Vampire Hunter D (1985 Film) - OVA Films Restoration

OVA Films Restoration

In December 2003, German anime distributor OVA Films released a restored version of Vampire Hunter D on DVD (PAL, Region Code 2, priced 29,95 €). Unlike the overwhelming majority of PAL anime releases, which are NTSC-PAL conversions of whatever master the Japanese licensor offers, OVA Films requested the film negative to do their own transfer from scratch in the PAL format. As the Japanese, French, US and UK DVDs have all been taken from composite transfers originally used for LD and VHS replication, Vampire Hunter D was sorely in need of a new master for the digital age. The OVA Films DVD included a brand new transfer from what OVA Films claimed to be the original negative. It should be noted that while the Japanese DVD does not have reel change-over marks, the German and American film masters do, so it's unlikely that this transfer was taken from the camera negative, and was more likely taken from a slightly lower quality inter-negative source a few generations away from the actual negative. The film is presented in 25 frames per second as opposed to its original 24 frames per second runtime, so the video and audio are both pitched up by 4% as is expected in PAL transfers. Despite running a few minutes shorter than all prior versions due to the PAL speedup, this release is completely unedited.

The OVA Films DVD released the feature in anamorphic 1.78:1 PAL widescreen, with German 5.1, Japanese 5.1, and Japanese 1.0 mono audio along with optional German subtitles. OVA Films incorrectly notes the Japanese 1.0 release is the "original" mix, when Vampire Hunter D was actually recorded in stereo. The widescreen presentation was accomplished by taking the 35mm film master and cropping off the top and bottom of the image. This was, according to OVA Films, approved of by director Toyoo Ashida who stated that it would have been cropped when shown in theaters anyhow (despite the fact that Vampire Hunter D was ever played in theaters outside of North America). The production was noted as an OAV - Original Anime Video - in the making-of on the Sony LD, so it's safe to assume that the original intended aspect ratio was 4:3, not 16:9. A marginal level of detail on the sides of the frame have been restored from the OVA Films telecine, at the cost of roughly 20% of the top and bottom as seen on every prior video release.

Cropping aside, the transfer is better than any other video release, with no composite artifacts (such as analog video noise or dot crawl), strong black levels that show previously hidden detail, natural film grain, and bright and vibrant colors, though perhaps at times the transfer is a bit too bright. Reds appear slightly pink compared to prior transfers, and shades of dark gray stand out against black, differentiating the animation cels from the backgrounds clearly. One can argue that showing the flaws in the original animation is, however, more representative of the original master. Contrast appears to be slightly overblown, though this is likely fault of the film stock given to OVA Films rather than any intentional boosting done in post production.

Special features include original scored image galleries (including original art by character designer Amano Yoshitaka), the original Japanese trailer for Vampire Hunter D, and the making-of feature originally included on the Sony LD, as well as previews for other OVA Films properties. All the features are NTSC-PAL conversions and feature removable German subtitles.