And that's the main strength of the movie - it's a beautiful one, filled with striking artwork, smooth animation and a unique sense of style. I found much of the designs "Bloodlust" breath taking, especially the architecture of the gothic castle. The characters designs are also distinctive, coupling delicate, porcelain features with an almost elven elegance.
Curiously, the sense of beauty found in such abundance elsewhere in the artwork doesn't extend to the faces of the female characters. While the men's faces are blessed with a feminine grace, the women's had an almost masculine look. While beauty is present in the individual facial components, when put together, it always goes missing.
"Bloodlust", despite using a brighter colour palette than its predecessor, nevertheless manages to generate an atmosphere darker and more intense than anything the original OVA could manage. I thought the music did a particularly good job at setting the mood. That said, the voices are the more interesting aspect in the sound department: "Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust" is one of those unicorn anime originally voiced in English. Maybe that's why the English voices doesn't sound too bad, though there are still moments where the performances fell flat. The audio mixing levels also sounds off, at least in the version I watched - the sound effects are like 10 times louder than the voices.
While blessed with superb production values, "Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust" suffers the same story problems as the original OVA: it's confusing and incomplete. By the end, I still knew very little about the protagonist D. Perhaps the makers wanted to maintain D's sense of mystery, but the same excuse cannot be used for the rest of the characters. The relationship between Charlotte and Meire was one where the explanations felt especially inadequate. Unexplored plot elements aside, there were also jarring plot elements such as the rocket ship that doesn't feel like they should belong in the same story. Despite the problems, the story in "Bloodlust" still eclipses the original OVA: at least you can tell what's going on - you just don't know any background information.
Though I would have liked a more fleshed out plot, I still enjoyed "Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust". Its visual flair and mastery of suspense and atmosphere kept me engrossed. This is how a vampire anime should be done!
Personal rating: +1.5 (very good)
