Dance in the Vampire Bund

TV (12 eps)
3.603 out of 5 from 15,585 votes
Rank #4,338

Nightmares creep into the waking hours as Mina Tepes, childlike Queen of the damned, shockingly appears on live television to announce her plans for a colony where her blood-sucking brethren can live in peace. As pandemonium engulfs the globe, Mina reconnects with a handsome face from her past: Akira, a brooding beast whose link to the queen is both powerful and mysterious. Together, Mina and Akira will bare their fangs and fight against an ancient evil. And though the Queen and her ferocious werewolf minions vow that no human blood will be spilled, there are others of her kind who yearn to sink their teeth into innocent flesh. Can Akira maintain his fleeting link to the realm of the living while battling to protect this ruthless and royal beauty? Only one thing is certain. The world’s not ready for her reign.

Source: Funimation

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Reviews

Otaku108
5

Story: Thankfully the story had substance to it but the ultimate issue here is that it's based on a manga that's still ongoing so has very little closure. Whether or not they plan on more seasons I don't know and even so that probably wouldn't change my opinion of this show much though I would admittedly watch them should they become available. The main problem I had with the show as it's inconsistency, it had a few conflicting problems with their plot developments which I think could have been avoided had they just planned for it better. I think this had a lot more potential and seems to have a lot more going on in the background than what was given to us. Had they expanded it to a 24 ep and fleshed out the story a bit more it would have been a perfectly good show. As it stands it rides the crust of mediocrity. Animation: The animation was good enough but at times I felt a bit... disappointed with it's filtered/doctored live capture stills made to look more like anime than just a picture but the obviousness of it made it seem cheap and uninteresting. Thankfully the rest of the shows designs and character models were decent enough though a bit on the similar side in many ways. Sound: I didn't care for or against this one, it didn't detract from the show which is always important and didn't stand out in either a good nor bad way. Decent enough to not warrant my ire at least. Characters: For a character that supposedly had lived for decades, or even worse centuries, the vampire princess was shockingly naive and frankly idiotic at times. The mistakes she practically blundered into were shocking to me. At the same time the calm and calculative character of a teenage boy way beyond his years made this one a bit hard to swallow. Still, as characters go, I didn't dislike any of them and were sadly the highlight of the show itself. They could have used a bit more depth and background but in 12 ep show that's probably just not possible without taking away from the story itself. Overall: In the end I can't say I was impressed by this one but at the same time I can't say it was truly bad, just way below what I consider on par with this year's worthy titles so far. I can say, as I did earlier, that if there were other seasons made as the manga progresses I would definitely find time to watch them. Whether or not this improves the overall standing of this particular season is unsure. I will say that any fan of vampires stories would be remiss to skip this one, it has a quality to it which is rare yet still maintains that same emo/gothica style of the vampire genre we all come to expect and some probably loath. Side note: I was a little disturbed at the frequency of nakedness you get out of a main character that's basically got the body of a prepubescent girl. She might have been older than me in terms of years but the body left something to be desired... mainly height and width, in several spots >.> *feels marms breathing down his neck* wut?

Zeaig
7

Dance in the vampire bund.. Where do i begin with this one... The story revolves around Mina Tepes, princess-ruler of all vampires, and her "protector," Akira. Like other vampires, Mina has been in hiding with her people for many years. Seeking to end centuries of isolation, Mina gains permission to create a special district for vampires, "The Bund", off the coast of Japan by paying off the national debt of the Japanese government. Mina then reveals to the world the existence of vampires and her desire for both races to live together. Tensions, however, run high as fearful humans and extremist vampire factions begin to interfere with Mina's wish for peace with the human world. As much as i wanted to see a good anime about vampires and werewolves this really wasn't what i expected. Don't Get me wrong, The voice acting, animation, and quality of the overall series are top notch, Better than most actually. And this is one series i actually recommend english dubs, It was superb. When i first saw the Funimation trailer for this series, all i could think was Damn that's a pretty epic trailer this will be an anime i'l remember. But boy was i wrong...The plot is a bit simple, and if you can look past the pretty animation and music.. There's nothing here at all. The characters are plain, There personalities are forgettable and there's really nothing here that made me excited to see the next episode. In my honest opinions the only thing that held this anime together was its originality and quality. And perhaps the few romance/quirky moments this anime had to offer. Otherwise this anime is nothing but Talking, Filler and politics. I mean hey if that's your cup of tea go for it, but that warm fuzzy feeling inside you get when you watch a good anime... Well this one just didn't have that for me.Is this worth watching? Sure id have to say yes, it does have its few moments that kept it watchable and if you like vampires and werewolfs i'm sure you might look past its flaws. But as a whole this anime isn't something id most likely ever sit down and watch again.

