Vampire D happens to be one of the most interesting anime movies I have ever watched. The story take place very far in the future in the year of 12,090 AD. Though it takes place in the far future, it’s not much of a cyber-punk thriller. It has the feel of a modern day dark ages to it with your villages and shanty towns. Vampire Hunter D revolves around D who is the protagonist of the movie.
He’s what you call a dhampir or vampyre that’s half-vampire and half-human. He’s very skilled with the sword along with speed, strength, and agility. In a sense, he’s like Marvel Comics’ resident vampire hunter, Blade. He has the vampiric strengths but hardly any of the vampiric weaknesses. It would seem that D doesn’t have a thirst for blood. Once in awhile, D is vulnerable to sunlight.
D has a companion throughout the movie in the form of "Lefty" which is his left hand. It’s basically a symbiote that forms up as a human face in D’s left palm. I was like whoa when I first saw it. Lefty’s personality serves as a perfect counter-balance to D’s distant personality. In a sense, Lefty is the comic relief of Vampire Hunter D. D’s other special abilities come from Lefty.
In battle, Lefty is pretty useful. It can suck in a good amount of matter through a wind tunnel which came in handy when fighting against a demon that used bugs. Lefty just sucked those bugs up. Other abilities are sizing up enemies’ abilities, inducing sleep, psychometry, and determining medical conditions of a victim. Also, when D is in danger, Lefty will eat earth, wind, fire, or water and convert the energy into lifeforce for D.
D’s other companion is a cybernetic horse. Which brings a bit of the futuristic aspect to Vampire Hunter D. But it revolves more around sorcery than it does science.
There are two movies: Vampire Hunter D and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust.
Vampire Hunter D revolves around D who’s hired to kill the vampire that bit Doris Lang, a werewolf and demon hunter. The main antagonist is Count Magnus who wants to make Doris his bride. It reveals the origins of the Nobility(vampires) and who D really is. The ending is shocking at the same time not very surprising.
Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust was released in 2001. D’s been hired to rescue a bride named Charlotte from a vampire by the name of Count Meier Link. Though in the beginning Link seemed to be a badguy, everything’s not as it seems when the story progresses.
This movie seemed to be a bit more action packed than it’s predecessor. The reason being is the introduction of D’s friendly rivals throughout the movie the "Marcus Brothers." They’re quite different from the book. In the anime the four brothers and Leila are not related by blood. Charlotte’s brother hired them from backup and end up competing with D.
Bargoff is the leader who wields a crossbow that can launch hundreds of arrows. Nolt is the strongman of the group that uses a silver tipped war hammer. Kyle uses boomerang like blades that turn into crosses and throws insults into the mix as well. Grove is a bed-ridden frail member but can do astral production by a special serum; in astral mode, Grove is very power and capable of firing numerous blasts of energy. Leila is the only female of the group and uses a gun.
In Bloodlust, it’s revealed that the vampires have made a colony in space. Link and Charlotte’s dreams are to take Link’s special shuttle and head to the city of vampires up in the sky. The main antagonist is Carmilla who wants to rule earth and for the vampires to be dominant on Earth again.
Overall, Vampire Hunter D is an excellent vampire themed anime. Vampire Hunter D possesses a very interesting storyline along with a diversity of characters. If you like vampires and Japanese anime, definitely watch both movies. Keep in mind that the anime and the novels are completely different. But, it’s still a very good anime to watch. There’s definitely something for everybody when it comes to Vampire Hunter D.
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