Vampire Wars is a 60 minute anime OVA released in Japan in 1991. It wasn't until 2008 that an English dub was created by Manga Entertainment.
The story is set in a world where vampires are not only real but also carry a dark secret that could threaten the safety of the entire world if it were ever found out. Unfortunately, after being caught up in a conflict between the French W.I.N.G. organization and the American CIA a freelance soldier named Kuki Kosaburo now finds himself being pulled into a world of blood, violence and lies with a single truth that could change both humanity and vampires forever.
The story starts with our roguish hero arriving too late to save a woman from being violently mutilated and killed which leads to him taking the fall for her murder. With the police quickly closing in he's forced to make a deal with an unsavory government agent in exchange for his freedom and a new job to uncover what is really going on. From there he'll need to solve the mystery behind a recent vampire terrorist attack and figure out what the vampires are truly after without ending up as just another victim.
Vampire Wars provides examples of:
- Affably Evil: For a bloodsucking vampire terrorist leader Mircha is pretty friendly towards Kuki, especially compared to his last major contact. Of course, given that he was trying to both save his leader and prevent an invasion of earth by a rival alien race he could possibly be considered a case of Good All Along or Well-Intentioned Extremist rather than being outright evil.
- Anti-Hero: The main protagonist is basically a freelance mercenary with shady ties to both the KGB and even outright terroristic groups. If not for his loyalty, friendship and kindness towards his allies he could easily be seen as a villain himself.
- Big Bad: Charlie, the American CIA leader. After Lasaar's death he and his men kidnap Lamia and have a final showdown with her and Kuki at the climax of the OVA.
- Bullying the Dragon: In an attempt to help out Kuki Kosaburo, a prostitute insults and spits on one of the giant henchmen, who then punches her so hard that her face gets smashed in.
- CIA Evil, FBI Good: The FBI barely gets a mention at all while the CIA turns out to be the main threat when they capture Lamia and nearly kill Kuki when he attempts to rescue her.
- Cigar Chomper: George Lasaar, the Jerkass W.I.N.G. agent.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: When Kuki is captured by the French W.I.N.G. agency and brings up the possibility that he might just walk away from their job offer their leader gives him a dose of violent shock therapy to get him to reconsider.
- Daywalking Vampire: Though only a small handful of vampires are ever actually seen walking in direct sunlight none of them seem to suffer any ill effects from it. This is because they're all really members of a powerful alien race rather than the classical "undead human" vampire variant more commonly seen in fiction.
- Disposable Sex Worker: Played disturbingly straight. One of the very first deaths shown is a prostitute who had Kuki for a client who ends up getting raped, murdered and violated with a spiked club so that Kuki can be framed for her murder. Less than five minutes after this another streetwalker friend of Kuki gets smashed in the face by a Giant Mook hard enough to crumple in the door of the car behind her and ends up severely disfigured as a result. When Kuki later confronts and kills the Mook he tells him that the poor girl ended up committing suicide after being unable to continue working as a hooker.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Taken to an absurd length with the Giant Mook who punches out Kuki's prostitute friend at the beginning. His voice is so deep that the bastard actually sounds just like Dr. Claw! Sage naturally wasted no time mocking him over this during his death scene when he reviewed the OVA during an early episode of Anime Abandon.Mook: Ahhh shiiit! (dies)Bennett: I'LL GET YOU NEXT TIME MR. COOKIE BAT! NEXT TIIIME!
- French Jerk: George Lasaar. The guy has his goons beat Kuki and his streetwalker friend, tries to force him to do a job for him via electric shock torture and even desperately tries to betray and shoot him before being gunned down.
- Friend in the Black Market: Kuki's old friend and contact Muraki provides him a place to crash and some supplies while he's still on the run from the law at the beginning of the story. Apparently they go way back and were both part of the same communist terrorist group at one point.
- Immune to Bullets: One of the vampire terrorists at the beginning is shown being riddled with bullets by a group of soldiers (including a headshot) before pulling out a grenade to blow them all up with her in a suicide attack. Lamia is also shown taking several bullets in the finale with minimal injury and Mircha can simply counter gunfire with his telekinesis abilities.
- Magic Versus Science: Plays a huge role in the backstory. All of the vampires seen in the story are members of one of two highly advanced and powerful alien species. One group of these aliens valued technology and scientific progress while the other preferred to take on a more spiritual and mystical approach to things. Eventually they came into conflict and the vampires are seeking to revive their comatose leader before their rivals can find earth and stop them. That's why they attacked the NASA launch site at the beginning of the anime, to prevent a possible signal from being broadcast into space and giving away their location.
- Mook Horror Show: After Lamia's vampire powers fully awaken she proceeds to brutally massacre several CIA agents in gruesome fashion, crushing one to death with a chair, flinging another out of the plane they're in and biting out the throat of the leader.
- Multiple Gunshot Death: Most people who die by a gun in this anime end up being completely shot to ribbons. This includes Lasaar and most of his goons.
- Psychic Powers: Some vampires are shown displaying these at a few points, such as Mircha's telekinesis or Lamia's mind control. It's unknown if all vampires share the same powers or if each individual gets abilities that are unique to them.
- Rooftop Confrontation: Kuki and the Giant Mook who assaulted his hooker friend meet up on the roof of a mansion for their big confrontation, though Kuki somehow manages to get in position above him and takes him out with a quick spray of gunfire before he can react. The whole "fight" is over in less than a minute.
- R-Rated Opening: In just the first five minutes viewers are treated to a vampire terrorist attack, a shockingly brutal and graphic prostitute murder and another prostitute getting her face bloodily smashed in by a giant thug. Just in case the people watching didn't get enough of a tip off that an OVA called Vampire Wars probably wouldn't make a good candidate for family movie night.
- Sequel Hook: The CIA is beaten, Kuki and Lamia are reunited and everything seems to have turned out pretty swell for the most part, but the vampire leader is still in a coma and earth may face a full scale alien invasion in the near future if he can't be revived in time.
- Vampire Monarch: Mircha leads the vampire terrorists that attacked the NASA launch site at the beginning of the OVA and is one of the main threats Kuki has to contend with. Though he ultimately becomes an ally of Kuki in the final quarter of the anime after revealing that he is trying to revive the true leader of his vampire species and prevent a rival alien race from invading the earth.
