Vampire Hunter D:
Bloodlust

Dir: Yoshiaki Kawajiri
Starring: Andrew Philpot, John Rafter Lee, Pamela Segall, Wendee Lee

Fifteen years after the original comes this...well, sequel isn't quite right, since there's nothing to put this before or after its predecessor. It has many of the same features - strong, silent half-vampire D must rescue a girl from the lecherous attentions of a vampire - but it's not a remake either, since it differs in all the details. It is, however, superior in most ways, not least the animation which is mostly good and occasionally top-notch: the set designs in particular are fabulous, and there's much the same volume of invention as in Kawajiri's Ninja Scroll. Even the dub isn't bad, the majority of the voice actors being experienced e.g. John Rafter Lee played Trevor Goodchild in Aeon Flux, which helps tremendously. However, D's animated hand - still no explanation forthcoming for that! - remains immensely irritating with its constant "funny" remarks, and you can only wish it was as strong and silent as D's other limbs. The movie does run out of steam towards the end, admittedly (though the final climax is highly poignant), but if its 103 minutes feel longer than that, it's likely more because there's so much going on, than any particular flaws.

B

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