What the F*** is Wrong with Japanese Movies Part II

Continuing my slog through some of the easier to find Japanese films populating my list I finally sat down and watched Vampire Hunter D (1985) and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2000) and Blood: The Last Vampire (2009). While I had been informed both Hunter D movies were on youtube pretty early on, I dragged my feet on them. To put it bluntly, part of it was the fact that they're anime films. I wouldn't go so far as to say I hate anime, I just don't see the appeal.

They were later slain

Animation in the United States, while mostly geared towards children, does come with the sensibilities I have grown accustomed to. The jokes work, the story works, the themes just work. In anime, nearly everything is lost in translation. The jokes don't always work because they come from a different culture with different customs, the story isn't presented with any kind of nuance, at least not in the translation and the themes are often dark, depressing and incredibly bloody. There are of course exceptions. By no means am I saying Spirited Away (2000) or Akira (1988) are bad movies, their are just one too many levels of difficulty in understanding for me to fully enjoy and appreciate them.

All that being said, the Vampire Hunter D movies are both excellent. While they are fifteen years apart, both have an acute attention to detail and imagination to spare. The creatures the titular character has to face are all interesting and often very scary, the secondary characters are all interesting and the themes, while a shade darker than My Neighbor Totoro (1988) are astounding.

If pressed I'd have to say Bloodlust is my favorite of the two. While being more of a chase movie than its predecessor, the love story between the young woman and the villain put an interesting emotional spin that translates very well. The cast is also much larger and their "allegiances" to each other are much stronger this time around. Plus more options were available to the animators as far as cell detail, so it looks a little more completed and doesn't recycle images as often.

While being a mix of post-apocalyptic and Gothic sensibilities the stories are true and true westerns. The 1985 movie is about the mysterious Hunter D arriving in a small hamlet and tries to protect a young woman and her family from the local vampire Count who has the entire town under his influence. Is anyone seeing a few parallels to Shane (1953)? How about in the 2000 movie; Hunter D has to compete with the Marcus brothers for a bounty which involves a girl unwilling to leave her captor. Shades of For a Few Dollars More (1965) and The Searchers (1956) instantly come to mind.

The only way to get to third base by yourself

My only real quarrel with both movies is the "Left Hand" character who is essentially a super-powered talking mouth possessing Hunter D's hand. Not so much the character himself, though he can occasionally be an obnoxious troll; I just want to know a little bit more about him/it. How did Hunter D come across such a parasite? Is it a parasite or is it some kind of spirit or demon? How can the main character find any sort of privacy living with a face in his palm? We're never made privy to this information.

You got a better agent? What's his name?

I would readily recommend both movies unlike another Japanese vampire film I had the misfortune of seeing. The film was called Blood: The Last Vampire (2009). I won't spend too much time on it because I barely remember anything about it...and I just watched it. Allegedly based on an anime series, the live-action adaptation is an absolute waste of 90 minutes. Its a B-movie whose random assemblage of parts are completely unoriginal and boring. Avoid it if you can.