#101: Vampire Wars (1990)

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Director: Kazuhisa Takenouchi

Screenplay: Hiroyuki Hoshiyama

Based on a novel series by Kiyoshi Kasai

Voice Cast: Masashi Sugawara as Kōzaburō Kuki; Shūichi Ikeda as Milcea Millere; Yuka Koyama as Kiki Lamia Vindau; Kaneto Shiozawa as Muraki; Masaru Ikeda as Mirucha; Masashi Sugawara as Kuki; Takeshi Aono as Charlie Milan; Toshiya Ueda as George Lazare; Yuka Koyama as Kiki; Yūko Mita as Brigit

Viewed in English Dub

Considering the first review was an obscure OVA (Gestalt (1997)), its befitting number #101 is another obscure OVA, something ridiculous this time. Not to be confused with Psychic Wars (1991), but both were Manga Entertainment titles which were, yes, released on DVD again as part of "The Collection", likely an obsession for me because I've over watched the previews on them scored to classic music and the Mad Capsule Markets. Vampire Wars is also an example of Manga Entertainment's infamous tendencies for "15-ing", of adding swearing in the English dub to lift the age rating on their releases, but Vampire Wars is just about to hit "18-ing" in how comically potty mouthed the lead anti-hero gets to be. It does mean, whilst a fan base probably doesn't exist and reduces the chance of this ever happening, I wish I could've seen the original Japanese dub trying to be serious with this lurid material. This is an anime which tries to pack a story far too complex for less than fifty minutes without a conclusion or any major plot threads being finished, so the silliness of the expletives just makes the experience additionally absurd.

To start with, earning a MASSIVE SPOILER WARNING on the get-go, what is it with anime sometimes envisioning vampires coming from outer space? It's an obsession of mine I cannot really provide more than a handful for, but between this, Vampire Hunter D (which brought in gothic horror, dystopian sci-fi, even the western in its world) and Trinity Blood (2005) there were three titles I saw at an impressionable age that lead to this conclusion. All I can say is that, in exposition that never means anything of importance to the OVA even if a massive exposition dump near the end of its running time, we're told of two alien races, one who became our vampires, the others (who we never see) a technologically advance group who are a potential threat to Earth. None of this is worth when, truly, the plot is an utterly unlikable arsehole named Kōzaburō Kuki, a communist terrorist who has worked with figures who have killed many civilians, who is blackmailed by the French Secret Service to investigate a mysterious assault on a NASA base. This leads to vampires and a female celebrity Lamia who is being targeted by said vampires, and other human groups, who he does show some humanity to in protecting her.

Vampire Wars does belong to the even bigger phenomenon of vampires in anime in general. Vampires aren't natural to Japanese mythology or folklore unless you get to hopping corpses and Chinese vampires, so they have always had a fascinating touch in that, in some cases, they will have to explain whether in live action or animation their mythos with interesting results. Sometimes they don't bother as here. There's one great detail at first I wish vampire stories tried again, where a female vampire doesn't need to worry about being shot in the head, so doesn't wear any armour but a bullet proof vest where stakes would be dangerous to her. After that, they aren't really interesting until they're revealed to be aliens who turned to channelling their spiritual energy, anime's New Age tendencies surprisingly prominent in stories like this, to the point only blood is needed to sustain them.

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That there is no ending, no follow-up as a tie-in to a novel series, means Vampire Wars does suffer from being a diversion that lacks a lot of memorable detail in aesthetic, creativity or any sense of weirdness. Its definitely nasty, with the gore, the unfortunate treatment of French sex workers as one is murdered for blackmail, another punched in the face by the evil giant henchman, the general sense of sexism which sadly permeates this type of pulp, and with a slight moment of body horror with the vampire's mouths turning into maws when they need to eat, ripping throats out. It's not possible to take seriously in lieu of, unless you want to try to justify that nasty streak which is just grimy for the sake of it rather than dramatic and not advised. Obviously, the only sympathetic figure is Lamia, who is the stereotypical damsel in distress until (thankfully) she gets to unleash carnage in an airplane mid-air with a secret about herself and random objects, a nice touch too.

Like the rest of these Manga Entertainment titles, I find myself drawn to the likes of Vampire Wars nonetheless as time capsules as well as for morbidness. A Toei production, famous for the likes of the Dragonball franchise, it's a surprise to see something this violent like many other titles from this era. Not a lot of it is pleasant as mentioned, the tendency to macho touch (but boring) male characters and every women a damsel or victim is something we thankfully got past, but at the same time the mad dash to try to cram so much plot in such little time when its ultimately a doomed decision is strangely compelling. There's a fascinating premise inside the anime that could've made an interest multi-episode OVA, when your protagonist is completely hateable but goes through a literal transformation (even begrudgingly) to someone with a heart, all whilst in this crazy violent horror-action-science fiction hybrid. What you get instead is a sketch that lunges from a to p and skips letters in pace out. The English dub, comical in the swearing, feels appropriate for the material whilst also being utterly embarrassing too. How even in 1997, when titles like this were licensed and these dubs were churned out, this was considered a wise product for Manga Entertainment has to be asked even if affectionately.

And affectionately is to still be found as, from the hand drawn grime to the synth score, notable from Kazuhiko Toyama (who worked on the likes of Cyber City Oedo 808 (1990) and Darkside Blues (1994)), there are virtues in aesthetic to these little animated nasties that I wished were re-implemented in the modern day. Moments do show this - I wished Devilman: Crybaby (2018) was more readily available to see beyond Netflix as, by all accounts, letting an auteur like Masaaki Yuasa tackle a lurid Go Nagai premise meant the lurid hyper violent content was matched by a lot of rewarding content. I wish a lot of these titles borrowed even from the aesthetic of non-adult anime from the late eighties and nineties which Manga Entertainment also licensed (and sometimes add inappropriate swearing too) as, rather than nostalgia, switching out to J-pop for synths or just embracing old art styles, in a period of remaking old properties, feels like an artistic tool of interest. If Vampire Wars ever turned out to be a property to get a remake, which would be hilarious considering what it is, hopefully it might turn out to be a better vampire anime than a lot are and elaborate on this story further than you get here.

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