Toho Studio’s VAMPIRE HUNTER D was originally released in Japan as KYUUKETSUKI HANTAAY D in 1985. Unlike most Anime films that are based on Manga (comics), VAMPIRE HUNTER D is based on Hideuki Kikuchi’s novel. Toho hired director/scenarist Toyoo Ashida to head up their adaptation of Kikuchi’s novel. KYUUKETSUKI HANTAAY D was well received in Japan, and the now defunct production company Streamline Films picked up the English distribution rights. An English VHS release was quickly issued, and soon VAMPIRE HUNTER D was showing up on cable TV and regularly on the Sci-Fi Channel. As a result, VAMPIRE HUNTER D is probably the single most-played English anime adaptation of all time. Since the film has such a high profile, it is often credited with turning outsiders on to anime. Being that such an important part of Anime history has been overlooked on DVD, Urban Vision rectified that with their special edition treatment. Urban Vision was late getting into the DVD market, and their debut effort was suitably enough, VAMPIRE HUNTER D.

The story takes place in the distant future, when mutants and demons slither through a world of darkness. A young woman Doris, daughter of a deceased vampire hunter, stalks a werewolf on the grounds of Count Magnus Lee’s domain. The werewolf kills Doris’ horse, and the Count appears out of nowhere and puts the bite on her. When Doris resumes consciousness, she and her little brother Dan head into town, and along the way they meet the mysterious figure named D. Due to his cold demeanor, Doris deduces that he is a vampire hunter. She offers herself up to him sexually, to get him to go after the Count. Doris knows she is tainted with vampire blood and will ultimately transform into a vampire--unless a vampire hunter can kill the Count then she can be cured of vampirism. D rebuffs her sexual offering, but volunteers to help because of his code of honor. D, Doris, and Dan (all Ds, isn’t that cute) head into town, where Doris is approached by Greco, the spoiled son of the town’s mayor. Greco lusts after Doris and offers up his resources to help kill the Count, in exchange for sexual favors. She refuses his advances, and he treacherously screams out to the town people that she was bitten by a vampire. The frightened townsfolk quickly have their officials capture her. The mayor does not harm her or put her in jail; instead he banishes her from the village.

The Count hypnotizes Doris and has his servants prepare her for a demonic wedding ceremony. Lamika is outspoken against her father’s marriage to Doris, whom she considers a commoner. She believes that allowing Doris into their family will mean the downfall of the House of Lee. The Count is forced to restrain his daughter, who is adamant about the situation. Then Rei shows up and demands that Count Lee bestow upon him the prestige that the Count promised him. The Count merely laughs at Rei’s demands and disregards him. By pushing aside the two people loyal to him, the Count alienates his two most powerful allies. The Count is unprepared when the Vampire Hunter D shows up to challenge him for the freedom of Doris. The two unstoppable forces begin a bloody battle that will decide the fate of this future Earth!

VAMPIRE HUNTER D is full of fearsome monsters, intense violence, bloody gore, and nudity. Despite the cartoon presentation, don’t ever let your kids watch this. This is extreme animation for a 1985 production, and it hinted at a new genre of extreme graphic content that would soon follow. I’m talking about those sex-horror fests such as the UROTSUKIDOJI series or DEMON BEAST INVASION. Despite the graphic intensity, there is a fair amount of intelligence in the presentation of VAMPIRE HUNTER D. Young children would not be able to keep up with the plot, either (so there is no reason for them to watch this). The animation is cutting edge for 1985, though obviously dated by today’s standards. Actually, I prefer the smooth, detailed, and shadowy animation of VAMPIRE HUNTER D to the generic OAV approach of a show like GENERATOR GAWL. The skin tones of Yoshitaka Amano’s characters (especially the women) all exhibit a more three dimensional and realistic appearance, due to the shadow manipulation. The monsters are all excellently designed and animated as well.

Though the plot is not very original, Toyoo Ashida includes many twists and turns to keep the audience’s attention. Ashida takes his time setting up the plot and characters. At times, the script crosses over into a fantasy/horror epic and tries to establishes ties with Bram Stoker’s most popular creation. The characters are nicely developed and integrated into the story. None of the characters are here for color, they all serve a purpose to the narrative. These characters all have agendas and motivations, like real life people. Secondary characters like Lamika and Rei are perfect examples of this. Lamika is too caught up in her superiority complex, that she can’t bear to allow an outsider into her family. Rei craves power and position, and when the Count shuns his plea, Rei reacts in a very human manner. The only character that does not reach his full potential is D himself. He is very much the atypical loner hero, who would rather make war than have sex (think if Clint Eastwood were a vampire). So D comes off very emotionless, and thus sometimes boring (it didn’t help that the voice actor sounded like a soft-spoken motivational speaker).

Like an old Universal horror movie, the plot is motivated by fear. The villagers fear that Doris will turn into a creature of the night, so they cast her out. D struggles to maintain the balance between his vampire side and his human side; he fears that his dark side may hurt people. On the other side of the coin, he fears he may be falling in love with Doris. When Count Magnus Lee learns of the D’s dark side, he fears D and orders his death. Lamika fears that Doris’s commoner status will mean the end of the vampires nobility (which it does). Despite traditional horror movie trappings, VAMPIRE HUNTER D introduces some unique story elements, such as D’s relationship with his symbiotic hand, which saves his life when even detached from his body. The one story element that really makes VAMPIRE HUNTER D stand out is the environment in which the film takes place. In this time and locale, technology exists in the form of weapons. Yet people live like simple villagers. Despite taking place so far into the future, everything looks authentically like the 16th century. People dress like 16 century peasants, and drive around in horse-drawn buggies. The entire film reflects a decidedly gothic look. Then D rides into town on his completely robotic horse. Count Magnus Lee has some super-scientific chambers in the bowels of his castle. Characters use laser powered weapons to defeat monsters and beasts. These bizarre predatory monsters are all over the place, from the Count’s shadowy domain to the simple farm locations--death is everywhere. The combination of old world sensibilities and futuristic technology make for an unusual and fascinating canvas for the story to take place.

From the Special Features menu, you can access Urban Vision’s Website. You can view Yoshitaka Amano’s designs in a short featurette. This mini-documentary includes a text-based talent bio for Amano and shows black and white design work set to the music from VAMPIRE HUNTER D. This featurette is Full Frame, DD 2.0, and runs 3:55. You can also view the non-playable VAMPIRE HUNTER D video game for the Playstation console. Next is the enjoyable behind the scenes documentary called The Making of VAMPIRE HUNTER D. This is a studio produced effort from 1985. It starts off with Toho’s press conference announcing the film, then interviews director Ashida. Then Japanese voice actors talk about their characters. The animation techniques are also covered. This documentary is Full Frame, DD 2.0, and runs 9:54. There are also trailers for these Urban Vision properties.

• VAMPIRE HUNTER D (original 1985 Japanese language)
• WICKED CITY (English language trailer)
• PETSHOP OF HORRORS (English language trailer)
• GOKU MIDNIGHT EYE (English language trailer)
• WICKED SEVEN (English language trailer)
• VAMPIRE HUNTER D 2000 (English language trailer)

The VAMPIRE HUNTER D 2000 trailer looks totally awesome. It has the same gothical future look, yet the animation is lifelike and smooth, the characters brilliantly rendered, and the backgrounds are intricately detailed. Strangely, the trailer is in English, so let’s hope Urban Vision will be releasing VAMPIRE HUNTER D 2000 soon.

-  Darren Collette 

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