The Winter 2023 Anime Preview Guide

The Vampire Dies in No Time Season 2

Draluc is a vampire who is feared as he is rumored to be invincible. The vampire hunter Ronaldo goes to Draluc's castle after hearing that Draluc has kidnapped a child. But when Ronaldo arrives at the castle, he finds that Draluc keeps dying over every small thing and turning to dust. Draluc's true nature is that of the weakest vampire of them all. After his castle is destroyed, Draluc and his pet John the Armadillo move in with Ronaldo.

The Vampire Dies in No Time is based on Itaru Bonnoki's manga and streams on Crunchyroll on Mondays.

Rebecca Silverman
Rating:

Last season had SpyxFamily's Bond. This season? The best boy is unquestionably John the Armadillo. Sure, it's great to see the entire cast of The Vampire Dies in No Time return, but by the fact that John is very prevalent in the first of the stories that make up this episode, I have to think that maybe he's the character we've all been waiting for. Actually, the entire first skit brings back many of the best elements of the first season. Alongside John, we have Draluc trying and failing to transform into a bat, a reminder of Ronaldo's intense anti-relationship with celery, and a rehash of who all the bit players are. It doesn't over-explain what happened between the first and second seasons or even really give us a refresher on the who's and how's of the story. Instead, it opts to remind us what it was that we all enjoyed so much in this place.

This is a rare series where I find it manageable that multiple storylines are crammed into a single episode. That's because of the light touch that the show, on the whole, has when it comes to the plot. What's happening is less important than who is doing it, and the characters are all bundles of individual quirks that bounce off each other repeatedly. Handa the dhampir is one of the best examples of this, and in this episode, we see him interact with both Draluc and Ronaldo in his abrasive ways. The third segment has Ronaldo and Draluc playing off each other very nicely. There is a delightful absurdity to every character interaction that makes this work as a comedy and a parody of vampire norms, as we see in the opening gambit when Draluc is accidentally locked out of the apartment because the sign taped to the door that states “all are welcome” falls off. This is both an excuse for not-quite-a-bat Draluc to get chased by an alarming number of birds and one evil burdock root, but also a play on the idea from vampire lore that vampires may not enter any place they are not explicitly invited to.

If you enjoyed the first season of this show, there is absolutely no reason you won't also find yourself enjoying this first episode. The opening isn't quite as catchy, but the segue into Ronaldo singing the ending theme in this episode is spot on, and who could say no to more John the Armadillo? Throw in a hilarious haunted hospital bit, and this is a winner, a comedy episode that made me out laugh out loud more than one time.