Los Angeles Art Blog

Yes, we all know that vampires are the most alluring of all monsters, wan yet beautiful beings that lurk in the darkest corners of the night. They hold their sometimes willing mortal victims in a deep embrace as they seductively grin, dig sharpened fangs into the neck and then lap up the blood.

But all the passion of vampire sagas can get old after a while. If you're suffering from Twilight fatigue, might we suggest checking out the vampires of anime and manga?

The focus in these movies and TV series tends to be on the almighty vampire hunter, who usually happens to be a blood-drinker as well. There is little of your typical vampire-meets-mortal romance and almost no pontificating over the perils of immortality. Instead, you'll see characters struggling with the idea of killing their own, sometimes questioning the massive organizations for which they work and engaging in loads of gruesome battles.

Vampire Hunter D ©1985 Epic/Sony, Inc./ Movic, Inc. CBS/Sony Group, Inc. ©2000 Urban Vision Entertainment. All Rights Reserved

©2001 Filmlink International/Hideyuki Kikuchi/Asahi Sonorama/Vampire Hunter D Production Committee ©2001 Urban Vision Entertainment. All rights reserved

Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust

In the distant future, a breed of vampires called Nobles come to rule the world. But as their power wanes across this post-apocalyptic landscape, a wave of skirmishes between Nobles and humans results in a new hero, D. Known as a "dunpeal" or dhampir, D is the great vampire hunter of the ages. Like the ronin and cowboys before him, D rides solo, his main forms of companionship being a horse and a talking left hand. In a future-primitive setting where both lasers and wooden stakes are employed, D works as a sort of bounty hunter, hired by humans to pursue the creatures of the night. Vampire Hunter D began as a series of novels by Hideyuki Kikuchi. An animated Vampire Hunter D film came out in 1985, its success helping to popularize anime in the US. Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, based on the third novel Demon Deathchase, came out in 2000.

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Tags: Anime, Blood, Hellsing, Manga, Trinity Blood, Twilight, Vampire Hunter D, Vampire Knight, Vampires

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More About...

• Vampire Hunter
• Hellsing Organization
• Filmlink International/Hideyuki Kikuchi/Asahi Sonorama/Vampire Hunter D Production Committee
• Anime and Manga
• Animated Films