Vampire Wars
Deep in the Arizona desert, a NASA base suffers a devastating attack by unknown terrorists. Then, ten days later in Paris, the body of a CIA agent is found floating face down in the Seine. Are these two seemingly unconnected events linked? International terrorist, spy and master criminal Kousaburo Kuki is framed for murder by the French secret service and blackmailed
Deep in the Arizona desert, a NASA base suffers a devastating attack by unknown terrorists. Then, ten days later in Paris, the body of a CIA agent is found floating face down in the Seine.
Are these two seemingly unconnected events linked? International terrorist, spy and master criminal Kousaburo Kuki is framed for murder by the French secret service and blackmailed into helping them find out what's going on or die.
Kuki soon discovers that the key to the mystery is movie superstar Lamia Vindaw, who has become the focus of a CIA operation in Paris and more sinisterly, the target of a bizarre vampire cult.
Can Kuki get to the bottom of the mystery and save the glamorous Miss Vindaw, or will he to become just another number in the body count?
Review
Vampire Wars is based on the novel by Kiyoshi Kasia, which I've never read (don't even know if it's been published outside Japan), but I was left feeling that this could have been so much better and am convinced that it's lost a great deal in the translation to film.
The story is very confusing, with lots of loose ends and undeveloped plot lines, and is basically a series of extremly violent scenes strewn with liberal amounts of cornball statements, profanity, nudity and casual sex. The "hero" of the piece is not a nice guy - a freelance terrorist with no morals to speak of and seemingly happy to kill with little provocation.
The background artwork is pretty good and it captures the atmosphere of Paris quite well. The animation is also quite good, although I found the images quite soft when the characters weren't in close-up but then the film is pre-digital and the transfer will have suffered for that but it is free of defects and flaws. The sound is plain old Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo but it's reasonable for the production. Dialogue is pretty clear and the effects are decent enough.
As previously stated, the story is a bit dodgy and the Vampire Wars of the title could have been explained by them against humanity or by the revelation of their galactic history. At the end I felt that we were just left hanging with the story as yet unfinished. If this were a pilot for a series, it would explain much and all the diverse story lines could have been developed further.
Extras
Nothing of added value here, just the usual Manga set of filler trailers…
The Previews - Trailers for The End of Evangelion, Patlabor, Black Jack, Detonator Orgun, Vampire Hunter D, Virus, Kaidohmaru and R.O.D.
The Collection - Trailers again, this time for Bubblegum Crash, Sword For Truth, Vampire Wars, Ray Earth, Amon Saga, New Gall Force, Violence Jack, Dark Myth, Psychic Wars and Land lock.
Overall
Vampire Wars doesn't really live up its title as there is no actual war going on here but it's almost a reasonable spy thriller, if you can follow the plot, and worth a look you're an anime fan. If it's a vampire tale you're after then check out Vampire Hunter D instead.
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