Dance in the Vampire Bund

Dance in the Vampire Bund
File:Dance in the Vampire Bund.jpg Cover of the English release of volume 1 of Dance in the Vampire Bund.
ダンス イン ザ ヴァンパイアバンド (Dansu in za Vanpaia Bando)
Genre	Supernatural, Romance
Manga
Written by	Nozomu Tamaki
Published by	Media Factory
English publisher	Seven Seas Entertainment
Magazine	Comic Flapper
Demographic	Seinen
Original run	June 23, 2006 – present
Volumes	7
Anime
Directed by	Akiyuki Shinbo
Studio	Shaft
Released	January 7, 2010 – present

Dance in the Vampire Bund (ダンス イン ザ ヴァンパイアバンド) is a supernatural romance manga written and illustrated by Nozomu Tamaki (環望, Tamaki Nozomu). The manga series is serialzied in Media Factory's seinen manga magazine Comic Flapper, and is licensed for an English-language release by Seven Seas Entertainment. The seventh volume is scheduled to be released in English June, 2010.

The plot follows the emergence of vampires into the human world, and how fear on both sides, changes the worlds status quo, as they come into conflict with those who desire peace.

An anime has been announced to be produced by Shaft.

Plot

The story revolves around Mina Tepes, princess-ruler of all vampires, and her "protector," Akira. Like other vampires, Mina has been in hiding with her people for many years. Seeking to end centuries of isolation, Mina gains permission to create a special district for vampires, "The Bund", off the coast of Japan by paying off the national debt of the Japanese government. Mina then reveals to the world the existence of vampires and her desire for both races to live together. Tensions, however, run high as fearful humans and extremist vampire factions begin to interfere with Mina's wish for peace with the human world.

Characters

Main

Mina Tepes (ミナ・ツェペッシュ, Mina Tsespesshu)

The story's protagonist; she is the current ruler of the Vampire world. She usually appears in a young and prepubescent state, which is due to her status as a 'True Blood". She is not shy enough to feel embarrassed when naked. She can act aggressive, cocky, and haughty. However, she actually feels vulnerable and lonely. She cares very much for the welfare of her people and does everything in her power to protect and preserve her species. She also sympathizes towards the Fangless, creating a city underneath the Bund where they can live freely and without persecutions. It is revealed that she has been in love with Akira since first meeting him. Her soul's true form is a adult version of herself with wings. She wishes to have this form kept a secret, as that form's body is able to give birth where her current one cannot, and if the Nobles knew of this as she is the only female Pureblood vampire left, she would be highly sought after.

Akira Kaburagi Regendorf (暁・鏑木・レーゲンドルフ, Akira Kaburagi Rēgendorufu)

The male protagonist of the story. Akira is the son of Wolfgang, thus he is well trained. It is revealed that he had undergone a training for dogs to identify almost all explosives (though because it was only training for dogs he only learn how to sniff them out, not disarm them). He is a kind person, determined on protecting Mina who he is in love with.

In the anime, he lost all of his memories one year ago, and did not even know he was a werewolf until episode 2. It is later revealed he lost his memory due to failing a mission, and was allowed to live because of his importance to Mina.

Yuki Saegusa (三枝 由紀, Saegusa Yuki)

A human who seems to have a crush on Akira who also gave him a silver ring as a gift. She is Akira's classmate as well as a member of the Student Council, and for a time being the only member after the attack on Kaichou. She was at first frightened by vampires, believing them to be evil, but since she was the only member of the Student Council, as well as the council's room being trashed, she spent most of her time with Mina in her office. Through this she appears to gain a friendship with Mina, even inviting her to spend the night at her house, though also jealous that most of Akira's attention is focused towards Mina. She is also an amateur novelist, yet after Mina got a hold of what she was writing had it translated and unknowingly is very popular writer in the Bund. She later finds out and becomes very angry at what Mina did as she is embarrassed by her writing. It is suggested she writes yaoi with the protagonist based off Akira.

Vampires

Vampires, contrary to Werewolves, are highly evolved humans. Man's only predator. Most natural-born vampires are usually violent, gluttons for blood, and sexual deviants, but other vampires - mostly those that were transformed- choose rather to be one of The Fangless. The Fangless are vampires who removed their fangs to offset their bloody urges. (For a multitude of reasons including, but not limited to: protecting their friends, protecting their family, and/or to just maintain control of themselves.) There are the "True Bloods", vampire families that have not been tainted by mating with humans or being transformed. They are the most powerful of all the Vampires in the world, but are deathly restricted by tradition and codes of conduct when it comes to dealing with each other.

