes have another excuse to show off the litany of flowers on my lavish dresses and bras. If you have a small tit fetish then enroll in Mina Tepes's district now. Overall a lacklustre piece of work, riddled with questions more than answers.
Art-The art is similar to shafts prototypical art pieces. The animation tries to augment the characters with appealing surroundings, but lets face it the animation generally occurs only in a few separate settings. There's nothing remotely beguiling about the art, except in the ending song scenes.
Sound-Typical J-pop nothing new to see here at all. The music tries to acclimate to the dramatic points in the plot. However the serious taste in music is not warranted by a less than surpising or predictable outcome. Then we have the gothic music interposed with the vampiric theme, trying to effectually portray the story as a creepy vampire story.
Characters-First we have the blonde bomb shell herself Mina tepes, who exudes the pretentious little brat role that's quite abound in anime these days. Maybe it's her status of queen of the vampires that is used to justify this bombastic behaviour..Kaburagi is the typical reckless idiot that would make any level-headed question his existence in the show. He also is very naive and cannot figure anything out regardless if it's placed right in front of his face. Do we need more facile morons in anime, that are pervayers of naivety?The rest of the cast I couldn't care less about.Just a tasteless supporting cast. Nothing needed to be said.
Enjoyment- My enjoyment is poorer than the other categories because I had some remedial expectations for this show. Instead of an enthralling piece of politics with some semblance of realism, we get a inane piece of garbage is poorly executed.
Overall- Some may think I thought of this as an abject failure due to my denunciations. However it's more disappointing experience than an exasperating one. If you want to watch an unfathomable anime that's below average, with horrible execution be my guest.
Lindle
Before I begin this review, I would like to make it very clear that I have not read the Dance In The Vampire Bund manga, nor do I have any immediate plans to do so, and this review is based entirely on the animated adaptation Thus, don't complain about how the manga was good, because that is completely irrelevant to how much I fucking hated the Vampire Bund anime. The series starts off with an interesting premise, namely a TV gameshow discussing all the increasing amounts of signs that vampires walk among us. Although Vampires are hardly an original premise... actually, they're one of the leastoriginal and overused premises in modern media, but I digress... introducing their existence to the unsuspecting public via the media is certainly a new one. On paper, this reads like a fantastic deconstruction of the vampire genre, but horribly executed and turns into a rather large clusterfuck. Amidst the TV show, Mina Tepes, a small blonde loli girl who looks distinctly similar to Evangeline A.K. McDowell, announces the existence of Vampires, and declares herself to be their ruler.
The above becomes largely forgettable, though, as something of an Episode 0 sort of thing, and the following episode picks up with the actual plot, introducing our protagonist Akira. I call him our protagonist in the very lightest sense of the word, since from the very beginning it was painfully obvious that the staff behind the show care about one character, and one character only, and that is Mina. Despite being our supposed protagonist, Akira shows next to no personality in the series, being a bland plot vehicle instead. As it turns out, he and Mina go quite a way back, but Akira has amnesia. Apparently, he is a member of the Earth Clan of Werewolves, and is bound to protect Mina.
Yes, you read that right. This features both Vampires and Werewolves. Where have I heard that one before?
What follows is a rather poorly-paced plot that takes several episodes to truly commence, and when it does, falls flat on its face. Whilst i'd rather not spoil too much, Mina takes a rather drastic choice within the series when the shit hits the fan, and starts to take a turn for the worst as a character. What doesn't help is that said decision seriously clashes with how she is portrayed in the previous episode, making her out to be a rather inconsistent character. At the same time, the plot that ensues is very generic, bland, and completely fails to ignite any sense of interest, with the exception being towards the end when the show begins to pick up.
