Someone has discovered Mito’s secret! And it only took her getting half naked for someone to figure it out…
But while Mito is having a girl problem — as in, Ren now knows she’s a girl — Ruka is also having a girl problem. Namely, finding the girl he’s destined to be with. His other vampires urge him to hurry up and find her, but Ruka tries to shrug off their demands and even a prediction that he’ll encounter his fated one that very night. He does: Mito in girl mode, all dolled up thanks to Ren! Mito is thrilled Ruka is interested in her true self, but she worries about having a space to stay and ends up pushing him away. Ren, of course, is trying to stop Mito from ending up with Ruka because he likes her — and also because Ruka is a vampire. So he decides to show Mito what being a vampire’s destined one really means.
This is probably the most plot-heavy volume of Vampire Dormitory to date. We open and close with some more looks at vampires — first as a society, second a particular vampire couple. It’s pretty clear from both that once Ruka realizes Mito is a girl (and his destined partner to boot), they are likely going to face a ton of pressure from other vampires. The manga hasn’t explained exactly what a true vampire is or how that will save the clan, so readers will have to keep tuning in to find out — and also to see how some characters’ schemes end up.
Readers who have mostly been looking forward to the slightly mature content, though, may find volume 4 to be disappointing. Instead, the moments between Ruka and Mito are more sweet than sexy, even though girl-Mito’s decision to say she doesn’t think she and Ruka should meet again seems dumb.
While volume 4 continues to play up the love triangle (or love square I guess, because Ruka is drawn to girl-Mito), Ren is also important because of his heritage as a dhampir. He has made his feelings on vampires clear from the beginning, and now audiences will understand why. Despite his anger toward his vampire blood, birthday boy Ren ends up tapping into his new abilities at the very end of the volume. Which leads to a gender bender of a gender bender? Gender bender squared maybe?
So although his actions at the end are questionable, until that point, those who prefer Ren will find several reasons to support him. He takes her shopping not because she’s a girl but because he’s recognized Mito wants to wear pretty dresses, and he even distracts a classmate so that her gender isn’t revealed. And Mito…ditches him as soon as Ruka invites her to chat, having been smitten by the sight of his fated woman. Not cool. Don’t pull a Mito here, people!
As an aside, there’s an obvious typo in what should be a dramatic moment (“desitre”).
Otherwise, while Toyama’s art makes it all the risqué content very appealing to look at, the trade-off for more story made it well worth it.