Vampire Wars

VAMPIRE WARS (1990) is a short (50-minute) anime thriller that posits a race of vampires living among us who get into a battle with the CIA over the fate of a pop singer named Kiki whose blood turns out to have vampire blood, making her vital to the continued existence of the vampires. It's set largely in Paris, where a French spy agency recruits Kuki Kozaburo, a former terrorist from Japan, to locate and protect Kiki. Little does Kuki know that he's being manipulated in order to get Kiki safely into the hands of a notorious CIA operative known as "Bloody Charlie." When Kuki finally confronts a key opponent and learns the full story behind the conflict, he begins to rethink his loyalties. There are lots of shootouts, fights, and furious chases through the streets, alleyways and hotel corridors of Paris, as well as the occasional vampire bite. The action is often quite bloody, with Kuki dishing out punishment but also taking enough to kill ten men. The plot is rather far-fetched, but things move at such a fast pace, it's not hard to put the questions aside and just enjoy the thrills. As usual with so many OAV (made-for-video) anime thrillers, it ends rather abruptly.

The animation and design are stylish and effective and the frequent action well-staged. The director, Kazuhisa Takenouchi, also worked on "Dragon Ball," "Sailor Moon" and "Magic User's Club."