Anime Spotlight: Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust
First Impression: This has the potential to be seriously spooky! Nice and dark.
Synopsis: A young woman, Charlotte, is kidnapped by a well known vampire. Charlotte’s family hire D, a half vampire/half human (dunpeal), to rescue her from his clutches, or, in the case she has been turned, kill her painlessly. Charlotte’s brother also hired a team called the Marcus brothers to return her safely home.
The story takes us through several encounters with bodyguards hired by the kidnapper, Meier Link, as the two teams race to complete their similar contracts, and soon we learn that Charlotte was not kidnapped but planned her escape with Meier. They are in love.
D continues his mission to return her to her family even after he hears this startling news directly from Charlotte herself.
Cast/Crew: This film was written and directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri who also brought us a segment from Animatrix and Metropolis. Our protagonist was voiced by Hideyuki Tanaka and Andrew Philpot. Andrew also voiced Rasler from Final Fantasy XII. Our young damsel not so in distress was voiced by Emi Shinohara and Wendee Lee. Wendee also voiced for Cowboy Bebop and Ninja Scroll.
I have yet to find a voice cast that I’ve found hasn’t worked well together. This one has been no different.
Reflection: I first listened to this while I was working and couldn’t really take the extra time to really watch it. This was a bad idea. Just a few minutes in I realized I was going to have to make time to sit down and watch this. I couldn’t follow the story with just the voice track. I needed the video to go along with it.
Over all, it’s a great story. The animation is different from most anime that I watch. It was a nice change of pace compared to my normal viewing patterns. The vampire/human love story has always been an interest to me. I mean, I am a girl and obsessed with vampires and everything.
Why you should watch: You enjoy a well rounded story with plenty of action to keep you on your toes.
Why you shouldn’t watch: I’m a fan of the try everything once rule. I don’t see any reason why you can’t spend an hour and 45 minutes watching this movie.
I’m a nerd, I dressed up as D a couple times at an anime convention.
The original “Vampire Hunter D” was the anime that got me interested in anime.