Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust
Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (吸血鬼ハンターD ブラッドラスト "Banpaia Hantā Dī: Buraddorasuto") is a 2000 dark fantasy horror adventure anime film produced by Madhouse, Filmlink International, BMG Japan, Movic, Good Hill Vision, and Soft Capital. It was written, directed and storyboarded by Yoshiaki Kawajiri, with Yutaka Minowa designing the characters, Yūji Ikehata serving as art director and designing the setting, and Marco D'Ambrosio composing the music. The film is based on the third novel of Hideyuki Kikuchi's "Vampire Hunter D" series, "Demon Deathchase". The film began production in 1997 and was completed with the intention of being  shown in American theaters. It was shown in twelve theaters across the United States and received generally positive reception from American critics. Plot. In the middle of the night, Charlotte Elbourne, a young human woman, is abducted from her home by Baron Meier Link, a vampire nobleman. Several days later, Charlotte's wealthy and wheelchair-bounded father, John, hires D, a dhampir, to find her and rescue her, dead or alive. He offers D a large reward, then doubles it at D's request. At the same time, Charlotte's older brother Adam has hired the Marcus Brothers, composed of  their leader Borgoff, the hulking Nolt, the blade master Kyle, the frail/physically bedridden psychic Grove, and a woman named Leila, who holds a grudge towards vampires. D and the Marcus Brothers race after Meier, learning that Charlotte was not kidnapped but chose to accompany him out of love for the vampire. Meier hires the mutant Barbarois to guard him, consisting of the shapeshifter Caroline, the shadow manipulator Benge, and the werewolf Machira. Nolt is killed by Benge, resulting in the brothers confronting the Barbarois in their home territory. At the same time, D visits them. Grove causes a large  ruckus using his psychic powers, and D becomes trapped in a void that Benge creates. D escapes the void after, and the Marcus Brothers avenge Nolt by killing Benge but are forced to replenish their supplies. They travel to a nearby western town, where Leila convinces law enforcement and the town's local sheriff to stop D but are unsuccessful in preventing him from leaving when he is helped by an old man who recalls D rescuing him from vampires as a child. Meier's carriage stops to rest during the daytime, and Charlotte wanders out, meeting D and Leila . The two fight against Caroline while Machira escapes with the carriage. D defeats Caroline but is forced to seek shelter after absorbing too much sunlight; he suffers from "Heat Syndrome", a common condition among dhampirs. Leila faces a revived Caroline and survives only by chance when lightning strikes the mutant, killing her instantly. She takes shelter with D after and reveals that a vampire back in her childhood had kidnapped her mother. This resulted in her being stoned to death by the people of her hometown when she returned as a completely different person, and killed her father. She then  joined the Marcus Brothers to avenge her parents' deaths. The two make a pact to visit each other's graves upon who dies first. She remarks that D will likely be the only person who will visit hers since dhampirs do not age. The Marcus Brothers trap Meier's carriage on a bridge by bombing a bridge and then carjacking Charlotte. However, their trap is foiled by Machira's enhanced senses, resulting in Kyle being killed and Borgoff falling off the bridge but surviving, losing an eye. Meier and Charlotte reach the Castle of Chaythe, where Countess Carmilla Elizabeth Bathory  awaits them. Meanwhile, Machira stays behind to fight D, but the vampire hunter ultimately slays him. It is then revealed that Meier and Charlotte had reached out to the Countess, hoping they could fly to the City of the Night, a vampire refuge located in space. However, Carmilla betrays the couple, temporarily slaying Meier and tricking Charlotte into being bitten. Revived by Charlotte's blood, she uses hallucinations to haunt D, Borgoff, and Leila. D is unaffected and saves Leila from her hallucinations depicting her tragic childhood, but Borgoff is tricked and turned. Grove reappears and saves Leila by blowing  up the now vampiric Borgoff with an embrace. Grove then dies as a result. D confronts Carmilla and is able to destroy her spirit whilst a reawakened Meier destroys her physical body. D and Meier then clash for a final time, with D gaining the upper hand. During the fight, Charlotte dies from her wounds, with her ring tossed to D and Meier by Leila. D ultimately spares Meier's life and leaves the castle with Leila while taking Charlotte's ring as proof for her father and brother. As Meier uses the castle's ship to depart to the  City of the Night, D and Leila look on, with Leila wishing the vampire success. Years later, a funeral is held for Leila, with a large crowd attending. Among the crowd is Leila's granddaughter, who recognizes D from a distance and invites him to spend time with her family, but he kindly refuses. D reveals he is glad Leila was wrong about nobody being at her funeral and leaves contentedly. Production. The idea for a new Vampire Hunter D film came after there was a fan demand to make a follow-up to "Vampire Hunter D" (1985). Hideyuki Kikuchi  was also in favor of this as he had often complained about the "cheapness" in the look of the original film. Plans for a new film started in 1997 by director Yoshiaki Kawajiri and production company Madhouse. Producer Mataichirō Yamamoto wanted to pick up the rights to Madhouse's "Wicked City". During the discussion about "Wicked City", Yamamoto heard about the new Vampire Hunter D film and wanted to not only get involved with video distribution, but in production and possible theatrical release in America. The story of "Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust" is based on the third novel in Kikuchi 's series "D - Demon Deathchase". The main character's design is by artist Yoshitaka Amano. Amano's art style was matched for the rest of the characters in the film by animation director Yutaka Minowa. The animation for the film was created in the Madhouse Studios in Tokyo while the post-production work was done in California. The English soundtrack for the film was recorded in 1999 before the Japanese dialogue was finished. The film's title of "Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust" was a last-minute decision to distinguish it from the first film. Release. Theatrical. To promote the film , a two-and-a-half-minute-long trailer was finished in 1998 and was shown at American anime fan conventions. A work-in-progress print was shown in 2000 at the Fantasia Film Festival in July in Montreal and at the New York Anime Film Festival in October 2000. The completed version of the film was only released theatrically in an English-language version. On its Japanese theatrical release, it was subtitled in Japanese. It premiered on September 23, 2001, in America where it played in six theaters. It grossed $25,521 in this run and $151,086 in total , making it the highest-grossing Japanese film ever in a language other than Japanese. Home video. Urban Vision released the movie on DVD and VHS on February 12, 2002, and then on February 3, 2015, Discotek Media announced their license to release the movie for Blu-ray on September 8, 2015 and DVD on September 22, 2015, however, due to licensing restrictions, all releases have the original English audio only. In Japan, the film was released on DVD on December 19, 2001, by Avex Entertainment with both English and Japanese audio. Reception. The film received generally favorable reviews from American  critics, it received a rating of 62 on the website Metacritic. The "Chicago Reader" gave a favorable review of the film, referring to it as a "gorgeously animated surrealist adventure". The "New York Daily News" referred to the film as "Beautiful, witty and provocative" and that it should "appeal to fans and non-fans alike". The "San Francisco Chronicle" praised the director Yoshiaki Kawajiri stating that he "has a gift for striking visuals" but also noted that "his story manages to be simultaneously thin and chaotic."