Rotten Reelz Reviews Audio Review # 42: Vampire Journals

As a request I look into more Ted Nicolau movies, I made this review and who knows?  Perhaps I will do some more Subspecies.   It is entirely possible.  Vampire Journals is up and running, awaiting your peepers, comments and queries.   Have fun!

Bloodsucker Sequels: Dracula II: The Ascension

Hiya gang and welcome back for Day 4 of Bloodsucker Sequels. Hey remember when director/writer Patrick Lussier retold the legend of Dracula in the year 2000? Thus getting the title Dracula 2000? What ever became of Simon Shepard and Mary Van Helsing? Did they ever drag down the smoking remains of Dracula and entomb in the crypt under Carfax Abbey? What if none of those questions will be answered at all? Then you would have a sequel ignoring its own storyline. This is Dracula II: Ascension.

Hey, that's not Gerald Butler!

So the fairly well spoken narrative of Mary being her father's daughter and the keeper of Dracula's remains...yeah we can toss that notion right out the window. RETCON! Hours after Dracula transmogrifies to Mr. Crispy due to intense ultraviolet rays he is wheeled into the morgue.  Prior to this reveal is our beginning story in Transylvania with Father Uffizi (Jason Scott Lee of Back to the Future II, Ghoulies Go to College, Map of the Human Heart, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, The Jungle Book, Tale of the Mummy, Soldier, Lilo & Stitch, Timecop: The Berlin Decision and The Prophecy: Forsaken and Seventh Son) with twin vamp girls (Jennifer Kroll of Weird Science, Cybill and Dracula II: Ascension) when he was injured by one of the vamps corrupting him. He walks in the sun and flogs himself to purge the evil.

Now according to a friend of mine who watched this with the commentary on; it was stated that the master of vampires' body was swapped for another and Mary ended up claiming another charred corpse and stowed him away. Apparently that scene just wasn't worth filming or maybe it hit the cutting floor. There goes her pre-natural senses. Interns Luke (Jason London of Dazed and Confused, Mixed Signals, Broken Vessels, The Rage: Carrie 2, Jason and the Argonauts and Grind)and Liz (Diane Neal of Dracula II: Ascension, Second Born, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, NCIS, Power, Suits and NCIS: New Orleans) work to move the body for an experimentation when they see the body healing on its own from third degree burns of bone and ash.

Jeremy? Jason here.  Look I'm not feeling this role. Cover for me?

Professor Lowell (Craig Sheffer of Nightbreed, A River Runs Through It, Hellraiser: Inferno, One Tree Hill and The Mark) suffering from palsy feels this is the real first step to repairing his on diseased cells. Along for the ride of science and the macabre is fellow intern/students Kenny (Khary Payton of Street Sharks, Certain Guys, Latter Days, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Teen Titans, Friday: The Animated Series, Ben 10, The Sims 3, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 and Young Justice) and bubbly Tanya (Brande Roderick of Club Wild Side 2, Stripper Wives, Baywatch, Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding, Starsky & Hutch, Lucky 13 and The Daily Habit). So off to flirt with damnation and death then!

A middle man Eric meets to explain that large sacks of money are on their way if the kids play ball. Lowell goes on to explain the mythos of Dracula as he can apparently change his appearance after every resurrection (Hang on a tic, that's the Doctor's racket you hornin' in on, mate!) and their paltry explaination why Gerald Butler is not reprising his former role but now a platinum blonde man (Stephen Billington of Out of the Blue, Highlander: The Raven, Cornation Street, Resident Evil, Young Arthur, The Prophecy: Uprising, A Life in Suitcases and Hollyoaks) who flirts with Liz. With Luke being the only real one of sound mind, he goes shopping for holy water, knotted rope and seeds following the vampire mythos of their need to untie knots, count seeds and well holy water probably burns like the Dickens. Meanwhile, Father Uffizi is on the trail for Dracula as well and Heaven help whomever stops him.

