Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2001)
Animation Production: Ashi Productions
Released by: Urban Vision
By Dreamseer

Introduction

More than a decade after the release of the original classic, "Vampire
Hunter D," renowned anime director Yoshiaki Kawajiri took on the grand task of creating a sequel to the sci-fi/horror film he made that was based on the novel by Hideyuki Kikuchi. With a fresh, modernized look, a collaboration between eastern and western work, "Bloodlust" was born...

Story

In the distant future, creatures of darkness prey on the weak and helpless. But the numbers of the Vampire nation are beginning to dwindle. Their species is slowly dropping out of sight, as the number of skilled, vicious Hunters has begun to rapidly increase. But some Vampires still exist...

The mysterious Hunter known only as D has been hired to retrieve the young woman, Charlotte, who seems to have been kidnapped in the night by a Vampire named Meier Lenk. But D is not alone in this hunt, for the renowned Marcus Brothers have also been hired to do the job, and they will not be pushed aside.

Swords clash and guns fire back and forth across a post-apocalyptic
battlefield as the lines between good and evil are blurred to immeasurable degrees, when D discovers that the girl he is trying so desperately to pull from Meier's clutches... may be there of her own free will....

The battle intensifies as the terrible Vampire Mistress Carmilla enters the playing ground, though her true intentions, good or evil, are unknown.

In this hunt, only one thing is certain. Blood is going to be spilled....

"I don't get to have a life..."

Review

Let me just start off by saying that Yoshiaki Kawajiri is by far my absolute favorite anime director. Every one of his works that I have seen have been inspiring to me. "Ninja Scroll," "X",", "Program," "World Record." All gold, as far as I'm concerned. So it was only natural that I got a bit excited when I learned that "Bloodlust" was being done by Kawajiri, especially seeing as to how I had loved the original film so much.

This was an interesting project. The crisp, beautiful animation was done by MADHOUSE in Japan, but the sound and music were composed here in America. So you could say that it's a collaborative effort between the two countries. The fact that the DVD does not have a Japanese-language track, just the English voices, may have something to do with that (love the music, by the way).

The movie itself is awesome.

The animation is fantastic. They took the original designs for the
characters and futuristic settings and just gave it that great Kawajiri
touch. Practically every other shot is just a visual feast of imagery that would make your mouth water... if you're the type to really get into this sorta thing. One of my favorite scenes, for purely visual purposes, is when D rides his horse across the backs of a group of flying sand-creatures. Beautiful.

Just like in the first film, Bloodlust has a strange western feel to some of its scenes, which is fiercely apparent when D is held at gunpoint by a town sheriff and his men, and a startling revelation comes out.

As before, there are all sorts of twisted monsters and beasts to look
forward to. A girl with the ability to become a part of whatever she
touches, a werewolf with a huge mouth of fangs on his chest, a ghostlike entity that fires beams of energy from mystical lanterns that float around it, and many, many more. This concept was used heavily in the original, but somehow seems more focused and intense this time around. It's just so darn cool.

The story is pretty well-written as well. There is a lot of moral ambiguity surrounding the actions of some of the characters. You're left wondering who really is the bad guy, and who is the good guy, if such a thing even exists, and there are a dozen different characters with totally different opinions on it. Speaking of the characters, they're great as well. Meier Lenk makes Magnus Lee look like a cheap wannabe. I'd take the Marcus Brothers over Greco any day.

If I had to make one complaint about the film, it's that the story seems to focus more on the other characters, whereas D is just kind of there. Besides one or two scenes, we don't really delve too much into who he is, or what might have changed about him between the first and second films. We're more worried about Meier, and Carmilla, and Barbarois, and Marcus Brothers, and on, and on, and on. It's not a huge deal, since the story still turned out quite nicely, but yes, I would have liked to see more of D's development.

Final Thoughts

In my opinion, this is an awesome movie. You don't have to see the original to enjoy this one (though I'd NEVER recommend skipping the original). Awesome visuals. Interesting characters. An engaging story. And some great action. Bloodlust gets an easy A+.

"Aww, you're not so bad after all... ya just dress bad."

I'll See You In My Dreams

Dreamseer