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Titled “And Thus, A New Vampire”, episode 12 of Baban Baban Ban Vampire sees Ranmaru Mori ask Rihito’s family if his brother can stay with them too. The bratty Nagayoshi Mori introduces himself as Ranmaru’s older brother, a.k.a. the Demon of Musashi, and Rihito’s dad almost laughs in his face, saying he’s had enough of the vampire jokes. Rihito, on the other hand, is totally excited to have someone who looks the same age as him around.
Of course, as the title indicates, viewers also get brief glimpses of a new vampire in town, someone more ancient and more powerful than the Mori brothers. But before the ancient blood-sucker can cause any havoc, the episode focuses on the beginning of summer vacation for the high school characters. Much of this edition is about all the primary characters – Ranmaru, Rihito, Aoi, Franken, Sakamoto, Kaoru, and Nagayoshi – going to a festival and having a ball. Everybody (except for rebel teens Kaoru and Franken) is dressed in traditional Japanese clothes for the evening, and the fresh setting allows for a nice, bright visual experience in this episode.
As always, Ranmaru tries to separate his beloved Rihito from Aoi, not realizing he’s only creating more romantic troubles for himself. Sakamoto, meanwhile, continues his hilarious little seductive tricks to catch Mori’s attention, to no avail. Meanwhile, as episode 11 of Baban Baban Ban Vampire indicated, Nagayoshi Mori has decided to pursue Kaoru because she resembles his past lover. This new love triangle (Kaoru has a crazy crush on Rihito) promises to be comedic, even though there aren’t many scenes between Nagayoshi and Kaoru in this chapter.
At this point, Franken is the only character who doesn’t care for romance and the matters of the heart. But well, there are plenty of love triangles to keep viewers chuckling at the misunderstandings, some of it stemming from Nagayoshi assuming Ranmaru is in a hush-hush relationship with Sakamoto. If only! LOL.
Overall, this was a breezy ‘filler’ episode, but it ends on a menacing tone, promising violent trouble in the form of a new vampire.
Watch Baban Baban Ban Vampire on Netflix.
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