Ranked #328

Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust

This movie gripped me from the opening sequence, that set the tone for the movie. Flawlessly artistic animation, the way the camera pans on Iron Crosses being bent out of shape, the shadowy cape of a *whisper* vampire, a woman screaming then the opening credits. Suspense, action, great animation. I was hooked.

The story seems simple on the face of it, but couched in the plot are beautiful layers of character develpment. A vampire hunter, D (a dunpeal or vampire/human half breed) is commissioned to recover a rich man's daughter, Charlotte, who has been kidnapped by a vampire. She is wanted dead (if turned) or alive (if still human).

D meets up with a band of bounty hunters, all of whom have their own special powers, and personal demons. Against them are an array of gypsy monster/vampires. The animation and sound are so good that one feels compelled to watch and rewatch the fight scenes just because they are so well done. Each character is different and their story comes through, the only fault is the minor villians' motivations could have been made more clear.

The pacing of this movie is excellent, and it is definately theatre quality in all respects. I've introduced my friends to anime by showing them this movie, a few have become fans. The only drawback is after viewing this masterpiece, some of them complain it is hard to get other anime of this calibre quality (plot, action, animation, character, sound).

Unlike the original Vampire Hunter D, the Bloodlust movie is gothic, gory, beautiful and touching. Highly recommended to be watched on a big screen, preferably with surround sound. You won't be disappointed if you rent/download this. It's so good you'll want to own a copy to add to your anime collection, as the rewatch value is very high. read more

Vampire Hunter D. I read the book as the first "anime" thing I ever did. And now I own this movie and most of the books, I'm going to be ordering Coffin as well. This anime is definitely great but it does have it's flaws.

The dvd available in North America (at least in Canada) is only available in the english dub. For elitetists this is a huge problem, but the dub isn't terrible, it's pretty good as far as dubs go.

The theme for this, doomed love, is played so beautifully in this. There were a few scenes that almost moved me to tears. I loved the way the story progressed, they adapt it quite well from the book. The Markus Brothers and Leila also keep the pacing of the story quite well. There are a few scenes with them that really add alot to the story. There aren't alot of loose-ends, and it ends semi-ambigously but they add a very comforting scene right at the end.

The art in D is good. It's very distinctive, there are some beautiful subtleties to it. They put alot of time into some of the scenery which really show off the skills of some of these artists. Some of the character designs bug me, villagers all seem to have the same kind of frame and all moved very similarly. But they play a small part in the movie and the Markus brothers have some nice designs.

The gothic soundtrack in this is very nicely composed. It definitely suits everything that happens in this. It greatly heightens all the emotions you would feel anway. It conveys the hope and the hopelessness of it, as well as the darkness of the time.

The characters have changed slightly from the novel. These changes are for the most part quite nice. As far as progression of the story the characters pull them off quite nicely. I had a few problems with the changes that were made, but the changes they made push the anime in a completely different direction. D is how D always is, they don't change him at all...and they don't need to.

As far as vampire anime go this one is quite good. They show vampires in both ways, both as super-powerful as well as being weak zombies. So people who like both style of vampire won't be dissapointed. If you've seen the first movie and were highly dissapointed then you definitely need to watch this. It's a great movie, but if you can't find the jap audio don't sweat it too much, the dub is decent. read more