Dance in the Vampire Bund. An intriguing tale of vampires, humans and werewolves. The story centers around a society of vampires lead by the vampire Queen and Princess of an ancient covenant, Mina Tepes. Through political, financial, and business means Mina Tepes has founded a Vampire Bund in Japan; bringing vampires out from the shadows and straight to humans’ awareness.

The story mainly focuses on Princess Mina Tepes, who appears to be nothing more than a adolescent girl; her personal servant/bodyguard Akira Kaburagi Regendorf, a werewolf member of the Earth Clan; and Yuki Saegusa; a human girl who befriends the Princess and has a crush on Akira.

Vol. 3 Cover (pub. Seven Seas)

The plot is an engaging one that holds your attention and draws you in. Vampires are typically thought of as an embodiment of lust and seduction; so I can understand (to an extent) why there is so many suggestive scenes. While I’m not usually the type to go for the slightly more perverted titles nor for vampires; Dance in the Vampire Bund is not just pointless “ecchi-ness.” Okay… So a little pointless. Randomly ripped shirts in pervy places and the Princess changing and undressing for no apparent reason… All-in-all it’s got a bunch of male-targeted fan-service. At least boobs aren’t randomly popping out of bras while filling up the whole screen.There are two things that bug me about this series. The lesser being the “choppy” or “jumpy” animation style. Five seconds focused on a pen, then the chalkboard, then a face, then a red screen flash, then— It gets a little A.D.D. for me. It’s something overlook-able in my book, though.

The other, more significant, thing is how Mina Tepes is showcased even though she has an immature physique. Sometimes she verges on exhibitionist. Blatantly changing in front of Akira, having him help her apply the vampire equivalent of sunscreen, or wearing a series of streamers and dancing around (as seen in the opening sequence). The only reason I can conjure up for this is that she’s more or less trying to remind herself and others that she’s not a child. As a vampire she’s “trapped” in a child’s body even though she’s mature on the inside. That she too has a sensual side and is mature enough to show it. She also wishes for Aikira find her attractive. Quite often, in the beginning of the series, she is reminded and offended by her young body when Akira tells her how he wouldn’t be attracted to a child’s body (Hopefully the viewers aren’t either). Weird to watch? Yes. Reason for it? Maybe…

Vol. 5 Cover (pub. Seven Seas)

Currently, the manga is being published by Seven Seas Entertainment, LLC. and has been released up to volume six. Volumes seven through ten are planned over the next couple of years. Unfortunately, I have not read Seven Seas’ version of the manga so I can’t say if it’s edited or what it’s like. I’ll cover the manga when I acquire a copy of it. From what I’ve seen via Google, the manga is just as suggestive as it’s anime adoption.

Funimation acquired the rights to Dance in the Vampire Bund. Shortly after annoucing the acquisition Funimation released another announcement stating that Funimation would release Dance in the Vampire Bund in an altered form by editing out, “inappropriate for U.S. viewing and are not essential to the storyline.” In truth I half/half agree. In the anime there are many scenes showcasing Mina Tepes in a suggestive manner that technically doesn’t serve a significant purpose; save for one (plausible) one. My thoughts on that in a bit.After monitoring fan feedback from fans Funimation yet again addressed the editing of the potentially “controversial elements” in the series. This time they said that bearing in mind consumer feedback they will consider releasing unedited versions of the series for the home editions. “Funimation is — as always — committed to bringing the best anime content to the United States in its unedited form on home video.” as said in the statement from Funimation. Only a limited number of episodes have been released in Japan so far and after reviewing the available episodes Funimation has decided to continue their edits for the streaming episodes as well as any television broadcasted episodes; while leaving the final decision of edited or unedited pending. Makes sense, right?

Funimation has decided to edit out the parts of Dance in the Vampire Bund that they feel really don’t really add anything special to the plot, might actually offend viewers, and doesn’t really play nicely with the U.S. Law. Currently, episodes 1-4 are streaming subbed via Funimations site and have been edited. Before even being allowed to watch the TV-MA rated episodes you must verify your age. I watched a few fansubbed episodes and the streamed versions to compare the differences. Right off the bat I can tell you they’ve cut scenes and blurred Mina’s flat chest.

