Day 12 in my 31 Days of Vampire Movies brings us something a little bit different than the British horror and American hack ‘em ups we’ve had before. This one takes us to Japan, and into the realms of animation.
Vampire Hunter D blew my mind when I first saw it. I was a kid of the 80s, so fucked up cartoons weren’t something I’d never encountered before. The Last Unicorn messed me up for years (damn you, Red Bull) and don’t even get me started on Don Bluth movies. I was in college before I discovered anime in the form of Sailor Moon (Sailor Pluto girlie for life.) But this isn’t about cartoons made for kids. There is nothing about Vampire Hunter D for the kiddies. It’s dark, violent, scary, and melds genres so seamlessly it practically invented its own.
But I chose Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust because, as the first one blew my mind in concept, the artwork in this one absolutely put me in another dimension. Each frame is like a painting come to life. Like the vampires themselves, it’s cold, starkly beautiful, and otherworldly. The plot is nothing mind-breaking, it surprisingly turns into more of a tragic love story than gothic horror or the apocalyptic goth western of its forebearer, but the art of the animation is like a visual feast that’s almost too much. You feel almost drunk when it’s over, but it’s worth it. Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust shows you just what animation can be as it showers you in its richness. I highly recommend this one for vampire fans, animation fans, and someone just looking for something a little trippy outside the norm.