Vampire Hunter D (1985)

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.

Director:

Toyoo Ashida

Writers:

Hideyuki Kikuchi (novel), Yasushi Hirano (screenplay)

Stars:

Kaneto Shiozawa, Michie Tomizawa, Seizô Katô

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kaneto Shiozawa	...	D (voice)
Michie Tomizawa	...	Doris (voice)
Seizô Katô	...	Lee (voice)
Satoko Kifuji	...	Lamika (voice)
Kazuyuki Sogabe	...	Rei Ginsei (voice)
Motomu Kiyokawa	...	Feringo (voice)
Yûsaku Yara	...	Greco (voice)
Kazuko Yanaga	...	Older Snake Sister (voice)
Yoshiko Sakakibara	...	Younger Snake Sister (voice)
Keiko Toda	...	Dan (voice)
Yasuo Muramatsu	...	Roman (voice)
Kan Tokumaru	...	Danton (voice)
Ichirô Nagai	...	Left Hand / Narrator (voice)
Kazumi Tanaka	...	O'Reilly (voice)
Shinya Ôtaki	...	Gimlet (voice)

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

vampire | vampire hunter | dark hero | half human | male dhampir | 

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Genres:

Animation | Action | Fantasy | Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

There is a audio commentary track with Jonathan Clements on the Region 2 UK Manga Video DVD.

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Quotes

D: What's your name?
Doris Rumm: My name's Doris Lang. Do you think you'll be able to help me? Don't worry, I can pay for it. I don't have much in the way of money, but I'll give you three meals a day, and you can sleep with me if you want to.
D: So when did the vampire bite you?
Doris Rumm: You ARE a Vampire Hunter! I knew it! Please, won't you help me?

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Alternate Versions

In the Streamline Pictures English-dubbed release, a graphic shot of Count Magnus Lee's face crumbling during the final battle with D is replaced with a red flash. This change remains present in all subsequent North American prints, including the bilingual DVD and the subtitled VHS released by Urban Vision.

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Connections

References Nosferatu (1922)

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Soundtracks

Your Song ('D'Mix)
Lyrics by Tetsuya Komuro
Music by Tetsuya Komuro & Naoto Kine
Arranged by Tetsuya Komuro
Performed by TM Network

User Reviews

"Vampire Hunter D"

In the 13 years before Wesley Snipes would pick up a sword and proceed to slice and dice the undead that frequented blood-soaked raves in 1998's ultra-cool "Blade," the eponymous character "D" of "Vampire Hunter D" was slicing up vampires and other horrors on the Japanese countryside.

"Vampire Hunter D" is certainly one of the better Anime' flicks to be released during the 1980s, when most Japanese animation films were either relentless bloodbaths, borderline pornography, or both. "D" fits in with the eldest category: it's not short of graphic violence and gore, and there's some explicit nudity to boot.

As a fan of Anime', I know that Japanese animation is not all that welcome in American mainstream cinema because of the stigmas that are attached to it. Because "Vampire Hunter D" was released amidst a blossoming season of bloody, sexy Anime' films, it has earned a small cult following in America.

It is sort of slow in the beginning, but gets going once D makes his appearance, riding into town on a cyborg horse and wrapped in a long black cape. His eyes are partially obscured by his over-sized brim hat. He's hired by a local girl to exterminate the vampire that bit her and because she's been bitten, people have grown fearful of her since they believe that she is contaminated. So D goes to work, taking on the Count's legion of ghastly demons and other hideous creatures.

"Vampire Hunter D" is not the greatest Anime' ever made, but it was one of the first that I ever saw growing up. It's one of my personal favorite Anime' flicks and it definitely ranks within my top ten Japanese animation films.

8/10

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

26 March 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

Vampire Hunter D

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ashi Productions Company, CBS Sony Group Inc., Epic/Sony

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo 6-Track Stereo (2000 Special Edition has 5.1 audio in japanese) 6-Track Stereo (2000 Special Edition has 5.1 audio in english)

Color:

Color