ThatAnimeSnob
4

Animated by Studio Shaft, which means lots of weird symbolisms and well drawn artwork. Directed by Shinbou Akiyuki, which means shallow moe characters treated as caricatures as means to become allusions to something else. This is an anime that had the potential to be an all time classic if it had used its own premise wisely. I’m serious; the core idea behind the story is what the stuff of legends is made of. Here, let me describe it to you. Imagine if you are the ruler of all vampires, centuries old, who suddenly gets fed up being hidden from the world and decides to reveal the existence of its kin and ask for acceptance. Imagine that you have the resources to buy the politicians, gain public support, and an entire army of powerful undead warriors at your side in case somebody doesn’t agree with you. Imagine you, appearing on the first episode on television and announcing all that, ready to take the heat as usurpers and traitors make their move. Isn’t that a great premise or what?Too muscular and political for you? Let’s try the feminine romantic approach. Imagine you are a little girl who was born centuries ago as a vampire, cursed to spend eternity as a child. Imagine being pampered all the time yet never feeling truly happy without someone to love you as a person and not as a rich spoiled brat. And imagine you can’t fully return your affection back without turning the whole deal into child rape (which will be troublesome because of the body anatomy even if you are pro to that idea). Furthermore, any potential lovers you meet will slowly grow old and die while you still remain permanently young and once again alone.Both scenarios would make great stories on their own, so imagine both of them being combined in the same anime. That is, you are the leader of all vampires, a little girl, centuries old, who wants to reveal its existence to mankind, ask acceptance, and seek love and happiness without being able to return it back properly or hold on to it for long. It would be a masterpiece beyond all expectations.But no, the scriptwriters didn’t stop there; they had to add a third aspect to the show. Instead of going for something special and rather unique for its time, they decided to throw in a run of the mill ecchi school comedy and ruin the uniqueness of the story. Why risk when mediocrities sell? Just screw it all with nude lolis, jiggly breasts, harem situations, and hell, if you are going to blow it all up you might as well throw in shonen superpower crap. Why be controversial when the same old shit sells?It’s not as if typical elements can’t work in creating a good show. Neon Genesis for example starts as a run of the mill super robots show and it is full of female character archetypes. The thing is, Neon Genesis builds around that and later escapes the formula, becoming something entire different and special. Vampire Bund on the other hand does the opposite; begins special and interesting and then returns to mediocrity and boredom.And so, the great story I described above became nothing but sleazy pedo-bait, typical highschool comedy, superficial politics, and average superpower action. If all these were not present, the rest would be more than enough to create something great; but no, they dragged it down to mediocrity because they though people like average works and not unique anime. Well, they were apparently wrong because all the hype the show had was based on the premise of the story, which sounded great. As soon as they saw how lame it turned out to be, most gave up and forgot it right away. A second bait was of course the oversexualized main loli, as many expected to see child-sex or something. Again, none of that happens (not even off-screen, not even implied) so once again people gave up on it. Because that is what the hook of the series was all about; a great story around politics and vampires or sleazy child porn. Yet all they got is stuff they can easily find better elsewhere. Of course and the series would fail! STORY SECTION: 4/10 So starting with the story, I say the main idea is the only interesting thing in it. All the rest are just high school silliness, superficial politics, and run-of-the-mill superpower battles. There are also many occult overtones present as well that are quite atmospheric; yet they are heavily undermined because of the other silly elements and practically go to waste. Adding to that is the story which is left incomplete and a second season (which most likely will never be made) was needed to finish something that is already ruined in the eyes of most. CHARACTER SECTION: 3/10 Moving to the characters, you will probably notice that all this time I was only talking about the main character, the vampire lord / ageless loli. Well what did you expect when the premise is all about her and all the focus is upon her as well? Mina Tepes is the only interesting character in the entire show for being those two different things I described above. All the rest are nothing but superficial and forgettable archetypes, typical villains and silly high schoolers, that are hardly aiding in anything or are even worthy support. There is also Akira, the co-lead, who is somewhat interesting since half the story is told through his point of view, plus he is the current romantic target of our eternal loli and her main bodyguard. Unfortunately they are both heavily damaged by the unnecessary secondary elements and lose a lot of appeal. Mina ends up being nothing but average pedo-bait; undressing or dressing all moe for the pervy viewers, while Akira is constantly having amnesia excuses to hold back his true potential and personality, plus he is usually using lame excuses to win in most battles, so he is not even an interesting warrior. And forget the whole lovers part because it is hardly there. ART SECTION: 9/10 The artwork is very good, with vivid colors and lots of details, plus most action scenes and people walking have lots of lively animation. There are lots of artsy touches as well, from the use of light, to zooming at blinking eyes or flashes at the background, full of goth or other weird imagery helping to bring out the mentality of the characters. The thing that ruins it is when people are just talking. They gave some basic attention to lip-synch but their bodies remain completely frozen that makes it feel very superficial. I can even place the fan service in the negatives as it is actually working at alienating the viewer from the core story or the main character drama and make him focus on naked lolis and big boobs. Otherwise, I liked what I saw. SOUND SECTION: 6/10 Sound is rather overlooked. It has no special music pieces or overall exceptional voice acting. It really goes unnoticed because of the undermined setting. VALUE & ENJOYMENT SECTIONS: 1/10 Down to it, there is very little value or enjoyment in this series and personally there is nothing here for me. The disappointing turn around from something great to something average and the incomplete story can’t help you get interested in rewatching the whole thing. Plus, you can get bolder animated child porn or school moe elsewhere; so nothing worth looking into a second time. VERDICT: 4/10

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