Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust

Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (吸血鬼ハンターD ブラッドラスト Banpaia Hantā Dī: Buraddorasuto) is a 2000 anime dark fantasy[3] film produced by Madhouse, Film Link International, BMG Japan, Movic, Good Hill Vision, and Soft Capital. It was written, directed and storyboarded by Yoshiaki Kawajiri, with Yutaka Minowa designing the characters, Yūji Ikehata serving as art director and designing the setting, and Marco D'Ambrosio composing the music. The film is based on the third novel of Hideyuki Kikuchi's Vampire Hunter D series, Demon Deathchase.

Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust
Film poster
Japanese吸血鬼ハンターD ブラッドラスト
HepburnBanpaia Hantā Dī: Buraddorasuto
Directed byYoshiaki Kawajiri
Produced byMataichirō Yamamoto
Masao Maruyama
Takayuki Nagasawa
Written byYoshiaki Kawajiri
Uncredited:
Brian Irving[1]
English Version:
Ellen Moore
Jack Fletcher
Based onVampire Hunter D: Demon Deathchase
by Hideyuki Kikuchi
StarringPamela Segall
John DiMaggio
Dwight Schultz
Andy Philpot
Music byMarco D'Ambrosio
CinematographyHitoshi Yamaguchi
Edited byHarutoshi Ogata
Satoshi Terauchi
Kashiko Kimura
Yukiko Itō
Production
company
Distributed byNippon Herald Films[2]
Release date
  • July 2000 (2000-07) (Fantasia Fest)
  • April 21, 2001 (2001-04-21) (Japan)[2]
Running time
102 minutes[1]
CountryJapan
United States[1]
LanguageEnglish
Box office$151,086

The film began production in 1997 and was completed with the intention of being shown in American theaters. It was shown in twelve theaters across the United States and received generally positive reception from American critics.

Plot

Charlotte, a young woman, is abducted by Baron Meier Link, a vampire nobleman. Charlotte's father, Elbourne, hires D, a dhampir, to find her and rescue her, dead or alive. He offers D a large reward, then doubles it at D's request.

At the same time, Charlotte's older brother has hired the Marcus Brothers, composed of their leader Borgoff, the hulking Nolt, the blade master Kyle, the physically disabled psychic Grove, and a woman named Leila, who holds a grudge towards vampires. D and the Marcus Brothers race after Meier, in which they learn Charlotte chose to run away with him out of love.

Meier hires the mutant Barbarois to guard him, consisting of Caroline, a shape shifter; Benge, a shadow manipulator; and Machira, a werewolf. Nolt is killed by Benge, resulting in the brothers confronting the Barbarois in their home territory, at the same time D visits them. Grove causes a large ruckus using his psychic powers, and D is trapped in a void that Benge creates. D escapes the void after, and the Marcus Brothers avenge Nolt by killing Benge, but are forced to replenish their supplies. They travel to a nearby town, where Leila convinces law enforcement to stop D, but are unsuccessful in preventing him from leaving.

During the daytime, Meier's carriage stops to rest and Charlotte wanders out, meeting D and Leila. The two fight against Caroline while Machira escapes with the carriage. D defeats Caroline, but is forced to seek shelter after absorbing too much sunlight. Leila faces a revived Caroline, and survives only by chance when lightning strikes the mutant. She takes shelter with D after, and reveals that a vampire killed her mother, explaining her grudge against them. The two make a pact to visit each other's graves upon who dies first. She remarks that D will likely be the only person who will visit hers.

The Marcus Brothers trap Meier's carriage on a bridge using explosives. Their trap is foiled by Machira, resulting in Kyle being killed and Borgoff falling off the bridge, but surviving. Meier and Charlotte reaches the Castle of Chaythe, where Countess Carmilla awaits them. Machira stays behind to fight D, but is slain.

It is revealed Meier and Charlotte had reached out to the Countess in the hopes they can fly to the City of the Night, in space. However, Carmilla betrays the couple, temporarily slaying Meier and tricking Charlotte into being bitten. Revived by Charlotte's blood, she uses hallucinations to haunt D, Borgoff, and Leila. D is unaffected and saves Leila from her hallucinations, but Borgoff is tricked and turned; Grove sacrifices his life to kill Borgoff, saving Leila. D is able to destroy Carmilla's spirit, as a reawakened Meier destroys her body. D and Meier clash for a final time, with D sparing the vampire on learning Charlotte has died from Carmilla's ritual. D and Leila then leave the castle, as Meier takes off into space with Charlotte's body.

Decades later, a funeral is held for Leila with a crowd attending. Among the crowd is Leila's granddaughter, who recognizes D from a distance and invites him to spend time with her family, but he refuses. D reveals he is glad Leila was wrong about nobody being at her funeral, and leaves contentedly.

