Title: Dance In The Vampire Bund
Genre/s: Adult, Comedy, Ecchi, Action/Adventure, Mature, Romance, Vampires
Chapters: 31& still ongoing
Author: Tamaki Nozomu
Color or Black&White: Black & White

PAINT THE CITY RED. This motto is what Dance In The Vampire Bund (DIVB)embodies. This series hits readers hard, then kisses them softly, leaving viewers wanting more. To quickly elaborate, action sequences are interesting and unpredictable, while the emotional segments are well developed, genuine, engaging. Although I wouldn’t call myself a “true” manga reader, I was fortunate enough to appreciate the intricacies of DIVB of which I’m sure you will too. In this manga review, I’ll go through a relatively spoiler free look at what Vampire Bund’s REALLY about and explain what the gibbons is going on in the cool trailer.

First off, I’ll have you know sora no otoshimono and this series has one thing sorely in common: Flying undergarments. In fact, every other chapter of the manga has the Lolita vampire princess, Hime-San running around in a scandalous thong or…thong pretty much. In spite of knowing this, just remember it’s a different type of fan service apart from the usual boob-jiggling many have grown to love. Besides, Hime looks like a little girl, so there’s nothing really to be desired. But before we move on, numerous readers (including myself) have asked, “what in the world is a ‘bund?’” lucky for us, the manga explains in the middle of the story and gives a nice little description:

Vampire Bund: Bund refers to an embankment or embanked quay, and comes from the Urdu word, “band,” which in turn in related to the German word bund (“federation” or “union”) and the English words bind and band. A famous waterfront area in Shanghai, China is also named, “The Bund.” In all cases, bund is a term used to describe some sort of colony or collective  and as such a Bampire Bund would be an area (in this case a man-made island) set aside for vampires to live on [and stay segregated away from humans permanently. An island for vampires only]. (DIVB Manga)

So in short, the bund is the VIP for vampires. But before we can even delve into the vampire thing, we must go back to where almost every other anime show starts: high school. Enter Akira Kaburagi. The last name isn’t particularly important, but this individual’s first name ends up being the topic of discussion nearly half the time, but not in a bad way. Let us just say Akira has his fair share of haters early on in the story. Akira for the most part is sort of a slacker, but doesn’t prevent most of the student body from liking his friendly personality. A cute girl named Yuki is no exception and puts herself way out there by asking him out, a bit of a taboo. Unfortunately, Akira can’t acquiesce to her request. You see, Akira comes from an extensive lineage of unique “servants.” These servants just so happen to be werewolves, and so does Kaburagi. Kind of contrary to the usual thing often seen in the media, werewolves serve vampires and have a special relationship with whom they serve. Akira just so happens to serve the most badass lolita vampire in existance and I gotta say it’s a wonderful combination. It’s time to meet Mina Tepes, also known as “Hime” (princess). Being one of the final pure blood (and female) vampires around, she’s DEFINITELY powerful, but can’t do everything herself.

The funny thing is Akira and Mina met when they were little and made a pact to always be together -- emotionally and physically. During the first couple chapters, Akira and the princess get reacquainted, followed by some comical bickering (which happens all through the story). Now being the big wig she is, Hime’s life is constantly “in danger” since many people want her killed. The first chapter consists of Akira trying to cover Hime while she does some dirty work of her own. It’s definitely a small treat. After getting out of danger’s eye, it’s time to go to the bund. I bet by now you’re half wondering, “how was the bund built…?” I’ll tell you! I forget the exact number, but to summarize, Hime decided to ball harder than Lil Wayne and toss in some chump change to cover Japan’s debt (or as a loan, I forget). No biggy, just a mere 1,000 TRILLION yen…or 8.2 TRILLION U.S. Dollars. After throwing Japan its bone, she gained the right to basically do whatever she wanted, including build her own district.

Mina-san even interviews with the human race to let everyone know whats going on. But will everyone REALLY find out she’s a vampire along with the people who’ll be on the island? It seems like it would be easy enough to figure out, but the manga holds a very interesting surprise regarding it. Deviating a little from the storyline, one thing I enjoyed about this read was that it has a nice “bleach element” to it. By that, I mean what you see is NOT what you get. It’s just so entertaining to me because there are quite a few bad guys (and hot bad girls) who have a second form. Yeah, blondes aren’t the only ones who know how to have fun. After various attempts on Hime’s life, the subject of her and Akira’s romantic life comes up. It’s painfully apparent they care for and arguably love each other, but supposedly, this is “against the rules.” Fact is, Mina Tepes, the princess of ALL vampires needs to marry another male vampire of pure blood. Sadly, the vampiric race has  slowly been dying out and the need to keep the legacy going is absolutely necessary. Both parties know this, but don’t really know what to do about their feelings. The whole situation is so troubling, it’s palpable.

Later on, after various miscellaneous antics of evil vampires with their own agendas (which I’ll let you read or watch later), the moment of truth comes when Mina must choose a suitor. As I’m sure you can guess, she is conflicted beyond belief. To fix the emotional standstill, the three suitors make a friendly bet of which the terms you’ll have to figure out. The only hint I’ll give you is that it involves Akira. Who will emerge victorious and win Hime’s hand…? Only time will tell since the manga is ongoing. If you want to dive in, be prepared for 31 long chapters of a great story.

Outlook: When I see the trailer, EVERYTHING from the manga I also see. The only difference is in the comic, a maid rips off that soldier’s head instead of Hime herself. But the whole point of an anime is to deviate a little bit. Unless we’re doing a show like Full Metal Achemist: Brotherhood…which I need to catch up on like rrrriiiiggghhttttt now. Dance in the Vampire Bund will most likely have a couple important characters die that didn’t die in the manga along with maybe one or two extra characters I really wanted to get to know. Mind you, these are stipulations, but things I sincerely think will happen. Oh, by the way, there’s a character who changes into a wolf, is good with shotguns, from the U.S. AND HAS A BELT EXACTLY LIKE AN X-MEN BELT. Honestly, I don’t know what the artist was trying to pull, but it looked like The Beast snuck into Vampire Bund. But that aside, prepare for oodles of action, a lot of VERY annoying villains and some emotionally engaging scenarios. I promise you won’t be disappointed. When a new trailer or online episode comes out near the 7 or 8th of January, I’ll be sure to review the first episode even if it’s raw.

Story: 10/10
Art: 10/10
Pacing: 10/10
Length: 10/10
Unpredictability: 9.5/10
Ending: (still ongoing, but I’m liking the direction so far)

Total Grade: A+ or 10/10

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