Nyanpire The Animation

wildtygra221 Jun 21, 2012

9

The Japanese interpretations of vampires are certainly intriguing. You can stumble into bloodthirsty warriors such as Hellsing's Alucard. Or you can fall into the opposite spectrum where the supernatural being is more...humorous such as Karin from Karin (or the manga title Chibi Vampire) where she has nosebleeds that could rival Niagara Falls. No joke. Nyanpire falls moreso into this spectrum, but it's in no means a bad thing for I frankly enjoyed it far more than I thought I would. The opening grants the viewer the general story: a black abandoned kitten is on the last thread of life until a vampire finds it. He gives the kitten a bit of his blood, thus transforming the kitten into a vampire feline or a Nyanpire. All the other episodes are individual stories of Nyanpire's hijinks in his new life with his new friends. Personally it's the characters that sell the show. Much like Nyanpire, his friends are spoofs of other supernatural tropes such as the vampire hunter (the clumsy yet lovable samurai-garbed Masamune) and the angel (devious Nyantenshi). The very few human characters in this mostly cat (with the exception of two bats) cast are one-dimensional and are not given much development, but they frankly aren't the main focus and didn't distract me as a viewer. Instead, the cats are given wit, distinct personalities and a huge kawaii factor that granted my long lost smile after recently watching Madoka Magica. Like mentioned above, the stories vary and are individual shots; one could jump into episode 5 and not be completely lost. They range from the introduction to a character to celebrating Halloween and Japanese summer festivals. The facial expressions (especially Nyantenshi's) are top-notch. One distraction I had is that there's not much of a soundtrack and is used more so as background noise instead of developing themes. But then again these are 12 4-minute episodes which probably didn't grant much time for any composer, but it seemed a little shallow to me. In addition to this, there's a piano pitter-patter that the cats make when they walk. Once again, this adds into the kawaii factor (after all it fits the light hearted atmosphere) but it honestly threw me off, making it difficult at times for me to hear the dialogue. The animation fits the show and is remarkably simple yet detailed in its flash presentation. The use of color is particularly well done. Speaking of which, the voice actors are superb. I loved Noriaki Sugiyama's portrayal of Masamune in that he conveyed the brave spirit of a warrior and yet he could also convey his smitten flirts with Nyanpire and also his irritation toward Nyantenshi. Quite a range when given the role of a samurai cat. Nyantenshi's reading of how he got banished from heaven also is above par by Jun Fukuyama. However, Ami Koshimizu's role as the lead Nyanpire grants a confusion. It's suggested that Nyanpire is a boy in episode 2 (saying that his preferred type was a big-breasted female with long hair) and yet despite Masamune finding this out, he still daydreams of marrying Nyanpire and tries his best to impress Nyanpire. It made me frankly confused whether Nyanpire is truly a boy or girl. Regardless what the relationship Masamune and Nyanpire may have, it's still adorable; love knows no gender even when it comes to cats. ^.^ Don't let the first episode nor the strange ED song keep you away from this show. It's short and can easily be finished in an afternoon regardless of whether addiction comes into play. Nyanpire is worth watching and is highly recommended for cat and vampire lovers.