Mito is an orphan whose good looks keep bringing trouble and unfortunate assumptions. Ducking into a café to escape stalkers, Mito accidentally breaks a vase and gets a small cut. One of the waiters there suddenly licks the blood but gags. Unbeknownst to Mito, Ruka is a vampire, and the bitter taste is due to Mito being unloved. Eventually, Mito agrees to be his thrall and “must feel the love” from Ruka in order to have tastier blood. For Mito, it’s a chance to finally be wanted. For Ruka, he’s been seeking a good-looking boy since he can’t feed off of women.
Except Mito is female.
While the manga takes some cues from Ouran High School Host Club (androgynous-looking protagonist, vase-breaking, etc.), the two heroines are very different. Unlike Haruhi, Mito purposely wears a wig to hide her true gender, and she’s like a newly-adopted dog who is so happy to have a home and an owner. But like Tamaki, Ruka is a bit of an obsessive moron. Not just about not knowing that Mito is female, but he also gets really into things he likes. And what does Ruka like? 2D girls.
That’s right, the vampire is an otaku with no interest in real women. He only tolerates them so he’ll have money for anime merchandise. Between that and the concern she’d be kicked out and alone, Mito keeps her identity a secret.
Yes, kicked out. As you can guess from the title, Mito lives in a dorm — Ruka’s dorm at his male boarding school. The hiding-her-gender plot is the weakest part of Vampire Dormitory. Mito partially unbuttons her blouse, is pushed into a lake with clothes on, and finds Ruka in bed with her.
How.
Does.
He.
Not.
Know.
Mito’s somehow found superbandages that perfectly hide — as Toyama’s art shows — her good-sized chest. They must be stronger than duct tape to make her look so flat in her male form, plus she has a superwig that doesn’t fall off when she’s asleep. I don’t know why Toyama wouldn’t just give Mito short hair (and a small chest) to make this deception more believable even though this is a supernatural manga.
Despite the title, not much takes place at the school or dorm. The manga is still in its setup phase, with Mito making her first friends (and her first trip) and learning more about vampires. The biggest story development is the introduction of vampire-hating — and thus Ruka-hating — Ren, who is concerned about Mito’s future as a vampire’s thrall.
While Ruka is trying to make Mito tastier for his own benefit (obviously), he does care for his buddy and treats “him” well, even if he’s getting romance tips from a PreCure knock-off. I’m glad that his expressions of love don’t involve pushing Mito down or throwing money at her or other such behavior. That’s probably the one good thing about Mito hiding her gender, as maybe Ruka would have copied trashy anime leads. Compared to most vampires and shoujo love protagonists, Ruka comes across as a normal, somewhat quirky teenage guy instead of Mito’s tormentor or master. The art also shows Mito through Ruka’s eyes, and I’m sure Toyama will play up the sensualness even more as things heat up between the two of them. While I already complained about Mito’s design, I love Ruka’s with his medium-length, braided hair and pierced ears.
In short, I think the lonely orphan Mito and nice guy otaku vampire Ruka could have carried the story without the gender-bender aspects. This might grind my gears more in future volumes, especially with the art discrepancy between male-Mito and female-Mito. But right now, Vampire Dormitory and especially Ruka are too likable for me to care.