English Dub Review: Irina: The Cosmonaut Vampire: “The Nosferatu Project”

Overview: Cosmonaut candidate, Lev (Stephen Fu), is assigned to go with vampire and test subject, Irina (Tia Ballard), on a mission to the outer reaches of space. 

Our Take: Not being dragged down by the real world implications of the U.S. and the Soviet Union space race, Irina makes for an intriguing new alternate version of that competitive trek to the moon. 

There are a plethora of government officers and officials on the side of Zirnitra Union, a mirrored version of the Soviet Union, whose pure goals are that of proving their country’s power and dominance over that of the United Kingdom of Arnack, the mirrored version of the United States. Although, at the heart of Zirnitra’s petty squabbling is that of Lev and Irina, a soldier and a test subject serving as nothing more than that to make a space expedition safe and soundly. 

The differences between our real world and that of this new one differ in more than just names with Irina being a vampire. It’s how that new fantastical touch is addressed with an overarching societal viewpoint in how vampires are warped and mischaracterized in entertainment and the media, causing the initial start of Lev and Irina’s relationship to be built on misinformation and lack of trust on her part that makes them engaging to watch based on the social divide. What’s also interesting is seeing someone’s real life vampire fetish play out on screen because there are so many sexy Irina facial shots. So much so that I am one fang filled lip away from it becoming my fetish. 

Vampires are looked at as nothing more than test subjects to alleviate humans from feelings of guilt over their possible demise, as history has taught them. Even without them being widespread public knowledge, they are utilized in pop culture to dehumanize them. It’s purely human selfishness and self-preservation. Because of that, it makes Lev’s eventual realization of that all the more earned as a result when he witnesses Irina faced with those hurtful stereotypical notions. However, even more so natural and understandable than Lev’s regret are Irina’s skepticisms about his true nature. It makes her trust something he has to earn and not a paltry item that is easily acquired by the end of their first encounter. In a series that is built on the foundation of their relationship, it will feel all the more wholesome should it take the route that is real and organic with pit stops along that way that cultivate that, rather than the cheap and easy fast lane.