El Cazador de Vampiros

My fascination for Darkstalkers comes from a very strange direction where I first learned about the characters cosplayed before I knew they were based off an anime based off a video game. I wanted to know more about the personalities that made up the Darkstalkers, and that was nowhere to be found in this series except for a handful of choice characters. Only four or five receive any decent amount of screen time and, and many of the threads never converge. As for the character of Felicia (whom I was most interested to know more about), she received about 10 minutes of focus if that. She was introduced in the first episode and acknowledged again in the third to then never again be seen. Most of the story hinged around Donovan the vampire hunter. The animation style was good, and the English dub was decent. I just wasn't happy about the focus.

As a huge fan of the video games, I was ecstatic when I heard there would be an anime based on them. Finally, something to erase the memory of the beyond horrible American cartoon (Darkstalkers). The story, which centers around a vampire hunter named Donovan, very loosely follows the game's plots. The main characters are Demitri the vampire, Morrigan the succubus, the little girl Anita, Felicia the cat woman, Lei Lei the Chinese ghost, and Gallon the werewolf. The primary antagonist is the alien being Pyron, who has come to earth to destroy all Darkstalkers and rule Earth himself. The thing that separates this series from others like it is the fact that, except for Felicia, Donovan, and Lei Lei, none of the other characters are particularly good. Demitri is as evil as any on-screen vampire, Morrigan cares only for herself, Anita hates everyone, and Gallon is a kind of anti-hero. And yet, Pyron is more dangerous than any of these creatures, planning global conquest and destruction. Normal humans in this series have a bleak outlook, since Pyron will destroy them, and Demitri subjigates them to his will (he's hidden the sun away with thick clouds for over a century). The music is decent, with lots of variety. Where this series really shines is the visuals. The animation of the first two episodes is spectacular, rivaling most theatrical anime. The second two episodes don't look quite as good, but they still look nice. The way that all of the character's moves from the games is nice, too. The fight scene with Morrigan and Demitri has a very Masami Obari (director of Fatal Fury)feel to it, and they do just about all of their trademark moves. The voice acting is excellent, as well. Rei Sakuma gives Morrigan a very lustful, throaty voice, while Yukana Nogami's Felicia is stunningly cute sounding. And Akio Otsuka's deep, powerful voice commands respect, and is perfect for Demitri, and Akiko Yajima delivers her lines with vacant perfection, capturing the emotionless girl Anita flawlessly.

Overall, the first two episodes are better than the last two, but the series as a whole is great, and definitely a step above the typical game-based anime, ranking up there with the Fatal Fury anime and the Street Fighter II movie (Japanese version only). If you like the Darkstalkers games, buy this anime. The DVD has loads of cool extras, so buy that version if you can.

Demitri the vampire has fought against the great ruler BELIAL who crushed him in a deadly fight in which he lost! A few hundred years later he would arise before all humans could prevent his coming in which he seeks to reign upon the Aensland clan who is now ruled by Belial's daughter Morrigan. Meanwhile a Damphiro half demon half human seeks to find the trail that will lead him to the murderer of humans! And later is joined by the bewitched child Anita, who seeks a reason why a demon would meddle with human affairs. And the all mighty Pyron who seeks someone to fight with that is capable of giving him the greatest rush of his life!

Join the stalkers as they try to crush and murder each other for their survival in an epic battle of the titans.

This was quite 90s and metal.😎 I didn't like how the story developed, still, they managed to make characters likeable with only 4 episodes. I don't know the backstory of the production but it seems like it could be better with more episodes. It gave me the sense that it didn't reach it's full potential.

Visual designs of characters were really cool. I have seen "impressive" Morrigan cosplays long before I watched it.😁Even Deep One-like dude (fish man) who appeared for only a scene looked good. Voice actors were quite successful as well. I liked the soundtrack too. Action was so so for me but they combined classic monsters with video game moves nicely.

It is not a masterpiece but I pretty much liked it.