Ever since the advent of Twilight, vampires are no longer a thing I would disregard for better aspects of the story they’re in. I’ve a biased doubt of vampires now; they hamper my ability to look at a series for what it is with neutrality.
Simply, vampires are too common in gothic series, too cliché; there are much, much too many instances of uses of vampires.
They don’t elicit fright and suspense as they did back in the days of Bram Stoker – these pale, mysterious, darkly romantic beings and their otherworldly romanticized weaknesses are now a stale dramatic device. We already know everything about them in fiction, their secrets, their habits – vampires are overrated.
Oh yeah, this is the epitome of Twilight. The vampire race is totally full of drooling-hot, ripped men like these.
This bias definitely ran through my mind as I watched Dance in the Vampire Bund – it was not a pilot that could’ve won my favor with some milked-dry vampire device.
And, post drum roll, I must say I was pleasantly surprised.
Alright, I’m just going to dive straight into the matter: quite a few found Vampire Bund’s decision to start with a game-show imitation jarring, if not something that made the pilot impossible to watch. Yes, the section certainly is very different, and I can understand if people find it too unsuitable for their tastes.
However.
I’m not going to say it was the greatest device, but I am once again going to hand out the ‘props for being different’ award that I so generously give out. Whether it captured attention or not, this unique bout at least managed to turn heads. It was certainly interesting, seeing a game show animated, and it was a realistic enough rendition to not appear silly.
Okay, this gag was inexcusable. but the rest is honest enough.
Recall Haruhi season one’s pilot, that at the time controversial parody of a homemade video. It was certainly a bold jab; though not entirely successful (many were turned away by what they thought would be the series’ true animation quality), it did, looking past all the money milking and the overratedness and that abominable second season gag that will not be mentioned, pilot one of the more enjoyable series of 2006. Yes, put away the hate for a second; Haruhi did manage to put fresh ideas onto the table, but getting to the point: this game show is akin to that video.
This was clever. How the undeniable truth of a real vampmeleon before everybody metaphorically outweighed all the non-believers.
A unique, semi-successful pilot that, to its credit, doesn’t last the entire episode. Maybe the developers learned something from Haruhi, and had the action stroll in the latter portion of the episode.
But I definitely cringed every time they said “PUUT. IIN. DA BAARANSU”
Personally, I found the game show more entertaining than cringeworthy. If one considers the directive of this episode, portraying societal skepticism of this series of vampiric attacks in the form of a game show and then using it as the gateway for the vampires to announce their existence with grandiose, then the pilot largely succeeded; at least, with the former.
Oh, oh! Over here! I doubt you! *tears open collar*
The developers did manage to emulate a casually real game show that kept viewers interested – after all, a game show on vampires would at least be mildly interesting.
One may say, if you want to watch a game show, then watch a real game show, but that doesn’t quite fall in line with the directive. The point wasn’t to be a cheap knockoff of one, but to present a realistic, publicized reaction of an audience unwittingly exposed to the terror of vampires. Thus this can only be done with a game show; something that could almost act like a newscast, but kept viewers’ attentions. Also, I cannot fault Professor Ebikawa in presenting a few arguments against the unrealisms of vampires.
You have to give it to them for their relatively skilful manipulation of a certain device: suspense. Throughout the entire show the audience is made acutely aware of Mina the vampire queen’s presence in the audience.
Really, it was no secret; every viewer knew that she was the main character, the vampire queen, a real vampire. That is what raises a slew of questions – what she was doing in the audience of a show on the truth of vampires as a real vampire, what her plans were, why she was putting on an innocent façade, what did the presence of a fake vampire queen on stage mean, would there be some sort of confrontation – that kept the viewer wanting to know what happens, even if the game show was uninteresting to them.
