Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut

Episode 5

As procedural as it is, it makes sense that there's going to be a degree of repetition to the proceedings of Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut. Practice makes perfect, after all, a philosophy that's espoused by Lev in this very episode. The key example of that continues to be the recurrent parachute training, resumed immediately and noticeably more focused on again here than even the much-ballyhooed anechoic altitude chamber which we led into last week. In that respect, it actually seems indicative of the always-inching-forward progress of all the practice that Lev and Irina are partaking in. Every component of their efforts is important to the ultimate goal of getting the test launch off successfully and bringing Irina home alive afterwards, with the ins and outs of that repetition providing time for reflection on the questions and uncertain hypocrisies within those tasks.

Focusing on the parachuting section of Lev and Irina's training has turned out to be a strong choice just in terms of story symbology. It represents what will be the final stage of Irina's mission once it actually goes off which, despite coming after the presumed success of the actual rocket launch and satellite orbit itself, poses the greatest danger to Irina herself. Lev's efforts to make sure she can come back from this part alive are thus evocative of that aforementioned hypocrisy: the UZSR government doesn't really care if Irina can walk away from her landing after she's made the launch, and the ending of this episode even serves to drive home the raw disposability they view such a 'test subject' with. Irina empathizes much harder with that disposed-of dog in the crashed space-pod than she ever would with any of the would-be human test pilots who have done nothing but disparage her.

The intrinsic metaphor of parachuting in the story of Vampire Cosmonaut is also relevant to the relationship between Lev and Irina being an actually amicable one between human and vampire. Their parachute training initially has to be done in tandem, with Lev physically connected to Irina to support her, but as they go on, he must take the chance of letting her fall on her own and succeed with only his outside guidance. Several episodes have built up to Irina's jump in this one, and the resultant depiction is this wild, beautiful aerial ballet played out between her and Lev. It symbolizes that connection and trust in spite of their mission ostensibly not calling for it that Lev has always remained true to, and if it seemed like we had been spending so much time on the repetitious scenes of succeeding at this, it's clear that this scene is why. I've remarked on it a few times already, but this once again demonstrates how well Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut understands using procedure as a narrative device.

Does that sheer amount of build-up on the subject of parachuting over the past several episodes work, even as it comes at the expense of some of the other training elements the show has covered somewhat less? That's going to vary based on the tastes of each viewer. I personally wasn't too fussed at the glossing over of Irina's isolation chamber training in this episode, even after how much last week hyped it up. It's efficient: we get a few key scenes showing what it's all about (including the cool visual effect of Irina's eyes supernaturally sparkling in the dark), and a single isolation-induced flashback scene to the horrors of the war on her people that Irina experienced firsthand. The brutal scenes of the vampire slaughter and harsh memory of Irina having to watch her parents burned to death in front of her intersects on that single focus to impress the intensity of the training in the room, and reinforce her drive to succeed. We don't need lengths of the episode spent on gratuitous detail of her enduring the isolation – the show trusts us to get it just from these bits.

Similarly, the ancillary dramatic parts of Vampire Cosmonaut this week adhere to an effective conservation of detail. The threat of sabotage is still fresh, but Lev's narration also takes the opportunity to discuss how fear of a failed launch factors into the test team's personal worries. Even if they aren't being treated as actual test subjects like Irina, it's hard not to empathize at least a little with the doomed dogs on a rocket gone wrong purely on a "that could have been me" level. There is the mild question of whether Lev knows his fellows actually feel things to that degree, or if he's simply projecting his own impressions onto them, as indicated by the askance response of his superior when he insists he "can't be happy about others' misfortune" even as said misfortune provides him the opportunity for a space launch he'd previously missed. Asides like this feel positively economical compared to all the screentime spent on parachuting, and in a way, it is indicative of the show's confidence in what it's doing.

But even as I appreciate Vampire Cosmonaut's assurance in its own pacing, it is hard for me not to look at its overall attention to its subjects in this episode and wonder if other viewers might be bored. It's an odd worry for a series like this, I suppose, given it's clearly pitching to a very particular audience anyway, and as I just spent all that time describing, I'm still fully on board for it. With those qualifications, I wouldn't mind seeing the show change up its focus and presentation a bit more moving forward, as I think it's effectively, repeatedly made its point for this stage. That is, it's shown how good it can be at some things already, and it's piqued my curiosity at what else the show might excel at, if it gives itself the opportunity. Like Irina moving up to trying that parachute jump on her own, we need to see it continuously trying for greater, more ambitious goals.

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Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut is currently streaming on Funimation.

Chris is a freelance writer who appreciates anime, action figures, and additional ancillary artistry. He can be found staying up way too late posting screencaps on his Twitter.