Will tampering with Dracula lead to bodies hitting the floor? Should Luke pour holy water all over himself? Can Liz stop flittering between her collective men?

Patrick Lussier really wanted Dracula to be the pinnacle apex of evil so Billington claims to be to be Gilles de Rais (Knight and Marshal who was a companion at arms with Joan of Arc dabbled in satanism and child murder), Vlad Tepes (House of Draculesti, Prince of Wallachia and Vlad the Impaler), Proximus (Dux or General of Roman Legion) and of course Judas the Betrayer. It was if though Dracula was not evil enough and had to show the audience oh yes, this is a very bad man in case SOMEHOW you forgot that. While the first film dealt with shades of gray (Not 50!), Lussier feels the need to hammer it in your skull that Dracula is the personification of all that is evil. Subtle touch.

The effects of CGI blood and practical are a decent mesh but I would have preferred more practical vs CGI. It captures better on film. Jason Scott Lee's character is a righteous wrathful man that seems like the instrument of righteous cruelty rather than a man of God so it was interesting watching him balance the two sides of himself. Location wise this is a gorgeous region of hills, mountains and township to capture on film and connected in the heart of the mythos and Stoker's own writings. Overall this is not a bad movie but it does contradict a lot of the first film. 

OoOoOo he has the sweeping cloak effect going.

Blade: The Animated Series.

Sorry for the delay with this review, folks. Off day when you haven't slept in 30 hours. Insomnia is not for the faint of heart or mind. Today I wanted to gander at an interesting trend. Marvel's Anime project was to give more of an adult theme to the series as violence cannot be shown on cartoons to the magnitude it can in anime. Part of a four anime shows set in Asia in the southeast this projects include: X-Men, Wolverine and Iron Man. This is Blade.

Hey, that's not Wesley Snipes!

The daywalker himself resembles in both story, comic and even film and TV Erik Brooks a.k.a. Blade the damphir was created after his mother was attacked by Deacon Frost, giving Blade (voice actor Harold Perrineau of Romeo + Juilet, Lost, 28 Weeks Later and Zero Dark Thirty) superhuman reflexes, speed and strength to match that of a vampire and none of their weaknesses...except the thirst for blood. Operating out of Asia, Blade searches for Deacon Frost to repay him for all the kindness Frost has shown his mother and he. Probably a full tang titanium disemboweling or beheading would be my guess.

In his search, he comes across a hit going down by a collective of vampire hunters taking out baddie at a night club (Yes, the cliche' nightclub scene) when the young girl Motoko (Kim Mai Guest of TMNT, Dead Rising, Dead Island and Dead Island Riptide) loses her father and compatriots to the vamp bite. Blade dispatches Motoko's father to spare her doing it herself. The two have a love/hate relationship for the start of the series, Blade tries to remain cold and uncaring to spare himself the potential loss of yet another comrade.

Yup, the streetwalkers got really ugly.

We also meet another teacher in Blade's life as we are introduced to Noah Van Helsing (Troy Baker of Naruto: Shippuden, Batman: Arkham City, Saints Row: The Third, Prototype 2 and The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct) a bit warmer of a man than say Whistler was, his background is closer tied to the Tomb of Dracula comic series at it is he who took in Erik as a young boy. Consumed by his hatred of what the vampires did to him and his family, Noah also recognizes that Erik too, is a victim and hones the boy into a warrior.

Will Blade find Frost, dispatch him and get back to more vampire hunting? Will Motoko allow herself to care for the daywalker? Is there a happy ending for any of the mentioned?

This series rounds Blade out better rather than his stereotypical bad ass portrayal in the films. Similar to Sticky Jones' take on him in the TV series, Blade is shown to be a tragic character rather than this cold, killing machine. With the tattooed appearance, body armor and weapons of both TV and movie versions, Blade is equally driven to end vampires but it shows he has dimensions beyond that in letting Motoko travel with him. He sees her capabilities as a hunter but more than that, he sees another victim of vampires and offers tutelage. Interestingly enough several of the vampires species Blade encounters in this series are based on folklore of several Asian legends ranging from Japan to the Phillippines.

