Anime Movies 2000

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Out For Blood
The VAMPIRE HUNTER D film, scheduled for release last year, will see a Japanese release sometime this year. And just like in the United States, it seems that vampires are big box office again. Another vampire film is slated for release this year. From Production I.G, the studio that produced such great films such as GHOST IN THE SHELL and PATLABOR, comes BLOOD.
Set in Japan before the Vietnam War, BLOOD is a story about vampires. Despite the best efforts of mankind, vampires have survived into the present-day. A group of secretive men have chosen a girl named Saya, who is gifted with remarkable swordsmanship, to be their chosen one, the ultimate "Slayer."
While this may sound a lot like BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (both the movie and the television series), Production I.G promises that BLOOD will be "a new action-horror story."
BLOOD has two big names associated with it: Oshii Mamoru as co-planner and Kitakubo Hiroyuki (GOLDEN BOY, JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE, GHOST IN THE SHELL PlayStation game) as the director. As such, it promises to be a very visual movie with some great visuals and an intriguing atmosphere.

Gone To The Dogs
Production I.G will also have another film in release this year. 1998's JIN-ROH is finally going to be released in Japan.
Based on a screenplay by famed director Oshii Mamoru (PATLABOR, GHOST IN THE SHELL), JIN-ROH is based on his manga story KENROU DENSETSU ~ KERBEROS PANZER COP. Directed by GHOST IN THE SHELL character designer Okiura Hiroyuki, JIN-ROH is set in an alternate past. It's post-World War II, and occupied Japan is a lot different. The occupied government has become progressively stricter. And as a result, a rather larger underground resistance has been formed. A girl in the resistance delivers packages for the resistance, until one night, she runs into Fuse, a member of the special police forces.
After this fateful encounter, it is Fuse's tenuous grasp of reality that leads the viewer through a psychological maze of reality and fantasy. And much like PERFECT BLUE, the viewer is left guessing up until the very end of the film.
This film has been receiving much critical acclaim at film festivals around the world, and will no doubt become a favorite with anime fans, especially those who enjoy more sophisticated films involving intrigue and conspiracy. Exact dates have not been set, but Bandai Visual, the film's distributor, has said that it will be in several theaters later this year.

A Guy, A Girl, And Some Magical Armor...
Sunrise is going to be producing two of the most eagerly-anticipated films of the year (or this and the next year). Originally announced last summer at Anime Expo, the ESCAFLOWNE movie, titled "A GIRL IN GAEA," will feature a completely new retelling of the story of the girl Hitomi, the prince Van, and the secret world of Gaea.
On Gaea, the Tribe of the Black Dragon has begun invading and conquering other territories. Van's country is destroyed by the Black Dragon, and he is taken under the protection of a ruler of a neighboring country. But Van is a maverick and a loner, and won't confide in anyone.
The stakes are raised when the Black Dragon discovers an ancient armor that is believed to have burned all of Gaea in the ancient wars. As the Black Dragon makes plans to resurrect this armor, the allies of Gaea attack. Meanwhile, on Earth, a girl named Hitomi wishes that she could just disappear. A mysterious power takes her to Gaea, but what will she find there? The end of a world, or its beginning?
ESCAFLOWNE: A GIRL IN GAEA, reunites the creative team of the television series, including Kawamori Shouji, Yuuki Nobuteru, Yamane Kimitoshi, and Kanno Yoko. It was originally slated for a summer 2000 release.