California-based production studio Unified Pictures told ANN that it is unveiling plans for a new CG-animated series based on Hideyuki Kikuchi's long-running Vampire Hunter D novel series at Anime Expo. The company is co-producing the series with Japanese CGI animation studio Digital Frontier (Resident Evil: Degeneration, Tekken: Blood Vengeance, Mighty No. 9).
Kikuchi himself, as well as Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust director Yoshiaki Kawajiri, are also involved with the project.
Unified Pictures producer Scott McLean said the company is looking to bring the series to television. "I've been a fan of Vampire Hunter D since I was a teenager," McLean said. "I'm overjoyed at being able to be a part of creating a new chapter for a story I greatly admire."
Unified Pictures will share more details, such as plans for the show's format and story, at its panel at Anime Expo on Thursday, July 2. The company will also host a Q&A session at the convention on Saturday.
Anime Expo will be held from July 2-5 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
Kikuchi began the novel series in 1983 and Asahi Shimbun Publications published the 29th volume (cover pictured in the ad above) in May. The story follows D, a half-human, half-vampire who hunts vampires in a desolate far future. Dark Horse Comics publishes Kikuchi's original novel series in North America, and Digital Manga Publishing releases the manga adaptation by Saiko Takaki.
The novel series previously inspired an original video anime in 1985 and the Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust film in 2000. The film was co-produced by Vampire Hunter D's American licensing company Urban Vision, and dubbed in English before it was dubbed in Japanese.
Sentai Filmworks announced in April that it had licensed the 1985 Vampire Hunter D anime, and will release it with a new English dub in addition to the Japanese language track. Discotek Media announced in February that it had licensed Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, and plans to release it this September without the Japanese dub track.
Canadian horror magazine Rue Morgue reported in 2010 that Kikuchi was working on a new anime series.
California-based production studio Unified Pictures told ANN that it is unveiling plans for a new CG-animated series based on Hideyuki Kikuchi's long-running Vampire Hunter D novel series at Anime Expo.
CG-animated series
Grail said:Hey, I love Vampire Hunter D! Great news! But wha--wait a second...
Griffith said:I didn't even care for Bloodlust despite it being objectively ok. I like my Vampire Hunter D old, cheesy, on cable in the middle of the night, and when I'm 16.
Vampire_Hunter_Bob said:Yeah, same.
Griffith said:I also prefer my vampire hunters be named Bob.
Vixen Comics said:I'm sad that this is going to be 3D I really dislike the look of most 3D shows, and I was very taken with the animation of both the first and second movies.
Griffith said:I also prefer my vampire hunters be named Bob.
Vixen Comics said:The first movie I saw of the D series was Blood Lust and i liked it so much, I was not even aware that the there was an older version. I watched that one as well and I liked it, even though the animation was much older. I started to read the books and i really liked them, but I was surprised how different the the books are to their anime movie counter-parts. I wonder if this series will stay more true to the novels than the movies did.
IncantatioN said:... glad to have met said Vampire Hunter (not in scary dreams thankfully) in the flesh and to have survived.