Bella-Tooth? Really guys? Well, subtlety definitely isn’t her middle name…
I read the manga as well, and found it pretty good; I won’t go in depth, but it’s certainly a bar for the anime to live up to. This is where a divergence for me stands; while I do think the way the manga starts the story to be superior dramatically (yes, the anime and manga do start differently), I don’t think that opening should’ve been adopted by the anime version. It’s well executed in art, but ultimately it’s the story of a boy who holds a sinister secret – lycanthropy variety – that disallows him from going out with the girl that confesses to him. He finds himself thrown into a situation with some impactful vampire, and they become intricately related. That’s actually Rosario to Vampire right there, minus the confessing. Animated, it would give off a vibe of déjà vu too strongly, and that is why I concede to the anime pilot.
DRAGON DRAGON BALL
This man’s name is Wolfgang. You didn’t honestly think it’d be something else.
I’m 99.99% sure that Edward’s real form is that of a platypus. The other 0.01% is if he just starts glittering again.
Well, I suppose I must come clean: here’s my bias in it all. The pilot ending, comparative to an old, fond, Starcraft memory; the last Vanilla Starcraft Terran campaign cinematic, where Acturus Mengsk declares his sovereignty at the throne atop his newly formed Terran Dominion.
When I heard Mina’s declaration that she would build a ‘vampire country’, the crescendo of music and the articulation in her voice acutely reminded me of Mengsk’s iconic speech.
“I’m not a tyrant, but I can’t afford to be merciful. Whatever it is necessary to do, I will do it.”
Yes, I’ll definitely say that in no way is the magnitude of Mengsk’s awesome articulation and delivery rivaled by Mina’s ramblings atop the roof of the studio – but simply reminding me of that tender childhood memory earns extra brownie points in the Book of Ningyo.
And if you pay some attention, you’ll find the two do actually share more in common than logic would dictate, from the crescendos – Starcraft did this much, much better, but still – to the use of television static. It rekindles my old love for the Dominion and transposes it onto Mina. Long live the queen.
AND FROM THAT THRONE, I, shall watch over you.
The Mina personality-duality in the manga stung a little too hard of Rosario to Vampire though. And yes, for that matter, Mina does indeed spend 90% of all important plot points stark naked/wearing some sort of veil.
Ningyo
P.S. Flying kisses to those who even realized there was a dystopian novel reference.
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January 11th, 2010 at 9:12 pm
Edward is a glittering boil filled with pus.
The chances are 123%
January 12th, 2010 at 5:24 am
Lols, you even tagged Mozart. xD And yes, vampires are so overrated, can’t believe they got me on the bandwagon for a while. On second thought, no, I CAN believe it. xD
January 12th, 2010 at 4:59 pm
Ok darling, i fu.. love your writing!! Woups, i overreacted to the beauty of your speech :D
Talking about the show itself i enjoyed it, i wasn’t bored nor i was thinking “damn that suck”.
I agree with you when you say that vampires are overrated. We know everything about them and nothing related to vampire surprised me in a long time.
But for a dark reason i still like them, the fact that the ultimate ruler of all vampires would be a little hot girl with tremendous power is enough to made my blood boil with excitement :D
And damn, i lol’d so hard when you issue a comparison with Starcraft and Mengsk. That’s the most unexpected thought i have seen on the web in a long time ha ha :D
Well anyway, this show has a enormous potential for me and if they ruin it with some dumb trivial shit we’ve already seen a million times i’ll never forgive them !!!
Wooow i got overemotional here sorry ;-)
January 12th, 2010 at 5:50 pm
Well you already know how I feel on the subject, so I’ll just say a little bit. Vampires…yes overrated, but there are always “new” ways to do things. Like “soul reapers,” that’s generally an old idea, but made anew with different terms, and shows. The same with Bund. I like how all vampires have a “true” form, along with the traditional stuff. But the gameshow was just stupid, just my opinion. I’ll be writing a post on it later after I get the other reviews out the way.
Anyways, I strongly agree anime should use a different opening and fairly different story than the manga, unless it’s a TRUE adaptation like Brotherhood or DBZ Kai. But let’s think about it; so many other openings could have been used. Daring is great, but use the BEST kind of daring. Gameshow is bland and boring. Why not an intense battle (a little cliche, but safe), or something like Elfen Lied. A LOT of bloodshed, or maybe even someone dying. Hell, I don’t know.
