I knew nothing of this film or the lore, but I had seen some gifs of the two VHD films on a message board that I thought they were fantastic.
I have witnessed much animation and media in my life so I am not easily impressed, but in the first 10 minutes of this film, I was utterly convinced to be in awe of a genuinely terrifying world under beautiful artistic execution. This film pulls few punches in it's animation and design- there is only one scene I thought to be an unnecessary re-use of frame(s), which is partly why I couldn't give this film a perfect score. If I were to give something a perfect score, I would be stating that nothing could surpass it, given that this film instantly became my personal favorite, I was very close to giving it that perfect score, but I will give it the score of, "the most well done film, in spirit and intent, regardless of being animation or not."
This film (Japanese voice language) absolutely nails the atmosphere, symbolism, and nuances it intends to insinuate. The world is presented as terrifying, yet survivable- To be alive in this era as a human requires competence. The "damsel" presented in this film is not a dainty flower comparatively, she challenges the main protagonist immediately and only reveals her true or more "vulnerable" self when convinced of his competence.
The english dub tarnishes this character, as well as every single character, and demotes them into stereotypical archetypes. Doris, the "damsel", is immediately a ditzy damsel, rather than a prideful wounded warrior of a terrifying world. Half of the human characters are granted "southern" accents in english. The southern accents are incredibly jarring and forced. I was amazed that they thought this to be a good decision when designing the english dub. There is absolutely no indication of "southerness" in the story, atmosphere, or presentation of the film in japanese. The only thing I can think of is that the younger brother of the damsel character, her name Doris, his name Dan- maintains a farm. So the people who dubbed this film were under the impression that participating in animal husbandry would equate to having a southern accent. If you're not convinced of this being a sign of one-dimensional creativity, the damsel type character- Doris, does not share a southern accent and neither does the two character's "father figure". I could rant endlessly about how butchered it is to view this masterpiece in english, but I will continue only about the original film instead.
In my eyes, this film is overflowing in symbolism. Symbolism is subjective, so take what you will from it, but the author of the original source material is said to be heavily invested in "occult" themes for the stories by which this anime has been based upon, so it is not outlandish to attempt to read the metaphysical information presented through out.
My take on this story, symbolic perspective, without spoiling, is that of the power of freedom of will, the forces that suppress freedom, the vulnerabilities those forces "prey" upon to suppress freedom, and the true power human beings have to overcome these preying force and become truly free in mind, body, and soul.
The main character is a being who knows two things- what he is and what he may become. A man who gives compulsory conscious thought to not only his actions, but his intentions behind the actions as well. The main character is representative of a man that has superseded his superego and no longer views himself as a "victim of circumstances" (Determinism archetype), but as free and true being only confined momentarily to this mortal coil. My perception of this was reinforced in the protagonist's self defining claim, "we are transient guests of this world"- an ellegant and simple allusion towards a self realized concept of eternal existence, which again is played out in both physical and metaphysical symbolism. The "nobility" (vampires) are physical entities that exist for eternity and the main character shares this quality. The main character does not submit to his "genetic predisposition" (determinism) and instead becomes the "ideal self" externalized. Characters that share this archetype include: Socrates of Athens, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Siddhārtha Gautam (The buddha), and Krishna (Hinduism). The protagonist faces temptations, challenges, illusions, manipulations, and a very fearless oppressor (hint: that vampire looks like the George Soros, Koch family, big nosed international banker, oppressive aristocratic type).
The main protagonist might sound like a very complex character as I describe him, but he is not and that is the beauty of authenticity. The main protagonist is a simple being only but following the path of truth and beauty while denying the temptations of momentary pleasure in favor of the greater gift, inner peace, aka happiness. The main protagonist might seem to be "stoic" and "emotionless", but it is quite the opposite. The archetype he is based upon is influence greatly from the stoic philosophies of the classical greek and roman philosophies clearly, but stoicism is misunderstood completely as stereotypical trope, rather than a school of thought on the perspective of what life and death is.
You will realize that the main character feels all emotions across the pantheon and that his joy is abundant, yet never external. The main character's deeds are all of his destiny and freedom of will to reshape the worlds both physical and nonphysical. This is all about one character in a film filled with great characters. The antagonists are fantastic representations across the same themes that deal with an contribute towards the identity of the main character. The in-fighting and conflicting interests among "nobility" are profoundly similar to that human "nobility" in real life. It's not hard to imagine the "people" who maintain economic, military, and media influential power living absurdly vampire-like; I mean, what do you think they do when they're born into economic, fame, or regal royalty? These nobility type people, and their lackeys, have interesting perspectives, especially when juxtaposed against the main character's perspective (he has the power to change a mind, it's called empathy).
Animation is beautiful and well executed, I don't need to say anything beyond that.
The sound atmosphere is fantastic. Of course it is completely altered in english.
This is the most profound anime film I have seen. Animation is special to me in comparison to live action film. I believe animation, in the 2d realm, to be the greater medium of expression of ideas comparatively, so I would go as far as to say that this is the most profound film I have ever seen, only slighting edging out it's equally great successor in the 2000's film Vampire Hunter D. Bloodlust