Sample of Funimation's Edit

I pose some questions to fellow fans of anime out there:

“What do you (fellow otaku) think? Should Funimation leave it alone?” Do you think that by altering it it will lessen your urge to buy it/watch it? I’ve already read some forum threads and various other comments calling for an unedited version saying basically that people who would be offended should just “turn a blind eye” if they’re not interested in it and release the unedited version anyway.

“Will this lead to less sales and more leeches?” Will, because of the editing, the watching of illegal fansubs increase and the revenue that Funimation makes lessen? There’s already been scanlators and scanlation readers who complain that they “need” to read the scanlation in order to get the authentic product.

“Do you think that editing a series for a more western audience is good or bad?” It’s painfully apparent that Japan and America have completely different standards for what’s acceptable and what’s not. I don’t have to have visited the nation to know that much.

SOURCES:
Wiki’s Dance in the Vampire Bund page
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_in_the_Vampire_Bund

AnimeNewsNetwork
- http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=10948
- http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-03-05/Funimation-addresses-dance-in-the-vampire-bund-edits
- http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-03-10/funimation-comments-further-on-vampire-bund-edits

Seven Seas Entertainment, LLC (gomanga.com)
- http://www.gomanga.com/manga/danceinthevampirebund.php

Dance in the Vampire Bund Official Site (Japanese)
- http://www.vampirebund.com/

Funimation’s Dance in the Vampire Bund Site
- http://Funimation.com/vampirebund/

I admit. I’m pretty particular about my manga. Art, story, even down to the choice of fonts— I’m a stickler when it comes to manga. Which is why I usually overlook BL. In the Walnut passed my expectations of a BL manga and delivered something pleasantly unexpected.

Though the art is not the most detailed nor is it refined to perfection; in no way does Toko Kawai (Cut, Loveholic, Our Everlasting) disappoint readers. Everything is drawn and laid out in such a way that they convey every emotion effectively from serious to sad, from flabbergasted to sexy. If you’re looking for a work or art, or just a story about people and works of art, this is it.

Light on it’s toes, In the Walnut, follows the story of two main characters. Sohei Nakai, a spunky and energetic film student who either is whining her forgot his camera or always has it rolling fixated on his favorite subject; his lover boy Hideo Tanizaki. Hideo Tanizaki steals a little more spotlight than Nakai since he is the recent owner of the art gallery his deceased grandfather left behind; called “In the Walnut.” Tanizaki takes on some risky jobs, but knows fully well what he’s getting himself into since Tanizaki himself is a painter. Nakai may be completely clueless when it come to the famous works of In the Walnut deals with, but his clueless was on par with mine so no question about the artworks was left unanswered.

There are three stories that Toko Kawai centered around the gallery and a specific art pieces or a certain art style. There are also extra bonus chapters that delve into Tanizaki’s and Naik’s past showing how the two met back when they both attended art school. For those of you who are like me, the artist’s comments and afterwords are also included and deliver a little insight into the thoughts and tales behind the chapters.

The plot alone carries itself with dignity and resists the urge to hit you over the head with pointless male on male love and affection. It also spares you from the over drawn out drama that some BL titles come with. Personally, I find this to be a great balance of an interesting plot and just enough flirting to satiate the fangirl in me. Each of the three main chapters follows a character, other than our two protagonist, and a piece of art which the characters have their own motivations or ties to. I really enjoyed seeing the stories progress.

Overall, I was completely pleased with In the Walnut Vol. 1 (There’s a volume 2?!). The art was well done, the plot was interesting, and for my first time reading a title using eManga.com‘s site— I kinda liked it. That’s another review, though. ~_^

What you can expect from me is not just simple opinions, but as in-depth as I can possibly get with everything backed up by facts or good old fashioned logic. The internet is vast and I intend to pick it apart. I will not only tell the drawbacks of something, but I will also focus on the positives. Both sides of the coin (even though sometimes one side may be stronger than the other). I will give you the whole picture based on what I’ve seen and what I think.

I’m no web genius so don’t expect anything too fancy from this page. Sorry. I’m pretty much a part time artist who just can’t bare to keep quiet. XP

Well, then. Allow me to get somethings started, written, and we’ll get cracking. Yes?

Thanks for reading thus far!