Vampire Hunter D

Written by Allan Ogg // 09/12/2003 // Comments

The year is 12,090 AD and, after a cataclysmic upheaval, the world is plagued by vampires, werewolves and all manner of monsters, leaving the remnants of humanity struggling to exist in the nightmarish environment. Every 50 years or so the ancient vampire lord, Count Magnus Lee resurfaces to terrorize the area of Ransylva and to take a new human bride. This time round he's....

The year is 12,090 AD and, after a cataclysmic upheaval, the world is plagued by vampires, werewolves and all manner of monsters, leaving the remnants of humanity struggling to exist in the nightmarish environment.

Every 50 years or so the ancient vampire lord, Count Magnus Lee resurfaces to terrorize the area of Ransylva and to take a new human bride. This time round he's set his sights on our heroine Doris Lang who, along with her little brother Dan, runs a sheep farm just outside the village and fights a continuous battle to protect her flock from the marauding hordes that rove the land.

Enter 'D', a cool dude, vampire hunter to the rescue. Doris hires D to rid the land of Magnus Lee and his minions for once and all. With his long curved thin bladed sword, wide brimmed hat, flowing cape and sitting astride his cyborg horse, he's an imposing site for any denizen of the dark.

However D is even more than he seems. He's a Dhampire - a half human, half vampire possessing all the powers of a vampire but few of their weaknesses. On top of this his left hand is an entirely independent entity with a life of its own.

Review

An early UK Manga release, this is the first movie, adapted from a series of stories by author Hidayuki Kikuchi about the half human, half vampire D.

Digitally mastered, the video quality is reasonably good and there are no scratches or other artifacts, although the blacks could have been stronger. However, the animation produces some flicker and there are some pretty messy effects such as wind and rain that really could have been done better.

The animation quality varies a bit as well. Some scenes are beautifully done but others look like they've been taken out of the South Park school of animation with cut out shapes bobbing across the screen. The background artwork is adequate but nothing special.

The story is pretty formulaic but as it takes place in the far future there's some added interest in the use of technology as well as incorporating the usual tools of the vampire hunter. On top of that there are some good sub plots such as Doris having to fend off the attentions of the mayor's slimy son and Lee's daughter, who's initial animosity changes as she realises her similarity to D.

The other dubious area is the length of the final scene, and Jonathan Clements also mentions this in the commentary. Basically it's way too drawn out and Clements suggests that this was simply to extend the running time to better qualify the movie as a feature.

All that aside, it's a very watchable piece of anime.

Extras

Audio Commentary by Jonathan Clements - A particularly good and informative commentary by the co-author of the Anime Encyclopedia, the ultimate print reference for anime fans. This guy really knows his anime and we get an almost non-stop monolague that includes lots of side information on the author, Chinese and Japanese folklore and Eastern European vampire lore.

Picture Gallery - Seven click through stills - some from the movie and a few art drawings from the novels.

Character Profiles - Brief profiles of D, Magnus Lee, Lee's main henchman Rei Ginsei, Doris Lang and Lee's daughter Romika. Gives a little more background to the characters.

Manga Trailers - Almost 15 minutes worth of trailers. End of Evangelion, Patlabor, Black Jack, Detonator Orgun, Vampire Hunter D, Virus, Kai Doh Maru, R.O.D., Bubblegum Crash, Sword for Truth, Vampire Wars, Ray Earth, Amon Saga, New Gall Force, Violence Jack, Dark Myth, Psychic Wars and Land Lock.

DVD-ROM Features - PC Only and I couldn't get it to work. It tries to install the InterActual Player, which fails to play the DVD and I suspect that it just isn't Windows XP compatible.

Overall

A pretty good story, albeit to some ropey animation in places, and an excellent commentary along with Manga's usual extras fare of trailers and filler pictures.