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VHD: Bloodlust is the sequel to the anime classic Vampire Hunter D. This one, taking place even farther in the future than the original, has vampires (which ruled the world in the original) as a dying race, hunted to extinction by a growing number of bounty hunters. The story begins as a woman is kidnapped by a vampire and her father hires D, among others, to either save her, or kill her if she had already become a vampire. D takes the bounty, and goes off to kill Meier (the vampire) and save Charlotte (the girl), hopefully before his competition, the Markus Brothers. We soon find out that D is half-vampire, half-human and has a left hand that can talk, among other things. These are all of the trapping of a grand adventure and they certainly do make one. Review The good, the not so good, and the horribly maimed and disfigured shell of an earthly creature... Bloodlust has quite a few things going for it as well as against it. For starters, the animation is superb. The detail given to all of the character designs and environments are a treat to behold. The great amount of detail can be seen most in the eyes of characters. In many anime films, the eyes are just 4-5 colors consisting of an outline, pupil, etc. whereas in Bloodlust, the eyes have an amazing amount of depth that truly portray slight emotions that add character depth. While the visual charges ahead, the sound falls behind somewhat. The music is very good, for the most part, as are the sound effects, but the problems start with the dubbing, if you can call it that. The film was made specifically for an American audience (hence the R rating) and because of that fact, it has all English voices right off the bat. For the most part, the voice-actors do a good job, but, as always, there are exceptions. The voice acting for the female lead is poorly done. The character of Leila is done by Pamela Segall, who many will recognize as the voice of Recess's Spinelli, Time Squad's Otto, or myriad other credits. Thanks to Segall's signature voice, Leila sounds like a New Yorker that requires an attitude adjustment. Not that her voice acting is poor, it just doesn't fit the character. Another aspect of sound that is lackluster is specific parts of the music, especially near the end, specifically, a certain chant the goes on throughout the second-to-last battle. As much as I love chanting, the music in Bloodlust lacked that epic quality that I find so appealing about chanting. All in all, the music could be summed up as very good. One thing that continues to elude me about VHD is utter lack of development. There is very little that is known about D and VHD and VHD: Bloodlust don't seem to help in the slightest. Sure, we know that D's left hand is alive, but it is never said why. Bloodlust contains one line of dialog on the subject and all that it reveals is that the 'Left Hand' is a parasite. What kind of parasite? Apparently, we're not supposed to know. Also, we know that D is a dampiel (half-vampire, half- human) but we know nothing of his background. Again, the movie tells us very little and fails to let us into D's world. DVD Extras All in all, the DVD is an average package. The special features include the average behind-the-scenes featurette, as well as a storyboard-to-film featurette. It also includes the standard fare of various weblinks and such, but there is something different here. The DVD includes a fans' favorite scenes section in which the top ten fan favorites are counted down. The thing that bothers me the most about the DVD is the lack of subtitles. Naturally, people would take this feature for granted, but it's noticed in its absence. Nothing really sets this DVD apart. Overview I really liked this anime. I saw the original and firmly despised it because of all the hype. Bloodlust took a good premise and made it a worthy movie. I suggest buying this film, or at least seeing it, and I also recommend seeing the original (borrow it from a friend, don't buy it).so you can fully appreciate how awesome this movie is in comparison. -- Ashitaka23  Buy Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust at the FA Store >
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