@Courtesy of NYAFF
The live-action adaptation of the famous Japanese manga series, created by Hiromasu Okujima started in 2021, follows the animation series streamed earlier this year on Netflix. The movie directed by Shinji Hamasaki follows pretty closely the story previously developed on paper and in the show: after being rescued by the young boy Rihito, the 450-year old vampire Ranmaru Mori (Ryo Yoshizawa) starts working in a traditional bathhouse.
Ten years later the undead is still there, cleaning tubs, waiting for his savior Rihito (Rihito Itagaki) now 15 will become an adult in order to suck his blood with his fangs. Trouble arrives when Rihito confesses to having fallen in love with a girl his same age. Ranmaru must at any cost preserve the boy’s virginity, which becomes even more difficult when other shady characters start to pop-up in the story…
Most of the time the passage from a serial storytelling to a feature-film screenplay is something quite complicated, especially when it is about comedy. This is most likely the reason that Babanba Banban Vampire script from Yûko Matsuda is faithful to the previously created material. And this is at the same time the strength and the fragility of the movie, because if it works pretty well in the first thirty minutes or so, when the characters must be introduced and set, then the grip of the story becomes weaker and weaker.
Trying to stretch everything that happens in the second part of the plot produces the effect of focusing more on the events than the characters, which become increasingly mono-dimensional. That doesn’t mean the entire movie becomes ineffective, but surely the viewers can notice the difference between a first part that is fun, full of ideas and developed through an effective rhythm, and a second one that shows a less inspired approach.
@Courtesy of NYAFF
The main reason Babanba Banban Vampire is worth to be seen is the histrionic performance of its protagonist Ryo Yoshizawa, who totally embraces the challenge of portraying a silly vampire and goes all the time over the top to make Ranmaru Mori as fun as he can, succeeding in the creation of a live-action character who is very close to an anime in flesh and blood. Must be said he had the easiest task due to the nature of the vampire, while the rest of the cast have to deal with roles that don’t have the same level of intensity.
Even when some antagonists appear, like for example the vampire hunter or the other undead seeking revenge, they are not that effective. The weakest link in the cast is more likely Rihito Itagaki, but he is definitely not helped by his role Rihito, constantly in the middle of things happening without really understanding what’s going on.
Babanba Banban Vampire tries maybe a little too hard to reach the level of the manga and the animation series it is inspired by, and succeeds only in the very first part. The comic side of the whole project is flamboyant in the first half an hour of the movie, then the story and the characters slip into obvious turning points and a little bit of rhetoric. The feature film is still worth watching, no doubt about that, but if you have enjoyed the previous materials, maybe it could reveal itself as a little bit disappointing.
@Courtesy of NYAFF
Rate: C
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Here’s the trailer for Babanba Banban Vampire: