Review of Vampire Dormitory

My higher rating is a bit biased as I've been a fan of Ema Toyamas' works since 2011, when I read Koko Ni Iru Yo. She has written amazing works, but Vampire Dormitory is definitely not her best though. Relieved at least one of her works has gotten an anime though. I did enjoy the character interactions and chemistry with one another (Mito & Ruka) vs (Mito & Ren). It felt very Twilight-esque for my mid-20s heart that thinks about my younger days when I raved for the love triangle trope. Though the slight-BL bait kept deterring me from wanting to keep watching and readingat times. I get why it's there, but honestly felt like the story could've done well without it (and prevented a number of issues the main leads faced in the series)

Voice acting is amazing! I recognize mito's va as Fern from Frieren, Ruka as Akane from TBHK, and Ren from [insert the countless hot MCs Umehara Yuichiro plays]. Lotis VA also plays another vampire from the Diabolik Lovers (2013), and the Founder's VA is ALSO another vampire in the anime Dance with Devils (2015). They're like little cameos and both are animes I'd recommend if you want something similar to this show (and that isn't Vampire Knight.)

Animation is a bit wonky and inconsistent at times. Ema Toyama's art style is actually hard to replicate into animation now that I've actually seen a work of hers animated. While the main & supporting cast remains (for the most part) are drawn consistently in keeping the Toyama's art style, the background characters look completely different at times which feels a little jarring. I hope that improvements are made for the blu-ray release.

But overall, I can understand why people can have mixed feelings over this. This is a silly and cute little vampire shoujo romance with a variety of twists and crazy turns. When watching or reading, I would recommend not thinking about the situations too deeply to continue enjoying the work. Though as a Nakayoshi anniversary anime, really think her other popular work Watashi Ni XX Shinasai should've gotten animated instead of this work.