Vampire Hunter D

Vampire Hunter D(1985)

Review: I have seen this a number of times. This has aged well. I remember on the original VHS copy on the back saying, The First Animated Movie For Adults! Indeed.

Vampire Hunter D is a classic in it's own regard. The story is straightforward and effective. A village girl has been bitten be Count Magnus Lee and now hires The Dunpeal to take care of him. This movie has the old feel of the modern vampire lore like crosses work as well as garlic. This also takes place in the very distant future.

Here are the basics: The animation: Subpar. Not bad, but could be better, but this is 1985, so I can definitely give them a break. It's still not that bad.

The Voice acting: Pretty good with the exception of Doris' little brother sounding way to much like a girl. I always hated that. Otherwise fine.

The Characters: All not fully developed, but that was not meant to be, but there is some development and it works. Just enough character. Does not suffer from over crowdedness.

The Last Word: The good olé days. This is how the anime genre got it's grand start. Takes me back. This has aged well.

Before the likes of Hellsing and Blood: The Last Vampire, there was "Vampire Hunter D". A haunting tale about a half vampire, half human hybrid named "D" who travels the post apocalyptic wastelands of future earth, hunting down powerful vampires. As this story opens, D is tasked with killing a member of "the nobility" who terrorizes the local populace and in a fit of "I have nothing else better to do" has forced a girl to become his bride.

Wow, what some people would do with too much free time on their hands eh?

The narrative may seem like a jumble of clichés at first, sharing many aspects in common with western vampire novels and movies. Though not the most original of stories, Vampire Hunter D was a great film for its time, combining elements from science fiction, horror, romance, and western genre to create something refreshingly new. The world as realized in this movie is a dark and dangerous place. Monstrous mutants lurk about in the dense jungles and unknown dangers lie along the treacherous mountain paths.

What stands out for me is the ability of the director to stick close to the horror aspects of the original novel and produce a movie with a hauntingly eerie atmosphere. The watercolor backgrounds, stylish character designs, heavy black shadings, creative lighting and block shadows all lend themselves to a very surreal and other-worldly feel. The opening scene with Count Magnus Lee shrouded in darkness, his silhouette lit only by flashes of lightning and his two glowing eyes, is only the first of many sinister and creepy scenes. An Omnious and unearthly synthesizer musical score permeates the entire movie and adds to the distinct atmosphere that truly makes Vampire Hunter D earn its "horror" status.

I had the pleasure of listening to both the English and Japanese vocal track and I personally recommend the English one. Both are just as well acted but seeing as how most of the characters have western names and Caucasian appearances, hearing them in English gave a more realistic viewing experience. Whats more, the English actors saw it fit to give the various characters different accents. British for some of the townsfolk and eastern European for the nobility.

As much as i like Vampire Hunter D as a classic anime, I would admit that it clearly shows its age. The animation style is severely dated and may come across as a little bit on the "cheap" side even for a 1985 OVA production. There are a number of animation short cuts like looping a conversation over a single still shot and long lingering close up shots to save on the number of cels that would have to be drawn. With its limitations in the animation department, the action scenes naturally suffer. Fights are generally quite stylish but the animation, or rather, LACK OF animation is painful to watch. Characters pause in weird stances as colorful streaks zip about behind them to give the illusion of motion. Normally I would criticize a movie that has too many long slow camera pans across a background, but this style just builds up the ominous atmosphere and thanks to the musical score, helps to increase the suspense.

Another flaw is its story pacing. The narrative tends to drag at times and the story seems to "jump" from setting to setting. There also seems to be a eschewing of character development in favor of advancing the plot. Each of the characters are more or less stuck in their pre-set mold of stereotypical archetypes. Only D comes across as mildly interesting due to his mysterious nature and the unknown limits of his powers. Though the voice actors do a great job at trying to flesh out the characters, a generally uninspired script hamper their best efforts. I actually found myself feeling bored during couple of dialog scenes.

Vampire Hunter D is a fine example of how an animated movie can enthrall its audience by its atmosphere and feel alone. There are few anime that manage to capture the actual "feel" of the horror genre and Vampire Hunter D is one exceptional exceptional example of an anime that can. If you have an open mind for a good story and a unique style in an anime movie, Vampire Hunter D is highly recommended.

