Anime Reviews (The '80s): Vampire Hunter D (1985)

Are you ready for “Vampire Hunter D”?, an anime classic from 1985!

Image courtesy of © MOVIC/ANIPLEX.

Click here to purchase this Blu-ray on Amazon

TITLE: Vampire Hunter D (吸血鬼ハンター”D”)

ANIME FILM RELEASE DATE: 1985

DURATION: 80 Minutes

BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (4×3), English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, English subtitles

COMPANY: Sentai Filmworks

RATING: TV MA

Release Date: January 11, 2022

Based on the novel by Kikuchi Hideyuki

Director: Ashida Toyoo

Screenplay: Hirano Yasushi

Character Design by Amano Yoshitaka

Art Director: Ashida Toyoo

Animation Director: Matsushita Hiromi

Music by Komuro Tetsuya

Anime Production by Ashi Productions, Studio Live

Featuring the following voice talent:

John Gremillion/Shiozawa Kaneto as D

Luici Christian/Tomizawa Michie as Doris Lang

Andy McAvin/Nagai Ichirō as Left Hand

Kerrigan Mahan/Sogabe Kazuyuki as Rei Ginsei

Shannon Emerick/Toda Keiko as Dan Lang

Brittney Karbowski/Kitō Satoko as Lamika

David Wald/Katou Seizo as Count Magnus Lee

Nagai Ichirō as Narrator

Tokumaru Kan as Danton

Yanaga Kazuko as Older Snake Sister

Tanaka Kazumi as O’Reilly

John Swasey/Kiyokawa Motomu as Dr. Feringo

Ohtaki Shinya as Gimlet

DAvid Walf/Muramatsu Yasuo as Roman

Sakakibara Yoshiko as Younger Snake Sister

Jay Hickman/Yara Yūsaku as Greco

For 10,000 years, the vampire Count Magnus Lee has stalked the night, sustained by a thirst for blood and human women. Unfortunately for the Count, the woman he has chosen as his next conquest isn’t ready to surrender to his inhuman lusts, and, as the daughter of a werewolf hunter, Doris Lang knows how to save herself: by enlisting the aid of the mysterious Vampire Hunter known as D. However, while D might be able to defeat the Count and his army of undead, his protection comes with a blood price of its own. Is it a cost that Doris will be willing to pay?

Featuring the art of acclaimed designer Yoshitaka Amano and remastered in high definition, the epic animated fantasy that launched the anime revolution is back as you’ve never seen it before!

Back in 1983, Japanese author Kikuchi Hideyuki and illustrator Amano Yoshitaka would write a series of novels titled “Vampire Hunter D”.

The novels still continue to this day with a 39 novels having been published and over 17 million copies sold.

An anime OVA film adaptation was released in 1985 and followed by an animated film titled “Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust” in 2000.

For this review, I am discussing the 1985 release which was titled in Japan, “Kyuketsuki Hunter D” and the reason why this title remains special for many old school anime fans is that it was one of the first earlier titles to be released in the US on home video.

Now the classic horror anime film will be released on Blu-ray and featuring an all new English dub courtesy of Sentai Filmworks.

“Vampire Hunter D” takes place during a time when a nuclear war occurred in 1999 and the world is led by the Nobility, vampires who were responsible for the nuclear war in order to restore the world in their image. And also genetically engineering many magical creatures by the Nobility and feed off humans.

The film begins with a female werewolf hunter who is after these creatures but she was overcome by a Noble vampire lord, Count Magnus Lee, who bites her.

Fastforward and we see Doris Lang, the orphaned daughter of the woman who is trying to search for a vampire hunter to kill Count Lee.

She comes across the vampire hunter known as “D” and it is revealed that Doris has a vampire infection. She is willing to do anything if D helps her. But what she doesn’t know is that D is a Dhampir, a man who was the result of the union between a vampire and a mortal human.

D agrees to help Doris, but it doesn’t take long for the village to be attacked by Count Magnus Lee’s servants. Will they survive and can D help Doris by killing Count Magnus Lee?

VIDEO:

“Vampire Hunter D” is presented in 1080p High Definition (4×3). This is no doubt the best version I have seen of “Vampire Hunter D”. I have owned the VHS version, the DVD version and now the Blu-ray version of this animated film. And this is old school anime looking at its very best!

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

As for lossless audio, “Vampire Hunter D” is presented in Japanese and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 with English subtitles. The series is front channel driven but dialogue and music is clear. For those who want a more immersive soundtrack can easily switch their receiver for stereo on all channels.

Now, as the Japanese soundtrack is wonderfully acted, there are differences with the English voice dub. This is rather debatable among fans, because we are starting to see old school anime receiving redubs. There are many who felt the English voice dubs of the early ’90s were inferior and had to be redone. While there are those who grew up with the original, and want to hear the original English dub.

The same can be said with “Vampire Hunter D”, as it received a new English dub. While I grew up watching the original, I prefer English dub voice acting of today vs. how things were back in the ’80s. I guess perhaps they could of added a third audio track with the original English dub, but it is what it is and I can understand why a few people may get upset.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Vampire Hunter D” comes with the trailer.

For me, watching “Vampire Hunter D” is about nostalgia.

A time when video rental places like Hollywood Video and Blockbuster dominated the US and anime was fresh and new, and “Vampire Hunter D” would be on the shelves.

There was a lot of creative talent for this animated film. In fact, for the production, they enlisted the most popular pop star/producer/composer Komuro Tetsuya to create the music and with the film linked to Amano Yoshitaka’s work (many are familiar with Amano’s work for the video game series “Final Fantasy”) but this animated film will be nostalgic and best remembered for being one of the first anime titles they had rented when anime was slowly starting to get its feet wet in the video rental market.

Watching it again, it was no doubt a blast to the past, watching the story of D the Damphir taking on very tough vampires, but he has some secrets of himself that will be revealed towards the end of the film. It’s a short animated film that no doubt will entertain anime fans.

Overall, it’s great to watch this anime classic in HD and I applaud Sentai Filmworks for releasing old school anime and show their continued support for it and releasing it on physical media in this day and age.

If you haven’t watched “Vampire Hunter D”, definitely give this classic anime a try!

Click here to purchase this Blu-ray on Amazon