Vlad Love (ぶらどらぶ)
Vlad Love (ぶらどらぶ) is a 2021 Japanese original anime series in which a high school girl obsessed with donating blood takes in a young vampire, created by director Mamoru Oshii as his first television anime series since Urusei Yatsura (1981).1 Oshii served as original creator, series composer, and chief director, with Junji Nishimura, his collaborator on Urusei Yatsura, directing.2 • 3
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Format | Original ONA, 12 episodes of about 24 minutes, streamed February 14 to March 14, 20214 |
| Creative leads | Original creator, series composition, and chief director Mamoru Oshii; director Junji Nishimura2 |
| Studios | Animation by Drive with cooperation from Production I.G; production by Comic Animation2 • 4 |
| Main cast | Ayane Sakura (Mitsugu Bamba), Rina Hidaka (Mai Vlad Transylvania), Romi Park (Chihiro Chimatsuri)5 |
| Music | Kenji Kawai; sound direction by Kazuhiro Wakabayashi2 |
| Genres | Supernatural comedy with vampire and school themes; PG-13 rating4 |
| Streaming | Crunchyroll (also on YouTube); TV broadcast in Japan from July 20216 • 7 |
Spoilers
Premise
The story follows Mitsugu Bamba (絆播 貢), a second-year high school student with a rare "chimera-type" blood who is devoted to donating blood, visiting the blood bank so often that the nurse treats her rudely. One day she meets a pale, foreign-looking beautiful girl who seems about to faint; the moment blood is about to be drawn, the girl transforms and destroys the blood bank. Mitsugu takes the unconscious girl home.3
The girl is Mai Vlad Transylvania (マイ・ヴラド・トランシルヴァニア), a descendant of the venerable vampire Transylvania family. Despite being a vampire, she is timid and cannot bring herself to bite anyone and drink their blood; starving and homeless, she is taken in by Mitsugu, who then runs around seeking blood for her and founds a Blood Donation Club at school, becoming its president.3
The school cast includes Chihiro Chimatsuri (血祭 血比呂), the school nurse and head of the Chimatsuri Blood Research Institute, who proposes founding the Blood Donation Club out of interest in Mai's blood and becomes its adviser; Nami Unten, the assertive dance club president; Maki Watabe, a film research club leader who knows oddly much about vampires; Kaoru Konno, head of the cosplay club; and Jinko Sumida, an inflexible public morals committee chair.3 In one episode, Mai's personality changes depending on which blood type she drinks.8
Production
Oshii, known internationally for Ghost in the Shell / 攻殻機動隊 and Patlabor, returned to series anime with this project, his first slapstick comedy since Urusei Yatsura. He stated that a series anime is not a cheap version of a theatrical film and that he wanted to attempt what only a serialized format allows.3 The production reunited his usual team: Nishimura as director, Kazuhiro Wakabayashi as sound director, and Kenji Kawai as composer.3
Unlike the production-committee model used for most anime, the project had a single investor, Ichigo Animation, a subsidiary of the real estate and energy firm Ichigo Inc. According to a contemporary review, this arrangement gave Oshii considerable creative freedom, and the show was shaped largely as he and his handpicked team wanted it.9
Release
A special edition of episode 1 was released on December 18, 2020.10 The 12 episodes streamed in Japan from February 14, 2021, with all episodes available on distribution platforms from March 14, 2021.4 • 7 A Japanese television broadcast followed from July 2021 on TOKYO MX, Chiba TV, Sun TV, and BS Fuji, with a marathon broadcast of all episodes on TOKYO MX2 on August 8.7 Internationally the series streamed on Crunchyroll and YouTube; it was licensed in Russia as Вампирская любовь, premiering there on February 13, 2021.6 • 11 In April 2025 the British Board of Film Classification classified individual episodes for a physical media and streaming release by Anime Ltd.8
Music
The series uses two opening themes tied to its leads: "Where you are" by BlooDye for the Mitsugu version, with rap by LITTLE of KICK THE CAN CREW, and "Winds Of Transylvania" by the heavy metal band LOVEBITES for the Mai version. The ending theme "Akaiame" is performed by alan and Ayasa, with an instrumental version by Ayasa used for the overseas release.10
Reception
On IMDb the series holds a rating of 5.8/10 from 111 votes.1 A guest review on the yuri review site Okazu rated the premiere 8/10, praising efficient storytelling and noting that the combination of retro-style slapstick and Oshii's personal references made it feel like a passion project unconstrained by marketability; a follow-up review of the full series rated it 7/10, finding the Yuri and character development undercooked but the art style well matched to the comedy.9 • 12 The same review observed that the show stops after Mai's backstory is revealed rather than building to a strong conclusion.12
References
- Vlad Love (TV Series 2020–2021), IMDb
- ぶらどらぶ (2021) VLAD LOVE, allcinema
- Ichigo Animation press release, May 11, 2020 (VLADLOVE key visual and character introductions)
- Vlad Love, Hoshika anime database
- VLAD LOVE, AniHeat
- Vlad Love streaming information, JustWatch UK
- ON AIR／VOD, anime "ぶらどらぶ" VLADLOVE official site
- Vlad Love, British Board of Film Classification
- Vlad Love (ぶらどらぶ) Guest Review by Megan, Okazu (December 23, 2020)
- VLADLOVE main visual and theme song announcement, Ichigo (November 27, 2020)
- Vlad Love, Shikimori
- Mamoru Oshii's Vlad Love, Guest Review by Megan, Okazu (April 14, 2021)
Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Anime and manga › Anime series, episodes, and franchises › OVAs, ONAs, and streaming-original anime
Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026
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