Vampire Hunter D

Set in a distant future where vampires, known as Nobles, dominate humanity, the story follows Doris Lang, a young woman in a small village who is bitten by the powerful Count Magnus Lee. Unless something is done, the bite will turn her into one of the Nobles. She hires a wandering vampire hunter named D, who agrees to take on the count. The task is complicated by the count's many monstrous servants and by the fear of her neighbors, who have seen the marks on her neck. D, meanwhile, is more than an ordinary hunter.

The film is a Japanese animated adaptation of Hideyuki Kikuchi's novel series. Toyoo Ashida directed it, the first of two features in his directing career, followed the next year by Fist of the North Star. Yasushi Hirano wrote the screenplay, and Kaneto Shiozawa voices D, with Michie Tomizawa as Doris and Seizô Katô as Count Magnus Lee. The cast also includes Ichiro Nagai, Kazuyuki Sogabe and Kan Tokumaru.

Released in December 1985, the film runs eighty minutes. On IMDb it holds a 7 out of 10 from roughly 20,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.6 out of 10 from about 555 votes, a sign of a solid but not universal following. A critics' rating of 5.6 out of 10 from ten reviews is lower than the audience scores.