This succession of the character shows his accomplishments as a sword master, his appearance is similar to Sticky's bald edgy look and the depths of his power. So Blade fans I do recommend this one and hope you enjoy it as much as I did. FYI, there is a guest appearance of a popular X-men. No, I am not telling who. Go watch and find out.

Yeah he is that bad ass.

Blood+

Back again kiddies! Yes I have actually been watching anime, a concept I thought not possible in this modern era of CGI overlapping, countless reboots and more inept rewrites than the mind can handle. With that in mind, today's anime is not a reboot, re-imagining or any such nonsense but a continuation from the film. Will it cut the mustard or will it be dry and less than appetizing?

This is Blood+

But, but I signed up for debate!

After the success of the 45 minute movie in 2001, it was contracted to for a 52 episode series offering more background to the series and addition characters expanding upon the original 6 part episode plan allowing the main story, subplots and secondary stories to unfold more naturally.

So forging ahead from last we saw Saya was 1966 in Yokota Air Base near Fussa, Tokyo, Japan during the Vietnam War. The Chiropterans (bat-like humanoids, demons or vampires) managed to infiltrate the air base with no one the wiser until Saya dispatched with ease until attending to their higher ups which took a toll on her mentally and physically. We cut to 2005 in Koza, Okinawa Island near the US Kadena Air Base, our otherwise moody and methodical killer schoolgirl is... attending classes, living with a family and worried about her high jump for championship matches?? Huh?  Saya has been living with an adopted family and seems to be suffering from anemia and amnesia at the same time. Having no knowledge of her skill set, fighting style or even her past, her adopted family treats her as they would their own daughter and sister.

You just know the fan fic makes us gay in this scene, right?

All seems well in Saya's life when she seems a mysterious cellist Haji, who she seems drawn to and yet could not explain why. No sooner than plot device of "Left my track shoes and clothes at the school," is unleashed the Chiropterans make an appearance, slaughtering the innocent and looking to do away with Saya.  Haji brings Saya's blade and her old instincts kick in, take over and kick serious ass in the process. Haji refers himself to Saya as her chevalier (Knight) who will selflessly deliver assistance to her in her battles against the Chiropterans and stay on helping her recover her lost memories.

Of course the black ops link to the CIA is still there, allowing her passage around the planet and the ability to operate with impunity of the laws of the land. How long has she been without memory? The seemingly innocent looking 17 year old as we know it was 17 in 1966 and 1892 so...has she been off the radar since the Vietnam War for 39 years, going from "family" to "family"? Has combined intelligence operations been searching for Saya this whole time? Who has hidden her in plain sight?

The Chiropterans have a standard manga/anime monster feel as they are hulking monstrosities with bulging eyes, enormous fangs and the cackling process of tormenting the protagonists. With the creators of Ghost in the Shell on the job, the stories blending with CGI almost seamlessly added to the hand drawn work it is amazing. This series will be on your shelf next to Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop, Naruto and Ruroni Kenshin. I hope you enjoy this series as much I am doing now.

Turn the other cheek, perhaps?

Blade: The Series

Hiyas folks.  Back again and I sense you missed me.  I'm touched.  So we looked at current running series and today I thought I would feast my eyes on a series that was and could have been so much more.  Yes one of my favorites, the cancelled shows.  Truthfully I should have included it in the Season 1 week but alas I goofed.  So here it is, a brain child of David Goyer.  This is Blade: The Series.

Hell yes I am mugging for the camera.