All of this, however, is only so much detraction, and could still make for a passable show if it wasn't for my one and only massive complaint about this show: The directing. Put simply, Akiyuki Shinbo needs a good, hard kick in the 'nads for the horrible, horrible job he has done directing this show. For a start, the art style is extremely bland, and the colouring feels very undersaturated, making a very weak atmosphere for the series. But more importantly, the animation is horrific. Not since Evangelion have I seen such blatant corner-cutting, and at the very least Evangelion put it to good artistic use. Here, they repeat animation wholesale, and constantly use longshots, along with some very blatant and annoying censors. And just to put the cherry on the top, when the animation hits its low, can you guess what they did? They mixed in live action shots to save animation, if you believe they would honestly sink so low. But worst of all, the eye closeups. Oh dear lord the eye closeups. There's an extreme close up of an eyeball around every few seconds, or at least once every two minutes. In one episode, I actually counted how many, and guess what? 54. In a single episode. I am not making this up.
In essence, this show is garbage. It's hard to find more than a handful of redeeming features to it, aside from the fact that the manga might be something passable.
Final Words: Don't waste your time on it.
Animation/Graphics: 1/10
Story/Plot: 4/10
Music/Background: 7/10
Voice Acting: N/A
Overall: 3/10
For Fans Of: Bakemonogatari, Trinity Blood
spiwar
If you're going to watch this anime, do me a favor and watch the Blu-ray version. The TV version is so horrible that I even consider giving this anime a 6 once. Now for those who are too lazy to read: Pros: + Good art and animation (Blu-ray version) + Great and well-developed character + Interesting Plot Cons: - Forgettable soundtrackIn-depth review:
Dance in the Vampire Bund. Looks like a good anime when i looked through the list of animes. Well, it's animated by SHAFT right? Let's give it a try then.
Story: 8
It's about a vampire princess building her own country with her lover. Nothing interesting, right? The show starts off slow, but later the story progress at a better pace. The world-building aspect in this anime is good, makes you feel that the world is big and full of vampires. Some situation is predictable, but it's still fun to watch.
The anime is mostly romance, developing the relationship of the two main characters. But it has it's fair share of action and it's pretty good.
There is fanservice. But it's not that bad and fits the story.
The ending is a read-the-manga ending because from what I know, there won't be a second season.
Art: 7
If I was watching the TV version, I would give it a 5. Animation in the TV version is choppy and ugly, whereas the blu-ray version is superior but still doesn't look like what I would normally expect from SHAFT.
Sound: 7
OP and ED is catchy but forgettable. Background music is very fitting to the show.
Character: 8
We have our main characters, Mina Tepes and Akira Kaburagi. Mina is not your annoying as hell loli and has a strong personality with a dark side to it. Akira personality is pretty typical, but he's not and overpowered MC like other animes. Side characters don't show up often in this show, But when they do, they make a good impression and is pretty darn memorable.
Enjoyment:8
Exepct from the first episode, every episodes are good and enjoyable.
Overall: 8
Like vampire animes? Want some romance anime with a mix of action? Or you just simply want to see some naked loli body? This anime is for you
ktulu007
Dance in the Vampire Bund is a rather notorious series. It's been heavily criticised for having sexualised content involving a character who looks like a child and when it was released outside of Japan there was a big fuss about censorship as various companies grappled with whether or not to cut some of the more controversial content. It's a series I've avoided because it looked crass in the same vein as Strike Witches or Upotte but I was asked to review it in spite of it being, according to the requester “a not very good show” due to it being a prototype in theway it's directed for a lot of studio Shafts later works. For those of you unfamiliar with shaft, they're the ones behind the Rec OVA, which was terrible. They also did Ef: A Tale of Memories, which was sub-par. They also did Natsu no Arashi which was decent enough and Madoka which was actually really good. Thus far, my experiences with their work has been pretty mixed. But I did just review a masterpiece so I may as well take up the request and look at this anime to see where it falls on the spectrum of Shaft productions and to decide for ourselves if it really isn't very good.
