『Anime Late Night』☆ vol. 15 | Vampire Hunter D (1985) and VHD 2: Bloodlust (2000) | English Dubbed

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Vampire Hunter D (Japanese: 吸血鬼ハンターD) is a 1985 Japanese original video animation directed by Toyoo Ashida from a screenplay by Yasushi Hirano. It is based on the 1983 novel of the same name by Hideyuki Kikuchi.

The film is set in the year 12,090 AD, in a post-nuclear holocaust world where a young woman hires a mysterious half-vampire, half-human vampire hunter to protect her from a powerful vampire lord.

Vampire Hunter D is credited as one of the earliest anime productions targeted explicitly at the male teenager/adult demographic in lieu of family audiences, and capitalized on the emerging original video animation (OVA) market due to its violent content and influence from European horror mythology (such as the films of British film studio Hammer Film Productions). The film's limited budget made its technical quality comparable to most anime television series and other OVAs, but not with most theatrical animated films. During the film's production, director Toyoo Ashida stated that his intention for the film was to create an OVA that people who had been tired from studying or working hard would enjoy watching, instead of watching something that would make them "feel even more tired".

Yoshitaka Amano, the illustrator of the original novels, acted as character designer for the OVA. However, alternative designs were provided by Ashida (who also acted as the film's animation director), and elements from both artists’ works were combined to create final designs by the animators.

Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (吸血鬼ハンターD ブラッドラスト) simply known in Japan as Vampire Hunter D. The anime film is based on the 1985 novel Vampire Hunter D: Demon Deathchase by Hideyuki Kikuchi.

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.

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. Around the same time, producer Mataichirō Yamamoto wanted to pick up the rights to Madhouse's Wicked City alongside the original Vampire Hunter D film. During the discussion about both productions, Yamamoto heard about the new Vampire Hunter D film and wanted to not only get involved with video distribution, but in production, with the goal to give the film a possible theatrical release in America.

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.

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 before expanding to twelve. 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.

Urban Vision released the movie on DVD and VHS on February 12, 2002, and it was listed at #7 on the Billboard Top DVD Sales chart for the week of March 9, 2002. 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, including all three home video releases in the U.S. 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.