I personally encourage newer fans who are more used to the glossy pastel colored modern day anime to give this "grand old horse" a chance. Immerse yourself in the grim, gritty world of Vampire Hunter D and find out what made this the cult classic that it is today.

Vampire Hunter D is the kind of stuff that Manga Entertainment built their business on: old school, action heavy anime with buckets of style. The animation, whilst heavily stylised and nowhere near as crisp as todays fare, works perfectly with the material. Compare the 2000 sequel, 'Bloodlust': the animation in the latter is incredibly slick and the action comes thick and fast, but it might as well be robots fighting in outer space or samurai battling on a mountaintop. What the original does, with its dirty, old fashioned animation is create a decidedly other-worldly and eerie feel, perfectly encapsulated in the strange, mutated beings that roam the hostile countryside, glowing and sidling in a sinister fashion. The overall colour scheme, as well, is very Dario Argento: dark blues and browns prevail over the modern, Akira and Ghost in the Shell inspired trend for green overkill. Character design is, as said, very stylised, but perfectly acceptable, and D himself looks as cool as all hell.

As for the plot, there are no problems there, although there are a few cliché moments. The counts boredom, as opposed to the angst that seems to be all the rage in vampire flicks nowadays, is a nice touch, and at no point do characters motives seem unbelievable. The setting is a nicely realised far future post-apocalyptic landscape full of the standard juxtapositions (horse riders with laser rifles) bought to life by the supernatural element, which seems to have taken monsters and critters from anywhere and everywhere, to no detriment. The voice acting is competent, much better than some eighties dubs I could mention (unfortunately I only have this film on VHS, so I can't compare to the original Japanese).

Overall, not the best of 80's anime. It lacks the sophistication of Akira or the sheer camp hyperviolence of Fist of the North Star, but it's still a very enjoyable film, and a solid part of the collection of any anime connoisseur.

One of the things I have learned to appreciate in my ongoing exploration of Japanese Anime is it's willingness to tell a reasonably adult, well-thought-out and plotted story. Vampire Hunter D is the best example of such storytelling that I have seen in any recent fantasy piece (animated and non).

The one thing I appreciated about this film was that no one in it is a cardboard cutout. Evil is not portrayed as monolithic (if anything, it's shown as just amorality cubed) nor all humans automatically "good guys". Just like in the real world, everybody wants something. Doris wants revenge on a personal level and safety for her village on a community one. Count Lee wants to marry a bride to pass the time. His daughter wants this marriage to be stopped. The Count's time-twisting underling wants to go beyond his current station as loyal henchman. Doris' suitor wants her all to himself. D wants...well, what does D want?

Of all the characters in this story, D is the most enigmatic. If movies do indeed have a Tarot deck, as Stephen King suggests in "Danse Macabre", then D falls under the Eternal Loner (which also applies to such cinema protagonists as Eastwood's Man with No Name in the Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns and Lee Marvin's Walker in "Point Blank"). A half-human, half-vampiric descendent of the legendary Count Dracula himself, he is a man of two worlds, yet not truly a part of either. In one, he is barely tolerated out of necessity. In the other, he is hated for his chosen profession. His terse dialogue makes Eastwood look as talkative as Groucho Marx. By personal choice, he has cut himself off from all emotional ties to the people around him who, I'm fairly sure, will die long before he will (consider the comment regarding Doris' confession of love: "I know.").

The big question regarding D is why? Why does he do what he does? I'm not sure that he actually killed his father, as his conversation with Count Lee's daughter would seem to disprove. Perhaps his father saw how the vampires were changing the world and not for the better. Perhaps he instilled in his son the need to always protect those who are weaker than he from the many predators that this world had to offer (as a nobleman who felt a genuine, if patriarchial, concern for his people, it is not impossible that this would be so). One thing is certain: he does not kill his chosen prey for the common reasons that other men do: money, power, prestige, or even love. Maybe he kills to make the world a better place. Who can truly say? Maybe the new movie on the way will provide some answers.

This was the second anime film I ever watched (the first being the classic Ninja Scroll). Scroll was a hard act to follow but Vampire D did a pretty good job.

These days the animation looks a little bit tired compared to contemporary anime but where VHD wins out is with story and atmosphere and just utter coolness!

It blew me a way all those years ago and I still get a kick out of it :)