 




 Based on writer Marv Wolfman's creation as far back as Tomb of Dracula comics , Blade has had three theatrical releases, a series of comics, an anime and finally a live-action TV adaptation.  But who could attempt to fill the shoes of Wesley Snipes' portrayal?  None other than rap star/actor Kirk "Sticky Fingaz" Jones (Clockers, Next Friday, Flight of the Phoenix, House of the Dead 2: Dead Aim, Over There, The Shield, Speed Demons and Blue Bloods) stalking the undead hiding in plain sight with their legion of vampires of pure blood and turned and their many human followers or familiars.  After the film Blade Trinity we see Blade NOT assisted by the Night Stalkers and apparently the virus Daystar did not wipe out all the vampires...just those lot in that particular town it would appear.   Of course that is never explained and this particular plot hole or plot chasm is brought us by David Goyer, writer of all three Blade films so, kudos there.  

No comrade, I cannot get that quality trenchcoat in Russia.

Assisting in his crusade against the vampires is his new weapon specialist, tech guru and resident smart ass Shen (Nelson Lee of The Warriors (video game), Cold Play, Ring of Death, Vacancy 2: The First Cut, About Cherry and I'm the Same) in which they rely on tech, street contacts and even an inside man until... lead vampire Marcus Van Sciver (Neil Jackson of Alexander, Quantum of Solace, Push, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Lightfields and House of Secrets) was trying to find out what the young man's end game was only to find that his loyalty is to Blade and has him killed looking like a drug addict getting off and case closed.  Of course you need a cop handling the case in your pocket and Detective Boone (Billy Mondy of The Dead Zone, I Spy, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Case 39, EDGE of War, Johnny Test and Supernoobs) fits the bill.  From his habits, easily swayed by money and the promise of being made of a vampire keeps him in check for the most part.  

Sadden by the news, Ma and her brother believe that boy Zack was a kid caught up in mischief but sister/Iraq war hero Krista (Jill Wagner of Shifted, Blade: The Series, Stargate: Atlantis, Splinter, Teen Wolf and Autumn Dreams) thinks otherwise and decides the cops aren't doing anything with her brother's death, plots to poke around and find out what bumps in the night.    She encounters Blade as well as several vampires when Blade tells her that her brother was working with him to bring down the House of Chthlon, a vampire designated clan or scourge.

When the two join forces, Krista is thrust into a world of darkness she had no idea existed and still uncertain where to go from here.   Will the House of Chthlon be brought crumbling down brick by brick?  Can Blade put the hurt on the lot of them?   Will the vampires finally bring down the daywalker that has haunted their nightmares so?

 

Well folks the skinny is due to the antiquated notion of Neilsen ratings, this show fell on its ass.  No fault to the writing, production and introduction to lesser known characters in Blade's world.   Showtime was developing a story arc that would have encompassed several characters of the existing title when Blade: Trinity was in post production but due to the lawsuit against New Line Cinema at the behest of Wesley Snipes, Showtime walked away.   The project was picked up later but Snipes declined to reprise his movie character.

So 12 episodes of plenty of sub stories, main plot and drive which ends on a cliff hanger that was never answered but many a fan speculated at.  So if you want to see the day walker hand out some ass wipings, break some bones and dust some vamps, you are in luck.   If you want to see how all these loose threads tie together...well you are boned.

The shades and the coat.  Gimme. Chop chop.

Rotten Ramblin' On # 3: The Evils of Uwe Boll.

Well  folks I am having a wee bit of issue with Sound Cloud so we are going through Google Drive directly for this Rotten Ramblin' On podcast of Uwe Boll.  His movies, his legacy and his coniption fits.  THIS is NSFW and Adult Language!!!!  Guess I will have to sort out something for that later.


https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B9o0xM1p10TbSWJ2c1E4aHc2NFk/0B9o0xM1p10TbUjdyS0RVd3Z4NlE

Anime Week: Blood: The Last Vampire

Welcome back readers of mine for Day 2 of Anime Week.  As promised, I am sticking solely with animated films rather than anything that spawned a series, mini-series or continuation of any sorts.  That in mind, we look at a film based on the manga work of writer Benkyo Tamaoki (The Sex Philes, Tokyo Red Hood and Necromansque) whose work was intriguing enough for director/writer Mamoru Oshii (Urusei Yatsura, Patlabor, Ghost in the Shell, The Animatrix and Assault Girls) a man of anime and live-action movies to push Tamaoki's creature into the medium of anime.  This is Blood: The Last Vampire.

