(L) Dance in the Vampire Bund

[ac3y]

I sort of want to facepalm at another show about vampires AND werewolves. But it's alright, this episode made me want to keep watching the show, after that really sketchy first episode.

This episode was definitely leagues better than the first in terms of visuals. However, there's still that strange "hazy" look to everything, and the colours don't seem to be very vibrant. Further, in the scenes that take place in the dark, it's hard to see much of anything. Now that might be the look that they're going for, but it's hard to catch action scenes when you can barely see what's going on.

Two more things:
SHAFT really does like to put roman numerals in circles over everything.

Does anyone get a Horo vibe from the way Mina talks? Cause I sure do.

[dreamingxashley]

I like this series so far, but I would like it a hell of a lot more if Mina wasnt a loli... >.>

[Nosauz]

Originally Posted by Jhono1

As a manga reader , I usually dislike it when they completely change the plot (I'm looking at you Kurokami). Not so in this case, where the producers actually have a managed to make a decent manga much more interesting. The first episode was quite innovative except for the useless monster in the end, and episode 2 built upon that, again excluting the worthless monster.

One of the best shows this season for sure, so far anyway.

sorry but monster of the week does not beat any of the action in volumes 3+. I just have a feeling that when most people talk about the manga they just haven't read the manga at all, because this setup for a highschool based dance is somewhat boring, just get ready to see rehash of countless romcom tropes.

[billborden]

Originally Posted by Nosauz

sorry but monster of the week does not beat any of the action in volumes 3+. I just have a feeling that when most people talk about the manga they just haven't read the manga at all, because this setup for a highschool based dance is somewhat boring, just get ready to see rehash of countless romcom tropes.

Considering that the entire first story arc--after the intro--takes place in a high school, with the class president playing a major role; I'm starting to wonder if you actually read the manga. Really, you missed it?

[Fawx9]

Meh, a love triangle that involves werewolves and vampires in a highschool setting.

I swear I haven't heard of this at all before...

It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either, so it extends viewing life by 1 on the hopes that the romadrama gets dropped and something actually happens that's worth watching.

[Newhope]

I'am dropping it, after the frist 2 boring episodes i've got no faith in shaft doing anything even remotely interesting with the series.

[HayashiTakara]

You know what I don't get? Why did they take the amnesia path? Akira is suppose to know everything since he spent his entire life training...

[-Sho-]

Just watch ep 2 , like it ! So i'll keep with this one .
I think that for people who read the manga and are dissapoint , you can drop it cuz it won't please you . (i know what do you mean , i read first chapter )
We recognize Shaft's staff .
The OP was great and episode too .
They didn't censored Mina's tits lol maybe cuz it's so tiny ?
Anyway , looking forward for ep 3 .

[Nosauz]

Originally Posted by billborden

Considering that the entire first story arc--after the intro--takes place in a high school, with the class president playing a major role; I'm starting to wonder if you actually read the manga. Really, you missed it?

highschool arc was not about highschool at all, but instead was the intro for the other villians in the next arc. And it clearly wasn't a enemy of the week style, instead it was more of a horror style telling than a random monster. oh well.

[Ascaloth]

So, I marathoned the manga as far as I could, and I could totally see why the manga vets were hating on this series. But after hearing that the mangaka himself requested and participated in what appears to be an alternate retelling of the Dance storyline....?

Huh. Thaaat's an iiiiinnteresting approach.

I'll watch Episode 2 later in the day, and see how it goes.

[Midonin]

Stories are an incredibly mutable thing. If they're not changing within their own medium, it still makes sense they'd want to change in another. Just looking between drafts of some of my own work, I can note a few changes, some subtle, some huge, some that might be reincorporated. There's also the fact that even the authors must wonder about what direction their story can take if it went in another direction.

It could be the internet fandom I was raised in, it could be my own nature or any combination of factors, but it all ties into the point I'm making: until a story is complete, it is still a changing entity.

[Myname]

They should've just named it Dance in the Vampire Bund: Random Subtitle if it's going to deviate this much.

[Ashlotte]

Just because the original creator wished for it and had a hand in creating it doesn't suddenly make garbage any better...Learned that sad lesson at a young age watching Return of the Jedi and all that followed after it...

Eh atleast the episode did come closer to the spirit of the manga then whatever the first episode was meant to be...Probably wouldn't drop this even if I wanted to, but can we please ditch the "Monster of the week" nonsense atleast although I guess they don't have enough time for proper story arcs do they. *sigh*

[blitz1/2]

Originally Posted by Myname

They should've just named it Dance in the Vampire Bund: Random Subtitle if it's going to deviate this much.

If they do that, they should have also renamed Koihime musou as something else too.

[Sterling01]

I don't mind the changes made 'cause they kept loli nipples in.
Also while the manga is fun to read, it's not great storytelling.

Also how is it "Monster of the week" if they only did it twice so far?

[Nosauz]

Originally Posted by Sterling01

I don't mind the changes made 'cause they kept loli nipples in.
Also while the manga is fun to read, it's not great storytelling.

