Few creatures have captured the hearts and minds of men as completely as vampires. Darkened, monstrous, lustful, ensnaring—vampires possess a near-endless potential to be either graceful harbingers of eternity or vicious beasts of dripping death. Vampire tales have existed in folklore for centuries with many different cultures having their own takes on the blood-sucking denizens of the night. It would be only fitting that such creatures would find their way into modern populist fiction, specifically that of anime. Of all the vampires that have been featured in Japanese media, there is one and only one that stands as the greatest of them all: Vampire Hunter D.
Created by Hideyuki Kikuchi in 1983, Vampire Hunter D is anime’s preeminent vampire series, and it has extended across novels, audio dramas, anime, manga, video games, and more. Set in the far distant future, Vampire Hunter D tells the many tales of its enigmatic titular hero, a man of purpose and drive, yet also of grave mystery. A reserved and steely protector of the remnants of mankind, D travels alone across the destroyed world he calls home, helping those that deserve his aid, and mercilessly cutting down those that deserve his ire.
Vampire Hunter D Is A Post-Apocalyptic Horror Nightmare
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Vampire Hunter D made its debut with 1983’s aptly entitled novel, Vampire Hunter D. The very first novel of the series, it introduced readers to a post-apocalyptic world set within the year 12,090 AD. As if survival in a devastated world wasn’t harsh enough, Earth has been overrun with creatures born of the darkest nightmares. Supernatural and biological beasts hold sway, with only the heartiest of humans eking out a meager existence. But the most horrifying force of all, the beings that exist with absolute power and dominion over all, are the Nobility—ancient vampires that rose to dominance following Earth’s nuclear destruction. The Nobility are the most powerful beings on Earth, the progenitors of all the horrors plaguing the Earth, and only the rarest few are capable of facing them. It is within this world that the young girl named Doris Lang meets D, entreating him for help. As D becomes entangled with Doris Lang, he comes face to face with the mighty Count Magnus Lee and his army of ghouls. The first entry in the Vampire Hunter D series introduced all the hallmarks that would come to define it: gory, dripping violence, and beautiful Gothic horror.
As a vampire hunter, D is the ultimate fighter. Half-human and half-vampire, D is what is known as a dhampir. Possessing a vast majority of vampiric powers yet very few of their weaknesses, D is a force to be reckoned with. D is gifted with superhuman speed, strength, agility, endurance, and intellect. His body regenerates at an astounding rate, capable of healing from direct sunlight exposure within hours. As a hunter, D is equipped with a fearsome crescent sword, a six-legged mechanical steed, and a variety of weapons and armaments. Being part vampire, D also has an array of magical abilities at his disposal, though he often chooses not to use them. Perhaps the most bizarre entry in his arsenal, D has a thinking and talking face on his left palm that itself can produce wind vacuums, and even revive D as needed in battle. D’s centuries of hunting and battle experience, combined with his supernatural powers and deadly weapons, make him the most dangerous being on the planet.
Vampire Hunter D Helped Bring Mature Anime To The West
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In 1985, Ashi Productions released Vampire Hunter D, a full-length animated feature based on the first book of the series. Directed by Toyoo Ashida, Vampire Hunter D was one of the first anime features to be specifically targeted toward young adult males. Influenced heavily by Western horror films—especially 1958’s Horror of Dracula by Hammer Films—Vampire Hunter D was also billed as one of the first animated horror films for adults in the US. The 1980s saw a rising popularity in the creation of OVAs and Vampire Hunter D was a massive success; its Western horror themes fit perfectly with the growing market. With its success in Japanese theaters setting a precedent, Vampire Hunter D was later dubbed in English in 1992 and shown via small venues.
The success of the first Vampire Hunter D film is an early example of Western localization and dubbing in the OVA market, earning its title as a cult favorite among US anime fans. As anime was still a very young and incredibly niche market in the West, Vampire Hunter D’s success cannot be understated or ignored. While certainly not as popular as other early localized anime series such as Robotech (originally Super Dimension Fortress Macross) and Voltron (originally Beast King GoLion), Vampire Hunter D helped push the boundaries of what the medium could be for Western fans. More than just typical children’s fare or mecha, Vampire Hunter D was a gory and violent horror film that married high-faring anime action with grim adult themes not often seen in Western localizations at that time.
Vampire Hunter D Has Received Numerous Adaptations In Anime And Video Games
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Fan demand for a follow-up film to the original 1985 OVA was rewarded in 2001 with the release of Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust. Produced by Madhouse and directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri, Bloodlust is based on the third novel in the series, 1985’s Vampire Hunter D: Demon Deathchase. When the young girl Charlotte Elbourne is abducted from her home by the vampire Baron Meier Link, D is hired by her father to rescue her. To complicate matters, the vampire hunter team known as the Marcus Brothers is also hired to rescue Charlotte and kill Baron Meier Link. What ensues is a tense chase across a treacherous hellscape, with the final confrontation occurring deep within the castle of Countess Carmilla Elizabeth Bathory. Bloodlust is an exquisite tour de force, a visual masterpiece of gothic beauty and nightmarish horror. It succeeds in not only adapting Kikuchi’s novel to the big screen but also in creating a gripping tale of anime horror and action.
In 2000, Vampire Hunter D received its first (and so far only) video game adaptation. Released on the Playstation, Vampire Hunter D was developed by Victor Interactive Software and published by Jaleco. Based on the second film, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, the PlayStation game features D as he explores a massive castle in search of a young girl. As was popular at the time, Vampire Hunter D is a survival horror game in the vein of Resident Evil. Players must guide D through the monster-infested castle, engaging in plenty of battles and puzzle-solving. As fantastic as the premise of playing a Vampire Hunter D video game sounds, unfortunately, the game failed to impress fans and critics. The game was plagued with poor visuals and clunky controls. The popular tank controls of the late ’90s that Resident Evil and Tomb Raider employed did not suit D well in the least, and coupled with the lackluster presentation of the game, resulted in the game being largely maligned and forgotten.
Vampire Hunter D Is One Of Anime’s Most Successful And Enduring Horror Series Of All Time
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The enduring success of Vampire Hunter D lies not simply within the characters’ aesthetics, but within the fact that Hideyuki Kikuchi has never given up on it. With 41 novels to its name and much more to come, the stories and adventures of Vampire Hunter D are immense. In 2007 manga adaptations by Saiko Takaki were released by Digital Manga Publishing. 2011 saw Hideyuki Kikuchi create Another Vampire Hunter: The Noble Greylancer, a spin-off prequel series set thousands of years in the past, detailing the history of the Nobility. In 2022, a comic book adaptation of the short story Vampire Hunter D: Message From Cecile was launched and completed on Kickstarter. In 2015, a brand-new CG animated series was announced by Unified Pictures and Digital Frontier; although it was put on hold due to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the series is still in production.
While Vampire Hunter D has not received a full-length animated feature since 2001’s Bloodlust or a video game since 1999’s PlayStation entry, new content has consistently been in the works. Such success with grimdark fantasy and science fiction is most often relegated to the more mainstream works of Berserk and the Souls titles, but Vampire Hunter D has been going strong for over 40 years now. With 41 novels to its name and over 17 million copies sold worldwide, Vampire Hunter D is one of the best-selling book series of all time. For those that have never stepped foot in the doomed apocalypse D calls home, decades of adventure await. For those brave enough to face down the creatures born of nightmare and mist, Vampire Hunter D is the ultimate in vampire horror action.
