So back in the mid 90's I was a teenager and only three things mattered in my life, football, movies, and videogames. Twas back in 1996 that I was in the ownership of the much-touted Playstation games console and as it happened I was obsessed with 2D fighters (you see where I'm going with this). Yes anything Capcom was considered an absolute must have if possible. After years of being teased with Street Fighter II in the arcades and only eventually getting to taste the real deal at home via the SNES, I was a Capcomoholic.
So along comes this wacky looking new fighter Darkstalkers. It has all the hallmarks of something I should love, a 2D fighter with the same game mechanics as Street Fighter II but with classic Universal monsters (albeit knock-offs). I gave it a try and predictably loved it. Yeah sure it was essentially just a Street Fighter II clone with different characters but I didn't care. Capcom were (and still are) the masters of 2D fighters and this was no exception.
Moving on a few years and this anime was released in four parts or episodes. Once again at the time I vaguely remember seeing this around in the shops but never seeing it. As I have explained before in previous anime reviews, whilst growing up anime wasn't really my thing. It's only now I have come to appreciate this genre (this review is my first viewing of this particular anime). Once again top anime studios Madhouse Inc ('Wicked City', 'Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust') were in charge so I knew I was in for a solid looking adventure.
The Plot: When it comes to videogame adaptations this is always a sticky issue. Obviously the plot behind most of these fighting games is ridiculous as they have to include all the fighters. But for a videogame no one really cares because no one buys the game for the plot. When it comes to an animated movie things start to get tricky. In this world humans coexist alongside various monsters and ghouls known as Darkstalkers (cos it sounds cool).
These Darkstalkers (or at least some of them) are in a constant war with each other to see who is the most powerful. Humans are generally terrified of them and tend to hunt them or try to ignore them. Some of the Darkstalkers claim not to be monsters but are misunderstood and simply want to blend in and live their lives. Naturally some humans are OK with this, some are not. Other Darkstalkers are bad and merely use humans for food or slavery or whatever.
The main basis is the Earth hasn't seen sunlight for hundreds of years and has returned back to the days of the horse and cart (for some reason). This is because Dimitri the Vampire was exiled from the dimension where demons/Darkstalkers live and he has basically ruled the Earth with an iron fist. There are some Darkstalkers who are willing to fight back against Dimitri such as Felicia a catwoman hybrid and Donovan, a dhampir (half human half vampire). But wouldn't you know it, a powerful alien arrives on Earth to wipe everyone out who stands against his power, so the Darkstalkers find themselves working together, kinda.
So let's just get right into it. If you're a fan of this franchise then you might like this for the fighting and that's it, maybe, anyone else I'm not so sure. Unfortunately whilst the fighting sequences are pretty good (in places) that's all that's on offer. The rest of the movie is padded out with lots of aimless dialog and timewasting. The animation is, for the most part, top-notch and moves smoothly across the screen. All the characters look fantastic and are very faithful to the original source material including their individual moves. Watching characters face-off against each other is very satisfying to see and it's not disappointing. What was disappointing was the lack of the full roster of characters and how other characters seem to come and go.
The whole story only revolves around a few of the main characters, kinda. Felicia, Morrigan, Demitri, Donovan, Pyron, Phobos (Huitzil), Hsien-Ko (Lei-Lei), Anita, and Bishamon. Out of these characters only Morrigan, Felicia, Demitri, Pyron, and Donovan are actually around for the bulk of the plot. Others merely appear for a scene and then disappear altogether (Gallon/John Talbain and Zabel/Lord Raptor being typical examples). Unfortunately Sasquatch, Viktor, Anakaris, and Rikuo are killed off in quickfire sequences at the start of episode four.
But yeah the plot is nonsense because you simply cannot make a decent plot out of a videogame fighter (unless you maybe focus on one character and even then...). And alas that's where this anime falls down because it's just a load of boring guff until the next fight. I mean there is never any explanation as to how these characters have come to be. I mean vampires, werewolves, and zombies are easily explained, but catwomen? Also, Morrigan's and Ksien-Ko's outfits have always looked ridiculous. Some characters you can work with because they look good (Bishamon), others look stupid. But where did they all come from? Why have humans gone back to the dark ages just because of a lack of sunlight? etc...
I also found Pyron to be outrageously over powerful and the fact he was beaten in the end seemed inconceivable frankly. He is able to defeat almost all the Darkstalkers quite easily, often with the same powerful move. Yet then at the end he is beaten with one supernatural move from Donovan (which I didn't quite follow). I still don't really understand why Pyron needs the Huitzil robot drones either. He built them and in the end destroys them all, why not just switch them off?
Don't get me wrong this isn't an outright fail of an anime, not by a long shot. It's definitely not a masterpiece for sure but its certainly a solid effort and adapting this videogame. Overall the visuals are great and really atmospheric. Like I said all the characters are beautifully recreated and some of them do get some great sequences. Donovan vs Bishamon is probably the best fight both visually and from a story point of view (Bishamon is probably my fave character after Gallon). If you like the videogame then you might like this, its leagues better than the US cartoon series that's for sure.
6/10
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