Yami no teio kyuketsuki Dracula (1980)

>>Origins:

Inspired by the characters of Bram Stokers 1897 novel;
The Tomb of Dracula, published by Marvel Comics,
debuted in April 1972. Previously the Comics Code,
which governed the content of all Comic Books, had
banned the use of Vampires but this, slightly bizarre,
ruling had recently been relaxed. The basic storyline
followed the constant attempts of a group of determined
Vampire Hunters to put an end to the recently re-awakened
Lord of the Undead. This gang was assembled by the aging
Dr Quincy Harker, the descendant of Dracula's old nemesis
Jonathan Harker, now confined to a wheelchair.



Harker is ably assisted by the young Rachel Van Helsing,
granddaughter of Abraham Van Helsing, her bodyguard- a
giant, mute Indian man named Taj Nital and the scientifically
and mechanically skilled Frank Drake. Their battle against
Dracula is complimented by the vampire's son Janus,
resurrected from death as a child by an angel. Together this
band of good battle the forces of darkness numbering not
only Dracula himself but also a female vampire Layla and a
whole satanic cult lead by the unbalanced Anton Lupeski.



The Tomb of Dracula series proved to be very popular and
lasted 70 issues running until August 1979 and numerous
re-prints since.



In the late 70's Japanese animation giant Toei signed a
deal with Marvel Comics to produce animated versions
of their comic characters. Though this deal was successful
the only Marvel property that made it to animation was
Tomb of Dracula under the new title Yami no Teio
Kyuketsuki Dracula (Dracula: Vampire Emperor of
Darkness). Appearing as a TV Special on the TV Asahi
network in 1980 it is unclear as to why this was the only
product of the deal especially since the comics that form
its basis were never available in Japan.




The anime version's plot condenses the overall story arc
from issues #7-50 into a 94 minute movie. Dracula is
pursued across Boston, New York and eventually
Transylvania by the Vampire Hunting team and a Satanic
Cult from whom he stole their bridal offering a young
girl named Dolores with whom the Vampire has fallen
in love.



The direction of Dracula was handled by two regular Toei
staffers; Akinori Nagaoka & Minoru Okazaki whose credits
included numerous episodes of popular shows such as
Dr Slump, Anpanman, Lupin III and Gegege no Kitaro.



The story was penned by Tadaaki Yamazaki with token
credit given to the original comic's staff Gene Colan,
Marv Wolfman and Tom Palmer. Seiji Yokoyama, whose
notable credits include Captain Harlock and Saint Seiya,
provided the haunting score.





The TV Special was popular enough to introduce a brief
resurgence in popularity of with the Horror genre
continuing with Toei's Kyofu Densetsu Kaibutsu:
Frankenstein a year later.





>>Background:

In the experienced hands of Harmony Gold Yami no Teio
Kyuketsuki Dracula appeared in west in 1983 under the
new title of Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned. Directed
by Robert Barron and with many of the regular cast who
would later go on to success in Robotech, Dracula played
on cable channels in the USA with a running time four
minutes shorter than in Japan. Despite the adult themes
the animated feature was released as a children's video
by Vestron in America and Mountain Video in the UK.

Interestingly the English release was only available before
the regulation of the video market and disappeared without
re-release when the laws were changed. As ever, Dracula
found a home in Europe including France and anime loving
Spain where it was released by Mondo Home Entertainment
with a dub by Oceania Film.