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Vampire Hunter D - Bloodlust

Vampire Hunter D - Bloodlust

List Price: $29.95
Your Price: $26.96
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Film!
Review: This one is as great as the first. Lots of action and some romance.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: D II
Review: D returns in this action packed follow up to the original. One thing you will immediately notice, is the clean animation. There is a great mix of C.G. and hand drawn cells. The story of D and his life is a sad one. Wandering through time seeing those around him die and fade away, as he remains unchanged and fighting for those that hire him. Just the thought of D lets you know he has an extensive past with many dark adventures.

Leila, a young bounty hunter, is after the same thing D is after - a young girl stolen by a vampire. Little do they know the problems that this girl causes. There is true love blossoming between the girl and the vampire, and that is among the most interesting turns of the plot. She wants to stay with him.

Like I said, the action is awesome. One of my favorite's is when one of Leila's companion's uses an arm bow, slinging hundreds of arrows up into the air, then fall from the sky in a rain. Totally cool. You can see how far animation has come since the original, not that the original looked bad, just a tad dated. Also it was welcoming to have widescreen, which the original is not. Also the action is a little more discernable. You can easily tell who gets killed, and why. In the first it was a bit shakey in that area.

Also, a much changed and more quirky. Funny stuff. Bloodlust is a great follow up to the original. Enjoy!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: One of the best Japanese anime I have ever since!!
Review: This is one Badd Assss mOvie....It totally Kicks Assss...I have seen the first Vampire Hunter D....but BloodLust takes all the cookie....it is stunningly awesome to watch..

To all anime fans out there...Bloodlust is a must have..It could very well be one of the hottest animes in this era....i love animes with gore, action, and violence..all of which Bloodlust has...

but don't let 10 yrs. old kids and below to watch it...it is very violent..and a young mind should never bare witness to that...not yet...

SssSsssHhoOooTttsssS

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Dare I Say It - Better Than the First?
Review: Vampire Hunter D (from the Kikuchi Manga) is one of anime's most venerable titles. The original movie helped define what was to be expected of Japanese animation, and its influence was felt through titles like Akira and Princess Mononoke. So, when the sequel was announced, fans began to drool all over themselves in anticipation, and for good reason ' everything is improved in this movie (actually the THIRD installment of the Manga), from the animation to the handling of the story, and it's a true pleasure to watch on anyone's home theater.

The main character, D, is a half-human, half-vampire whose dark legacy affords him near-supernatural qualities. He uses his abilities to fight evil, and is considered the best vampire hunter in the land. His next prey is Meier Link, a gentleman vampire who has kidnapped a rich businessman's daughter. His competition is the Markus brothers, a group of mortal vampire hunters who, together, equal D in power, cunning, and skill. With the help of his symbiotic Hand (a wisecracking mouth that gives D advice and offers comic relief), D sets off to find Link, only to discover that things are not what they seem.

The animation is top-notch, fluid and vibrant, and the painstaking detail on the backgrounds puts the viewer smack into D's world. Crosses are everywhere, and each gothic spire serves as a reminder of the constant threat of vampires ' and of the heroism of D and his kind. The DVD transfer leaves nothing out, coming off clean and sharp all through. The DD 5.1 soundtrack is amazingly aggressive ' easily one of the best digital tracks available ' and Bloodlust could serve as a decent demo disc to show off a new home theater system. The creators should be applauded for their efforts, as sound is just as important as backgrounds in animation, and no detail was spared.

Much has been made about the fact that there wasn't any Japanese track on this DVD. Guess what folks? The movie was originally recorded, and lip-synced, IN ENGLISH. That's right, ENGLISH. So do your homework, fanboys! Really!

Even if you aren't an anime fan, at least give Bloodlust a try; with such a great video and sound transfer, and a great movie to boot, it's hard not to rave about it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Vampire Hunter D-Bloodlus : Much more than Dracula
Review: This is undoubtedly one of the best anime films ever, among the ranks of Akira and Princess Mononoke. This movie, however, is not for everyone. It is for mature anime fans, I say this not just because it has a lot of blood, but because the plot is much more complicated and the characters much more developed than much anime. As the title suggests it focuses around a vampire hunter who is half vampire himself, going searching for a girl who has been kidnapped by another vampire. To go into anymore detail might give some things away that I shouldn't so I'll stop there. If you desire something more than just Dragonball or Gundam in anime, this is for you.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Return of a Classic
Review: Before going deep on this review something must be made clear as there are lots of reviews that are not being acurate on this point: Vampire hunter D: Bloodlust original soundtrack IS the english version. A joint-venture between a US company (Urban Vision) and japanese producers, all lips are synched to the english soundtrack that is available on this disc, even the japanese trailer has subtitles, just like the theatrical run did on Japan. Later they made a japanese audio track, but as that is a DUB, I really don't care for it (shame on you if your reasoning for the whole dub/sub argument went down with this one).

The first Vampire Hunter D animation, an OVA released on 1985 in Japan and later in the US (also available on DVD) became an instant classic among fans, and years later it was still ranking high with fans, a cult second to Akira.

While not exactly a sequel (and you can't really tell if this is AFTER or BEFORE the original OVA), this moviei s another story on D's life, a hunt after another vampire. But this is just the excuse to explore two aspects of the vampires: the forbidden love between a vampire and a human, and the question on how eternal life would affect you (something dealt on the first one).

