Primary Emotions/Themes: exploration, strange occurrences, unknown lands, vampires
Thoughts: This movie was one of the very first anime that I watched. I didn't even know what anime was at the time... or rather japanimation as it was called in the early 90's.
Vampire Hunter D was a bit of a mess of a movie. The characters are not well defined, the world is mysterious and shows incredible depth - but not much is told. The plot is moved forward in large chunks at a time and leave much to be filled in by the viewer.
The soundtrack is also a bit of a jumbled mess. It is all over the place stylistically and is completely delivered in the wonderful mid 80's synth. They add a level of consistency and nostalgia to the music that would be lost without them. They are the glue that ties this whole thing together.
While the music is up and down in terms of quality, the overall feel of it is an unmistakable artifact of its time. All of the synths have that "we're trying really hard to sound like the real thing" vibe to them. Of course they all fail at their goal, but that is so much of the charm.
Much like the movie the soundtrack seems a bit lost. It knows where it want's to go but it never quite gets there the way that one would expect. This meandering and wandering only adds to the music's charm. It zigs when you expect it to zag. At points it will add in effects that seemingly have nothing to do with the music, the music will change genres midway through the track. It's unpredictable to say the least, but eventually this is part of the charm of the music.
Vampire Hunter D is a fine experiment for a movie. It was a cool experience for a young me, and remains a nostalgic moment in my past. I'm glad to have this relic in my collection, and it's a bit of a mess but it's a fun mess.
Written November 30th 2023
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