Dance in the Vampire Bund

Dance in the Vampire Bund:  B

Yeah, the title sounds really weird to the English-speaking ear.  According to dictionary.com a "Bund" is either an embankment or dyke or an alliance or political society.  Both are fairly accurate descriptions of what the Vampire Bund in the series is.

Vampires have just come out publicly to humanity, in the interest of extending an olive branch, though on the other side of things they have so much financial and political sway (plus the advantage of decades and centuries of planning) that if their offer of peace is not accepted, they'll crush humanity anyway.  At the center of this "peace" movement is Mina Tepes, descendant of the legendary Vlad and Queen of the Vampires, a spiritual and social position, as if she is killed, all vampires will be destroyed.

The story is told mostly through the perspectives of two ordinary (?) high school students, one of whom has a strange and severe case of amnesia and the other of whom has a massive crush on the amnesiac.  The plot unfolds and we learn more about the sinister and strange history of the Vampiric Royal Family, its traditions and the reality of life as one of the creatures of the night.

I'm not a connoisseur of vampire fiction in general, but I really liked how DitVB got across the passion, dispassion and tragedy inherent in the vampiric condition.  Mina is a heartless tyrant, but she also loves and seeks friendship.  The dangerous, predatory and sexual side of the Vampire myth is also on full display, as well as the accompanying myth of the Werewolf, and overall the story, while rather typically anime, appeals to me personally as a story about vampires.

The really most painful thing about this series is the title, which is just awkward to try to tell anyone about because it sounds so bad in English.  The series itself is Akiyuki Shinbo doing his thing, with vampires.  If a good, if short vampire anime appeals to you, DitVB will totally satisfy you.