Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (1987) --------------------------- I am a fan of a narrow range of anime, namely, good anime. This film qualifies. It also qualifies as a crossover film since people generally not into anime have liked this film for the action, artistic, and/or romance elements. Fortunately, it lacks a lot of the reasons people dismiss anime into the child/geek/loser cruft bin, namely, 2-dimensional animation, annoying saucer-eyed so-called comic relief (ala Scrappy Doo), unworthy themes, and inane dialogue. pros ---- -tasty dark stuff that is truly a work of art. It is a gothic dream- weighty, romantic, and beautiful. Supernatural treats for the imagination including dark gothic atmosphere, ethereal chants, beautiful vampires, demons, and a lonely castle. Give me dark (i.e., with an element of psychological impact) ACTION -interesting juxtaposition of light and dark themes of duality: -D is half vampire, half human -Meier Link and Charlotte are a vampire and human in love with each other -Grove is a vampire hunter who is physically a wreck, yet (via the use of drugs) can astrally project himself as a beautiful, albeit somewhat faggy (though deadly), being of light -Markus brothers characters are well developed. They are really the only comic relief that the film needs. -Carmilla is an interesting Lady Bathory-type character (who was of course a real person). Is it really possible to retain youth and beauty by bathing in the blood of virgins? How about smearing pig placenta on your face? If it were possible, there are people in the world who would not care whether it was a worthy or even remotely justifiable goal; this is scary in and of itself Cons ---- -What is the sound of one hand yapping? Left Hand gets a full-on 10/10 on the BAM (Binks Annoyance Meter) . Though Left Hand has some cool powers (spell devouring, seeing through walls), it would be better off without the power of speech. D's horse is much better company. Though I suppose having a talking hand is why D does not mind being alone all the time. I know I would never leave the house. Things that suck about the Urban Vision DVD ------------------------------------------- -the original Japanese soundtrack is not available as an option on the DVD. Everyone agrees that the Japanese soundtrack is superior, as is usually the case with dubbing sucking in general -'The Making of Bloodlust' should be called 'The English dubbing of Bloodlust' since that is what it is about. Ahem. People, it is not all about Los Angeles, CA, U.S. all the time. These guys need to seriously lighten up, eat some edamame and squid, and explore the actual making of the original film. Other things that suck about this segment: There are a few snatches of the actual Japanese crew saying stuff, but no real feel for the animation part of the production. Also, we see the voice actors dubbing all of the characters except for Layla, one of the major characters in the film (even though we get to see the dubbing of such minor and lame characters as Left Hand and the sappy girl in the epilogue) Good things about the Urban Vision DVD -------------------------------------- -features storyboard sequences with final animation sequences in an embedded window. cool stuff. viewing recommendation ---------------------- -seek gothic eternal mate and view on a stormy night Directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri, director of Ninja Scroll. Generally available on DVD with Dubbed English This review gets a 12 bonus word point score for using the word 'snatch'. heh! :-). People noticing that earlier receive 12 bonerus Freud points.