Dance in the Vampire Bund 5 – the Portrait of Mina

This is an episode filled with tension, drama and intrigue…is what I’d like to say. Truth is, for a high profile show, everything in this story seems underwhelming. Why doesn’t it grab me like it should? I’ve gotten over the misfired mockery in episode one and I’ve been enjoying Mina as a character – she’s charming, strong, crafty, and quite likable in many aspects. She’d be just fine if she weren’t so loli-fied. Then again, that’s the draw point of the show – having a loli-vampire with hundreds of years of wisdom and brain power but acts like a little kid from time to time. Throw in some girly temper tandrum and fan service shots and you have a perfect moe-formula.

To be fair, there are strong tensions in this episode. Mina the queen VS the Prime Minister, Mina the jealous princess VS the Yuki, the childhood friend, and Mina the kind-hearted monster, who hates violence VS Mina the determined, who must get her way. The drama is certainly there. Did Mina order the vampires to attack the student president? It seems quite likely because she orders the kidnap of the prime minister’s grandson, or so it seems. However, she hasn’t shown anything about the disappearance of the student president, but she appears to be remorseful for the order of kidnapping the prime minister’s grandson.

The intrigue is there. There are other vampire factions inside the school and they are wrecking havoc on the relationship between humans and the vampires. It is far more likely that they attacked the student president out of fanaticism disguised as loyalty for Mina. They are probably the same group of vampires that attacked Akira and Yuki.

What is Miha’s role (the mysterious girl who unleashes her Musou Ougi with candy and kicks some vampire ass) here? Akira never told Mina about meeting Miha and Mina hasn’t said a thing about her.

Who’s the woman in the portrait and appeared to kiss Akira in the beginning? Mina’s mom?

The drama of Yuki and Akira being naked in the same room is also interesting to note.

I think I know why. I’ve found no memorable music pieces in this show. The soundtrack is severely underwhelming for me. The dialogue is also unimpressive so far. I’ve found no lines that stick out as memorable. The interactions among the cast is bland – I blame Akira for being a big part of the blandness – and there’s a lack of chemistry – I also blame him for sounding so out of it all the time. The narration isn’t doing it, either. Saito Chiwa’s voice is beautiful, but here, she’s only a supporting character. She performs better as an emotionally instable and vulnerable character, such as Louise in Gundam 00, or as an emotionally vulnerable girl that likes to tease, such as Senjogahara in Bakemonogatari. Aside from playing characters such as Becky in Pani Poni Dash or Hazuki in Tsukiyomi, her voice is low-key but brings pleasant surprises to my ears. In this show, however, her low-key style reduces her importance and I’ve been treating her as another plain harem character.

I hope it will surprise me or does something to change my mind. So far, the reactions around the blogsphere have been mixed on this one.

Author: Ray

I'm a hardcore Anime Fan and I'm proud of it. I know so many things and I've acquired so much knowledge you wouldn't believe. But my love is anime. I've been drifting in this world for so long that I don't even know what an anchor means. I've seen so many shows that I've lost count. The only thing I'm sure of myself is that I care for the lowly and disenfranchised. I hate the rich and powerful and I love what I do, or what I can do. I like anime and I don't mind watching different types of shows. I have experience in different types of Japanese animation. I would be called an "expert" in a bizzaro world. One day, I'd like to start a revolution. I love the US, pizza, beer, sashimi, Chinese food, and steak. But I love freshly baked bread more than a well-aged steak. In reality, if I were born Japanese I'd be a real, hardcore Otaku. I love to love and I can hate strongly. I'm passionate in nature and I don't mind shedding tears. I can be reached at rayyhum777 at animediet. My Twitter is rayyhum777 at twitter.

2 thoughts on “Dance in the Vampire Bund 5 – the Portrait of Mina

  1. I agree, I don’t believe Mina is responsible for what happened to Kaichou and I also don’t think she would hurt the kid. It’d only hurt what she’s trying to accomplish.

    As for who the woman was that kissed Akira, I believe that is one of Mina’s true forms.

Comments are closed.