In the story line, the current vampire world is ruled by the royal family, the Tepes. However, there are only three "true blood" nobles left: Lord Rozenmann, Lord Ivanov, and Lord Li.

Royal Family

The Tepes are the Royal family that Rules over the Vampire world. Currently, there is only one member of the royal family left.

Lucretia (ルクレツィア, Rukuretsia)

Lucretia Tepes (Mina's mother) was the late ruler of the Vampire Kingdom. Not much is known about her except that she was killed by the Three Clans.

The Three Clans

The Three Clans consists of Lord Rozenmann, Lord Ivanov, and Lord Li. It is revealed that prior to the story, the three lords devoured the other noble clans and pursued the Royal Family. They succeeded in their campaign resulting in the extinction of the "true bloods" and the death of Queen Lucretia. However to keep the true blood line, one is to be married and bear a child with Mina, as she is the only true blood female vampire left. It is heavily suggested one or all of them are controlling the Third Kind, a terrorist group created to kill Mina.

Lord Rozenmann (ローゼンマン, Rōzenman)

Lord Rozenmann appears with an eye-patch over his left eye. He is first seen dressed in a white, western style, suit with a cape over his shoulders. He is the more outspoken lord out of the three.

Lord Ivanovic (イワノヴ, Iwanovu)

Lord Ivanov appears dressed mostly in black with a silver cross hanging from his neck. He also appears older and hunched over. Lord Ivanov has a very aggressive demeanor and looks more as the villain compared to the other two lords. His appearance is extremely similar to that of Rasputin.

Lord Li (李, Ri)

Lord Li appears dressed in oriental garb. He has a fan that he uses to cover his monstrous mouth. He rarely speaks, preferring to observe the conversation and only contributes when need be.

Others

Maids

Three maids that are often seen serving Mina. They are often featured in the omake chapters spreading rumors about Akira and are fans of Yuki's mangas. Though they are very strong, able to fight off an armed squad by themselves.

Nelly (ネリー, Nerī)

She has long chestnut colored hair and more cheerful of the three. She is a big anime fan, spending most of her time with Nanami, now that she is a maid, because she has glasses, big breasts, and is a student council president, considering that a "Triple Threat" in the anime world.

Nella (ネーラ, Nēra)

Recognized by having her hair covering one of her eyes. She always has a stoic demeanor but is a very caring person. Where after she gave a shot to a boy, which made him cry, she gave him a small teddy bear to make him feel better. She appears to work for Alphonse as well.

Nero (ネロ)

The maid with long black hair. She is very devoted to Mina, and hates Akira because he is always by her side.

Juneau Dermailles (ジュノー・デルマイユ, Junō Derumaiyu)

He is a high ranking noble who serves the noble family. However, his loyalty is just a facade as he despises Mina, working with Vampire Terrorists to have her killed. He also has a racist hatred towards Werewolves.

Vera (-tos) (ヴェラトゥース, Veratūsu)

First introduced driving Akira to the castle, where she impersonated Mina to test Akira's abilities. She is often assisting Mina with her office work as well as being her bodyguard. Akira has commented that she has a cute laugh.

Alphonse Medici Borgiani (アルフォンソ・メディチ・ボルジアーニ, Arufonso Medichi Borujiāni)

A carefree vampire who is loyal to Mina. He is easily recognized by his white suit and expensive car, a reason he doesn't like Bund is because the fake blood "Stigma" they spray by blimp always gets all over his car. He states he is a Lord and specializes in secretive dealing for Mina outside the public's knowledge. It was him who planned the transformation of Shoichi's grandson into a vampire for Mina to obtain leverage.

