Forum

Vampire Dormitory (TV)

Source: Manga (ongoing @ 13 volumes, by Ema Tōyama)

Demographic: Shoujo

Animation Studio: Studio Blanc

Genres: drama, romance, supernatural

Themes: crossdressing, school, vampires

Plot Summary: Mito, who has no family to rely on, lives on the streets, disguised as a boy. Ruka, a vampire, saves her from a perilous situation and makes her an offer: become his subservient thrall from which he can feed whenever he wants, and she can live with him—in the boys’ dorm. Because her very existence depends on her secret not being found out, every day is a new danger.

Air Date & Platform:
April 7, 2024 (Sunday)
Available on: Crunchyroll

Episode Count / Runtime: Pending

Episode 1

I was thinking that the main thing this show had was that it had a pretty boy involved in all the sensual vampire stuff, that I guess it could be something different I could get into. Even if he sounds particularly girly. But then at the last moment it is revealed that they are a girl.

I suddenly felt the inverse of that thing where certain people complaining about adding "gay stuff" into their straight media. Why are they adding straight stuff into the perfectly gay media? Pretty sure it is not some identifying thing either.

I guess it is still gay by the fact there is a bunch of girls apparently attracted to her crossdressing? I suppose some crossdressing could be okay. Maybe if it like ups the camp value. Reading the reviews made me think it could possibly be elevated if an English dub hammed up performances and gave her a more boyish voice.

I kind of enjoyed this. It seems like the show isn't going the route of the vampire being a cruel, cold-hearted bastard who will slowly fall under the spell of the helpless thrall. It's more like the vampire is all, "eww, girls are icky" but he isn't into inflicting pain or fear. I'll give this the 3 episode probation period.

Ewww, I already have too many anime to watch as is, so this seems like an early cut for me. Not bad by any means yet also no strong interest to see more.

Episode 2

I'm surprised how much I'm enjoying this. It's not doing anything particularly special but I'm digging it. Also surprised that so far, nobody is turning out to be a major a-hole. All the dudes are pretty likeable. I mean, they're all dense for not realizing that Mito is a chick because DAMN she is so girly, but whatevs...

Man, I thought this was going to be like Vampire Knight or something where everybody at school is vamps. But it's just Ruka and his butler/employer (and is that an odd relationship)? Unless the brunette bad boy/love rival is wrong and he's the only non-vampire and out of the loop.

Episode 3

I am still trying to figure out if this show is at least a little gay, or some element of a little homophobic for maybe implying the attracting/love is only there because she is a girl, or maybe even transphobic in some sort of essentialism of gender assigned at birth,

All the same I do want to enjoy, with me personally getting more joy from her in boy mode and getting all the flirty stuff.

Also, before I forget, the meme that keeps popping into my head.

I too had some of those "why am I getting funny feelings" from a cute guy like I would with some girls, and I don't think a reasoning of must secretly be a girl in drag is like the healthiest.

Ep 4 was a really weird one. First Ren kidnaps her from work. I'd presumed she wants to maintain the façade of being a boy, and yet without hesitation, she goes into a dress shop to try on clothes right in front of him. oO I guess the only conclusion is that she's comfortable with him thinking Mito likes to crossdress and he'll be okay with that. Ruka then storms in and pretty much confirms that acceptance. Which makes Mito's reluctance to tell him the truth start to ring hollow, since he's shown himself to be open-minded about such things.

Then they go on a group date and Mito is spirited away by one of the girls, with Ren and Ruka in hot pursuit, leaving Takara alone with the other three girls. If he didn't score a date with those odds, there's no hope for him. Smile

And Juri appears to be having some unrequited gay angst, but I'm not certain if it's Mito or Takara he's interested in. I thought it was Mito before, but now I'm not so sure.

And now Ren is having a Jekyll-Hyde meltdown? Or a chuunibyou episode? Indigestion?

I saw a comment that regardless of how feminine she might look, when you compare her to the other girls in the show she does look more like the boys.

Feel a bit silly that I was only now wondering why she hasn't just cut her hair to not have to wear wig, or really that long hair would give her away. But I guess that I realised I got dysphoria from short hair, so I almost get something.

The show continues to be confusing on a meta sense. Is it meant to be taken seriously?

I've never thought it was meant to be taken seriously, or at least that it doesn't take itself seriously whether viewers do or not (I could see a younger demographic totally buying into the fantasy in a serious way, I guess).

But Ep 5 was like 10 min of new content and 12 min of flashbacks, mostly to what we just saw a minute earlier. Got really tiring.

And the evil harassers could tell she was a girl after 30 seconds, while no one else around her can see it. A fine example of, what's that saying, "can't see the florist for the bees"? "can't see the purest for the sleaze"? "sawdust for the sneeze"? Something like that. Smile

I feel so dumb. I only thought of a morbing/morb joke this week, which totally killed me in being unable to take anything seriously. Get back Mito, he is starting to morb.

Also, a little of a taboo subject, but I read a comment that kind of destroys the immersion, because you would think she would be found out by a guy who she shares a room and bathroom with and can smell blood.

But what is not to love about the heart beating on the couch, and he waking up to Ren with his arm around her, with her choosing to wear his shirt as pyjamas?

I don't know that word. I tried to look it up, and found several possible meanings, so I'm not sure which one your joke relies on. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

And yeah, I thought how that wouldn't go unnoticed from the first day they became roomies, unless her emaciated state/overwork/anemia/whatever has caused her to cease menstruating.

And why does he have a heartbeat? Aren't vampires undead? I remember Spike singing "If my heart could beat it would break my chest" in "Rest in Peace" in the Buffy musical ep. Smile

Gina Szanboti wrote:

I don't know that word. I tried to look it up, and found several possible meanings, so I'm not sure which one your joke relies on. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I presume you mean "morb"? It was a meme that came out of making fun of the Morbius movie, regarding specifically the vampire main character losing control or about to do something cool. I have seen examples on Alucard to Anya, with the same impact of being silly in a character being so serious. The meme after all had Sony mistakenly believe it should re-release the movie in cinemas, not realising it is a joke.

It just feels right to reference this vampire series, which plays with being serious, to know that it is a bit silly. Is this show camp?

Gina Szanboti wrote:

And why does he have a heartbeat? Aren't vampires undead? I remember Spike singing "If my heart could beat it would break my chest" in "Rest in Peace" in the Buffy musical ep. Smile

Vampires need to spread blood in their body, right? I guess it depends on vampire fiction.

What for? They don't need to breathe (except to speak) so they don't need to circulate blood for oxygen. Osmosis, diffusion and magic probably takes care of that and the nutrients from ingested blood. Wink

Forum - View topic
Vampire Dormitory (TV).

Yura Urushibara's Tougen Anki Manga Gets TV Anime in 2025

This Week in Anime - Will We Ever Know Why Anime Get Cancelled?

Your Anime Rankings - Best of Spring 2024, Apr 1-28

The Spring 2024 Manga Guide

Producer Masakazu Kubo on Making an Anime for Hardcore Golf Fans

Bakemonogatari Manga Artist 'Oh! great' Launches New Manga

	Anime News Network Forum Index -> General -> Series Discussion	All times are GMT - 5 Hours Goto page 1, 2 Next
Page 1 of 2

Forum - View topicVampire Dormitory (TV).

Forum

Forum - View topic
Vampire Dormitory (TV).