Ranked #1944

Vampire Hunter

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Characters & Voice Actors

Felicia Main

Jaud, Janyse English Nogami, Yukana Japanese

Pyron Main

Anita Main

Aensland, Morrigan Main

Barr, Kathleen English Sakuma, Rei Japanese

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magnus Overall 7 Story 8 Animation 8 Sound 8 Character 8 Enjoyment 7

Apr 22, 20074 of 4 episodes seen 6 of 7 people found this review helpful The first time I discovered this anime I was excited. The main reason is because it had Morrigan Aensland on the picture, and I really like her on Marvel Vs. Capcom (the game). Also it have only 4 episodes, which is great for me (I really hate long animes. I'm in pain with Naruto, 17/220). Of course, having only 4 episodes makes it an OVA, and as some people say, OVAs have better drawings. In this case it's true, the drawings are really god. The story too is great. It really caught my attention.... I think in the end I could compare it to the Streeth Fighter series. It's not that kind of regular anime we have at bunchs. Even the animation looks different, like with some american influences (very similar to Street Fighter II). The characters are serious, you won't find any jokes or comedy like most of animes have. And it's a great profit. If you're expecting a serious, short anime, with a good story then I recommend it. [Please send me your impressions about this review; critiques or notes about my english.] read more I found this review Helpful  Not Helpful  report

santetjan Overall 5 Story 3 Animation 7 Sound 5 Character 5 Enjoyment 5

Oct 23, 20084 of 4 episodes seen 3 of 4 people found this review helpful Vampire Hunter is the animated version of the 2D fighting game by Capcom of the same name, perhaps better known as Night Warriors: Darkstalker's Revenge. It seems to be targeted, as most such anime are, to fans of the original game, and, as such, seems to take it for granted that the public has some knowledge about the characters, their backgrounds, and the overall back story. As I'm not an aficionado of the games myself, having played them only every now and again, it's somewhat difficul...t for me to say whether or not the anime really ties into the games, so this review will mainly focus on the OVA as is. As might be expected from an anime based on a fighting game, the story is the weakest point. By and large the main plot consists of a human world that has been ruled for some time now by monsters and creatures of legend called Darkstalkers (mainly Demitri Maximoff, for those who know the games) having evolved too much, giving rise to an invasion of robots (Huitzil/Phobos) that are programmed to wipe out advanced civilisation, while at the same time some universal overlord (Pyron) descends on the world to find someone who is strong enough to oppose him. As could be guessed, this someone of course shows up, in the guise of a man tormented by his being half human, half Darkstalker (Donovan). Or, to put it even more simplistic, it boils down to "Hero battles Villain". Moreover, the plot takes itself far too seriously for something based on what is in fact a somewhat goofy, over-the-top series of fighting games, resulting in overly dramatic scenes tied to a plot that is paper thin and clichéd at best. In the meanwhile, a few other characters from the game appear with their own back stories, which are touched upon and sometimes played out for a bit, but these stories are only very loosely, if at all, tied to the greater plot. This in effect means that the story becomes a garbled mess, with many a character running around seemingly without a purpose. On the other hand, the presentation of the characters themselves is not half bad. Most anime based on fighting games opt to pick one main hero and one main villain and have them duke it out, with all the other characters dropping in for a cameo at one time or another to please the fans, leaving the uninitiated utterly confused as to who this or that new guy that never reappears was. Vampire Hunter, on the contrary, picks up about half a dozen of the characters, and expanding a bit on the background of each of these. Running for 4 episodes with a total length of about 160 minutes, Vampire Hunter seems to have found the ideal length for its approach: each of the characters is given a fair amount of time to be introduced and play his or her plot line, while none of them are given too much screen time. Characterisation itself is based heavily on the snippets of information given in the games, making the characters have somewhat distinct (even if largely clichéd) personalities, and having them act on these. What makes the characters all far more interesting is the way they are portrayed. Now, the art is without a doubt the high point of this OVA. Like in most OVA's of the time, backgrounds range from quite good to simply gorgeous, often giving the impression as if they were hand-drawn. The setting in general shows quite a few distinct locales, and the colorisation is very good: as could be guessed, use is made mostly of the darker colours of the palette, with much of the story taking place under a darkened sky or in the shadows. Brighter colours are generally more subdued, with the occasional dashing reds if the situation warrants it. The characters are all very well animated. Not only do they move fluently and have a wide range of facial expressions, they all follow the designs from the game very nicely. Not only are all characters very different in basic design, but many of them sport different styles of drawing and animation, again following the differences in style from the games closely. This being a fighting series, it should come as no surprise that the main attention of the show, and thus the art and animation, is on the fights. These are done very well. As far as I can say, the animators have copied many of the fighting styles and moves from the game, making each fight and each fighter distinctly different. This not only applies to the special moves, or whatever name you would give those, but also, and perhaps even more successfully, to the basic attack patterns, many of which are a joy to watch, being far more interesting than the special attacks, in fact. I'm sure the real fans will notice differences between the anime and the games, but for the rest of us it seems as if the anime follows the games closely. Being generally cautious of animated versions of fighting games, I have to say this one is by far one of the best I've seen to date. The story is ridiculous, pompous, and far to self-important, but this major downside is more than offset with the fairly decent character introduction and development and the more than decent art and fighting direction. read more I found this review Helpful  Not Helpful  report

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