Humans that became Vampires

Nanami 'Kaichou' Shinonome (東雲 ななみ, Shinonome Nanami)

Also known as "Chairman" (会長, Kaichō), she was originally a stern, no nonsense human student who was against the idea of having vampires attend the school, seeing them all as evil. However, after staying at school late at night she was attacked by vampire's serving a vampire loyal to Mina, however doing so without Mina's knowledge. She served her because of the Master/Servant bond, but still served the opposition even after her master's death, being blackmailed by her secret love to Yuzuru, a young boy that was her next-door neighbor, to after she became a vampire was unable to control her lust for him, nearly raping him one night. After Mina defeated the enemy and Yuzuru confronted her on her feelings, he willingly becomes a vampire so he could live in the Bund with her. She later returns to her position as Student Council President, though in the omake reveals she also became one of Mina's maids. It is noted that she has a very keen eye for detail, noticing how the school was built to house vampires after discovering that Mina was the Chairwoman/Founder of the school (however this only happened in the anime, in the manga it was Mina who pointed this out). The maids refer to her as a shotacon after seeing Yuzuru.

Hikosaka (彦坂)

A cowardly student that was regularly bullied by his schoolmates, especially after Akira helped him pick up his stuff they fell on the floor, seeing that alone makes him a "traitor". He later becomes a vampire, seeming to love now that he is causing fear to people who bullied him. However, he soon sees that his life as a vampire is no different than when he was a human. After being confronted by Akira, he apologized for what he did before killing himself.

Yuzuru (ユヅル)

A young boy who was Nanami's next door neighbor. Because both their families were often not at home they would spend time together to where Yuzuru would refer to her as big sister. However, Nanami had a secret love for him, though suppressed these desires because she believed she should only have sisterly feelings for him. After Nanami became a vampire, he goes looking for her in the subways where he was nearly attacked by one, if Vera didn't stop him. He later goes to help Mina and Akira to save Nanami, where she blurted out her true feelings for him without realizing that he was there. After reciprocating these feelings, he allows himself to be turned into a Vampire by Nanami so he could live with her in the Bund.

Anime Only

Mei Ran

A Chinese vampire girl who is always seen eating hard candies, along with a audible biting sound where one is usually supposed to suck on such candy. She can also use said hard candies as a weapon, flicking them as if they were bullets. What she is up to is currently shrouded in mystery, but has helped Akira a number of times. She carries a replica pendant reminding her of a precious friend of hers which Akira recalls in his memories.

Werewolves

The Earth Clan (地の一族, Chi no Ichizoku) is a family of highly evolved wolves that have developed to look like men. They have been in the service of the Tepes family of vampires, particularly Mina Tepes, for generations; they act as the Tepes empire's military and special-ops units. They are born with stronger bodies than humans, keener senses of smell and sight, and (unlike vampires) can walk around during the day. Werewolves are also said to have extremely long lifespans. The protagonist, Akira, is the son of the head of the Earth Clan, Wolfgang, and a Japanese woman. Akira has been Mina Tepes' familiar/ #1 servant for nearly his entire life.

Wolfgang Regendorf (ヴォルフガング・レーゲンドルフ, Vorufugangu Rēgendorufu)

Current head of the Earth Clan and Akira's father. He takes his position as the head of Mina's security, the Beowulfs, very seriously. Though he doesn't show his emotions, he is proud of his son.

Seiji Hama (浜 誠児, Hama Seiji)

A police inspector in Tokyo. He is usually a good hearted guy but is a fierce fighter, being in special Ops he is able to use a shotgun in many ways to fight. It is later revealed he is not a werewolf, but some type of were-creature (most likely a bear) and one of the three assassins sent by the royal family to kill Akira. He and Akira fight, though Akira won. He later reveals he was in charge of the men who attacked Mina's castle at the beginning of the series, and was the one who shot the rocket launcher at Mina. It is later shown he is in a relationship with Reiko. After being questioned by Mina, he was allowed to return to his Station in the Bund due to the Beowulfs not wanting to lose someone of his strength, Reiko refusing to leave Mina's office until he was released, and on the request of Akira.

Eight Elite

The Eight Elite consists of the best hunters in the Earth Clan. Each specializes in different types of weapons.

Humans

Ryohei Kuze (久世 僚平, Kuze Ryōhei)

Though Akira still sees him as a friend, he currently seems to act as if Akira is the enemy, due to the fact he didn't accept Yuki's feelings and the fact Akira is Mina's servant, in which Ryohei believes he is siding with the vampires. His hatred towards Vampires is so strong, that he agreed with students beating up Hikosaka because he "associated" with Mina.