Also how is it "Monster of the week" if they only did it twice so far?

Well from the changes it seems like it's planning to go high school drama and monster of week esque "storytelling" which if u remember Cowboy bebop has been crucified for it's episodic nature, whereas in Bebop it made sense for the story to be somewhat episodic due to spike being a bounty hunter, but why would akira/mina every just face enemies one at a time.

Changing stuff is fine, but when there is very little semblance from source to adapatation then they really shouldn't have the same name. The name implies familiarity and in this case other than the character models, most of the characters don't even fit into the preestablished characters. The setting is the same, and the "look" is the same but that isn't reason enough to justify the naming of the series. At least do something like Negima!? if you want to explore and make sure that your not bait and switching fans or those interesting in the premise of the manga with something that clearly is billed so.

[Kaoru Chujo]

Originally Posted by HayashiTakara

You know what I don't get? Why did they take the amnesia path? Akira is suppose to know everything since he spent his entire life training...

Good question. For the sake of myth, I think. The myth of forgotten powers newly remembered makes Akira's dual nature of ordinary person and werewolf have more impact. And in order to get the promise scene earlier in the anime, since the story will probably never go beyond twelve episodes. And perhaps for some other reason they haven't shown us yet. We're not even sure yet whether the training will be part of this version of the story. In the anime, his powers may be more magical than learned. I can understand why you might not be satisfied with that, but I am.

For me, the great thing about this anime is how soaked with myth it is: vampires, werewolves, a powerful child, a forgotten past, a sudden transformation of the world, the sudden transformation of the hero, the monster guardian at the beginning of the hero's journey, a water-crossing like the River Styx leading to the underworld. This is not the ordinary world. Things happen quickly and strangely, almost in a dream-like way. The odd pacing of the show helps make it this way.

And Mina is a new kind of vampire, embodying a new kind of forbidden sexuality (more deeply and seriously than Hazuki in Shinbou's Tsukuyomi Moon Phase). When Bram Stoker's Dracula novel came out a hundred years ago, the violent but "normal" sexuality implied in that was just as forbidden as this form of implied sexuality is now. Vampire stories, when they work, lead us down into the unconscious, bringing forbidden darkness into the light.

Speaking in the psychologist C. G. Jung's terms, this is showing us our "shadow," our negative unconscious, in part so that we can see and deal with it, rather than leaving it unconscious, where it controls us without our knowing. Of course, from a more negative standpoint, this is also popular entertainment, which succeeds by vicariously satisfying our unconscious needs and impulses.

To me, anime is not as good for realistic situations as it is for myths. This anime is succeeding for me partly because it is framing the story in a mythic rather than a pseudo-realistic way.

[Darknemo2000]

I don't think the second episode was bad. It was pretty ok, definately better than the first crappy episode which frankly sucked hard.

I could still live without idiotic amnesia, new monster each week or still-shots, but it was an ok episode.

Is far from original content, but still brings some point of it. If you want to watch a real butchery you can watch Zero No Tsukaima where the plot was raped really badly, here they did not go too easy either, but seems like most important parts are still in.

[Master_Yoma]

Now its getting good after the first episode that went know where ep2 pick up really nice

[HayashiTakara]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

Good question. For the sake of myth, I think. The myth of forgotten powers newly remembered makes Akira's dual nature of ordinary person and werewolf have more impact. And in order to get the promise scene earlier in the anime, since the story will probably never go beyond twelve episodes. And perhaps for some other reason they haven't shown us yet. We're not even sure yet whether the training will be part of this version of the story. In the anime, his powers may be more magical than learned. I can understand why you might not be satisfied with that, but I am.

For me, the great thing about this anime is how soaked with myth it is: vampires, werewolves, a powerful child, a forgotten past, a sudden transformation of the world, the sudden transformation of the hero, the monster guardian at the beginning of the hero's journey, a water-crossing like the River Styx leading to the underworld. This is not the ordinary world. Things happen quickly and strangely, almost in a dream-like way. The odd pacing of the show helps make it this way.

And Mina is a new kind of vampire, embodying a new kind of forbidden sexuality (more deeply and seriously than Hazuki in Shinbou's Tsukuyomi Moon Phase). When Bram Stoker's Dracula novel came out a hundred years ago, the violent but "normal" sexuality implied in that was just as forbidden as this form of implied sexuality is now. Vampire stories, when they work, lead us down into the unconscious, bringing forbidden darkness into the light.

Speaking in the psychologist C. G. Jung's terms, this is showing us our "shadow," our negative unconscious, in part so that we can see and deal with it, rather than leaving it unconscious, where it controls us without our knowing. Of course, from a more negative standpoint, this is also popular entertainment, which succeeds by vicariously satisfying our unconscious needs and impulses.

To me, anime is not as good for realistic situations as it is for myths. This anime is succeeding for me partly because it is framing the story in a mythic rather than a pseudo-realistic way.

Well Akira is a werewolf by blood, he didn't learn it... for the sake of any spoilers, the vampire/spider already mentioned the Gaia Clan.

Which makes it even more... sure you can lose memory, but how do you forget your own species...