Story:
After several attacks where young ladies are left with marks on their necks, a television program has a panel to discuss the possibility of vampires existing. The program includes a special guest, a woman claiming to be the vampire queen. She presents the preserved arm of the vampire who has, supposedly been attacking people. This prompts him to reveal himself and the existence of vampires is revealed to the public as is the face of the true vampire queen. She announces her plan to take a patch of land she owns within Japan and create a bund for vampires. Things take a turn when the vampire queen, Mina Tepes, begins showing interest in amnesiac High school student Kaburagi Akira. What's the connection betwixt them and can she successfully establish her bund?
There are several narrative issues to the series. The first is that it lacks narrative cohesion. There are factors of vampire society that get established early on and then retconned later in the series. It can't even keep whether Mina is the queen or the princess consistent. These are not interchangeable terms. They also switch between her as a student and as the school's chairman. Her physical abilities also fluctuate. There are times when she can fight well and others where she's completely helpless because the plot needs her to be rescued. It's like she's silver age Jimmy Olsen and just constantly has different abilities. The romance is pretty dreadful in this as well. The 'development' is really stilted and comes across as contrived. But that isn't the worst part of it. You find out that she's been basically obsessed with him since he was a small child. That's the plot line with the paedophile werewolf from Twilight levels of just wrong. They try to balance it by making her look prepubescent but that just makes it worse. Or maybe it's less about balance and more that the writer has a fetish for children and should probably be institutionalised. Even the major side romance is utterly horrendous garbage involving one character who's way too old for the other, but with a less extreme age difference. The narrative isn't particularly compelling either. While it has some concepts that could be interesting if they were expanded on, it's more interested in showcasing its terrible romance and in providing fan-service. Because the only class that this writer is aware of is the variety you attend.
That being said, the whole idea of vampire society revealing itself and integrating into human society could have been really interesting if the writing hadn't been complete schlock. The whole Dance With the Vampire Maids segment can be kind of funny at times too.
Characters:
For the most part, the characters aren't all that bad. They're mostly just dull. There are two issues that really demote them from mediocrity. The first is the incessantly obnoxious way that a bunch of the female characters pursue our boring hero. The second is that the character dynamics are weak and they suffer from the same lack of cohesion as the narrative, undergoing changes without any reason beyond the plot demands it.
Art:
Dance in the Vampire Bund may very well be worse than Strike Witches when it comes to ridiculous, excess levels of fan-service. The big reason being that most of it centres around Mina, a character who looks to be eight or nine. She looks younger than Lucchini Here's the thing about Mina. You could potentially make me believe that our bland hero could fall for her, in spite of her appearance, since she doesn't act like a child, for the most part. It would require considerably better writing, but you could manage that. However, you aren't going to convince me that you're showing 'sexy' scenes of her starkers for any reason beyond you being a total sleazy scum bag. We don't need to see her in the nude for the narrative it's just distracting and unpleasant. Because she looks to be eight or nine. The action sequences are pretty bad too. Most of them consist of seeing our protagonist take a couple hits and then end things with one attack. Good thing his opponents have no durability. If they were evenly matched on that front he'd have been killed pretty much right away and the series would be somewhat better because it wouldn't have its lousy romance taking up a bunch of time.
Sound:
The series got some good actors. Saito Chiwa, Yuuki Aoi & Itou Shizuka to name a few. Their performances in this, however, are pretty weak. You can tell they're trying but the writing just doesn't give them much in terms of character complexity. The music isn't bad, but it is pretty weak.
Ho-yay:
The series doesn't have any. Which is fine by me given that its romance is at the Twilight level.
