Vexations of a Close-In Vampire Princess Anime Sequence Evaluate
The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess is a lot right from the start. The first episode is so full of haphazard world-building jargon and unpleasant, non-consensual fetishistic yuri fanservice that I would have given up on it long ago if it weren’t for my gloomy resolve to figure out what the heck was going on.
The audience is asked to accept a lot by Vexations, including the idea that a weak, scared, squeamish little girl could be able to command a military unit and that the world is perpetually at war and that death is meaningless (dead combatants are resurrected due to their proximity to each rival nation’s “Dark Core,” a MacGuffin that is still unclear). Though there may be some surface-level parallels, this isn’t a Tanya the Evil scenario; Komari isn’t the resurrected version of a psychotic, very skilled businesswoman. She’s a socially awkward youngster whose behavior, voice, and body language all convey her continual fear.
It becomes increasingly difficult to take Vexations seriously the more we discover about Komari’s reality. I realize this is anime, but are we really to think that the stability of the whole nation rests on the military choices made by a bunch of very unstable adolescent ladies, many of whom have an unexplainable lesbian desire for the awkward Komari—a real child—? So maybe the purpose of this is comedic? It’s definitely plenty of outrageous comedy, but because of the odd timing and wildly inconsistent tone, only portion of it really works.
Komari can be killing her subordinates by accident one moment, then awkwardly being approached by her mysteriously horny maid the next, or having complicated military planning discussions with her colleagues, or reliving horrific childhood trauma, seeing violent and horrific acts of bodily mutilation, and then interacting with an enlisted soldier who seems to be always high and speaks only in rap. Extreme tonal whiplash moments are present in every episode, giving the impression that the program is unsure of its genre or even the kind of tale it intends to portray.
Specifically, the yuri overtones appear to be crammed in there only to satisfy certain fetishes. They don’t really advance the plot or characters; if anything, Vill the maid’s persistent and repulsive conduct is what stands out. Komari nearly constantly begs Vill to cease her conduct, but she never gives her approval. More and more new female characters that Komari encounters start to form unbelievable love bonds to her, none of which are ever returned. By the conclusion of the program, three central females have been added to her harem, although she doesn’t seem to be interested in any of them romantically. During a season that showcases the remarkable yuri narrative of I’m in Love with the Villainess, Vexation’s yuri-baiting tactic comes off as shallow, unsettling, and misplaced. Additionally, Komari has the appearance and behavior of a thirteen-year-old, so take that as you will.
Technically speaking, the program gets off to a great start with gorgeous and intricate character designs, fluid animation, eye-catching, colorful action, and thrilling fireworks. Regrettably, studio project No. 9 is unable to keep up, exhibiting a noticeable deterioration in quality in the second part and an incredibly humiliating last episode with badly animated characters and off-model appearances that distort every exciting action sequence. This might be fixed for the last two Blu-ray volumes’ ultimate domestic Japanese release, which was postponed by one month for “quality control” reasons.
It’s a tough program to follow in terms of storyline. There are many primary storylines, and in all of them, Komari uses her deus ex machina special talent, “Core Implosion,” to grant her instantaneous godlike abilities over her foes in order to end the final battle. I can understand a story device once or twice, but doing it three times at once seems lazy. The conflicts are often hard to follow, with humor and silliness taking precedence over clear explanation in the text. Few people behave naturally; it appears that everyone knows more about Komari than she does. As a result, it is difficult to defend some of the decisions made by the characters, especially in light of fresh knowledge and hindsight.
Even though I had a bad overall impression of Vexations, the program does have some good moments, most of which come from very ridiculous comedy of the “WTF am I even watching” kind. I think this could be one of those programs that’s best seen when really drunk, and regrettably, I saw it without the benefit of strong chemical augmentation.
