Ask John: Where Are the Kick-ass Vampires At?

Question:
What are the most badass animes about vampires ever created? I don’t want any lovey-dovey Twilight crap like Vampire Knight, but badass shows with lots of blood and killing like Vampire Hunter D and especially Hellsing. Shows with vampires that know how to kick ass, take names, kill lots and lots of bad guys and who don’t spend hours getting all emo and mopey over some chick. Basically, shows where vampires know how to act like vampires.

Answer:
Perhaps ironically, despite anime being often associated with gratuitous, exaggerated, and stylized violence and horror – anime, after all, introduced the multi-tentatcled “injuh” demon concept – very few prominent threatening vampires roam anime’s hallowed historical halls. Average American otaku are familiar with titles including Vampire Hunter D and Hellsing not only because these shows address the particularly American fondness for grim, gothic, action horror but because these titles are among the relatively few of their kind. Close examination reveals that vampire themed anime have never been especially prominent, and such shows practically didn’t exist until the 1980s. Humorous vampire themed anime that treat vampires a playful, cute, or usually non-threatening, like Don Dracula, Tokimeki Tonight, Vampiyan Kids, Master Mosquiton, Karin, Kaibutsu Oujo, Hipira-kun, Tsukuyomi, Renkin San-kyuu Magical? Pokaan, and Rosario to Vampire equal, if not outnumber, anime that treat their vampires seriously. Anime including Vampire Hunter (“Darkstalkers”), Nightwalker, Hitsuji no Uta, Vampire Miyu, Fortune Arterial, and Vampire Knight may approach their vampiric characters seriously, but even in these shows the vampires aren’t especially threatening. The Vampire Wars and Kimera OVAs revolve around vampirism and include a small amount of blood sucking, but the OVAs themselves suck too much to be worth respecting or watching.

After excluding the prominent vampire themed anime which don’t fall within the categorization desired, the remainder include titles such as Blood: The Last Vampire and Blood+, Black Blood Brothers, Trinity Blood, Dance in the Vampire Bund, Tsukihime, Shiki, and arguably Kurozuka. Now the reason for the popularity of Vampire Hunter D and Hellsing becomes more apparent. The chiropterans of the Blood franchise are threatening but antagonistic and inhuman. Black Blood Brothers and Trinity Blood are a bit more serious than schoolchildren vampire anime like Vampire Knight and Fortune Arterial, but they’re still not serious nor especially satisfying. Similarly, the third episode of the Cyber City Oedo 808 OVA series is a vampire episode, but while serious, it’s also too effete to be fully satisfying. Vampires are threatening in Dance in the Vampire Bund, and Tsukihime’s Nero is certainly a ruthless killer, but in both cases the vicious vampires are relegated to minor roles and brief appearances. The vampires in the presently airing Shiki television series are appropriately opportunistic and vampiric; however, they’re also highly “emo” and so ridiculously contemporary gothic-chic that they’re absurd. Kuromitsu in the Kurozuka anime is a stunning and compelling immortal woman who appears to require blood, but the show never clarifies if she’s actually a vampire at all.

The concept of superhumanly powerful and immortal vampires that exert their brutal strength on foolhardy and weak lesser beings is particularly appealing to Americans. American viewers seem to especially love the supremely confident and overwhelmingly powerful Alucard and the conflicted but amazingly skilled D. But Japanese fans seem to take a different approach. Rather than see supernaturally powerful creatures exert their preternatural strength, Japanese otaku seem to prefer idolizing normal humans with exceptional abilities or sheer stamina and determination. Jojo Joestar may have supernatural assistance, but he’s a human teen that fights the vampiric Dio Brando. Shiki Tohno may have supernatural eyesight, but he’s otherwise an ordinary high school boy drawn into Tsukihime’s world of fighting against vampires. Taki is a normal human in the supernatural world of Yoju Toshi. Kyoya Izayoi in Maki Toshi Shinjuku is a normal teen boy with a wooden sword. Goku “Midnight Eye” Furinji has only a cybernetic eye while he battles superhuman adversaries. Tokyo Majin Gakuen’s Tatsuma Hiyuu and Kyouichi Horaiji are human teens that fight supernatural creatures. Gantz depicts regular humans fighting against aliens, monsters, and vampires. Afro Samurai is a normal human who prevails over the immortal, monstrous gunman Justice. While Americans enjoy passively watching powerful characters unleash their vengeance, Japanese viewers seem to prefer empathizing with human characters and vicariously imaging themselves exhibiting phenomenal strength. Dance in the Vampire Bund proposes that remaining human is superior and preferable to being turned into a vampire. The recent live action manga-adaptation film Higanjima likewise suggests that being turned into a vampire is a de-evolution. Anime like Yami no Teio Kyuketsuki Dracula, Don Dracula, Tokimeki Tonight, Karin, and Tsukuyomi routinely emasculate and parody the power, prominence, and terror of their vampire characters to satisfy Japanese viewers who want to see human characters like themselves excel rather than see unreachable, gifted characters exert their supernatural abilities.