Final Thoughts:
So, that's Dance in the Vampire Bund. How ungood is “not very good?” Well, the premise had potential and there are some funny bits in the ending segments but its held back by an awful romance, a story that doesn't hold together well, absurd levels of fan-service (a lot of which involves a character who looks like she's eight), weak performances and bland characters. My final rating is going to stand at a 3/10. Next week I'll look at Natsume Yuujinchou.
finalchance531
"Still a better love story than twilight." No, but seriously now. This was phenomenal! I knew this show existed via cover art that I've seen in various places. So, I decided to take the time to watch it when it was finally recommended through another show. I figured vampires usually make something interesting to watch. This show was no exception and stole my complete attention until it was over. No spoilers, but slight references possible. Story: 9 Simply put, supernatural love story. I mean a good one too! This story did, however, take time for me to wrap around but it gets better. In other words, give it anepisode or two and hold on. In a world inhabited by both humans and vampires, they'll need to live like good neighbors. This is the premises. It gets even better when love is against the odds. Just let the feels roll out.
Art: 9
The art was very well done. I'm thoroughly pleased with the level of eye popping goodness contained within this series. The animation was nothing short of greatness. However, the cut-scenes and transitions were something... peculiar. I don't know how to phrase it but the camera angle goes all over the place. "Eyes" were focused on the majority of the time. It left me concerned, rather disoriented but I went with it.
Sound: 9
The music was great. I really picked up on it and couldn't say anything bad.
Characters: 8
"Why isn't this a 9 too?" That's because of my personal feelings toward different areas of the anime. Without spoiling anything, sometimes I wished a certain person would have died because they were ALWAYS AROUND and had NO real reason to be. Don't worry if your don't get it or finished it and still don't understand. Anyways, the characters were great during the whole time. The main male character is a good person and shines when he shows it. As for the female, or queen, she has one of the best personalities I've witnessed. How the story plays out with all of them is just to good.
Enjoyment: 8
I really liked this and will continue to like it. There was no mistake in my mind that this was something great to watch. I even spread it out to make sure I was in the right mood just so I wouldn't spoil it.
Overall: 9
*Claps* I'd watch it again. Funny enough, I thought of games like bloody roar when people transformed. I couldn't stop thinking that way. The anime delivers a truly lovely story during it's span of 12 episodes. I couldn't recommend it more, especially if you like vampires.
lokidemon09
Due to the overwhelming amount of negativity in this anime i decided to write this review. Dance in the Vampire Bund was an anime that caught my attention completely by accident stumbling on a video while exploring the internet. I was immediately immersed within the story. While yes the main plot behind the anime, (boy loses memory, cant remember girl/ promise with girl, goes through adventure to regain memory) is a bit cliche and the whole amnesia thing is truly overused but the story and presentation of this is truly magnificent. Akira the main character initially has a cases of memory loss when Mina TheQueen of the Vampires, rediscovers him after a long absence. At the same time Mina is making the existence of Vampires public. What ensues is a mixture of the occult, graphic violence, political entanglement, struggling with oneself, and romance.
Now Dance in the Vampire Bund is not without its own faults, the story seems to be choppy, and not entirely planned out as well as the complete open ended way that the final episode ends, begging for a second season. Despite this, the story will always have you asking questions all the way to the end with very dramatic and interesting ways to answer each and every one of them. The art of the anime was beautifully done, many panoramic scenes, and stunning visuals.. this is a dark anime, somehow though they don't overuse this aspect so the anime still seems light and in some areas cheery.
Changing the subject a bit,while i dissagree with many other people on this anime one thing t i can agree with other reviewers is why? It seems there are no reasons in the beginning as to why Akira does anything at all, changing from ignoring her, to helping her, to ignoring her again, then fighting against her, to once again being at her side. I believe this has to do with how he is gaining his memories back, but this wasn't truly evident in the anime.
All in all though this anime does a wonderful job at what anime should do which is entertain.
