Based on Hideyuki Kikuchi’s novel of the same name, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust is set in the future on a barren Earth, where humans and vampires are fated to fight each other without end. D, a dhampir, the offspring of a vampire and a human, roams the world as a vampire hunter. He is hired by a human noble to rescue a young woman abducted by Baron Meier, a vampire noble. During his investigation, D discovers a greater force to be reckoned with.

The film made its international premiere at Montreal’s Fantasia Film Festival in 2000 to critical acclaim, amassing fans in the West and in Japan, including Hideyuki Kikuchi himself. Director Yoshiaki Kawajiri’s knack for blood and violence blends seamlessly with the elegant art and animation. Asides from the film’s jaw-dropping action sequences, the art style also accentuates the characters’ tragic beauty. Above all, it is the untouchable intrepidity of the titular anti-hero that solidifies this film as an ice-cold animation classic.

Yoshiaki Kawajiri (b. 1950, Japan) is an animation film director, screenwriter, and character designer. He started his career as an animator for the renowned Mushi Production and later co-founded the animation studio Madhouse. Known for his use of sex and violence in adult-oriented animated films, Kawajiri was a cult hero among anime fans in the 1980s and 1990s. In 2003, he directed one of the segments for The Animatrix (2003), the animation spin-off of the Wachowskis’ The Matrix (1999). Among his best-known works are Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2000) and Wicked City (1987), the latter of which was adapted into a live-action film by Hong Kong filmmakers in 1992.