Ok, for the few of you who haven't seen this anime, at only one DVD for it, I HIGHLY SUGGEST YOU rent it at the bare minimum.
Ok, ON with da review!
The anime is known as Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust with character design by the famous [or sometimes infamous] Amano Yoshitaka (I think that's how it's spelled) who has also done the character design for the original Vampire Hunter D as well as the super popular game series known as "Final Fantasy". [if you haven't heard of that, you need to crawl out from under that stone you call home...]
This title royally stands above and beyond what many people usually see when watching a "first" anime. Vampire Hunter D was one of my first and when I heard this sequel was being created, I literally jumped outta my carcass to buy this thing. Thankfully, it turned out quite well. It all depends on your tastes, which I shall cover later on.
In terms of originality, this was one of the first, if not THE first of the OLD SKOOL horror anime utilizing the famous legendary myth: Dracula. In case you missed the first one (big spoiler) D is a half vampire. I won't say who his parents are, but I'm sure you can figure it out. An obvious reference is his single lettered name, "D". In terms of names, that's as original as I can think of. ^_^ The story to this title for Bloodlust is also pretty good when you look into it in detail. In the original VHD, he was solo against a Vampire Lord. In this sequel, he gets not one, but two maidens to save and competition in the form of other Vampire Slayers. (who happen to be pretty much as strong as he is.) For a first anime that just keeps on going, this is as original as it gets. I suggest watching either VHD or VHD: Bloodlust since neither movie really has any relation to the other.
I've seen the DVD. Very good quality. It's most definitely primed for ripping hq AMVs from it. It's also a very DARK anime so I suggest either a: watching it in a dim [not pitch black] room or with the brightness turned up a bit. But maybe it's just me... In terms of the appearence of the character design and the look of the anime overall. It's definitely a gothic dreamer's paradise. Crosses that get crushed as a most unholy carriage passes by, the screaming of a woman getting carried off into the night. It's like reading a perfect Vampire horror novel. Cliche, maybe, but still, there's nothing like it.
The dub. Let's see... EXCELLENT! After all, this film was ORIGINALLY dubbed in English. The lip movements were specifically designed to match the movement of English speaking characters so a 10/10 score here. The sound quality is great too! The bgms in between scenes either get your blood boiling for a fight, or it runs you cold in fear. I didn't hear anything wrong really and I could easily recommend the soundtrack of this masterpiece to anyone into that "dramatic horror" type genre of music.
Vampire Hunter D is synonymous with action. HIGH ACTION can be had watching this. You'll have motorcycles flying and literally RIDING HORIZONTALLY off the side of a building, showers of 1000 arrows, decapitations, maulings, the works! This is NOT for the squeamish. It is a horror anime after all. The "epic" finishing battle between D and the antagonist is also a sight to behold. If you want an anime that won't knock you to sleep in one viewing, then you could easily get worse than this. This rocked my world.
Digitally designed with a computer (yeah, like you can REALLY find an anime these days without that wonderufl CG) this anime's special effects are quite refreshing. Though not as blatant as Blue Sub. 6 or Vandread, the magic cpu CG fx utilized here are mostly for the "mystical" attacks done by our heroes ranging from awesome color bursts to unusual 3d imagery, this anime looks as good as it sounds. My fav part is when one of the Vampire Slayers competing with D [whose name escapes me at the moment
] injects himself with a formula to turn him into an incorporeal slaying machine. ^_^This anime's dub was superior as stated above in the sound section. Though I must say, I miss the "original" voices utilized by the "dub-only" company of Streamline Pictures. [they did the original Vampire Hunter D]
After you're done watching this anime, the one thing in your head may be, "how hard did these maniacs work on this?!" The plot is quite complete. Some people like plot twists and such, but this one is devoid of holes thank God. Of all the things I hate in an anime, it's when event or item/person is left unexplained. This anime does a great job of explaining the how/why of the problem [initially, the maiden's kidnapping] occurred.
As an anime to own in your collection, it's quite fitting. At only one dvd, the price ain't too bad. [as opposed to collecting a 100+ ep series ala Ranma/DBZ] As far as $ is concerned, you'll get more than what you paid for. Overall, satisfying to me.
Unfortunately, this anime falls short on my reviewable list. It's only a single motion picture and for me, I can only see something beneath 2 hours long only so many times... It's an excellent anime to have and to show your friends/share with others, but in terms of watching it solo, you may find yourself saying, "what is it that I missed?" when the fact of the matter is, you didn't miss much...
This anime is great for those of you who either
a: loved the first
b: haven't seen the first but still want a good "horror" anime
c: thought horror anime sucked when you saw "Perfect Blue".
d: just want to see a vampire style hero
Even if you haven't seen the first VHD, it's alright, you can consider getting it (good luck, it's AN OLD anime) after watching this one. And even if you can only get VHD, it's still fine standing without it's predecessor next to it.
You will NOT like this anime if you're into
a: extreme romance sappyness [D looks cool and all but he's a hero who walks alone...
]b: can't stomach blood by the bucket
c: don't like fancy cg in your anime [you might as well stop collecting now since ALL anime is now being done by CG]
d: a more "normal" hero.
That's my say in it but at only one DVD, you so CAN NOT go wrong by simply renting this baby first...
My scoring:
Originality: 10
Capture: 9
Sound: 9
Action:9
Digital FX: 9
Lip Synch: 10 (if it's originally in English, how can you go wrong?)
Effort: 8
Overall: 9
Reviewable: 6-7
I'll have another review up again soon so keep on watching!
^_^
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