gavin6942 In a far-future time ruled by the supernatural, a young girl requests the help of a vampire hunter to kill the vampire who has bitten her and thus prevent her from becoming a vampire herself.Typically I do not care for anime. Netflix used to recommend it to me and I had to repeatedly tell them to stop it. To this day I have seen fewer than five I really enjoyed. I just do not happen to care for the genre (although some of the bigger ones like "Dragon Ball" and "Sailor Moon" are alright).This was a pleasant surprise. I like horror films, so maybe it helped having the vampire aspect. And I especially enjoyed that they had the mythos of the half-human, half-vampire. We do not hear or see that often in the horror genre,and it was a nice touch.

diordna What can I say. I was thoroughly disappointed when I bought and watched this film. After watching Akira, a true masterpiece of animation, and having read very good reviews, I was expecting something more.I understand that it was created back in "the day" of 1985, so the animation was skin and bones, but even so that doesn't prevent the story from being bad.. does it? From bad voice overs to a pointless hand/face (which is apparently a prominent figure in the Manga), this film has few good moments, and only a handful of decent fights.I may be a biased critic, in that I'm used to more modern animation such as "Death Note", "Afro Samurai" and "Naruto" (although I stopped watching Naruto years ago) but if the story was better I think my views would be different. It's very beginning middle and end, and no real twists throughout.I think the best thing about this film is it's length: 80 minutes.Buy Ninja Scrolls or Akira instead for more gore, more action and better story lines.

JTurner82 Based on a series of best-selling novels by Japanese Horror author Hideyuki Kikuchi, this 1985 direct-to-video animated feature has been a cult favorite among Anime fans. Set in a post-apocalyptic future where vampires and mutants have overrun a human world, VAMPIRE HUNTER D begins on a dark night with a deftly choreographed action scene. Here we see Doris Lang, a courageous werewolf hunter's daughter stalking her gardens in pursuit of a T-Rex like monster with sharp teeth and scarlet eyes. Chasing it into the forest on horseback, Doris finds herself face to face with an even more imposing threat--a hulking, shadowy vampire, who introduces himself as Count Magnus Lee (in a rather corny monologue which exists only in the English version). Naturally, the bloodthirsty aristocrat takes a drink from our heroine's jugular vein.The following day, Doris encounters a lone figure on a cyborg horse--a vampire hunter known as D. Desperately, she hires him. The rest of the movie involves D doing everything in his power to slay the evil count to save Doris from an eternal life as a walking undead. Meanwhile, Doris must protect her impulsive little brother, Dan, and fend off the advances of an unwelcome suitor, the arrogant mayor's son Greco. Matters are further complicated when D also has to deal with Lamika, Count Lee's jealous daughter, and the ambitious Ray Ginsay, a deadly noble wanna-be who will do anything to earn his master's favor. During all this, Doris falls madly in love with D--but it turns out that her rescuer (surprise) is half-vampire himself. (This explains why his left hand has a creepy-looking face that can talk to its master or even suck up nasty creatures.) The concept is sound, but this movie's execution may turn off viewers expecting a multi-faceted story and flashy visuals. The plot, while otherwise apt, borders too much on predictable; even a chilling sequence where Ray Ginsay paralyzes and (temporarily) murders D by way of using an essence-draining candle loses its impact because we already know that our hero will eventually prevail. The character designs were by Yoshitaka Amano, best known from the ever-popular FINAL FANTASY videogames, but his stylistic illustrations are sadly compromised by the simplistic and flat animation. The backgrounds, although dark and appropriately imaginative, lack detail and the cel count is very choppy. It is important to note, however, that all the animation defects are simply attributed to the fact that this was made in 1985, a time when Japanese Anime productions were mostly made on the cheap. Even still, it does leave a B-grade stench on the product.This same B-movie quality also applies to the audio aspects of the picture. Although the sound effects are appropriately haunting and scary, at times they do sound cheesy, particularly the synthesizer sound effects when Count Lee sends rays from his eyes. The musical score from TM Network's Tetsuya Komuro is fittingly epic and sometimes spooky, although it is obviously driven by dated-sounding electronic instruments.As far as vocal acting is concerned, the English dub, produced in 1992 by Carl Macek's Streamline Pictures, does not feature anything in the way of memorable or convincing vocals. With the exception of Edie Mirman as Lamika, who brings a sultry arrogance to her role and, perhaps to a lesser extent, Barbara Goodson as Doris (who is decent, but sometimes she comes across as bland) the rest of the performances range from dull (D sounds too much like a radio announcer) to lackluster (Dan, in particular, sounds more like a woman than a boy). Other factors which bring down the dub are the cheesy Transylvanian accents and the even more lame writing (in addition to that aforementioned monologue delivered by Count Lee, there are other groan-worthy lines, most of them uttered by D's left hand). Regrettably, this does not mean that the Japanese version is any better. While D is decently voiced, Doris, Dan, and Lamika all have shrill, irritating voices in the native language track which actually sound worse in many scenes than in the dub. In other words, neither language track is remarkable, nor easy to recommend over.All these faults aside, VAMPIRE HUNTER D *is* a good story. In spite of its aforementioned predictability (some might argue this movie was tailor-made for Western audiences), VAMPIRE HUNTER D delves into some complex issues: D's inner struggle to resist his own instincts when Doris makes sexual advances on him and his inability to express his true compassion to others results from some very human emotions. It is also intriguing to discover that the villainous Count Lee's actions are motivated mostly by the desire for sport rather than malice. The action and fight sequences are also skillfully choreographed in the style of a samurai-slasher. Sadly, the routine execution does weigh down the movie's potential.It's also important to note that this movie has its share of graphic violence--there are quite a bit of gory swordfights, resulting with stabbing, amputating, or slicing in half; toward the end where one character's head explodes. While all this may sound pretty extreme for squeamish viewers, the cheap production values actually make the violence less gruesome and more campy, making it easier to sit through than most bloodfests. There are also a few very inoffensive nude scenes. Even so, this is a movie best appreciated by an adult audience; parents should think twice before considering showing this to children.VAMPIRE HUNTER D is a good film, but it's not what I would consider one of the all-time greats. For a more meaty and complex treatment of the story, Yoshiaki Kawajiri's BLOODLUST should be a more viable route.

Juka Ash (Jetripps) Hi, I am big fan Anime. I have watched them many years. The VHS is the original Color, and Version of this Film. you must watch out for Bootleg, Yes. When sealed - And it says Authentic, its usually 100% real. Sorry could not reply to other personals message, Due to me not having Verified Account. -- DVD is Remastered Version, Colors a little different, Darker, less shimmers. etc. Still very awesome, some like remaster versions more, I prefer Original, example * Akira * the dub in original 80's version, very awesome. New version, very plain. Kudos to the actors tho. Watch out for Bootlegs, I deal with them often because I deal with imports.