Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust & Vampire Hunter D

Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust
Director: Yoshiaki Kawajiri
Year: 2000
Rating: 8.0
Not often but every now and then I get in the mood for some crazy Japanese anime and pick something at random. If it has tentacles having sex with young girls I bail out pretty quickly - well reasonably quickly.  This was a good choice though. I really enjoyed it and was hoping there were other Vampire Hunter D films after this. Doesn't seem so - TV yes - and there is one before that I should track down - but no live version. While watching I could not help but think that Marvel should buy the rights as they are the only ones with enough money to do it justice. It is fabulously imaginative and has a horde of different kinds of demons that CGI could have a field day with. Starring Tom Cruise of course. I mean Vampire Hunter D lives forever and never changes just like Cruise.



The Vampire Hunter D started off as a series of books from author Hideyuki Kikuchi, who also wrote Wicked City which in fact may have had some tentacle sex. They are illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano, who also did the illustrations for Neil Gaiman's Sandman. From there as these things tend to do it became a manga, a tv series, video games and two films. This one and the original in 1985. Fifteen years between the two films seems a long time. The animation style didn't strike me as breaking new ground as beautiful as it was but it is a great story and the animation suits it well as it goes though numerous scenic and mood changes from adventure to horror and landscapes to a Vampire Castle that creaks with history and death.



It takes place in a post nuclear war time and the human race is on the upswing and killing off the vampires who had taken over. There are now Vampire Hunters or bounty hunters who for the right price will track them down and kill them. Vampire Hunter D is one - half human, half vampire - called a Dhampir. He is hired to bring back a daughter who was kidnapped by a vampire. So it turns out are another group of Vampire Hunters who travel around by train even when there are no tracks. There are five of them, one being a young woman. The story is told from the perspective of both the group and Vampire D as they track down the vampire - called Nobles - and keep having to fend off demons in alliance with the vampires. When they finally catch up with the Noble they discover that the girl loves her vampire. He looks like a glam rock star and treats her well so who can blame her. That adds a level of complication. I don't expect an anime to make me feel tense but this one did.



Vampire Hunter D
Director: Toyoo Ashida
Year: 1985
Rating: 5.0
I had so enjoyed Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2000) that I tracked down the first film that it was a sequel to - Vampire D Hunter. I don't know enough about animation in general or Japanese animation specifically but it seems that there was a huge jump in quality and imagination in those intervening 15 years. Bloodlust is brilliant and this one is just very ordinary in terms of the animation. The only scenes that come alive are when Hunter D is killing monsters. Otherwise it is as dull as a drive across Kansas. No pizzazz but like I said I don't know whether this film was considered top of the town in 1985. It also has that Japanese thing - girl's panties. The teenage object of desire wears this short short skirt in which her panties are always visible. That usually sends me running from any Japanese anime at light speed - I just don't get the obsession - but I wanted to watch this through - panties or not. And later nipples. Great. Panties are a Japanese cultural icon. Hell, they sell used ones in vending machines but I am old fashioned in some ways. Panties in animation creeps me out.



It is a world of vampires and monsters and a beaten human race except for Vampire Hunters. Doris comes across D and asks for his help. A powerful vampire Noble has given her a little bite and wants her for his bride. Well, maybe wearing a longer dress would quench his desire. D agrees and tries to take down the Noble but first has to fend off the Vampire's daughter and her companion - and lots of lesser monsters in the castle. Honestly, it didn't do much for me. I watch animation for the animation. That is why I dislike American animation - good stories but the animation is boring and computer generated and it all looks alike.