Anime Review: Ms. Vampire Who Lives In My Neighborhood Episode 1

Run With the Wind Episode 1

Studio: Studio Gokumi

Genre: Slice of Life, Comedy

Stream: Crunchyroll

It wouldn’t be a new anime season without a “Cute girls doing cute things” show. I won’t lie, while this genre is never my favorite, it’s always nice to have a cozy anime with no real action or drama. This season, it looks like Ms. Vampire Who Lives In My Neighborhood (Tonari no Kyuuketsuki-san) will try to scratch that itch. Unfortunately, while this show is fine, it doesn’t do anything impressive with its first episode.

Ms. Vampire Who Lives In My Neighborhood features Akari, a high school girl who gets lost in the woods late at night. She runs into Sophie, a kind vampire who helps fly her out of the woods. Sophie allows Akari to stay at her home overnight until morning. Sophie likes to be alone, but unfortunately, Akari has developed a little crush and continues to bother her.

The show is fairly run-of-the-mill, with young girls just wanting to do mundane tasks. The supernatural angle doesn’t actually do much to make the show stand out. The characters hanging out have somewhat normal conversations, just with the occasional joke about the occult. The comedy is hit and miss, but some of the jokes hit the mark due to some spiffy presentation. Some of the characters, especially Akari’s parents, are rather ridiculous, but this adds to the charm of the show. There are also heavy yuri moments throughout the show, which will certainly make or break the series for some audiences.

The animation is standard, and this is the case for most of the production. The character designs are what one would expect from the genre. The music is simple, and while it doesn’t do too much to enhance the episode, it doesn’t distract either.

Overall, Ms. Vampire Who Lives In My Neighborhood feels fairly standard for its genre. The supernatural flavor allows for some original jokes, but the show may not be able to maintain its charm for an entire season. While I’m not sure if I will be visiting this show again, it still might be worth it for fans who need their fix of cute girls this season.