Warning: The following contains spoilers for Vampire Dormitory episode #8!!

Gender identity has always been at the center of the Crunchyroll romance series Vampire Dormitory, but now that a highly anticipated development that fans have been waiting for has finally happened, the anime can now explore these themes in more nuanced ways that should excite anyone who wants more of this type of dynamic in gender benders. In fact, Vampire Dormitory will hopefully serve as a blueprint that more gender benders will use going forward.

Ever since episode #1 of Vampire Dormitory, fans have known that the human female Mito has been posing as a male so she can stay in a unique relationship with the vampire Ruka, which gives her what she has never had before: love.

Now, in episode #8, Ruka has finally seen and fallen for Mito as her true self, even though he still isn’t aware it’s Mito. Moreover, the half-vampire or dhampir Ren knows that Mito is a girl and has professed his love for her. These revelations have naturally introduced new realizations of gender identity and love to the series.

Vampire Dormitory’s Reveal of Mito’s True Gender Is A Stunning Critique of Gender Identity

Original series by Ema Toyama; produced by Studio Blanc

Undoubtedly, the most powerful revelation is when Mito expresses happiness over Ruka finally seeing and “noticing” her as a woman when he had initially only agreed to be with her because he thought she was a male. While liberating in a sense, the fact Ruka doesn’t know the girl he saw and “noticed” was Mito means he still thinks the person he knows as Mito is a man, meaning she must still perpetuate the lie that she’s male, so that Ruka will stay with her.

This whole situation, of course, might be relatable in today’s climate, but it’s all embellished and delivered as an outcome of Ruka being a vampire who only has an affinity for male blood. Similarly, this unique twist is also augmented by the vampiric-fueled irony that, unbeknownst to Mito, Ruka not only must be with a “destined partner” who can only be a girl, which Mito is, but that his actual destined partner is her.

The flip side of this whole dynamic is a situation where a character not only sees and notices Mito for who she really is but is aware that it’s Mito. This happens when Ren is put in an accidental situation that leaves no room for misinterpretation. Unfortunately for Ruka, this allows Ren to fully accept Mito as either a man or a woman, which he conveys to Mito very clearly. These flawless executions therefore allow the series to capture very different types of scenarios involving gender identity in one episode, where Mito is accepted and “noticed” as a woman. However, only one of them gives Mito the peace of mind that her identity as a woman is associated with Mito the boy, as opposed to just a random beautiful girl.

Vampire Dormitory Is Tackling Gender Identity More Effectively Than Other Shows With Similar Tropes

Despite the trope commonly being mishandled, Vampire Dormitory has excelled in providing a perspective with added nuance

Even though not an official gender bender, it’s both ironic and unfortunate that Vampire Dormitory is tackling these complex issues of gender identity more effectively than most series that are actually part of the actual genre. Many of them start off with a promising premise, but suddenly drop everything associated with gender, treating it as just a deceitful gimmick to attract fans of the genre. In She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man, for example, a gamer makes his avatar for his mage an old man since he believes that’s the quintessential image of a mage, but then he transforms into the exact opposite: a little girl. Although promising, the anime doesn’t focus on his realization that girls can be as good if not better than men, but instead on how the NPCs in the game become more humanized after a mysterious event.

Life with an Ordinary Guy who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout does something similar when a new variable introduced later in the series dilutes the original setup where two male friends named Hinata and Tsukasa are forced to fight feelings for each other after Hinata becomes a girl. Turns out, Hinata has a power that can make anyone fall in love with him, oversimplifying and minimizing Tsukasa’s attraction to him. Ironically, it is only until the final battle that the series finally explores Hinata’s situation by boiling it down as a metaphor for his overall feelings of inadequacy in relation to Tsukasa, which is also symbolized through Hinata’s own negative perception of his powers of attraction.

These examples are very different to Vampire Dormitory‘s overall execution, which, despite not being a gender bender, is exploring gender identity more thoroughly than these and other series that are officially part of that specific genre. Vampire Dormitory has not only continued to explore gender identity beyond its first episode on Crunchyroll, but has yet to introduce a new element that minimizes the whole dynamic while clearly not leaving the overall explanation and nuance of gender identity for the final episode.