Animation is just great, blending computer graphics and traditional animation to create a dark and richly detailed world. Sound effects
are on their right place and the musical score is great, adding depth to the characters and the situation they face. As any anamorphic DVD, video is just great (althought it is a bit grainy, more to give more of a film look, as details are really sharp on this one).

Bloodlust may not be an anime for everyone, as it is got more depth than the average releases out there, but it is an easy to follow and entertaining movie, an instant classic just as it's predecessor.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Not bad, but it could have been much better
Review: Over all, I feel that this was a good movie. The animation is great, as are character designs. The music is good and the casting is done well, by which I mean that the voices matched well with the characters (which, quite frankly, surprised the hell out of me!). I have read some reviews that complain about D being too flat as a character, as in he doesn't show us a very broad spectrum of emotions (Heero Yuy from Gundam Wing comes to mind). Well, normally I would agree, but keep in mind that aside from having to live a very long life, he basically has to live it alone, due to the fact that he is hated by both humans and vampires alike. I wouldn't imagine that he'd have a lot to say or be incredibly happy about, would you? No, I didn't think so, so lets leave it at that. But what really gets under my skin is how this supposed love between Meier Link and Charlotte is handled.

I'll admit that I'm a pretty big sucker for love stories, especially the ones where the two are struggling against some force that is trying to keep them apart. However, there is a right and a wrong way to go about doing this. Charlotte came off as some stupid, naive little girl who really wasn't thinking about what she was doing and all that her decision would entail. I saw her as just being infatuated with Link, instead of a woman who genuinely wants to share the rest of her life with someone. Halfway through the movie I wanted to stand up and shout, "GOOD GOD WOMAN, TAKE YOUR HEAD OUT ..., STOP YOUR WHINING, AND GROW UP!" Link reminds me of some arrogant [guy], too stiff to convince me that he is capable of loving anyone. From the way the couple interact, it doesn't seem that the two are in love at all, just a pair of desperately lonely people who depend on each other for company. In my opinion, that is a hell of a lot different than love. Their dialogue and how the voice actors portrayed them with their performances just doesn't cut it. (I know, I know... I said I thought the casting was done well, but how the voice actors match with the characters and how they depict the characters with their performances is entirely different) "Please, don't take me back, I'm just a widdle girl!" "I can't go on without you my love," GIVE ME A BREAK! You don't just roll over and die for love. When you sit back and think about it, it doesn't make any sense. You fight for it, damn it! If something you love is being threatened, grab a gun, a knife, a sword, a big friggin' stick, ANYTHING and fight like hell! At least that's the way I feel about it. Charlotte should have been portrayed as a woman of real conviction, a person who genuinely believed in the love she felt. Link would have been better, and more believable, as a character if he had been given better dialogue and more emotion.

So to sum it all up, a good storyline and a good movie if you're not expecting too much, but as a love story: horrible. If those two had been depicted as believable characters, two that were genuinely happy together, then it would have been perfect. Normally, I'd give something like this a mere three stars, but I have to give the producers credit for the animation, casting, and musical score. Oh, and there is another thing that has bothered me for some time: JUST WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING ON D's HAND!?!?!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A D-eeper story than the last
Review: Its interesting to me that although the movie's title character is D the movie doesn't spend as much time with him as it does with the Markis Bros and Leelu (not sure I spelled that right). But what time we do get with D and Left hand, his parasitic side kick, is quality time indeed. Unlike the last movie (made sometime in the 80s) we actually get some true insight into the character, and a little of his origins are finally revealed as well. We also get emotionally attached to the character and grow to understand why he is so distant, he doesn't age, and he knows that because of what he is he will always be alone. Lonliness seemed to be a theme that ran deep in this story. This is simply the best anime that I have seen in a long time. The lip synch is perhaps the most accurate, but this was done with the American audience in mind, and the level of detail the characters featured was simply amazing. This movie's artistry has yet to be outdone, and noone has ever done such detailed anime before that I am aware of. Additionally the animation in and of itself lacked the traditional japanese low framerate and jerky animation, the animation was smooth and fluid.
Sadly the extra features section of this disk biffed it badly. The making of featurett is boring, and the sound during this feature takes a nose dive in several places. The side by side storyboard-final film comparisions are always nice, but for me making of featurettes are what can make or break the DVD extras, and the making of featurette was horrid. Once again, like the first, this one is worth buying for the film alone, as it is truely a beautiful movie that stays very true to the lost Dhampir (Dunpeal) mythology. If Blade were only half this good...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Masterpiece
Review: Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust is breathtaking. It lives up to the promise hinted at in the first Vampire Hunter D movie, and gives the viewer beautiful animation, heart-pounding action, and a multi-layered and engrossing story. Bloodlust stands head and shoulders above it's predecessor, and further develops both the characters and world of Vampire Hunter D.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: More Great Anime.
Review: The original Vampire Hunter D is an Anime classic, much like Akira. This sequel is by no means a let down. The story and animation are excellent. If you've seen the first Vampire Hunter D, you need to see this. If you're new to Anime, both this and the origianl should be on your must see list.


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