The spring 2024 lineup will not be complete without Studio Blanc’s Vampire Dormitory anime. It has a lot of male characters, but is Vampire Dormitory a Boys' Love (BL) anime? Let’s explore the genre and themes of the anime in this article.
Spoiler Warning: This article includes spoilers for Vampire Dormitory episode 1, so proceed with caution.
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What Is Vampire Dormitory About?
The Vampire Dormitory anime follows Mito Yamamoto, an orphan who is frantically looking for work after being fired from the ramen shop she had been working at for a while.
Most of the time, people criticize Mito based on her attractive appearance, claiming that she is incapable of doing his job well, and therefore, she has always been in a pickle.
She has no parents to rely on, and her relatives are unwilling to accept responsibility for her.
Things changed when Mito ended up in front of a café on a rainy day. She stumbles inside and destroys the café's vase, which draws the attention of the male employees.
She attempts to clean up the mess, but she injures her finger in the process.
All of a sudden, one of the staff, Ruka Saotome, stops her and takes her inside the café to be treated. Instead of treating Mito, Ruka licks her finger, revealing that he is a vampire.
Ruka disliked Mito's blood, claiming that it tasted bad. Ruka's butler, Komori, on the other hand, believes Mito has never experienced affection from others, which explains the taste of her blood.
Komori persuades Ruka to make Mito his thrall, which he eventually agrees to in the series.
Is Vampire Dormitory a BL anime? Genre and Themes Explored
No, Vampire Dormitory is not a BL anime even though the first episode seems like it thanks to the cross-dressing theme of the series.
As it turns out, Mito is simply disguising herself as a boy, but she is actually a girl with long hair.
The first episode did an excellent job of luring viewers in with BL elements and attributes, including skinship between two stunning bishounen, which is essential in any BL anime.
The way Ruka holds Mito and the words he uses to care for her are textbook BL.
As long as Mito never reveals her true gender to Ruka, her intimate moments with the vampire would make it seem like Vampire Dormitory is indeed a BL anime.
Still, Vampire Dormitory is worth adding to your BL list since it is a BL anime at heart.
What are your thoughts on the cross-dressing theme of Vampire Dormitory? Leave your first-episode impressions in the comments section below, and follow us on Facebook!