February 9, 2023
·
0 feedback
By Tom Wilmot.
Few long-running franchises contact as many mediums as Vampire Hunter D. The brainchild of prolific creator Hideyuki Kikuchi, the collection has spawned over thirty novels, two animated motion pictures, a online game, a manga collection, and several other radio dramas. In addition to making a mark domestically, Vampire Hunter D is extensively recognised within the West, principally as a result of worldwide distribution of its anime variations. Because the collection celebrates its fortieth anniversary, the dhampir’s onscreen absence is notable, significantly within the wake of Powerhouse Animation’s success with Castlevania (2017-21). Regardless of not gracing the display screen since Yoshiaki Kawajiri’s Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2000), D’s two cinematic outings stay among the many most important in trendy anime historical past.
Born in Chiba prefecture in 1949, Hideyuki Kikuchi has garnered a stellar repute as one among Japan’s main horror authors. Each the work of manga artist Osamu Kishimoto and Hammer studio’s Dracula (1958) served as a serious affect for what would turn out to be Vampire Hunter D, the primary novel touchdown on cabinets in January 1983. Below the impression that the collection wouldn’t be printed as a horror alone, Kikuchi set D’s story within the far-flung way forward for 12,090 AD, thus making it a extra marketable sci-fi story.
The melding of genres is one among Vampire Hunter D’s most interesting features, as Kikuchi seamlessly mixes traditional gothic horror with a nuclear-induced post-apocalypse. The creator as soon as famous, “D was in a world of sci-fi blended with horror, and I indulged myself by including my beloved Westerns, too.” This latter affect is noticeable all through the collection, with D characterised as a lone gunslinger of kinds. It’s straightforward to attract parallels between the primary novel and George Steven’s Shane (1953), D fulfilling Alan Ladd’s titular position.
The primary stab at adapting Kikuchi’s novel got here in 1985 with Toyoo Ashida’s merely titled Vampire Hunter D. Produced by Ashi Productions, the movie was developed at a time when mid-budget anime was churned out to flood the Japanese residence video market. A condensed model of Kikuchi’s narrative permits for a brisk but devoted introduction to the creator’s wealthy fantasy world. Enthusiastically billed in a single behind-the-scenes featurette as “a outstanding science fiction horror spectacular romance”, the movie is a darkish, lewd, and graphic affair paying homage to equally mature OVAs of the period.
For a movie that’s nearing forty years outdated, Vampire Hunter D holds up remarkably effectively. Whereas criticism has been levelled on the film’s low-cost look, together with from Kikuchi himself, the 2015 Sentai Filmworks restoration highlights the wealthy colors and tremendous particulars of the animation. The dire post-apocalyptic panorama of the novel is fantastically realised regardless of the budgetary limitations, as harsh tones and gothic imagery are accompanied by Tetsuya Komuro’s eery and ethereal rating. As with Ashida’s Fist of the North Star (1986), the imperfections within the animation give an inherent grit to the visuals that helps to promote the grim actuality of the setting.
Vampire Hunter D additionally marks one of many first main anime exports to the West within the wake of Akira (1988). The movie debuted on US residence video in 1992 courtesy of Streamline Photos, full with an English dub that’s clunky, terrible, and charming in equal components. The affect of Ashida’s adaptation shouldn’t be performed down, because it helped to introduce Japanimation as a mature and thrilling medium that warranted additional exploration. Regardless of Kikuchi’s basic dissatisfaction with the ultimate movie, the creator has admitted that as quickly because it hit theatres, “gross sales of D went by way of the roof”.
Whereas the primary anime adaptation was in manufacturing, the skilled animator and co-founder of Madhouse, Yoshiaki Kawajiri, was rising as a director. After his co-directorial debut with Lensman (1984), Kawajiri was provided the prospect to helm Depraved Metropolis (1987), an adaptation of Kikuchi’s 1985 novel. The director has prior to now recalled the artistic freedom he loved in the course of the venture and Kikuchi’s satisfaction with the film. Kawajiri would go on to adapt a number of of the creator’s works, directing Demon Metropolis Shinjuku (1988) and penning A Wind Named Amnesia (1990). “His artistic tastes and mine are very related”, the director notes of Kikuchi in a single interview. This creative concord with Kikuchi and additional success within the type of Cyber Metropolis Oedo 808 (1990-91) and Ninja Scroll (1993) made Kawajiri the perfect candidate to spearhead a Vampire Hunter D revival.
After a number of years of growth and three years of manufacturing, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust was launched theatrically in 2001, enhancing on its forebear in virtually each facet. Tailored from the collection’ third novel, Demon Deathchase, the movie is a elegant visible feast crammed with beautiful backdrops, horrifying monsters, and vampiric mysticism. The atmospheric opening echoes F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu (1922), as damsel in misery Charlotte is snatched by the tragic vampire, Meier Hyperlink. D is employed to seek out the stolen maiden earlier than she’s irreversibly reworked right into a creature of the night time, however the vampire hunter has competitors within the type of the grisly mercenary group, the Marcus Brothers.
Kawajiri’s penchant for violence and graphic imagery is prevalent right here, as there’s an abundance of blood, guts, and physique horror – the latter most notably within the type of the villainous Carmilla, a ghastly character of the director’s personal creation. Nevertheless, there’s a lot to be mentioned for the fluidity and vivid element of the animation and the gracefully orchestrated motion. One standout sequence has D strategy the kidnapped Charlotte at a lake surrounded by historic ruins earlier than he’s ambushed by a shapeshifting employed hand. The cracks within the pillars, the moss streaming down the partitions, and the feel of the water all make for an exquisite scene in a movie crammed with darkish, gothic imagery.
Co-distributed by City Imaginative and prescient Leisure, Bloodlust benefitted from a cross-pacific manufacturing with the US and loved a global theatrical run. The incredible English language dub is a world away from its predecessor’s and, extra importantly, makes the movie infinitely extra accessible to a Western viewers. Whereas obtained with common acclaim, essentially the most noteworthy opinion of the movie is Kikuchi’s, the creator championing the variation as being in “the highest class of animation in Japan.”
One would have thought that the success of Bloodlust would open the floodgates for extra D-related anime. Nevertheless, the one information we have now to go on in comparatively current instances is a completely CG collection that has been in growth hell for the higher a part of seven years. Kikuchi and Kawajiri are intimately hooked up to the bold venture, however whereas scripts have been supposedly accomplished in late 2018, the covid pandemic has delayed manufacturing indefinitely, making it anybody’s guess as to when our favorite vampire hunter might be again. Evidently, every time the cold-blooded vampire hunter does return to screens, there’ll be massive boots to fill.
Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust is launched within the UK by Anime Restricted.
