I very recently read a review about an anime film called
Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust and thought I'd quote it here. Though -- again -- it's a review for a particular anime, I feel it speaks of the genre itself and gives much in reply to the question the author of this topic seeks to have answered.
My fascination with anime grew out of an old hobby of mine, painting miniature figures. One day I discovered a Japanese magazine, called 'Replicant,' and literally, a completely new world opened up to me. One of the first figures I saw in those pages was a sculpted rendering of smurf Amano's Vampire Hunter D images. The demonic beauty of that figure haunted me, even though I could only guess at what story was behind it. At that time, American access to anime was still largely undeveloped.
Now, of course, the opposite is true. There is no excuse for not seeing Director Yoshiaki Kawajiri's production of the novel written by Hideyuki Kikuchi and strikingly realized by Amano. For the film, For the film, Yutaka Minowa based his character designs on Amano's work, and, if anything, has gone one level better than the originals. Simply put, this film is visually stunning. The illustration is finely detailed and graceful, whether in repose or furious action. This is true for characters, artifacts and scenery. Often, while watching, the sense of dimensionality is so strong that you will find yourself looking twice to make sure that all this is still animation.
The plot is as complex as the artwork. Set in 12090 AD, the story is about D, who is a Dun Peal - a rare vampire human hybrid shunned by both races. In this future world, vampires, once the cruel lords of the Earth, are finally on the run. Few are left, and they are frequently hunted down for bounty. D is hired by a family to recover their daughter Charlotte, who has been kidnapped by Meier Link, one of the most deadly of the surviving vampires. Charlotte's family does not completely trust D, and have also hired the Markus Brothers for the same task. The story's main theme is the parallel chase after Meier Link, and the resulting competition between bounty hunters.
... In addition, he unexpectedly develops a strange bond with Leila, the beautiful and deadly distaff member of the Markus team. While love is not an emotion D allows himself, he and Leila learn to respect each other. They are the romantic balance to the relationship between Link and Charlotte. One couple loves impossibly, and the other finds love impossible.
Providing comic relief is Left Hand, D's companion. Yes, his left hand has somehow become part demon, and keeps up a steady stream of sarcasm, unwelcome advice, and complaint. As peculiar as this sounds, Kawajiri makes it work perfectly on film. I also have to compliment the invisible human cast, who provide the animations with voices and noises in a completely natural and compelling fashion. Nor should I fail to mention the musical score, which is the equal of 'Ghost in the Machine,' which only recently was my favorite animated film.
The DVD provides the obligatory trailers, an interesting comparison of the original storyboards to the final renderings, and a long, interesting behind the scenes segment. The latter is quite eye opening, giving me a much greater awareness of the complexities of animated film production. The film has an R rating, almost entirely due to violence, but is otherwise inoffensive. To some degree, I think the film deserves a more lenient rating. In any case, this is clearly a 'must see' if you are at all interested in the state of Japanese anime.
Another review by the same person, this time about an anime film called
Perfect Blue:
Based on a novel by Yoshikazu Takeuchi, 'Perfect Blue' is one of those anime that successfully attempt the unexpected. Written and paced more like a Hitchcock film than the typical action film, this is a story where the psychological aspects are as compelling as the sometimes-ferocious action.
Mima Kirigoe is an idol singer, part of a moderately successful trio called Cham. Since the career life of these singers is, at best, a matter of a few years, Mima has decided to leave Cham to try her hand at being an actress. She lands a part in 'Double Bind,' a suspense thriller that will test her commitment in many ways, putting her in situations that some of her old fans find uncomfortable. This explodes into her life in a big way when Mima finds an internet website that purports to be written by her.
Whoever is writing the site knows too much about what Mima is going through, and she finds herself stalked by an unhappy fan that has developed a fixation on her. Soon people are dying in gruesome circumstances, and Mima becomes more and more confused about whom she really is and what is real. First time director Satoshi Kon is merciless, making sure that the viewer gets few clues about which reality is real and whether what one sees is in 'Double Bind,' 'Perfect Blue,' or in Mima's mind alone.
This is really a remarkable piece of work. Great care is put into artistic and musical values. It has striking graphic qualities without the viewer ever getting the feeling that the images are overwhelming the story. In addition, I particularly like the imaginative use of color. Of course, the use of music is particularly important in a film about Japanese popular entertainment figures, and Kon makes sure that the film lives up to aural expectations.
[...] It isn't by my standards, but 'Perfect Blue' is graphic enough to offend some people. Take this into consideration before deciding to watch.
[Note: I snipped a portion of the above review to prevent possible incursion of Anime/Manga Board Rule #3.]
Definite contrast from even the more "serious" American cartoon films, the talked about anime film struck me as from the above review.
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) of it. I was a fan of Pokemon and Digimon when I was, like, 7, but other than those 2 staples for children, I was always just uncaring about anime as a whole.