Maybe starting it out through the eyes of a villain who was killed my Mina, and show him getting killed in the end…I don’t knowwwwwwwwwwwww :P
And if there weren’t only 12 episodes, I might have been a little more easy-going, but come on…..we don’t have time for this…literally. They just wasted 1 episode. I suppose think about it like this: was there anything in this episode that couldn’t have been relayed in another one? No. The true introduction was only 5 minutes worth of material combined…
January 12th, 2010 at 8:27 pm
Agreed. Credit must be given for an unconventional pilot.
It’s only been one episode so I don’t want to make up my mind yet on the merits of the series, especially since I have high hopes for it.
Who knows? Maybe this pilot will prove to be a brilliant beginning to setting the tone and the world later.
January 13th, 2010 at 6:57 am
wow…..so stereotypical the storyline. Why does the vampire always have to be a female and a werewolf a male. When was there ever a woman werewolf in here-_-
yaeh, vampires are a bit overrated to a certain degree, to the point where they are immortal and all powerful. But i just realized, if they were to show up and live with the world, won’t they die from the sunlight?
January 13th, 2010 at 3:49 pm
@NanoPulp
…Urgh, that’s… Well, Bella’s expression would be priceless, at the very least. And then maybe somebody could just pop the fruitcake.
@RamORawr
It’s okay Ramono. I can totally believe it too. And I had to. Wolfgang Amadeus is simply the classiest, most romanticized name ever. If I didn’t hate little boys so much I’d name my son that.
@Katsura-chan
Oh no, by all means, feel free to react freely. My goal in life is to write a prose so beautiful it causes everyone who reads it to quiver in an apex of orgasmic pleasure. I’ll get there one day. Just one of my goals though. Another would be to visit all those dear anime settings in Japan.
Ahem, I digress. Well, past all the stereotypes vampires still possess a degree of charm. Their gothic, delicate beauty has probably already been immortalized by pop culture. I’d say that’s a good thing.
And Mina does definitely make my blood boil with excitement. There was one thing I forgot to mention, which is that I found Mina’s seiyuu to be very impressive. It’s probably why she reminded me of Mengsk.
Yes, it has much potential for me as well. Exceeding it would be a tall order, but I want it to at least live up to its manga counterpart. And as I always say, be as emotive as you want in comments. It’s what makes honest comments :)
@FaS
Yes, there are certainly always new ways to do things. The true forms were nifty, but it bothered me a little that they didn’t gain a tremendous increase of power in their true forms. A bit more strength, stamina and manoeuvrability, yes, but nothing game changing. As a (partial) shonen fan, it just seemed dramatically wrong. Oh well, I did award them for that. *applies ‘not bad’ sticker*.
The game show was stupid. The more I think about it, the more stupid and illogical it is, so I stopped thinking about it to spare myself. I already applied the ‘rewarded for attempt’. For me though, the for me though, the suspense as to why Mina-hime was in the audience they held throughout the show and the romantic drama of Mina’s hair swaying in the wind atop the studio, her seiyuu excellently intoning her declaration of the Bund made it up to me. The pilot wasn’t a bad experience, and minus the game show there were parts that really catered to me.
Rather, series that start with intense battles are often too chaotic for my tastes, unless it’s a thoughtful instance of in medias res. And really, the fact that it’s a cliché doesn’t allow it to stack very well in my books.
Well, as Yi said, ‘Maybe this pilot will prove to be a brilliant beginning to setting the tone and the world later’. As long as they got the bund across and inserted some tactful drama, it wasn’t an entire waste.
And now that I’ve given myself the idea, I really should start making some patented Ningyo stickers.
@Yi
My sentiments exactly, and you phrased the pilot possibility wonderfully. Now that I’ve finished the manga I’m almost afraid to give it high hopes though, in fear that it may not live up to it. We’ll see.
@mat
Well, it’s character types are stereotypical, but it’s so far doing rather well with the storyline. Not every day that you see a bund of vampires. Unless somebody quips a remark about Transylvania.
