Unboxing [UK]: Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust - Collector's Edition (BD/DVD)

The first of many titles from Anime Ltd's batch of titles released throughout May & June are slowly cropping up. Of course this particular title was released early for others I ordered it at the last second so I had to wait a bit longer.

Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust is the second anime film based on the Vampire Hunter D novel series written by Hideyuki Kikuchi. The anime was adapted and directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri with studio Madhouse. Bloodlust has a unique history in the anime business due to the film released theatrically in the west first before its Japanese release, effectively making the English dub the main language for the film. There is a Japanese dub but due to licensing restrictions it is only available in Japan.

Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust became a cult hit among the community either way and was released by Urban Vision in the United States and Studio Canal (initially known as Optimum Asia) in the United Kingdom. Years later Discotek Media rescued the film and released it on Blu-ray, and eventually Anime Limited did the same for the UK.

This release is the collector's edition version and it's exclusive to Shop AllTheAnime at SRP £34.99. There will be standard edition releases starting early July on both Blu-ray and DVD. The collector's edition features nice artwork, rigid box, digipack packaging, and also 3 artcards and a mini booklet written by Andrew Osmond. The audio is English with English Hard of Hearing subtitles. The regions are B & 2 NTSC only and the subtitles are unlockable.

With Anime Ltd's logos at the beginning, the rest of the Blu-ray and DVD disc masters are based on the Discotek Media release (so everything like the menus and special features are in-tact).

You can order the shop exclusive collector's edition release on AllTheAnime and the standard editions on Amazon UK.

Blu-ray Specs:

Languages: English

Audio: DTS-HD MA 5.1 & Dolby Digital 2.0

Video: 1080p HD Native 16:9

Region: B

Subtitles: English Hard of Hearing

Subtitles Locked: No

Discs: 1

DVD Specs:

Languages: English

Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 & Dolby Digital 2.0

Video: SD NTSC 16:9

Region: 2

Subtitles: English Hard of Hearing

Subtitles Locked: No

Discs: 1

Plot Synopsis (via Anime Limited):

The enigmatic Vampire Hunter known only as D has been hired to track down Meier Link, a notoriously powerful vampire who has abducted a human woman named Charlotte Elbourne. D's orders are strict - find Charlotte, at any cost.

For the first time D faces serious competition. The Markus Brothers, a family of Vampire Hunters, have been hired for the same bounty. D must intercept Meier and conquer hostile forces on all sides in a deadly race against time.

Despised by Vampires for his profession and by Humans for the blood in his veins. D relentlessly pursues his prey, little expecting where his journey will ultimately take him, as long buried secrets resurface once more.

On-Disc Extra Content:

US Theatrical Trailer
US Television Spot
Japanese Theatrical Trailer
Japanese Television Spot
Korean Theatrical Trailer
Behind the Scenes Featurette
Storyboard to Screen
Art Gallery

Collector's Edition Extras:

Chipboard Artbox: Clean design with title on spine & no other logos, Digipack for Discs, Info/Specs on Back Cover Sheet
8-page Booklet
3 Artcards

Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust is available on Blu-ray and DVD from Anime Limited. Discotek Media have released the film on Blu-ray for the United States as well.