It’s been so long since an episode of Dance in the Vampire Bund appeared I had forgotten they had started another story arc, and before watching I wondered if maybe I should drop this series, but like Yumeiro, with which I had the same thoughts, this episode proved too good for me to let it go.
Cell phones are playing significant parts in anime these days. We had Durarara’s Dollars meetup, Sawako’s new means of communication, and now Vampire Bund 9 tosses out a terrorist threat using cell phones. Even while watching Durarara’s cell-phone meetup I kept thinking “Wait, the other side could do shit like that, too,” and here we get an example. We have suicide vampires who are set to explode when Hysterica pushes a button, and they’re all over the subways. While the Beowulf guys track them down Mina invites Hysterica to a meeting, which soon turns into a big fight.
But that’s simply the action level, and while it’s good, I found the questions raised more interesting. What’s it like to be a vampire? Should you become one? What are the trade-offs? We get two variants. In one, Akira chases down Mika, a former classmate who became a vampire in order to be strong but now regrets it. Now he’s got a weapon in his body and they’re using him to kill people. Akira tries to talk sense into him and fails. On the other side we have Nanami, turned vampire against her will, and a slave to Hysterica. She is saved with the help of the boy, Yuzuru, whom she can’t live without, and some trickery from Mina. And in the weirdest moment, Yuzuru has Nanami turn him into a vampire. Disgusting to watch (but about average for this show), but if you can get over that it’s an interesting comment. Yuzuru has practically been abandoned by his parents. There’s nothing in the human world for him. Throughout the episode he asks the adults thoughtful questions about vampire life. And if he remained human he would never see Nanami again. That he made this decision shouldn’t have been so surprising.
It all holds together well. For a moment it seemed like Yuzuru had killed Nanami, so her sudden return was a delightful shock. Through it all she had been a victim; she didn’t deserve to die. And now again I wonder if I should drop this show while I’m ahead. Spring season is coming soon and I’m going to have to make some hard decisions.
Too Old for Anime 