Director: Itsurô Kawasaki
First Aired: 2025
Contain spoilers
I previously reviewed the live action version of this and this time it is the turn of the anime series. A note about the name, the construction of the name varies dependent on source and the name is not actually words in Japanese, more sounds playing against the word vampire. I have used the title as per the box of the Malaysian DVD set.
I should also say that the live action had an aspect that made me uncomfortable – the relationship between vampire Ranmaru Mori (Daisuke Namikawa) and fifteen-years old protagonist Rihito Tatsuno (Yûsuke Kobayashi) felt not unlike grooming. The vampire finds virgin blood of an eighteen-year-old boy tastes the best and has been working at the Tatsuno family’s bathhouse for a decade, after the boy helped him when close to death, with the intention of drinking from him when he turns eighteen.
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| Yûsuke Kobayashi as Rihito |
From this derives the main plot, with Ranmaru trying to ensure Rihito remains pure and misreading those around them (so he decides that Rihito’s crush, Aoi Shinozuka (Mayuko Kazama), has a mutual crush on Rihito when she actually has fallen for the vampire, for instance). Whilst it was uncomfortable in the live action it was centred on blood. In this he repeatedly has a visceral sexual reaction when considering that moment, making this feel seedy and unsavoury in places. The making a joke of this reaction felt off as well, and served to undermine the general humour that worked well within it.
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| Akira Sekine as Kaoru |
The basic storyline is virtually identical to the live action but it is enhanced with additional situations – though the gags through the series run very much at one level, Ranmaru’s misreading of situations and the impact on relationships. It also has an additional main character in the form of Kaoru Yamaba (Akira Sekine), a gyaru girl who seems generally aggressively misandrist (understandable given the portrayal of her father) who seems, to Ranmaru, to be bullying Rihito but actually is crushing on him and doesn’t know how to express it.
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| vampire fight |
Towards the end the series brings in Nagayoshi (Yuichi Nakamura) – Ranmaru’s brother and fellow vampire, who is a violent, bloodthirsty vampire who hates his sibling. Though this is quickly resolved the additional lore aspects outlined are worth mentioning. Nagayoshi looks the same age as Rihito but he is the elder brother – abstaining from blood has caused Ranmaru to age to his early twenties appearance. The main lore aspects we get early on are the impact of direct sunlight, the need for invitation (breaking this to pull someone through a window causes Ranmaru’s arm to burn), a special poison that vampire hunters carry and a stake through the heart killing. Nagayoshi has consulted the internet and is repelled by garlic and crosses, having read that online, despite them not affecting Ranmaru – indeed Ranmaru holding his arms out to form an effective cross actually happens.
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| the euro-vampire |
The only other lore to mention is, as in the live action, Ranmaru looses his arms in battle and they are able to act independently before reattaching. The animation style feels retro (kindly, some might say dated). Some of it is strangely “less anime” than the live action – when we meet Franken (Taku Yashiro) the imagery is much more normal than the very anime moment in the live action film. The end of the series has the European vampire who originally turned Ranmaru arrive in Japan again, indicating the direction for a second season. What pushes this down for me is the very sexual grooming element, which is simply uncomfortable and not really a suitable joke matter. I could get past it in the live action but the visceral character reaction made this less palatable. 5.5 out of 10 reflects that, despite this, there is still a watchable anime at the heart of the series.
The imdb page is here.
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