[No press release was received for this title]
VHS version: Language: English Label: Pioneer Volume: 1 2 3 4 Running time: 45 mins 45 mins 45 mins 45 mins Certificate: 12 12 PG 12 Catalogue no: PIO 10056 PIO 10057 PIO 10058 PIO 10059 Price: £10.99 £10.99 £10.99 £10.99 Release Date: 4th Oct 1999 4th Oct 1999 8th Nov 1999 8th Nov 1999
Isaac Kuo: The overall look/feel of Vampire Hunter is a mix of Gundam W and Streetfighter II movie. The character designer is the one who did Gundam W and Streetfighter II, and the incidental music/sound effects feel the same, too. The animation suffers from some Madhouse malaise, but only in contrast with other high budget OVAs. The action features the same dubious moves and weapons from the videogame (so I've been told by those familiar with the videogame)--your mileage may vary. Personally, I just chose to ignore the silly fighting and enjoy the story (except for Morrigan, though, who is very watchable). Basically, there are three tangentially related storylines introduced in the first episode. Dimitri Maximoff is trying to steal a key from Morrigan's castle, a group of humans decides to try and attack and kill the Dark Stalkers (including Felicia and Zabel Zarock early on), and Donovan finds and "befriends" Anita. It's too early to tell how well these stories will come together, but it looks like there will be a lot of ground to cover in the four episodes. My favorite storyline is the first, because of the interesting relationship between Dimitri and Morrigan (they meet for the first time in this episode). Morrigan, voiced by Sakuma Rei, is basically what Arshes Nei would have grown up to be if she were born and raised as royalty. She looks down on _everyone_ (including the fanboys, based on the box cover). Dimitri is theoretically manly and macho, but his ego just looks like a sham back to back with Morrigan's. Well, I can't really make any firm conclusions just based on the first episode. As far as I'm concerned, it will succeed or fail based on its story. The more I think about episode 1, the more I want to know what will happen. That's a good thing.