Vampire Wars Review

story 7.5/10

I'll admit, when I turned on Vampire Wars I expected something really stupid. It surely would have something to do with vampires fighting humans or something contrived and generic, and would be an utter waste of time. I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered I was wrong! In fact, Vampire Wars ends up having a very interesting plot, namely about where the vampires came from, why they are on Earth, why they suck people's blood, etc. Obviously I won't give it away in a review, but let's just say it was very unique and original, to say the least. Prior to finding out those tidbits, it does indeed seem like a random action/gore fest, with lots of guns, blood, and violence. But the plot does end up being interesting, and worth a watch! Especially with only 45 minutes to waste.

I will say that there were elements of the "story" that I wasn't a fan of, such as the random sexual elements thrown in. Unlike other horror OVAs, this one didn't actually show sex, but, for example, when a random female messenger comes to tell Kuki a message, they just randomly end up having sex! Although the point of this I guess is to point out how manly Kuki is, I felt it to be a little bit too random.

Also, like many of these OVAs, it ends incomplete, so you don't get to see a conclusion. Regardless, the story still did end up delivering.

animation 7/10

For 1990, the animation was not that bad. The only complaint I would have is that the layering effects of people and backgrounds seemed to be very shallow, so it didn't look as 3D as it could, and was flatter than normal. Also, during shadowy/dark scenes, sometimes the edges of the screen would just fade into blackness, which I thought was also cheesy. But besides this, there was nothing about the animation that I could really complain about. Character designs were decent, with thick shaded lines and minimal shading. The depiction of the vampires was a bit different than normal, with a strange glowing effect around the hair and eyes. Rather than choosing the stereotypical dark haired Dracula lookalike, the main vampire had flowing blond hair. The OVA took place mostly at night, so many dark shades were used for the colors. General colors were earthy tones or neutral shades, but also lots of dark blues for the night scenes. No CG or special animation styles were used.

One thing to note is that there is quite a bit of graphic violence. Except for the ridiculous amount of blood spurting from a bite from the vampires, it was fairly realistic and well done (non-cheesy).

sound 5.5/10

Definitely not the best feature of the show, but then again, music usually isn't for most series. Typical 80s sounding keyboard fare, fairly heavy on the cheesiness. Literally average, hence the average score.

Voice acting was decent and fit all the actors.

characters 7/10

As far as the character roles, each person fit theirs well. Kuki was a very testosterone driven male, and it was very obvious when he would randomly have sex with people. Although I found this to be unnecessary, it definitely made it obvious what kind of person he was. Other characters had to come to terms with a trauma, and were very convincing. Secondary characters were a bit more weak, seeming shallow and 2 dimensional. Indeed the best character was the lead vampire, who, due to plot events, ends up being rather surprising and interesting. Due to the length, there isn't much more to say about the character development.

overall 6.5/10

Vampire Wars, at only 40 minutes, is a decent OVA to watch. The plot, while somewhat generic at times, still ends up being rather interesting because of its explanation of vampires and where they come from. Especially with a rash of vampire related series out there that suck, this makes Vampire Wars especially worth a watch. Granted, the animation isn't anything compared to the recent series released, but it still is decent. The average audio and somewhat weak characters do knock the score down, but nothing that is unbearable. All in all, I think Vampire Wars is worth a viewing if you like violent action flicks, vampires, or just need something to fill 40 minutes worth of time, this is a decent enough viewing to pick up.