For years, anime creators like Toyoo Ashida, Yoshiaki Kawajiri, and Mamoru Oshii have experimented with vampires in ways that Hollywood would never even attempt. The result is a surprisingly rich lineage of bloodsucking stories, from the gothic grandeur of Vampire Hunter D (1985) and the lavish spectacle of Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust to the operatic violence of Hellsing Ultimate and the slow-burning horror of Shiki.