-Hotaru_
~*Dance in the Vampire Bund*~Review (revised): • Story: Dance in the Vampire Bund is the anime adaptation of the manga with the same name. The author is Tamaki Nozomu,well known for his ecchi and hentai mangas, so we didn't expect too much from him either way.In this anime we have a blonde moe prepubescent girl (most likely twelve years old) that never ages. We also have the bishōnen Akira Kaburagi Regendorf (the first two names are japanese ,but the etymology of the last name is a little complex,"Rege" means in romanian "king", but I'm not sure if themangaka named him knowing this detail). As for Mina Ţepeş's name,her family name is derived from the Vlad Ţepeş (meaning Vlad The Impaler) also known by the surname Dracul or later "Dracula". Vlad was referred to in several documents as "Dracul", which means "Son of the dragon" and points to his fatherl, who received that moniker from his subjects because he had joined the Order of the Dragon. Dracul, derived from the Latin word Draco meant "dragon", though in modern Romanian it means "devil".
Now, returning to the story... The anime introduces the viewer to the main characters, Mina ( the above mentionated loli vampire ), and the bishōnen Akira , which is later revealed to be a werewolf ( love between a vampire,how original ). Akira-kun is the knight in shiney armor that wants to protect his lady ( Mina ) and rescue her. The intial story line shouldn't be taken so serious,since it is more of satire/parody of what modern japanese people about vampires, attributing many distorted concepts. Therefore,alternating the mythology in order to appeal to the modern audience. Per total the story wasn't meant to be a deep,complex and emotional story full of unexpected story twits, but more of a parody. Therefore the story seems constrained to take a serious turn,and even when it finally does it feels out of place and clumsy. This anime achieves more being a comedy/satire than it achieves being dramatic.
Story: 3
• I've always liked and admired SHAFT for the excelent animation and art, because of the master pieces animes such as Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, Kino's Journey: The Land of Sickness -For You-, Maria†Holic ,Bakemonogatari etc. I can't say that I don't enjoy this anime's graphic same as the others,that would be a lie. It has good animation,interesting visual effects and innovative visual concepts. However, the story drags down the art,with its clichés and fanservice, especially from a loli exchibitionist like Mina. The fights scenes are decent,verging on average ...
Art: 6
• The music was good, but nothing out of the ordinary.The Opening Theme Friends by Aiko Nakano and Ending Theme Tsumeato by Hibiku were fine,and agreable but nothing surprising,interesting and kind of wanna be a deep song or something like that.I liked it,but they are far from being my favorite japanese songs.
Sound: 7
• The characters may seem at first glance full of clichés. Their personality may seem apathetic , even when they face situations of emotional intensity. That may be because the mangaka focused more on the superfical aspects of the characters, and less about their inner selves.However,as the story progresses, the characters seem to gain more substance,being more believable in the interactions with each other. The character that I empathize/symphatize most with is Akira, he is just a normal teenager surrounded by unusual circumstances. And never forget: A single word:FANSERVICE. A lot of fanservice, especially loli fanservice. They don't really have a role or any purpose whatsoever, the complexity of one's character is not that important.
Added:Watching more episodes, I realised the characters do have some development. However, the characters remain the weakest point in the anime.
Characters: 3
• I really do hope that this anime will have in the future a more serious plot, and that the mangaka will be more serious about it, after all, it's offensive to us readers.The idea was quite interesting and it could be a lot better and complex, but it turned out to be quite clichéic story. I really hoped for more...
Enjoyment: 3
Overall: 4
Note: I have made a review of this anime back in 2010, when the first episodes appeared. At the time I was angered by the lack of historical knowlege that made people misunderstand a few things about the vampire concept. However, as of 22.02.2013, I changed my review and ratings, toning it down, and presenting the anime in a more favorable light, without being blinded by subjectivism.
Seabury
So, I basically adore this anime. In my opinion, it's better than Bakemonogatari, another SHAFT production directed by Akiyuki Shinbo. You should know that Shinbo is quite an auteur. His shows are positively smeared with his unique timbre. If you don't like other works from Shinbo, you won't like this one either. This show is directed intelligently schizophrenic: zoom, cut, still frame, cut, blur, cut, shot of seemingly unrelated object/scene, cut, dialogue, cut, wide-screen, inverted colors, etc. Despite all this, it's not confusing. Instead, it's exhilarating. Staccato. Fast. MTV on speed. Never boring. "Intelligently" schizophrenic, because none of the cuts are actually random. Every movement hasa purpose, not a wasted note is to be found. Sometimes, just when the dissonant camerawork and cut scenes seem about to overpower, it resolves into a beautifully harmonic scene. Sometimes the artwork is truly beautiful, like the shock-waves through flowers (cleomes, which only bloom at night)in the opening, and sometimes it's twisted, like a few of the vampires' true forms.
