It's a good Netflix anime! Vampires have taken over the world, but the humans are fighting back. Result: bloody war. Are we cheering for the humans, though? Hell, no. What about the vampires? Not really. Both sides think they're fighting for their lives against humourless killing machines that want to exterminate them... and they might be right. Mind you, it's a better description of the humans and their grim WW2 Soviet-style regime. The soulless bastards here aren't undead.

The setting's Russian. It's announced in the clothes, scenery and weather, including specific things like those ushanka fur hats with flaps to cover your ears, or "it's a dacha that was built about 100 years ago". The humans suggest WW2 Soviet military, while the vampires resemble 19th century Imperial Russian aristocracy. (They have a grand ball in episode 1, in the middle of a war.) That's one metaphorical basis for their hostility... but there's another parallel for a 2022 Russian-themed story about a pointless war. The timing must be coincidental, but it's amazing. Netflix released this show less than three months after Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine (24 February 2022), which has since become the biggest European conflict since WW2. This series was announced in 2019 and had been scheduled for release in 2021, but coincidences are part of storytelling too.

Also, these vampires are prone to suicide attacks. A drug sends them kill-crazy and turns them irreversibly into monsters, guaranteed to die quickly if the humans don't kill them first.

Who are the protagonists? What do they believe? There's a vampire queen (Fine) and a female human soldier (Momo) who've both lost loved ones. They'll end up believing in each other and looking for a place where vampires and humans can live together. There's an odd source of charm in the fact that humans have banned music because vampires like it... so music's part of the link between Fine and Momo. Our heroines play a piano duet together in episode 3. It's pretty good. Censoring the arts is another Russian thing, be it under the Tsars, the Soviets or Vladimir Putin. Also, these vampires often have music-themed names like Fine and Allegro. Or, alternatively, you could interpret this as a lesbian parable, with the two girls' Russian families trying to prevent their inappropriate relationship. Inadequate gay rights are yet another Russian thing, e.g. the anti-LGBT law of 2013 and its intensification in... yeah, in 2022. Again, that timing.

The politics is subtext, though. On the surface, this is a bleak wartime story of humans and vampires. I liked our heroines and I wanted them to find happiness. I hated the sons-of-bitches who wanted to separate them. Our heroines are looking for a place called "paradise", but unsurprisingly it won't be as idyllic as you'd hope.

This one's sincere, tough and pulling no punches. The plot's straightforward, but that's unsurprising in a five-episode mini-series. It's not aiming for "fun" and you shouldn't expect a happy ending, but it's softened by the last episode's post-credits sequence. (Don't miss or skip it!) There's room for optimism. Maybe the warmongers might wipe each other out?