Stepping back into Moonphase territory while simultaneously riding the resurgent interest in vampires, SHAFT and director Akiyuki Shinbo take on the adaptation of a manga infamous for its racy content and violent overtures. The first three episodes of Dance in the Vampire Bund demonstrate little of the latter and a lot of the former, sparing no expense in keyframing the vacuous male lead slathering neon green liquid onto the diminutive protagonist's naked body. It's uncomfortable for all the wrong reasons and coupled with the blindingly over-animated opening, the series projects itself as yet another tiresome indulgence by a studio producing more misses than hits as of late.
Mina Tepes is a vampire of some repute who, after introducing herself to Japan via the high-veracity medium of a late-night talk show, throws herself at schoolboy Akira before attending the school itself. It transpires that she and Akira have a history together and - what else - made a pinky-promise that despite his untimely memory loss, remains important to the confusingly twee vampire princess. When her life is threatened on the outskirts of the under construction vampire island, Akira comes to her rescue and regains some of his fractured memories, however his ordeal is not over when a school council plot to evict Mina from their school turns into a competition to detain the unwilling Akira.
The first episode of the show is told entirely through a fake talk-show, replete with advertisements and sponsorships, that so characterise Japanese evening entertainment - it's a brazen move and has echoes of the opening gambit by the emerging juggernaut Suzumiya Haruhi, and for the most part it works. The climax however fits more with common first episode disarray: a blurry orgy of the no doubt soon-to-be introduced cast and a glimpse at this series' particular breed of vampire powers. The first trio of episodes wisely stays away from an expository list of weaknesses these nosferatu have, instead opting for highschool hijinks that have all the continuity of the cat episodes in Code Geass but twice as mediocre. For a series of only a reported twelve episodes it spends the majority of its opening foretelling what is to come, with oblique portents of manoeuvring organisations and the ongoing construction of the titular bund.
The most pressing issue with the series so far is that it offers nothing above or beyond the well established vampire-werewolf mythology - that juxtaposition of species already overused; the audience already accepts that vampires are the frilly-collared aristocrats and werewolves the volatile, brawny proletariat. No single aspect is innovative enough to warrant the series existing in the first place, anyone with even a passing familiarity with any other western vampire incarnation - be that the ancient Bram Stoker's Dracula, the old Interview with a Vampire, the recent Underworld or the currently airing True Blood - will find little to engage with here. The trademark SHAFT/Shinbo bizarreness is only evident in the brief opening countdown and the episode title screens; animation is otherwise wholly imbalanced lavishing detail on the frequently disrobed Mina and remaining unspectacular elsewhere. Commendations are due however for avoiding the trappings of obnoxious tiny females: Mina Tepes sits neatly between domineering and submissive and, voiced by the vocally sublime Aoi Yuki, demonstrates enough frailty and concern to be intriguing if not yet entirely interesting.
The expectation that SHAFT would produce another typically SHAFT series was high, especially given the source material; what the studio has done however is produce a bland and uninspiring start. Its impact likely tainted by the over saturation of vampire and supernatural series currently suffusing the Western territories, Dance in the Vampire Bund is an easily watched and instantly forgettable series. Its later episodes may provide more draw if it has dispensed with the introduction of characters and grows a tangible story however only a loyalty to the studio, a vampire fixation or the unhealthy allure of young girls will dictate whether one's interest lasts that long.