It may be avant garde, but it is by no means pretentious. Rather, it is a drunken romp flavored with gore, eroticism, dry humor, and pulp. It starts off sober enough, as most drunken romps do, but, well, you know how those Friday nights go… By the end, it sobers up into a pretty love ballad, and finishes quite touchingly with an epic and emotional finale.
It's often hard to tell if the story's continuous or not. Just as distortion allows a punk rocker to hide wrong notes and sloppy technique, the mania of this show obscures its sanity. When the show hits a sober note, it is ofter startling. One particularly delightful moment in the story was the parable of the butterfly and the flower who looked like a butterfly. The butterfly tries desperately to court the still flower, who never responds to him. As one of my favorite characters says, "no matter how strongly the butterfly feels, he will never be together with a flower." The music this series dances to is the weakest link. Even so, it is delightfully gothic during the episode, pretty and energized before, and raunchy after.
I thought this would be a controversial review considering the negativity this show has gotten here, so I checked the ratings distribution over at animenewsnetwork. This show is considered "very good" by a strong mode, though the average is drawn lower by a minority who find the show to be "worst ever". This means the people who dislike it are the most vociferous, not the most representative. What I'm getting at is that you, dear reader, shouldn't be scared away by the negative reviews.
Here's a guide to see if you like it: 1. Did you like the manga if you read it? As far as I know, everyone who was a fan of the manga hated the show. You might be the exception, but not likely. 2. Do you like SHAFT? If so, then you have a greater chance of liking this release. 3. Do you pick up on dry humor? Almost every anime I've seen that's not a comedy or pretentious "art" (such as haibanme renmei) has some level of dry humor. If you don't really pick up on that stuff, a lot of this will seem boring to you. 4. Can you tolerate inappropriate fan service? Our 100 year old protagonist has the body of a ten year old, but definitely has tendencies belonging to much older females. 5. Watch the first episode. If you are one of the few who liked the first episode, then you are most likely going to enjoy the rest of the series. If you hate the first episode, don't bother with this series.
MrYandereFan26
I've seen mixed reviews for this anime. Some good, some bad and some average. I must say I rather enjoyed this show. Interesting story and world. The setting and animation were also very good. Some criticisms are it was a bit rushed as they tended to include a lot going on at the same time and it could have done with being longer in order for it to improve. The best part of the anime by far was Mina Tepes. She is the main reason I really wanted to see this anime and she is a really cute and great character. I often like vampirelolis in general so I definitely felt quite optimistic about her right from the start.
Warning ⛔️ ⚠️ There is some Loli fan service (even though she’s hundreds of years old she has quite a childlike appearance) which may get a bit uncomfortable but there isn’t too much.
Taylorgg12
Hmm... what to say about Dance in the Vampire Bund...well personally I like the manga better but there is still much to say about the anime. Story: I found the plot interesting. However, the anime storyline lacks very important information. We the viewers are constantly wondering why something happens when it does which I personally found VERY frustrating. Not to mention the ending where we're all left hanging...which I hated because now we have to wait to see if they make a sequel so we can find out what the hell really happened. Art: The animation in this anime was fantastic! Shaft really did a good job ofmaking everything so life-like and realistic. My favorite part is where the camera moves up and gives a full range of the body of the character and then focuses on the eyes that are obviously a personal touch done by Shaft.
Sound:
The opening to the anime was well to put it in simply boring. It did not really suit the mood of the story at all.
