Vampire Hunter D - the 1985 horror anime film

Vampire Hunter D (in Japanese original: 吸血鬼 ハ ン タ ー D, Hepburn: Kyūketsuki Hantā Dī) is a Japanese animated (anime) film about the horror fantasy genre, made in 1985 by Ashi Productions, in association with Epic / Sony Records, CBS Sony Group Inc. and Movic. The animated film was made for distribution in OAV home video. The script is based on the first in a long series of light novels written by Hideyuki Kikuchi.

Billed by Japanese producers as a "dark future science fiction novel," the film, like the previous novel, is set in the year AD 12.090, in a post-nuclear holocaust world in which a young woman hires a mysterious half-vampire, hunter of half-human vampires to protect her from a powerful vampire lord. It was one of many anime films featured in the music video for Michael and Janet Jackson's song "Scream".

History

While on her guard tour of the country, Doris Lang, the orphaned daughter of a deceased werewolf hunter, is attacked and bitten by Count Magnus Lee, a long-lost 10.000-year-old vampire lord (also known as the Noble) for having trespassing on his domain.

Doris later encounters a mysterious vampire hunter, known only as D, and hires him to kill Count Lee, to save her from becoming a vampire as she was infected with Count Lee's bite. While in town with Dan (her younger brother) and D, Doris confronts Greco Roman (the mayor's son) about the Count's attack and D, and promises to help her if she has Doris to herself. When Doris refuses, Greco reveals what happened to the entire town, including Dan. D demands that the authorities, including Greco's father, the town sheriff and Dr. Feringo (Fehring in the English dub), avoid the incarceration of Doris in the local asylum, until she kills Count Lee who will have to cure Doris' vampire infection.

That night, Doris' farm is attacked by Rei Ginsei, Earl Lee's handmaid, and Earl Lee's daughter Lamika, who has many prejudices against humans and dhampirs. D is able to defeat Rei easily, but before he can kill her, Rei reveals that he has the ability to rotate space around him and is able to redirect D's killing blow to D. Before Rei can finish him, D reveals who recovered from the redirected attack within seconds revealing that he is a dhampir and after easily reflecting on Lamika's attacks, orders them both to leave with a warning to Count Lee. The next day, D goes to Earl Lee's castle and attempts to confront the Earl. Aided by the symbiote in his Left Hand, D stands up to the Count's monstrous servants, including Rei and his companions Gimlet, Golem, and Chullah. While in the castle's catacombs, he is trapped and captured by the Snake Women of Midwich. Doris is then kidnapped by Rei and taken to the Count. Using her vampire powers, D kills the Snakewomen, rescues Doris before she can be killed by Lamika, and escapes the castle.

In town, Greco overhears an encounter between Rei and a messenger from Count Lee, who gives the former a candle with Time Enchanter Incense, a substance powerful enough to weaken anyone with vampire blood in their veins. Dan is taken hostage by Rei to lure D into the open, and D comes to his rescue, cutting off Rei's hand in the process and discovering that the candle is a fake. Meanwhile, Doctor Feringo, himself a vampire in league with Count Lee, leads Doris into a trap but is confronted and killed by Lamika when he begins to ask to share Doris with the Count. Then Greco appears, who has stolen the candle from Rei; using the Time Charmer Incense to severely weaken Lamika and cause pain to Doris (possibly due to her own infection), but Dan is hit with a gunshot and falls off a cliff. Later, Doris, who has now fallen in love with D, tries to get him to live with her and hugs him. This begins to trigger D's vampire side, but, not wanting to bite her, forces her to move away from him.

The next morning, Greco is confronted and killed by Rei, who uses the real candle to weaken D, allowing him to fatally injure the vampire hunter with a wooden stake. Doris is then captured and taken back to the castle. Lamika tries to persuade her father not to admit a human into the family, but Lee reveals that there is no harm in doing so, as Lamika's mother was a human - making her a dhampir instead of a pureblood vampire and Lamika is held back by Earl Lee when she becomes hysterical at the revelation. Rei asks the Count to give him eternal life as a member of the Nobility, but is coldly rejected for his past failures, leaving Rei on a rampage.

As a mutant attempts to devour D's comatose body, his Left Hand revives him just in time to kill the monster. While the procession for the marriage of the Earl and Doris unfolds, Dan, after infiltrating the Earl's castle, attempts to attack Lee, but is rejected by Lee and falls into an abyss before being saved by Rei who has changed sides. In retaliation for not fulfilling his request, Rei confronts and attempts to weaken the Count with the Time Enchanter Incense. However, Lee, who is too powerful to be overcome by the incense, destroys the candle with his telekinetic abilities, then kills Rei with the same powers. Before Doris can be bitten by the Earl, D appears and engages in a battle with Lee. D's attacks are useless due to Lee's psychic and telekinetic abilities and nearly kills D before D unleashes his own telekinetic abilities and frees himself from Lee's telekinetic grip and manages to fatally stab the Noble in the heart with his sword. while Lee manages to severely wound D with a dagger. A weakened Lee attempts to influence Doris into killing D, but she is brought out of the trance by Dan, who arrives with Lamika. With Lee dying, his castle begins to crumble and Lee, as he laments his defeat and looks at a photo of the first vampire Count Dracula, notes that D is the son of Count Dracula and thus the son of the legendary ancestral god of vampires. to the astonishment of both Lee and Lamika. D attempts to persuade Lamika to live as a human, but she chooses to die as a member of the Nobility with her father and remains in the castle as it collapses, killing both Lee and Lamika off-screen.

D, Doris and Dan escape from the ruined castle. Then he leaves under a clear blue sky. Doris, now healed of the bite, and Dan greet D as he briefly turns to them and smiles.

Production

Vampire Hunter D is credited as one of the first anime productions explicitly targeting teenage / adult male audiences instead of family audiences and is aimed at the emerging OVA market due to its violent content and the influence of European horror mythology (such as the films of the British film studio Hammer Film Productions). The film's limited budget made its technical quality comparable to most anime TV series and other OVAs, but not most motion picture animated films.

During the production of the film, director Toyoo Ashida stated that his intention for the film was to create an OAV that people who had been tired from studying or working would enjoy watching, instead of watching something they would like to see. it would have made you "feel even more tired".

Yoshitaka Amano, the illustrator of the original novels, worked as a character designer for the OVA. However, Ashida (who also acted as the film's animation director) provided alternative designs, and elements of both artists 'works were combined to create the animators' final designs. Acclaimed pop artist Tetsuya Komuro was responsible for the film's soundtrack and also performed the film's ending theme, “Your Song,” with his fellow TM Network members.

Vampire Hunter D was the first of several film adaptations (both live-action and animated) of Hideyuki Kikuchi's works.

Technical data

Japanese original title:D Hepburn Kyūketsuki Hantā Dī
Regia Toyo Ashida
Film script Yasushi Hirano
Based on Vampire Hunter D Volume 1 by Hideyuki Kikuchi
Produced by Hiroshi Kato, Mitsuhisa Hida, Yukio Nagasaki
Protagonist Kaneto Shiozawa, Michie Tomizawa, Seizō Kato, Keiko Today
Music Tetsuya Komuro
Production Epic / Sony Records, Movic, CBS Sony Group, Ashi Productions

Distributed from Toho
Exit date December 21, 1985 (Japan)
Duration 80 minutes
Country Japan
Language Japanese

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/