Back in '91, Yoshiaki Kawajiri directed CYBER CITY OEDO 808, an OVA series about criminals hired by the government to handle certain problems. The third volume showed one of the convicts battling a vampire on a space station. Even though he's become much better known for his work on WICKED CITY and NINJA SCROLL, CYBER CITY made me hope and pray Kawajiri would direct a sequel to VAMPIRE HUNTER D.

Ten years later, I went to see his movie VAMPIRE HUNTER D: BLOODLUST at Georgia State University, and was completely blown away.

Based on the novel "D: Demon Deathchase" by Hideyuki Kikichi, BLOODLUST starts with D going to see the Elbourne Family. They want D to rescue young Charlotte Elbourne, who's been kidnapped by master vampire Meier Link. They also tell him a rival bounty hunting crew called The Markus Brothers are also on the job and have a head start. After a bit of a price haggle, D accepts the task.

Later, he runs across The Markuses during a vampire fight, and continues with his pursuit. One of the members, Leila, rushes after D while the rest decide to let him soften up their quarry for the kill.

Soon, D and Leila confront Meier on his horse-drawn carriage, with Leila winding up getting seriously wounded. D fares a bit better, but is likewise unable to retrieve Charlotte, who shows genuine concern for Meier during the fight.

D tends to Leila's wounds, even though she doesn't trust this dunpeal (half-human/half-vampire) hunter. The Markuses catch up and the chase is on once again. Soon, both groups wind up at the lair of The Barbarois, an expensive organization of creatures that protect vampires. This is where the action gets really hairy, as D and The Markuses soon figure out Meier's ultimate destination.

Then again, the action also takes off near the beginning of the film and never really stops. Whereas the original video was a defensive standoff of sorts with slower development, BLOODLUST is a quest movie and plays out much more actively. I found this fun to watch as the film felt like a gothic roller-coaster ride filled with twists and turns. There were pauses for character and story expansion, but they didn't kill the overall momentum, especially with the well-orchestrated music keeping the mood intact.

As to the animation, well the first video was done in 1985, while BLOODLUST is a movie made in 2000, so the budget differences allowing for advanced animation techniques are quite obvious. The key difference lies in the direction, as Kawajiri's tendency to use slick lines and fast paced action sequences works perfectly; so does his preference for highly-detailed characters, which look to a bit more in line with illustrator Yoshitaka Amono's concepts than the previous anime. Kawajiri's addiction to mostly dark colors accentuated the rolling backgrounds, consisting of complementing sharp and curved edges throughout the film. Some story elements similar to CYBER CITY make an appearance in this piece as well.

Kawajiri also made an interesting (and much-debated) decision for the audio of BLOODLUST, in that all the dialogue was recorded in English instead of Japanese. Most of the casting choices were pretty decent; the actors performed well. Nobody really sounded like a boring cardboard cutout, though there were bits of overacting.

My personal favorite was John Rafter Lee, who gave Meier Link a haunting horror quality, similar to Christopher Lee or Vincent Price. On the other hand, I thought the parasite in D's hand was too over the top. He has a few good one-liners, but his voice is so grating and overbearing that it honestly got on my nerves. This seems to be the one voice most people were talking about either way when I left the theater.

In the end, I decided VAMPIRE HUNTER D: BLOODLUST was the best action movie I'd seen in the theater this year, especially given the lackluster summer offerings. I know this film will be released on DVD soon, but I really do recommend seeing it in the theater if you get the opportunity, as it is that damn good.