However, I personally liked the closing to the anime. It is not something amazing but it does provided a simple yet catchy ending song to the anime.
The background is excellent you can hear every sound.
The voice actors are well fitted to their characters in a way that you cannot imagine anyone else voicing them.
Characters:
While most of the characters are...with lack of a better word their stereotypical.
Mina is the only one who shows more depth with her sarcasm and all mighty personality.
Although I personally did like the anime only character Mei Rin, the cracking sound when she bites hard candy just gives me a chill. She is a bit too forward with Akira but I personally found it funny how she constantly tried to make him uncomfortable.
Enjoyment:
I received much pleasure from this anime. Although lacking in storyline and in depth of the characters. This anime kept me on my toes, it kept me wanting to know more. I watched each episode trying to figure out what was going to happen only for the episode to end in a way I did not expect which was thrilling but also a little frustrating at times.
Overall:
Overall I would rate this anime a 10 just because of my personally enjoyment. Nevertheless, for the sake of other people who do not quite share the same opinion I would rate this anime a 7.
You might not like this anime if you hate vampires or werewolves.
It has many political things, which I know a lot of you readers find to be boring.
There is some blood and gore so if you are not into that then you should probably avoid this anime.
If you are super into sugary sweet romance then you are not going to like this anime, however if you like the whole forbidden love thing then this anime is for you.
Now this is my personal opinion and I am not forcing any of you to share it.
Rafiul
Dance in the Vampire Bund There's been time when I felt a certain kind of curiosity to know about the genesis of vampire fiction and the root of this popular and discussed genre.So,obviously,I searched on google.Learned a little about Vlad the impaler.So,afterward,as I got the basic idea,I intended to watch some anime series about vampire.Despite of some people's opinion,I do not think that vampire stories in anime is bad.In most of the cases,the storyteller uses his imagination and makes a vampire which have superpowers or they don't have to bite or they don't get burned in the sun etc.So,yes,This show is no difference.But among the vampireanime out there,this one should be kept on top of the list.I can assure you,this show is worth watching.Only 12 episodes,aired in 2010.Produced by Shaft,Genco,AT-X and flying dog etc.This anime was licensed by FUNimation and later on it got dubbed .So,obviously I watched the dubbed version and no complain there.But on youtube,the dubbed version you'll get is actually fandubbed.So better not to mix up.
Synopsis:Right at the very beginning,the viewers didn't get any idea how this series supposed to get.It all started within a television show about the existence of vampires.Where several people related to the topic were invited.And at some point,a beautiful lady was introduced and she claimed herself to be a vampire.That's the moment where everything started to get messed up.A little girl from the audience,Mina Tepes,made a drastic move creating an intense situation.At the end of the 1st episode,things got hung in a very bizarre situation.Afterwards,the story moved on quite fast.A regular school boy named Akira was introduced to the show.But just like other stories,he has a mysterious past and identity.And apparently,we learned that Mina Tepes the main character of the series,has a rational goal for both draculas and mankind.Among the few things, I loved the pacing of this show.It brought up incidents that were supposed to happen in that time of the storyline.
Theme Setup,Music & Artwork:I just loved the direction.The theme was deliciously dark as a horror show supposed to be.The time setting was present japan.But the churches,building structures and the other enviroment mixed up perfectly to give you a majestic experience.Moving on to the music,I can't recall any track from the ost.Doesn't mean that it was bad,it was decent in my opinion.The opening and ending tracks are the same,they just got turned over in the halfway of the series.I liked them both.One is called "Friends" and the other one is titled as "Tsumeato".Proceeding,the artwork was perfect.You are supposed to love the glossy effects.Every character looked charming.And one thing I would like to mention is that the aspect ratio changed depending on the mood of the situation.May seem trivial,but it made the scenes even more dramatic.And about the animation,I would say that it was crafted as smooth as the artwork.
