25 years later, Bloodlust remains a masterpiece

The second adaptation of the story of Mount Kecki tells a semi-human, half-vimbir (dumbi) Monster bounty hunter Vampire Hunter D: Blood It premiered at the Fantasia International Film Festival in 2000. Honestly, it will never leave. For decades, it has been hailed as one of the greatest anime movies of all time. So much so that on February 28, it was brought back to the theater, at the time of writing it Still playing In selected Tokyo and Osaka cinemas. What does a non-ghibli anime movie need to remain relevant for a quarter of a century? Let’s find out.

Allow audiences to put puzzles together

One of the worst things a filmmaker can do is distrust their audience. Every time you explain something or rely too much on the fair, you indirectly insult the audience’s wisdom. Writer director Yoshiaki Kawajiri understands this and instead uses the medium of the film to fully illustrate the story of the titular Dhampir D and his world. Tell us a quick introduction blood It happens in a world full of vampires, but we really understand what it means after the opening scene, where cameras are scattered all over the roofs of the Gothic town, absolutely packed with crosses.

The fascinating “Sky Cemetery” footage tells us that the people of this world are constantly afraid of vampires. In the following scene, a pass-through vampire twists the cross into a useless metal pile, telling us that we are dealing with a powerful opponent. There is no words, just visual effects, and the audience is left to think about themselves. This movie is full of moments like this. Although the world blood It looks like Victorian people (or vampires) move on horse-drawn carriages that pull them on abandoned highways, past ships and shaky satellite devices.

By this you can tell immediately Vampire Hunter Take place in the end of the world. More details are provided in the books, but in the movie, all we get is visual clues that fill the gaps in our imagination. This always leads to a more engaging and immersive movie viewing experience. The last movie that does anything close to this might be Mad Max: Angry Road (2015),,,,, Today, considered one of the best movies of all time. Maybe the whole thing about “not underestimating your audience”.

The tragic protagonist

The nominal D is a huge black sword with a great sword plus the power of most vampires without a weakness (to some extent; he can’t be in the sun for too long, but, hey, he’s definitely, he’s absolutely.) Tragic about it. Below his stone expression and monotonous sound, there is a creature in a quiet state of sadness. Other semi-liar characters like Blade like to talk about their existence being painful, what is the pain of two worlds and the pain of belonging to a worldless, but they still like killing, alcohol or women. D is not interested in this.

It’s all built in one line: “I have no life.” D’s entire reason is to destroy monsters Like him Because he regards himself and them as abomination. He takes money for his work, but he seems to spend only on his own trading tools, just like buying a new horse. He is particularly motivated to follow the movie’s rival, the powerful vampire Meier Link, because he kidnapped a human woman and their idea of ​​trying to get more Dhampirs doesn’t sit with D.

This is because of his centuries-long life, lonely or dual nature, and the semi-film of this film clearly feels that he shouldn’t exist. He almost sounded happy about it when he mentioned in a skewed manner that he might one day die in the hands of another hunter. In short, D exists, but he does not live Because he has been fighting with himself. It was an incredible tragedy, but it made a fascinating protagonist.

Bring the ancient and familiar ones on it

Each genre has its clichés. In a doomsday vampire movie blood, You would expect that human vampire hunters would show up and interfere with D’s work, and they do appear in the movie. They arrive at the Catholic tank, a giant armored vehicle with a lateral ray of UV lights that conveniently bake vampires. One of the hunters fought with a huge pointed hammer, while the other shot Mel with a bazooka. The vampire shrugged, though, as one of his powers turned his cape into anything from an indestructible shield to a blade or visual fantasy.

Just like blood Being told that certain cliches are mandatory, so it agrees to use them, but only after making them…more. More creative, more gore, more action packing, so more fun. That’s why when the movie gives us the werewolf character he has an X-ray field of view and turns into a wolf with a second giant wolf boy whose belly should be there.

By the way, the belly-mouthed werewolf is escorting Meyer and his human companions, ruled by a castle Vampire ghost Therefore, they can borrow her rockets and go to the eternal dark city of the stars. Absolutely no Vampire Hunter D: Blood It has been done before. The film is always built on familiar elements to create new and memorable things like a space vampire or a rocket in the shape of a Gothic cathedral/castle tower, one of the most beautiful things ever in an animated film. Many scenes blood Despite appearing in the same year as PlayStation 2, it usually looks more real than real life.

It’s no surprise that with its appearance, the protagonist and a story, rejecting cliches in the best way to treat adults Vampire Hunter D: Blood Still loved 25 years later. Hell, after another 25 times, it may still be loved by people. Let’s go back then.

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