Cast
CharacterEnglish Voice ActorJapanese Voice Actor
D Andy PhilpotHideyuki Tanaka
Meier Link John Rafter LeeKōichi Yamadera
Leila Pamela SegallMegumi Hayashibara
Akiko Yajima (Young)
Charlotte Elbourne Wendee LeeEmi Shinohara
D's Left Hand Mike McShaneIchirō Nagai
Carmilla Julia FletcherBeverly Maeda
Borgoff Matt McKenzieYūsaku Yara
Nolt John DiMaggioRyūzaburō Ōtomo
Kyle Alex FernandezHouchu Ohtsuka
Grove Jack FletcherSeki Toshihiko
Polk John HostetterTakeshi Aono
Sheriff John DiMaggioRikiya Koyama
Benge Dwight SchultzKeiji Fujiwara
Caroline Mary Elizabeth McGlynnYōko Sōmi
Machira John DiMaggioRintarou Nishi
John Elbourne Motomu Kiyokawa
Alan Elbourne John DeMitaKoji Tsujitani
Leila's Granddaughter Debi DerryberryMika Kanai
Priest John DiMaggioUnshō Ishizuka
Old Man of Barbarois Dwight SchultzChikao Ōtsuka
D's Mother N/AChiharu Suzuka

Production
Yoshitaka Amano created the design for the main character in Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust.

The idea for a new Vampire Hunter D film came after there was a fan demand to make a follow-up to Vampire Hunter D (1985).[4] Hideyuki Kikuchi was also in favor of this as he had often complained about the "cheapness" in the look of the original film.[4] Plans for a new film started in 1997 by director Yoshiaki Kawajiri and production company Madhouse.[4] Producer Mataichirō Yamamoto wanted to pick up the rights to Madhouse's Wicked City.[5] During the discussion about Wicked City, Yamamoto heard about the new Vampire Hunter D film and wanted to not only get involved with video distribution, but in production and possible theatrical release in America.[5]

The story of Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust is based on the third novel in Kikuchi's series D - Demon Deathchase.[5] The main character's design is by artist Yoshitaka Amano.[6] Amano's art style was matched for the rest of the characters in the film by animation director Yutaka Minowa.[6] The animation for the film was created in the Madhouse Studios in Tokyo while the post-production work was done in California. The English soundtrack for the film was recorded in 1999 before the Japanese dialogue was finished.[6] The film's title of Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust was a last-minute decision to distinguish it from the first film.[7]

Release

Theatrical

To promote the film, a two-and-a-half-minute-long trailer was finished in 1998 and was shown at American anime fan conventions.[6] A work-in-progress print was shown in 2000 at the Fantasia Film Festival in July in Montreal and at the New York Anime Film Festival in October 2000.[6]

The completed version of the film was only released theatrically in an English-language version. On its Japanese theatrical release, it was subtitled in Japanese.[7] It premiered in on September 23, 2001, in America where it played in six theaters. It grossed $25,521 in this run and $151,086 in total, making it the highest-grossing Japanese film ever in a language other than Japanese.[7]

Home video

Urban Vision released the movie on DVD and VHS on February 12, 2002,[8] and then on February 3, 2015, Discotek Media announced their license to release the movie for Blu-ray on September 8, 2015 and DVD on September 22, 2015, however, due to licensing restrictions, all releases have the original English audio only.[9]

In Japan, the film was released on DVD on December 19, 2001, by Avex Entertainment with both English and Japanese audio.[10]

Reception

The film received generally favorable reviews from American critics, it received a rating of 62 on the website Metacritic.[11] The Chicago Reader gave a favorable review of the film, referring to it as a "gorgeously animated surrealist adventure".[12] The New York Daily News referred to the film as "Beautiful, witty and provocative" and that it should "appeal to fans and non-fans alike".[11] The San Francisco Chronicle praised the director Yoshiaki Kawajiri stating that he "has a gift for striking visuals" but also noted that "his story manages to be simultaneously thin and chaotic."[13]

Notes
  1. Browning, 2010. p.26
  2. バンパイアハンターＤ (in Japanese). Japanese Cinema Database. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
  3. Alspector, Lisa. "Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust". Chicago Reader. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
  4. Patten, 2004. p.342
  5. Patten, 2004. p.343
  6. Patten, 2004. p.344
  7. Patten, 2004. p.341
  8. "Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust - Amazon.com". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2015-02-03.
  9. "Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust". Facebook. 2015-02-03.
  10. "バンパイアハンターD(劇場公開バージョン) [DVD]". Amazon (in Japanese). ASIN B00005R6AB. Retrieved 2015-02-03.
  11. "Critic Reviews for Vampire Hunter D at Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved August 5, 2011.
  12. Alspector, Lisa. "Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust". Chicago Reader. Retrieved August 5, 2011.
  13. Guthmann, Edward (October 5, 2001). "FILM CLIPS". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved August 5, 2011.

See also

References
  • Patten, Fred (2004). Watching Anime, Reading Manga: 25 Years of Essays and Reviews. Stone Bridge Press. ISBN 1-880656-92-2.
  • Browning, John Edgar (2010). Dracula in Visual Media: Film, Television, Comic Book and Electronic Game Appearances, 1921-2010. McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-3365-5.
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