And that all really has to do with today’s society’s perception of the genders; the ‘best’ of men are tough, burly, superbly muscled, loyal, single-minded and determined – all traits that coincide with the werewolf. Likewise are traits that dictate vampires being female; slight, elegant, refined, sophisticated, dark, reserved…
Still, a great many classical vampires are men. Recall the days of Nosferatu, Bela Lugosi as Dracula, Alucard. And of course, who’s to forget that Edward fruitcake fellow is a male >.>
Oh, and they address that in Vampire Bund too. Apparently the vampires invented an anti-sun gel that gives them immunity to sunlight for fifteen odd minutes. Also, they can protect their buildings by using polarized glass to make the windows, and the bund’s residential areas are entirely underground. All-to-convenient, yes, but I just went with it.
January 14th, 2010 at 7:12 am
Well, if not Wolfgang, I suppose his name could have been Dmitri and I wouldn’t have groaned any less.
January 21st, 2010 at 5:31 pm
A quick visit on your blog to thanks you for visiting Lylibellule.
Hard for me to comment on your posts since i’m months late with animes.
What’s certain is your speeches are impressive and well written. Bravo!
January 21st, 2010 at 7:14 pm
@2DT
Might as well be Jacob. That’d be delightful. Of course, he can ditch the fancy suit as well.
@Lylibellule
And much thanks for your visit. If that’s so, then I must thank you for finding something to say nonetheless, and your kind compliments. I was also very behind with the time’s anime series not long ago, but decided to catch up a little for the sake of the blog. It’s really alright for you not to catch up though, January doesn’t possess much stunning quality. If anything, just watch this season’s Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu and Kowarekake no Orgol when you’ve the time.
January 22nd, 2010 at 1:30 pm
@Ningyo : You’re welcome :) i’ll check on you on a regular basis and leave a comment from time to time :)
And as soon as i get some free times, i’ll follow you advices and watch.
I take this opportunity to ask you if you’re ok to do a banner or link exchange ?
January 22nd, 2010 at 8:04 pm
Sure. Added you already.
January 23rd, 2010 at 1:48 am
Hrmmm… I dunno about calling it a gameshow though… Isn’t it more like a talk show? Anyhow, now that I ruined that image and make you edit the whole post… Kidding, lol.
I read volume 1 of Bund a long time ago, so I don’t actually remember what happened, but I recall it’s pretty close to the second episode. I do know that the first episode is nothing like the first chapter. I think this episode came along because Shaft is doing the animation. It’s a bit odd, but I really cracked up when they introduced Nozomu Tamaki as one of the guests XD I’m really loving the “Dance with the Vampire Maids” segments at the end.
As for the vampires… when I picked up the Bund manga, I was pretty much sick of vampires at that point. The cover really attracted me to it even though it’s a vampire story (yeah, I know, I can’t resist half-naked loli vampire). And surprise, surprise, it’s become one of my favourite vampire stories! Even without the fan service, it’s a great story. I liked the last arc in the current N.A. release of the manga. I got annoyed because it had a cliffhanger between volumes, but the next one came out quickly, thankfully ^_^
Bund was the one I’ve been expecting for a while this season, especially when I first found out they were going to animate it. I’m surprised they actually got to animating it and with the “raisins” visible! Crazy!
January 25th, 2010 at 12:06 pm
Hmm, maybe that it is. I suppose it’s one of those ‘talkshows that have the atmosphere of a gameshow’ that seem to be of distinct Japanese origin. The second episode was actually still a little bit away from the manga, because Akira never had amnesia in the latter – which I found more effective. Amnesia is quickly becoming an overrated device as well…
I share your sentiments when I started Bund, as Twilight was plaguing every internet facet, but I didn’t allow it to affect my interpretation of Vampire Bund. Probably mostly because I can’t resist naked vampire loli either. And yes, she is naked. Half-naked sometimes, but generally naked.
I loved the most recently translated arc as well. Akira was the model MAN OF DESTINY, and one couldn’t help but cheer him on. He was awesome.
Well, you know what they say, the only thing better than a naked loli is an animated naked loli.
Wait, wh-