3/2/2024 0 Comments Blood lust anime characters![]() It’s what we all hope a “serious” anime to be, with its complete lack of anime cliches or humor, and its mature approach to the tragic romance. It’s crisp and delicious looking, dark and gothic, and most of all, it’s just different. I can’t recommend this film enough for the Halloween viewing season. The gothic romance at the heart of Bloodlust is delightful, and often accentuated with either flowery writing or haunting organ music, such as in this scene. What’s more, the film actually causes you to sympathize and sometimes, even root for this dramatic, loving couple to find happiness–after all, neither of them really did anything wrong. Whereas you’d typically expect romance depicted in Japanese animation to be hammy or overwritten, I find it to be neither. The romantic elements between vampire noble Meier Link and human Charlotte ooze with sensual, gothic style. Like a lot of reviews I post here, this film of course features that little ink drop of Japanese weirdness, such as with D’s talking left hand (infected with a parasite), who actually serves as an excellent foil for D, talking freely, complaining about the danger he’s being forced into–it kind of creates a nice warm buddy cop formula in some scenes, and also lets the audience connect with the world the film takes place in, oddly enough (not to mention he’s worthy of a couple chuckles). Inspired by classic westerns, noir, and cult horror films, D is right at home in a film that likely doubled the sales of black ink. The inspiration is evident in this film, and it’s in no way overdone or abused. All of these elements have been beautifully adapted into a sort of collage of a film: the tragic wanderer, the long, pregnant pauses in dialogue, the stark blackness of a castle in the night sky, no doubt inspired by Hammer’s Dracula films. While some people may be at first put off by title character D’s paper-like emotion, his near-silence, his overall seeming distaste for even being around, this is really what cements his character: the remainder of the cast is colorful (as colorful as the film allows anyway), expressive, in contrast to D: the tragic, immortal hunter who roams the land. This is primarily thanks to D writer Hideyuki Kikuchi’s confessed childhood love of Clint Eastwood’s Man With No Name character, as well as old noir and horror movies. You’ll wish more Japanese animation was dubbed in such a fashion it’s that good. Even minor characters are brilliantly voiced. Mention must also be made of the phenomenal voice cast: every character is lovingly played by their respective actors, lending even further to the film’s mature feel. While fight scenes may at times approach anime land, they never quite cross that line, leaving us with some really excellent, albeit brief, fight scenes. Bloodlust represents the apex of Japanese animation prior to its CGI takeover.Ĭomplementing the film’s visual style is the superb action. ![]() Even stills from the film (of which they hilariously sold printed in a hardbound book) are gorgeous and crisp, with their comic book shading. This has every flavor of the 2000’s “revival” of serious anime, and the animators here put all effort into creating a beautiful, gothic piece of art. The animation: crisp, the colors: bold, the shadows: deep and pronounced. Fans of the former film will notice immediately this is an even further extension of that serious, adult-oriented style non-fans will appreciate that finally this is something dark, serious, and likeable. That opening scene sets the stage for the remainder of the film: Dark and murky, though stylish and romantic. ![]() Right from the outset, in the opening scene, with its dark and brisk direction, we see that we’re in for something a little special. Oh, sorry by the way: I’m reviewing the sequel to that film. The blood! The tits! The atmosphere! What a new world to discover. ![]() While I had earlier in my cartoon-watching career loved classics like Speed Racer and Ronin Warriors, this was a whole new animal. Indeed, I wasn’t anticipating seeing cartoon tits on the TV, or ever at all really, but it was that film that did it. It was this film, along with Akira and some other choice releases, that really helped push “Japanimation” as an adult-oriented art form back in those days. That’s when I discovered Vampire Hunter D, the seminal 1985 animated film. I recall fondly, though fuzzily perhaps, the late nights at my grandpa’s house, alone, with his HBO subscription, my own buzzing hormones, and the r ecall button on the remote being set to switch the TV back to Cartoon Network the moment I heard a door open. When a girl is abducted by a vampire, a legendary bounty hunter is hired to bring her back. Type: Film | Year: 2000 | Genres: Gothic, Action, Horror, Romance | English Dub?: Yes
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |