The year is 12,090 AD. Centuries after nuclear devastation, the Earth has fallen into a feudal darkness ruled by the Nobility — ancient, powerful vampires who treat humanity as cattle and livestock. Doris Lang is a young frontier farmer who, while patrolling her land at night, is attacked and bitten by Count Magnus Lee — a vampire lord of enormous age and power. Marked by his bite and shunned by her superstitious village, she hires D: a mysterious dhampir, born of a vampire father and human mother, who roams the frontier as a hunter of his own kind. D is cold, almost inhumanly capable, and barely speaks. He is also, unmistakably, something extraordinary — even among vampires. The Count dispatches servants to retrieve Doris and destroy D. What follows is a dark, gothic action film set in a world where science and sorcery have become indistinguishable and the most dangerous thing on the frontier is the man you hired to protect you. Vampire Hunter D is an 80-minute 1985 OVA directed by Toyoo Ashida, produced by Ashi Productions, and based on the first novel in Hideyuki Kikuchi's landmark light novel series, with character designs by Yoshitaka Amano — the illustrator of the novels and later the character designer for Final Fantasy. The music was composed by Tetsuya Komuro of TM Network, whose ending theme "Your Song" became one of the most iconic pieces of 1980s anime music. The film was one of the earliest anime productions targeted explicitly at adult audiences and was marketed in the United States as "the first animated horror film for adults." The original English dub was produced by Carl Macek's Streamline Pictures in 1992 and aired on TBS, Cartoon Network, and the Sci-Fi Channel throughout the 1990s.Notable Staff & Voice Talent Director: Toyoo Ashida Screenplay: Yasushi HiranoOriginal Novel: Hideyuki Kikuchi (Vampire Hunter D novel series; 1983–present; English license: Dark Horse Books)Character Design / Illustration: Yoshitaka Amano (Final Fantasy character designer, Vampire Hunter D novel illustrator)Studio: Ashi ProductionsMusic: Tetsuya Komuro (TM Network — later globe, Eurobeat compilations)Ending Theme: "Your Song" by TM Network Japanese Cast:• Kaneto Shiozawa as D • Michie Tomizawa as Doris Lang • Seizô Katô as Count Magnus Lee• Satoko Kifuji as Larmica• Motomu Kiyokawa as Left Hand / Narrator English Dub Cast (Streamline Pictures — Carl Macek, 1992):• Michael McConnohie as D • Barbara Goodson as Doris Lang • Steve Kramer as Count Magnus Lee • Lara Cody as LarmicaEdition Details Japanese Title: バンパイアハンターD (Banpaia Hantā Dī / Vampire Hunter D)Runtime: ~80 MinutesDirector: Toyoo AshidaVHS Release Year:1993Original Release Date (Japan): December 21, 1985Publisher: Urban Vision Entertainment (Rating: NR (content equivalent to 17+)Genre: Action, Horror, Science FictionThemes: Dhampir Vampire Hunter, Post-Apocalyptic Gothic World, Nobility Vampire Lords, Yoshitaka Amano Design, Pioneer of Adult-Targeted Anime Media assumed VG+ unless otherwise noted.
