The Vexations of a Shut-in Vampire Princess Episode 1: Age of the Hikikomori Queen

After two seasons of mainstream pandering drama it is a relief to see a show made especially for me. I have a feeling there will be drama in this one too but hopefully it doesn’t go overboard. Sometimes I deserve happiness more than others.

As always:

1: No source spoilers

2: No comparing the anime to the source.

We kicked things off with a brutal war between the vampires and the beast-folk. Our titular heroine, Terakomari Gandesblood, Lady Komari for short, was about to take the battlefield when we immediately flashed back to a few days earlier. We joined the titular shut-in vampire as she shared her vexations with us. Born the first daughter of a powerful vampire family whose bros proudly led armies to victory for ages. She’s a rarely born daughter of great petite beauty. However, she’s quite frail and couldn’t use magic. It’s most likely due to her distaste for blood. Thus she chose to live a peaceful life.

However, when she felt an ache in her belly she noticed the Mulnite national emblem. We would soon find out what it meant.

Suddenly we’re introduced to the co-protag of the show, Villhaze, an imperial soldier who for some reason applied to become Komari’s maid. After a scene showing a possible fetish of Vill’s we’re introduced to Vamp Daddy who had “wonderful” news.

They explained to her she’s appointed one of the seven Crimson Lords of the vampire kingdom. It’s all thanks to Komari jokingly telling dad she’d be willing lead the army if she got the throne. Dad’s so moved she reported to the Empress who after “much convincing” (Pretty sure dad exaggerated) was like “Sure. I could use the entertainment”. She didn’t put it that way exactly but as we’d soon find out she might as well have.

That or she’s convinced when he said “My daughter is a once in a millennium beauty”.

I like to think that as Vill explained how the Empress made the pact with a sleeping Komari it killed the maid a little inside.

I do hope girls openly flirting with or gleefully approaching our heroine means she is indeed a chick magnet. We got a delightful explanation of the terms. If Komari wanted to become the next empress she’d have to win at least 100 wars. Thankfully not in a row but were she to lose too many then “POP GOES HER HEAD!”. The good news was Komari would lead an army of hundreds of bishonen vampire hunks. The bad news is vampires are conniving bastards willing to kill their leader for the top spot if given the opportunity. Thus the Empress advised Komari to put on as strong of a front as possible to hide her weaknesses. That’s why she had Vill there to back her up. Komari wondered if she too would betray her at some point, especially knowing she’s weak?

“Worry not milady. I love you more than anyone else in the universe”.

Komari didn’t believe her because “they just met” but that means we shall wait for their backstory.

No sooner did she open the door to meet her army did one of them aim for her head. Fortunately he’s a blockhead not long for this world.

No need for a play-by-play commentary on the battle. With “help” from Vill Komari did her best impression of a leader and rallied the troops to a dominant win over the beast-folk. Must have read plenty of shonen manga/literature because despite a few slip ups she did a really good job.

After the war we got the surprise reveal that all battles were contested under “Sports Entertainment” rules. Basically the six warring nations all possessed a Dark Core jewel thing. Said cores’ energy all gathered in one battlefield where all wars were waged. Regardless of how brutal the injuries and kills were the heavens powered up the cores healing and resurrecting all soldiers, thus the “Entertainment War”. It all felt pointless to Komari.

Not sure if the dark core magic only works on the battlefield or in public areas too. We’ll find out next time. We’ll know for sure if we see the blockhead again. I think I saw him in the next episode preview.

It’s times like this I’m so glad to have both cultured male and female animeniacs and Yuriholics who understand me. Their support is what keeps me going almost 13 years into blogging. This whole scene was glorious besides Vill’s magnificent body.

On a less naughty note we got a small glimpse of Komari’s past. Currently we know she’s bullied. Wonder what role Vill played if she was there or not?

Lastly a mysterious lady assassin appears to be after Komari.

Again, this show was made for me. Excited for more!