I fight evil with my fishing rod!

David: You SPOILER! Don't ever piss her off again! As far as we know, she's the only remaining original!





Now some of you are probably a bit huffy and point out I have already done Blood: The Last Vampire from one of my many vampire weeks.  Well, simmer down and I would point out that the film previously was the live-action version directed by Ronny Yu (Bride of Chucky, Formula 51, Freddy vs. Jason and Fearless) and while the subject matter is the same, the story varies only slightly.   The year is 1966 in Japan.  A girl name of Saya that looks of all of sixteen takes the subway where she dispatches a man in a suit with a katana that she believes to be a bat creature known as chiropterans.  Because schoolgirls always carry a 300 time folded uchigatana blade in the event of pervs.  Her handler David arrives to deal with the mess and remove the body.  It is eluded to that they may be CIA but never confirmed out right so take a guess.
From Saya's predatory instincts and hunches she tells David that the chiropterans have most likely already evaded Yokota Air Base and with Vietnam on the rise, the airbase is already twitchy enough but they are way out of their depths with beings of this nature.  They will come out of hiding, feed and then sink back into the dark depths and Saya will never have another shot at them so she volunteers to go undercover as a schoolgirl to better patrol the base grounds.  Top that, Buffy.

Saya's just fitting in at school.

Running into the school nurse, Makiho Amano when two of Saya's fellow classmates Sharon and Linda complain about a headache.  Naturally Amano preps the ibuprofen when Saya bursts into the office slicing Linda in twine and wounding Sharon revealing they are chiropterans and of course freaking the ever-loving crap out of Amano.  Saya ends up snapping her sword in the process due to its constant wear and tear and must fight these beasties with a broken blade or whatever is available.  Trust me when I say I think a tire iron or poker from a fireplace would be deadly in this girl's hands is not an exaggeration.   Can Saya defeat these monsters before the SPs wake the bloody hell up or will Japan be shrouded in their eternal darkness for generations to come?

I just had a few fun facts about the film at this time.   Blood is the first completely digitally animated anime from Japan.  Due to a ridiculous time table and money not fully available this was supposed to be a 3 part story but instead got theater distribution instead as a full feature.  The interesting thing about this film is there is no English or Japanese version as at least 3 of the voice actor switch from Japanese to English depending on whom they are speaking to.  

This one manga spawned a series of light novels, a video game for the PSP, an animated series called Blood C to compliment our film of the day but that is another story and time.

Chiropterans secretly bomb Cambodia while maintaining plausible denability..

Blog#350!!!! Vampire Grab Bag Week: The Kiss of the Vampire

Wow we have arrived at 350 blogs already!  That is simply amazing.

Howdy all and apologies for not starting Day 3 of Vampire Grab Bag Week yesterday.  A different sleep schedule threw me off so clearly there is no reason why we don’t excavate another title out of the bag today.  How about another Hammer vampire film but without Christopher Lee?  Balderdash you might say and many would agree as this was intended to be the third Dracula but the story got mangled and garbled to no end in sight completely detracting the whole Dracula standing and was made a standalone vampire movie.  So grab your cross, holy water, garlic and perhaps a good axe or falchion.  This is The Kiss of the Vampire.

 

Pardon, the three bean salad backfired.

Servant: You keep away from here, or we’ll set the spoilers on you!

