- Directed by Toyoo Ashida
- Written by Hideyuki Kikuchi, Yasushi Hirano
- Stars Kaneto Shiozawa, Michie Tomizawa, Seizo Kato
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 20 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bc9z5Tmq4w
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
It’s a cartoon.
Synopsis
“This story takes place in the distant future, when mutants and demons slither through a world of darkness.”
A woman walks through the countryside carrying a big gun. She’s hunting some kind of dinosaur-like creature. The thing kills her horse, but she uses her electro-whip to stun it and then blasts it with her gun. A werewolf attacks but runs off after pulling her cross off her neck. She then sees one of the Nobles, a red-eyed man. She shoots him as well, but he ignores it. He bares his fangs; he’s a vampire. Credits roll.
A man rides in on a cyborg horse. The girl we saw before is waiting for him on the road. “You’re a professional hunter, aren’t you?” She uses her whip on him, but he breaks the whip and rides on. She begs him for help, so he checks out her neck under the collar and asks her name; she’s Doris. She takes him home and we meet her brother Dan.
The mayor’s son, Greco, wants to know what happened to Doris after she was “nibbled on by the Count.” He hits on her, but she hits back. He then tells the whole town that Doris was bitten by a vampire, which is why she hired the hunter. The sheriff wants to take Doris to the camp. The doctor disagrees, but the law is the law. The last time this happened, fifty years ago, the Count ended up killing thirty people. The townspeople start avoiding Doris.
The hunter’s talking hand taunts him; it says he’s falling in love with Doris. His name is D, just the letter. Count Magnus Lee is the vampire who attacked Doris, and she explains what happened. He might be as much as 10,000 years old.
The mutants and werewolves approach the house at night. The Count’s daughter Lamika threatens D, and her helper, Rei, attacks D. D stabs Rei, but the blade goes through D; Rei can warp space. D’s wounds heal, so Lamika gives it a try. He sends them both packing.
D uses his flying ability (or may a super jump) to enter the Count’s castle, which is filled with all manner of bugs and monsters. His hand warns him that it’s a trap, but he’s aware of that. He fights off a ghostly werewolf and several other creatures.
He wanders through ruins from the great wars 10,000 years ago. He finds three “Snake Sisters” or Lamias, who plan to sap his life essence.
Meanwhile, Rei and a band of demons come for Doris, Dan, and the doctor. They easily capture her and take her to Count Lee, who plans to marry her tomorrow. Doris sees D, who is being drained by the Sisters. The Count reveals that D is a half-breed mix of human and vampire. On the other hand, D has so much life force that he overwhelms and eats the sisters.
Lamika looks in on the sleeping Doris and doesn’t approve. She tries to stab Doris in her sleep, but D comes in and steals Doris away just in time, killing several more demons on the way out. He takes Doris home.
Meanwhile, back in town, Greco listens in on Rei talking to some demons about the “Time bewitching incense.” Dan is kidnapped, and they want D to turn himself into the nobility. D fights Rei and cuts off his hand; the incense doesn’t work.
The doctor knows of a safe place where vampires can’t enter, so he and Doris go there. They’re ambushed by Lamika, and the doctor isn’t what he appeared to be. Lamika kills the doctor, but passes out when Greco shows up with the time-bewitching incense, which he stole from Rei. He plans to use the kidnapped Lamika to lure in the Count. D and Dan show up and get rid of Greco, who is soon captured by Rei.
Doris offers D her blood, but he resists. Rei shows up, this time with the real incense, and he uses it against D. Rei then stabs D and cuts off his hand. The Count doesn’t give Rei the reward he was hoping for.
Count Lee tells Lamika some uncomfortable truths; her own mother was human. He puts her into stasis until the wedding is over.
D’s dismembered hand crawls back and reconnects to the body. D finally wakes back up.
Count Lee and Doris are getting ready for the wedding. Rei interrupts, using the incense to— nothing, because it doesn’t work. The Count kills Rei. D shows up to kill the Count, but it’s not that easy.
D and Lee fight. It turns out, D is more than meets the eye, stabbing Lee through the heart, which only wounds him. Lee recognizes D as their long-lost original ancestor from 10,000 years ago. Lee dies, and Lamika volunteers to die as well.
Doris, Dan, and D watch from safety as the evil castle sinks into the ground.
Later, D rides off into the wilderness as Doris and Dan wave goodbye.
Commentary
There are so many monsters and creatures you have to wonder how the town has been untouched for the last thirty years. How are there any people left at all? For the viewer, the wide assortment of creatures and monsters is interesting. Several of the demons bear more than a passing resemblance to some of the villains in “Ninja Scroll,” which came out long after this. I suspect some of the same creative team was used in that latter film.
This is the year 12000+, but there’s a surprising lack of technology in this world. They have robot horses, but not much else.
It’s very fast-moving, but D just doesn’t have any real disadvantages. He just moves from one situation to the next, killing everything. Nothing challenges this overpowered hero. It’s an interesting world, and I’d like to know more, but I really just wasn’t that impressed with this now. It was super influential back in the day, so maybe I’ve just seen too much stuff that was cribbed from this, but it just didn’t do much for me.