WARNING: The following article contains significant spoilers for the Season 1 finale of The Vampire Dies in No Time, currently available on Funimation.
Episode 12 of The Vampire Dies in No Time is a belated Halloween celebration. Unlikely roommates Ronaldo the vampire hunter and Draluc the incredibly weak vampire host Shin-Yokohama's greatest Halloween party for vampires and humans alike. Even the gang's most relatively relaxed activities are plagued with various vampire threats, but that doesn't stop them from celebrating.
The segment begins when Draluc wakes Ronaldo up to wish him a happy Halloween, "A day for humans and vampires to dress up and deepen their friendships." Draluc is dressed as Sword, a character from an apparently terrible video game who seems just as weak as he is. Despite Ronaldo's objections, Draluc reveals that the party is already in progress -- and has promised everyone free food in the invitations.
Lots of characters from previous episodes come to the party, some of whom wearing costumes that are less weird than their natural appearances. Nudenium, the nudist vampire, comes dressed as a sunflower, wearing its petals around his head like a mane. Vampire empress Gekkoin Maremi and her boyfriend Adam arrive, dressed in demon horns and an Animal Crossing-esque crow costume respectively. Ronaldo accuses Satetsu's Frankenstein costume, essentially just a stitch line drawn on his face and a few bolt props, of being boring.
Ronaldo tries to be gracious to his unexpected guests, telling Gekkoin and Adam, "You're welcome" when they mistakenly thank him for inviting them. When Draluc tells Ronaldo that "everyone gathered here because they adore you," it almost seems as though the party will reveal the positive impact Ronaldo has unwittingly had on his community, similar to Draus' visit with Draluc in Episode 7. Instead, Ronaldo's reluctant yet growing acceptance of the party is swiftly undercut when Draluc reveals that he has scheduled him to do a pole dancing performance.
Other characters' cameos crystalize their personalities, such as Etiquette Breacher deliberately taking many of the same type of food from the buffet to reduce the variety for the other guests. A shot of Vampire Control agent Handa To sitting alone with one of Draluc's "Eye-Beam Thing" security devices, presumably discussing his grievances towards Ronaldo, is bittersweet. It's funny that Handa presumably thinks the device is another partygoer given the strange appearance of the other guests -- and that his conversation is apparently so tedious that even this inanimate object is sweating to get away from him. Even so, his obsession is preventing him from relaxing and having a real conversation with one of the unusual and interesting characters at the party.
Micro Bikini, the vampire with an embarrassing power to change people's outfits, threatens to undermine the party's relatively relaxed mood. Ronaldo, of course, isn't very relaxed to begin with. Even this vampire is no match for a strangely powerful Draluc, who undoes Micro's transformations with a simple touch. Draluc's uncharacteristic display of aptitude and ability is enough to confuse Ronaldo.
At this moment, the real Draluc and his father Draus burst into the party, as the Draluc who was already there turns back into his game-loving grandfather Progenitor. As if to eliminate any doubt that Progenitor has been in Draluc's place this whole time, the real Draluc expresses dismay that he would choose to host a party in such a small apartment -- yet remarkably, he continues to promote Ronaldo's pole dancing performance.
To reinforce the feeling of this party being a true celebration of The Vampire Dies in No Time, it contains plenty of callbacks to previous segments. Hinaichi's bat ears costume resembles the ears of Draluc's bat form that she admired so much in Episode 8. In the afterparty, Draluc continues hosting his imaginary "All Night Shin-Yoko" radio show from Episode 10 using the same blue-handled ladle, and John DJs thanks to his "unexpected hobby" from Episode 7. Ronaldo's pole dancing was introduced as part of Draluc's unflattering disguise in Episode 6, but he unexpectedly uses real pole dancing abilities to kill Draluc one more time.
The celebratory feeling is sustained in the following segment, which features Draluc and Ronaldo engaging in a dance battle to determine who will be the first to use a new game console. Their determined yet enthusiastic expressions make it seem like they've forgotten the challenge and are just enjoying the dance. The pair's simple, repetitive moves are greatly removed from their complex, jazzy dancing in the anime's opening sequence, an example of how the stylish intro makes them look considerably cooler than they have any right to be.
The Vampire Dies in No Time's finale feels like both a celebration of the episodes that have come before, and of the news that there will be another season of the vampire comedy. No official release date for Season 2 has been announced, but hopefully the series will become popular enough in the West that an official translation of Bonnoki Itaru's original manga might become a possibility as well.
