First Look: Vampire Dormitory

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Alternative title(s): Vampire Danshiryou
Manga Adaptation by Studio Blanc.
Streaming on Crunchyroll

Premise

Orphaned as a young child and shuttled between indifferent relatives, Mito Yamamoto, a girl disguising herself as a boy for Reasons (?), is now a teenager with no family, no home, and no job. When she is saved one night by Ruka Saotome, a vampire in need of a thrall, Mito readily agrees and begins her new life living with him in Hijirigaoka Boys’ Academy dormitory. However, when she discovers that Ruka cannot drink from girls and was therefore seeking a male companion, Mito seemingly has no choice but to keep her true identity a secret.

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Artemis’ verdict: Ouran High School Host Club Meets Diabolik Lovers But Somehow Boring

Looking for some more reverse-harem in your life, but also with a vampire setting instead of just your usual contemporary high school hijinks? Don’t look here – Vampire Dormitory has the cross-dressing of Ouran and the admittedly-nowhere-near-as-awful “sexual tension” (scare quotes fully necessary) between human and blood-sucking vampire of Diabolik Lovers, and yet somehow, it still ends up dull as ditchwater. I truly don’t have much to say about this one – it’s not offensively bad, it’s just… there, doing absolutely nothing that numerous other reverse-harem and vampire anime haven’t done time and time again, and doing it with stunning mediocrity. For anyone who’s that hard up for vampire harems, I’d recommend going with  Dance with Devils instead. You’ll get singing Pomeranians!

Jel’s verdict: Girl, you can do better

I don’t really have much to add, I just want to second the recommendation to watch Dance with Devils instead. It’s been nearly ten years and it remains undefeated as the best one of these shows. Alternatively, if you prefer pretty girls instead of boys and/or just want a much better take on this kind of vampire love story, I will recommend Call of the Night. But serious Dance with Devils

2 thoughts on “First Look: Vampire Dormitory

  1. Yeah, I kind of had the same take on this one. But for me I kept thinking that Kamisama Hajimemashita (Kamisama Kiss) did it better. The female lead was more fun, the dark brooding male lead had more character, and the story was just more interesting. I like paranormal shojo, and VD had all the right elements, but all the parts just weren’t put together very well.

    • It did seem very much a hodgepodge of tropes all glued together, didn’t it? I don’t mind some of the story elements on their own, and there’s a way to do even cliche things right, but this just wasn’t it.

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