Nightwalker
Reviewer: Kuro [email]Overall Rating: B+
Media Reviewed: DVD
Creator: Ayana Itsuki
U.S. Licensed: Yes
Released by: Central Park Media
Run time: 12 episodes
BL Content: Ambiguous (yaoi heavily implied)
Genre: Horror/Mystery
Other media: Japanese hentai game (source)
[DISC1]: Shido's a midnight detective, half human and half vampire, who specializes in solving supernatural murders. Can he solve the secrets of his fellow Nightbreed before the city life goes straight to hell?!
[DISC2]: Vampire Hunter Shido finds himself with a beautiful young apprentice. But when she is seduced by a beautiful demon and reborn as a vampire, she becomes a pawn of detective-warrior Shido's oldest foe -- the ancient vampire who has stolen his memory. Can he save her from herself before it's too late?
...And that's what we can find as the Nightwalker synopsis from most of online stores, or on a back of DVD itself. Together with cover arts (Shido's lying on top of a naked woman who seems to be content having him ready to feed on her for disc 1, and Shido's holding a young highschool girl in his arms for disc 2), I wouldn't expect any shounen-ai elements going on in this series...which in fact, there ARE, and I'm more than happy to observe them.
Why should one expect an accurate summary from a back of a DVD, right? Shido is not even a half-vamp half-human like described above. He's a vampire... a grown and 100% vampire, but still posesses a human heart. Also, what more about the synopsis provided is a US distributor's attempt to conceal a fact (we should have acknowledged) that the mentioned oldest foe was actually his former "lover," and yes, the demon is a guy. Now I think some of you might feel more interested in Nightwalker.
A plot is nothing innovative. Shido is a good (-looking) vampire who's on human side trying to save a city from night breeds with a help of Yayoi, a sexy comrade from a vampire hunter organization, NOS. There's also a highschool assistance, Riho, whom her parents were killed by these demons. (Of course she has a crush on him... why not?) Added to the simple plot are some extra features like Shido's ability to form weapons from his blood, Yayoi's immunity to vampire's bites so that's why she can reward him with her blood when a job is done, a little fellow fairy (looks more like a demon) flying around Shido, and Cain, yes... a beautiful yet evil vampire who granted Shido eternity.
There're 12 episodes of Nightwalker, released in 2 seperate DVDs. The first episode made a nice kick-off with small introductions for the main characters (but you will learn more later on) and some action scenes. Then, it will become pretty dull and repetitive with similar settings and too much focuses on side stories. Animation quality is average and not so consistent, generic for a limited budget anime. The plot wasn't developed much until Cain (am I having a bias for him? YES!) made an appearance and Shido recalled some pieces of his memories which were blocked/ stolen by the older vampire as a punishment for leaving him. If you still watch Disc1 until this point, it's likely that you'll continue until Disc2, discovering some more Boy's Love snacks.
Nightwalker would have been better, more rigid, more entertaining had it been longer, but I wouldn't blame the creator team because at least I found myself enjoy the story alright. Moreover, since it's not 100% shounen-ai nor straight horror film, I understand the distributor's dilemma as to advertise this series, and so ended up disappointing most of random viewers who might expect more blood, gore, and naked women.
It's not hard for Vampire Chronicles fans (I'm not quite one) to find themselves nostalgic here. Doesn't Shido way too much resembles Louis, and Cain easily remind you of the arrogant Lestat who's trying to retrieve back what is his? I won't say much about Riho except that she has Claudia as her role model, cause even though I don't hate her, I don't care about her that much. And I don't even care about anyone one else but the two vampires in the last episode when Cain kisses Shido (to his shock), and declares his love outloud! Sadly, it's the last episode.
The bottom line is, you should enjoy this film if you're a bit into vampire storyline and like to see two bishies sharing a love-hate relationship (more 1-way love, though). If you're a hardcore vampire movies fan who expect lots of violence, a bucket of blood... pick Hellsing instead.
