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ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE - ISSUE 5.9 - DECEMBER 2000
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Vampire Hunter D: The Next Anime Hit in America? The new Vampire Hunter D bears the same title as the 1985 feature, but it is based upon the third novel (of twelve, so far; none yet published in English) in Kikuchi's series, D: Demon Deathchase (1985). The setting is a Gothic medieval fantasy world of 12,090 A.D., long after nuclear and biochemical war destroyed civilization. Human survivors were forced to contend with mutant-spawned monsters that resembled the supernatural beasts of legends. At first the monsters gained the upper hand; blood-drinkers who established themselves as a new feudal aristocracy modeled upon Dracula and similar vampire literature, preying on human peasants and serfs. After thousands of years, the vampires are becoming feeble and decadent, and the humans are rising up against their domination. "D" is a stereotypical mysterious Lone Rider, a taciturn knight-errant/ronin who rides into a community embroiled in civil war and offers to help the humans fight their vampire lords, despite showing clear signs of being a human-vampire crossbreed himself.
In the new movie, "D" is summoned by a prominent family in one of the rising but still isolated human cities. Their daughter has been kidnapped by one of the most powerful remaining vampires, who has fled with her beyond the borders of their authority. They offer ten million dollars for her return, or proof of a clean death in case she has been converted into a vampire. But they are not relying on "D" alone; they have also called in a team of ruthless anti-monster bounty hunters. The movie becomes a running three-way chase across the countryside, through both human and monster towns. There are clear signs almost immediately that the daughter Charlotte has eloped voluntarily with the handsome, charismatic vampire. The vampire and monster mercenaries in his hire, try to kill both "D" and the team of bounty hunters. The five bounty hunters (a combination of Rambo-style commandos, ninja assassins and a beautiful but cynical femme fatale) are out to kill the vampire, and some of them would not mind killing the girl and claiming the "clean death" than taking the trouble to capture her alive. They also set traps to kill "D" or at least take him out of the competition. "D" remains stony-faced, but he obviously wonders if he is really on the right side if the vampire and Charlotte are genuine lovers and are voluntarily going into exile to leave humans in peace. But is this a trick of the vampire, with Charlotte as an innocent dupe?
First Rate Execution While the animation of Vampire Hunter D was in production at Tokyo's Madhouse studio, Urban Vision arranged for the post-production work in California. The English sound track was recorded in Los Angeles in 1999 before the Japanese dialogue was completed. The sound effects and other post-production work were directed during 2000 by Kawajiri in Marin County at Marco Co., whose husband-&-wife owners, Marco & Terry D'Ambrosio, composed the score. The film's final print master was made at George Lucas' nearby Skywalker Ranch facility. Urban Vision has also been working on publicity and distribution all this time. A 2 1/2-minute theatrical trailer was finished in 1998 and has been shown often at American anime fan conventions; it is also downloadable on Urban Vision's website. UV has made a work-in-progress print available for international film exhibitions since mid-2000. It has played to enthusiastic audiences at the FANT-ASIA Asian Film Festival in Montreal, Canada in July; at Japanime: The Best of Japanese Animation, the major film event at the Sydney 2000 Olympics Arts Festival in Sydney, Australia in August; and at the New York Anime Film Festival in October. A sold-out Halloween screening at UCLA's Anime A-Go-Go film program in October-November was blurbed as: "Regency meets Transylvania in this visual knockout of a movie with exquisitely gothic atmospherics, creepy special effects, tense action, and von Helsing fashioned as a foppish, half-vampire, half-human outcast called 'D'."
Now, plans are being finalized for a simultaneous theatrical release in Japan and America. A Japanese general theatrical release is assured, but tiny Urban Vision is still trying to arrange for an American release that will exceed the traditional anime art-theater crawl of one theater in a couple of cities at a time. Its goal is still modest for an American general release: five or more theaters per city in twenty cities at a time. If Urban Vision can achieve this, Vampire Hunter D may become the first anime feature to reach America's general science-fiction/horror fantasy theatrical audiences. [Thanks for information on Hideyuki Kikuchi and his Vampire Hunter D novels to the Vampire Hunter D Archives website (http://www.altvampyres.net/vhd/) run by Cathy Krusberg, an American fan who can be reached at ckberg@ix.netcom.com.] Fred Patten has written on anime for fan and professional magazines since the late 1970s.
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