Vampire Hunter D

When a young maiden named Doris is bitten by a Vampire Noble named Count Magnus Lee, she only has a few short nights until she becomes one of the living undead.  To save herself, Doris hires a Vampire Hunter to slay Lee before his curse consumes her.  But Doris hasn’t just hired any ordinary hunter.  He is a Damphir, a Human/Vampire hybrid with power and strength beyond compare.  And no Human, Mutant or Monster will stop him from claiming his quarry.  Lee may be a Noble Vampire of indescribable power.  But he has yet to encounter a foe as deadly as Vampire Hunter D.

 
Welcome, Dear Readers.  Now normally each October, I try to pick something to review that’s from the Horror corner of Anime.  And this year is no exception, well except I’m not focusing on a series this year.  Instead, I’m selecting six classic horror themed, or at the very least really bloody, Anime films to look at.  We’re kicking that off today with a bad ass from years long, one whose look is so of its era, I’m honestly starting to consider him a Vampiric Captain Harlock.  And like the good Space Pirate, Vampire Hunter D is a legend in Anime circles but he hasn’t really been seen much since his last feature in 2000 (We’ll get to that in time).  This 1985 OVA was D’s first foray into Anime.  So how is it as a beginning to his long legacy and does it hold up today?
 
Knowing very little about Vampire Hunter D going into it, I was surprised to discover its unique combo of dystopian future and Vampiric Goth aesthetic.  It’s an interesting marriage that’s something you don’t see everyday in any media I feel like.  It helps the world of Vampire Hunter D stand out, even if at times it feels a bit like Mad Max or Trigun with Vampires.  It’s funny though, despite the futuristic setting, I feel like the Scifi elements never overtake the horror element.  Sure you have energy rifles and electric fences and Count Lee’s castle is a nice mix of Castlevania and the Death Star (I’ll come back to that).  But Vampire Hunter D’s harder dependency on horror action takes priority, so much sometimes I wondered why this even needed to be set in the future at all.  Still, film does have some scary creature designs, especially during a scene where D walks fearlessly down a hall of decrepit and disgusting nightmares. 
 
As for D himself, like I said, maybe it’s the way he’s drawn in the 80s artstyle but he reminds me a lot of Leiji Matsumoto’s Captain Harlock.  He’s brooding, a man of few words and he’ll easily cleave you in half without breaking a sweat.  Well ok, he can cleave you in half but he does break a sweat from time to time as D does get moments of his own peril to show he’s not totally invincible…just most of the time though.  His own personal vendetta against Vampiric Nobles isn’t fully fleshed out and a lot of his backstory is up to interpretation (though it’s clear who provided his half Vampire side).  Mostly though, D is just around to kill things and dispense the odd nuggets of wisdom being a millennia old being.  I wasn’t too keen on the forced romance between him and Doris.  That kind of bond never seems to click and at times it feels like an excuse to see Doris naked in the shower thinking about D and then having her offer herself to D freely.  That scene does get the most interesting moment of the film, where D must fight his urge to feed on the young beauty.  That kind of internal war against his more monstrous nature is always a compelling element of any hybrid heroes tale and D is no different, I just wish we’d spent more time with that.
 
Production wise, for an OVA Vampire Hunter D has a very dated look.  Even though I didn’t particularly care for it, a similar post apocalyptic action romp, Fist of the North Star: The Movie, still looked pretty good for an 80s Anime.  But I hold OVAs to a higher standard, a perfect marriage between TV and Film Anime production qualities.  This here…it looks fine but nothing special really.  Personally I think the Zeta and ZZ Gundam series both looked better and yeah, we were still a few years off from it but no way this OVA looks anywhere close to as good as Akira did.  My point is, it has a dated look and visually, while the setting is interesting and the action bloody, I don’t think how D’s world is properly meant to be represented would come true until the eventual Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust sequel.  The animation also hampers the animation from time to time.  It’s not as elegantly choreographed and sometimes fights are over before you know it.  As for that Castlevania reference, seeing D hop across platforms, run across the screen and even seeing a giant foe rise over a wall to confront him made me feel like I was watching a playthrough of a futuristic Castlevania game than an OVA…I already have an excellent Castlevania Anime for that thank you.
 
Overall, Vampire Hunter D is a product of its time but not without its own charms that help it stand out.  D’s look is iconic and the setting is one of the most unique in all of Anime.  From a visual stand point, its not quite as pretty or polished as other OVAs of the time period might be, or anything that came after it.  But if you’re looking for some good monster slaying action by a monster wielding a giant sword and want a couple of good scares for good measure, you’ll like this.  But I get the feeling this OVA was just a test run for a proper Vampire Hunter D movie that would prove to be much better all around (Spoiler Alert: Bloodlust is much, much better but we’ll get back to that later this month). 
 
6/10
 
Like I said, we’ll circle back around to D at the end of the month with Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust.  But first, our month long look at Anime Action Horror continues with the first of two back to back offerings from Yoshiyaki Kawajiri, the director of Ninja Scroll.  It’s actually his very first solo directorial debut so I have high hopes.  Check back Monday as we enter the Wicked City, right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.