Thankfully with no association with the Karnstein trilogy our story takes place not in Austria but in the far mountain range of Bavaria, Germany.  Vampires dig chocolate don’t you know.    Our young honeymooning couple having just arrived in this warm inviting village runs in a spot of bad luck to have their car breakdown at the most inopportune time.  Gerald (Edward De Souza of The Phantom of the Opera, The Mill on the Floss, Doctor Who, Mogul and The Spy Who Loved Me) and Marianne Harcourt (Jennifer Daniel of The Reptile, The Vortex, People Like Us, The Collectors and Love Is All There Is) are quite annoyed as they are out of gas and have no means for AAA so Gerald legs it after leaving his bride with the luggage to the nearest village in the hopes for a tow or gasoline to carry.  Young Marianne feels as though she is being spied on and finally can bare it no more, flees the car and heads towards the village about a half hour behind her husband.  A craggily old man channels his best Crazy Ralph impression and warns her to stay far away from the cast and to leave the area ASAP, PDQ and give it wings.

Slow it down kids, you're British so no emotions needed.

As predicted the tiny village being so isolated has no gas station to speak of but a brawny fellow helps Gerald with the car and the pair stay in a small inn ran by a little elderly couple that seem overtly superstitious and not very friendly.  Travel Book guide says it is worse than Motel Hell or the accommodations of Eaten Alive.     One of the local girls died prior and a funeral is being held; not be for a shabbily dressed fellow named Professor Zimmer flips her coffin lid and stakes her.  A blood curdling shriek omits from the coffin followed but a geyser of blood erupts from the corpse.

Keeping true Dracula standing a coachman arrives from the local squire informing them of the castle’s hospitality for stranded travelers.  Yes that castle they have been warned off from.  So of course our nitwits head there for turning down such an invitation would be the height of bad manners.  The locals shake and scratch their heads at the sheer bravado/stupidity of the couple and pray for their very souls.

So what to take away from this film?  Well apparently vampire cult and Satanism are one and the same as it was with the Karnstein Trilogy, this entire town somehow thrives in spite of vampire raids every so often and oh yes let us warn newcomers but not give them the full skinny. The rubber bats were killing me, I could not stop laughing. The day for night shots were predictably painful to stare at.  Not a bad film but hardly a great one.  

Vampire Tango of Terror!!!

Horror of 1970 Week: Scars of Dracula

What’s happenin’ babies?  Okay got that out of my system and welcome to Horror of 1970 Week.  This week we trowel some B Movies of the year and we shall see if we find any gems or diamonds in the rough rather than a polished turd.  So let’s commence with a Hammer Film of the vampiric nature starring our favorite Prince of Darkness, Dracula so fasten your crosses to a lapel, prep your rings of garlic and put an edge on that stake.  This is Scars of Dracula.

 

His eyes are so scary the credits tremble.

Klove: You fools!  You think you can destroy my spoiler??!!  The flames will never reach him!

As in the previous films there is of course the recap from its predecessor giving us the highlights of what was then and why the monster returns yet again to wreak chaos on the land and the villagers. We see Dracula’s remains, his cape and a pile of dried blood and dust left on the altar in said church.  Alice saved by Paul shudder at Dracula’s agonizing death and leave.   However, a large bat flies in the church dribbling blood from its fangs on to the powdered, desiccated remains only to resurrect the vampire once again.

Villager rabble and cookout!

A year later the villagers summon the nerve to attack the Castle Dracula after yet another village girl died at his hand and they burn the Castle while the Count is actually snoozing away in a crypt away from the castle.  After their arsonist deeds, the villagers return to find every woman and child hid in the church to be slaughtered by bats.  

Accused of raping the burgomasters’ daughter (she was spurned by Paul) Paul Carlson (Christopher Matthews of Some Like It Sexy, Scream and Scream Again and See No Evil) fled from the Kleinenberg officials by leaping into a handy coach and while it lacked a driver it takes off with great velocity.  The coach deposits him off to the slightly ruined Castle Dracula where the lord of manor and his mistress Tania (Anouska Hempel of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Tiffany Jones and Black Snake).    After dinner and given his room to stay Tania and Paul…have a brief little liaison of the flesh when Dracula comes barging in, slaps Paul aside like a rag doll and skewers Tania with a dagger.  He locks Paul in his room and hands Tania to Klove (Patrick Troughton of Hamlet, Doctor Who, Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, The Omen and Knights of God) to dispose of her.  Paul attempts an escape but is trapped in a room with a locked door and a coffin at his feet.