Characters Setup:First of all,Mina Tepes,the Vampire disguised as a little girl.She is the princess of the ancient covenant and ruler of all vampires.She is the strong female protagonist you ought to like.As she holds the throne,she makes the most tactical decisions and can manipulate her co-workers well.Moving on to Akira,he is the of strong and devoted character,which can be seen very regularly in lots of anime.At the beginning we learned that he lost his memories by an accident.And afterward,he gains his memory back.And meanwhile in the process,he got enough character development.Moving on,there was a girl named Yuki we saw from the beginning.She loves Akira,but as usually, there are complexity.She got enough screentime.And sometimes she acted as a narrator.So basically,they are the main characters of the show.As for supporting,Nella,Nelly and Vera were at the side of Mina.From the school,Nanami had some more story.Hikosaka,Kuje and Takashi were used to be Akira's friend.And as a teacher,sister Laura gave us the general idea of the institution.Beside that,as the story progressed,bunch of the other characters came in from the ancient vampire monarchy,the government and etc.
Overall Rating:
MAL Rating: 7.25
My Rating: 9.0
NonkiLauren
I finished watching Dance in the Vampire Bund. First off, the beginning was very captivating and I wanted to find out more about where this series was going. It pulled me right in. Story: The story was pretty unique. A vampire queen wants to protect her own kind by having Japan save/pardon a small portion for her kind to leave peacefully to coexist with the human race. The other part involves romance between her and Akira, a werewolf. I won't say much else. Though pretty interesting, I felt like the plot was a bit rushed and the series could have been expanded easily to a24-episode series.
Art: I enjoyed the animation. Plenty of action sequences, beautiful color detail on the females and eye color. Seemed to me the eyes were much of a focal point when looking at the characters.
Sound: The Opening Theme and Ending Themes were fantastic. I love the singer's voice. Professional, crisp and powerful. Dark pop to me, heh. Otherwise the rest of the series, I didn't pay too much attention to the BG music, kinda tuned it out. The high rating is only for the opening and ending songs.
Character: I enjoyed the main characters. Didn't pay too much attention to the side characters, with exception to Vera and Mei Rin. If the characters were flushed out a bit more, I would have rated the character value higher.
Overall Enjoyment: I particularly liked the overall feel of the anime. Vampires trying to coexist with humans, the theme of undying loyalty and seeing how far one promise can go....this series appears to have some cute, childish moments, but this series is for those over the age of 16.
angelsreview
The story line seems both the same as all other shows about vampires but then it has a little bit of its own story line. I have a small feeling it’s a mix between ‘Black Blood Brothers’ and ‘Moon Phase’ where it’s a cutesy Lolita girl but is creating a new area for Vampires. I’m not so sure how I feel about Werewolves being controlled by Vampires. To me, they should be on the same level like all the other story lines but I guess it fits the story line. Akira feels a lot like Kouhei from Moon Phase and I would probably say theywere the same person if it wasn’t for the fact that he isn’t a real weakling. Another thing that makes it odd is that Akira’s friend talks a lot throughout the story as though she isn’t in the show much.
The artwork is bright and crisp, though I feel it should have been a little darker. It’s rather high detailed in some places but then turns into action lines and crazy CG artwork in a couple parts. This is the really sad CG that doesn’t look right in the show. It’s also the fact that the parts they have CG could have been really easily created by drawing. The beginning is pretty interesting though the running around gets really old really fast. I’m also not found of the naked Lolita. It’s more fan service that isn’t needed. There is also way to many images of flowers when there not part of the show.
The music is really not that special. I only like the beginning song but the rest isn’t really even loud enough to hear it. The English voices are not that great, but yet not that bad too, pretty much a rather average show.
tunaKing
it is not the best of vampire animes. but i bet it would be rely good for this who rely like vampire anime. i think it is rather bad. but that is only my opinion, and i think is grate made it is just that i don't like this type of anime. i think it was to absurd (if that's the word XD) for my liking if you are looking for an vampire anime i would rather suggest Rosario+vampire