Katsuichi Mizoguchi (溝口 勝一, Mizoguchi Katsuichi)

A mid level politician who Mina negotiated to have Fangless vampires to attend school in Japan. He was completely against the idea, believing that all vampires should stay on the Bund. Because of that statement, Mina went as far as to have his grandson turned into a vampire and then quoted his own words on how all vampires should stay in the Bund. He later agrees to the acceptance of vampires, to where Mina gave a cure to his grandson that works on people that have been bitten within 48 hours.

Joise Reiko Gotoh (後藤・ジョゼ・玲子, Gotō Joze Reiko)

Step-sister to Nicole Edelman. Yet they look so much alike that Vera nearly attacked her when she introduced herself. She is a Councilor who works for Shoichi. She hadn't seen her step-sister in years, and claims to not know why she did the things she did. It is later revealed that she is dating Seiji Hama and deeply loves him.

Antagonist

Nicole Edelman (ニコル・エデルマン, Nikoru Ederuman)

A human reporter who became a vampire so to assassinate Mina during the News conference. She became a suicide bomb by surgically placing C4 inside her own stomach. Her plan was stopped by Akira and Vera driving stake through her heart and Akira throwing the bomb down the elevator shaft (though this accidentally caused damaged to the underground settlement Mina was having constructed). She worked for the terrorist organization Telomere.

Jean Marais Dermailee (ジャン・マレイ・デルマイユ, Jan Marei Derumaiyu)

Heir to Juneau and behind the attacks on the school turning the students into vampires, including Nanami and Hikosaka. He changed as many people as he could to vampires as a way in serving Mina, believing he was making an army to create a new world for Vampires. He shows no respect to his father, believing he is a person of the past. He too also shows a racist hatred to Werewolves, wishing to have them exterminated in the new vampire world ruled by the "young". Mina kills him, seeing his new world idea as just a grand delusion, but before that learned of the Terrorist Organization Telomere was behind her assassination attempt.

In the anime, it was Akira who killed him, as well as Mina already knew of Telomere before she confronted him.

Hysterica (ヒステリカ, Hisuterika)

Her real name is Francesca, and knew Vera nearly 100 years ago. Vera herself,who was known as Veratos at the time,had turned her into a vampire. She turned Hysterica into a vampire when her family was killed by the spanish flu and that she was on the very brink of death because of it. She now works for the "Third Kind", a group that wishes for the death of Mina,and was also controlling Nanami. Hysterica lead suicidal Vampires by implanting a liquid container in them, and when a phone signal was sent it would mix with their blood, causing a violent chemical reaction turning them into Vampire Bombs, one of them being Hikosaka. However,after seeing Mina's other form,got herself distracted by trying to contact her master in telling him what she just saw, therefore not realizing that Nanami was reprogrammed and was attacked by her. Vera was the one who finished Hysterica off by throwing a container of the chemical at the open wound, burning her alive. Hysterica had a habit of referring to her slaves as "Pigs."

Assassins

At a time the Three Vampire Lords were considering who got to mate with Mina, since she must mate with one of them to create a pure blood Vampire, being the only pure blood female vampire left, as well as she can only give birth once in her life. The Lords came up with a game where each one summoned their best assassin and whose ever killed Akira would be who she had to marry.

Anime Only

Tsuchigumo

An anime only character that attempted to kill Mina. His true form is a demon spider. He was quickly killed off by Akira after he remembered he was a werewolf.

Anime

Main article: List of Dance in the Vampire Bund episodes

The Anime promo was released on January 2010. Since that time 8 out of the proposed 12 episodes have aired in Japan. On March 4, 2010, North American anime distributor Funimation Entertainment announced that it has acquired the rights to Dance in the Vampire Bund and will stream and offer simulcast subtitled episodes, days after they are aired in Japan. The U.S. release will be edited for content, because of "controversial elements which, when taken out of context, could be objectionable to some audiences," and which Funimation considered "inappropriate for U.S. viewing and [...] not essential to the storyline." Another title, Strike Witches, will be released unedited despite containing some similar elements.

External links

• Official Dance in the Vampire Bund anime website Template:Ja icon
• Dance in the Vampire Bund at Seven Seas Entertainment (English publisher)
• Dance in the Vampire Bund at Funimation
• Dance in the Vampire Bund (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Dance in the Vampire Bund (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia