Vampire Hunter D: Special Editionby Barb Lien-CooperReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Studio
Credits Grade: 6 Vampire Hunter D’s sequel, Bloodlust, is a creature of rare beauty. After seeing it, I wanted to see the original. If Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust is an A plus, Vampire Hunter D: Special Edition rates a B (although I give it an A for effort).I’ve always been interested in Vampire Hunter D, but I never watched it before. So I was happy to see that the anime had been restored. It’s an excellent story that stops just short of being a classic due to the limitations of animation back when it was released. Time has not treated Vampire Hunter D well. The animation style is a bit old school, as is the translation. The animation style was a weird combo of Superbook and Heavy Metal. The ideas are all there but the technology wasn’t. The set up: a half-human, half-vampire vampire killer roams the distant future, which is half-Spaghetti Western, half-Middle Ages feudalism. He helps a young lady and her way too chipper little brother fight a vampire who has a bit of a lust-on for the girl. Some of the show is suspenseful as its sequel. Other parts are just a bit too crudely animated to bring you more than a chuckle. Still, storywise, it was a good movie and I watched it until the end. I suggest you watch the sequel first and rent the original afterwards. The sequel will make you hunger for this movie. Whereas, if you see this anime first, you may mistakenly think that the sequel is crudely animated, which is a total lie. I’ve rarely seen anything so beautifully animated (well, maybe Mulan ...). Urban Vision get full marks for the amount of work it puts into putting its DVDs together. We get lots of extras, such as the making of the original Vampire Hunter D, a video game preview, and surround sound. The box has a warning blurb on it saying “extreme violence and nudity.” It’s nice that Urban Vision cares about its audience’s enjoyment of the DVD, but believe me, the violence isn’t that bad (it’s mild compared to a lot of live-action horror) and the nudity is there, but it’s fairly brief. All in all, this is a fun evening’s entertainment if you don’t expect a lot out of the animation. Written: May 21, 2002
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