Dance in the Vampire Bund

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.

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.

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.

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. [;

Merchandise

Links may contain affiliate references

Studio

Producers

Themes