Now the frat's hazing can be...rough.

Sometime later Paul’s brother Simon (Dennis Waterman of The Sweeny, Sweeny!, Sweeny 2, Back in Business and New Tricks) and Paul’s fiancée Sarah (Jenny Hanley of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, The Flesh and Blood Show, Saturday Night at the Mill and West Country Tales) are attempting to retrace Paul’s whereabouts and remove this stigma on his good name.   The reluctance of the authorities makes Simon a bit concerned but little does he know what truly happens in this village.

I wanted to make a few points of interest in this film.  Christopher Lee has a lot more to do, better dialogue and still quite menacing.  The cinematography as always amazing and their collection of scale model and deep woods was so impressive and the landscape paintings were quite detailed. The violence is greater and sexuality a bit more freely than back in the day however I feel the ending is a bit anti-climatic as it feels like they were running out of ideas.   Just my take on it but if you are a Hammer fan give it some love and the once over.

Old School Week : Vampire Hunter D

Old School Week starts up again and this time I thought we would take in an anime.  Hmm this title will do nicely as we seem to have the need for supernatural and science fiction so let’s get to it.

So grab a refreshing soda, maybe a savory treat and find your favorite sitting chair.   This is Vampire Hunter D.

 

There he goes on a horse with no name.

Count Magnus Lee: What a wonderful night this has been! For the first time in one hundred years I haven’t been spoiled once!

From the Japanese novels of same title Hideyuki Kikuchi (Vampire Hunter D, Raiser of Gales, Demon Deathchase, Tale of the Dead Town, The Stuff of Dreams and The Rose Princess) written well over 25 novels in regards to this character and the world surrounding it.  Some time in 1999 a nuclear war occurred and the population suffered for it.  Vampires knowing all along it was only a matter of time when humanity would do such; uses their vast technology to shield certain pockets of humanity around the planet. Keeping the human population to a steady amount and given their technology is less advanced, the vampires walk among their “cattle” and causing them to live in fear and torment.  They postulate and preen that they are of great nobility and should be treated as such.

Optic blast fire!

The year is 12,090 AD; a young sheep herder named Doris Lang is making guard rounds her farm to insure no predators get to her herd when she is attack by the lord of the land Count Magnus Lee, a 10,000 year old vampire who intends on making Doris his new bride, leaves cackling as he plots, schemes and prepares for his new concubine.

Hungry Hippos: A Gothic Fairy tale.

A day later a man shrouded in black the name of D riding a cybernetic horse sees Doris is in trouble and offers her his help for 100 pieces of gold.  She even offers herself to him because she is completely desperate to fight the vampires.    Our young vampire hunter assures her that will not be necessary and he will take the job.   The counts’ minions and even the count’s own daughter Lamika feels utter distain to bringing a country bumpkin human into the House of Lee and she is torn between her loyalty to her father and her disgust for her would be stepmother.

And now I just have a few points about this anime.  Lead animation designer Yoshitaka Amano(Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, 1001 Nights, Gatchaman and Angel’s Egg)and animation character designer/animator Noriyasu Yamauchi (City Hunter, Gunbuster, Megami Paradise, Agent Aika and Cowboy Bebop) were given this challenge to create not only this post-apocalyptic vision but to give off elements of terror and gore.  I say now this IS NOT for the kids, people.  With depictions of extreme violence, some nudity and more than a fair share of snark, this is truly an adult themed animation.  

Batter up!

We have elements of mystery, intrigue, violence and the animosity between the human working class and residing authority.  The realm is almost a new dark age with technology cobbled from the previous years prior to the nuclear holocaust.  This gives of the feel of a sci-fi fantasy and old west theme which makes for a decent tale of our unknown vampire hunter and why he alone must step into the darkness to destroy it.