This 44 Year-Old Marvel Comic Received an Excellent Anime Adaptation

In 1972, Marvel Comics introduced the world to a new take on a classic horror icon in the form of Gerry Conway, Roy Thomas, Stan Lee, and Gene Colan’s Tomb of Dracula #1. For seven years, the original series’ run pushed the bounds of what comic and horror fans alike understood about the most infamous vampire of all time.

Although the original run of Marvel’s Tomb of Dracula ended in 1979, its story was retold in an entirely new format courtesy of Toei Animation studio. This came in the form of 1980’s Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned (Yami no Teiō: Kyūketsuki Dorakyura), which first aired on TV Asahi on August 19. And, while this production was something of a cult hit in Japan, the North American audiences who were most intimately familiar with the source material wouldn’t see it for themselves for another three years.

How Marvel Comics’ Dracula Made the Leap to Anime

1980’s Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned was one of Toei’s least likely films

By the time of Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned‘s release, Toei Animation was no stranger to adapting Western stories for a Japanese audience, nor with producing anime with the tastes of American audiences in mind. In fact, one of Toei’s earliest productions accomplished both of these with 1966’s The King Kong Show. Only three years later, Toei was producing The Smokey Bear Show for ABC alongside one of the greatest American animation studios of all time – Rankin/Bass. These early projects helped prepare Toei for taking on all manner of future productions that likely never would have fallen in their wheelhouse otherwise, including Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned.

The anime adaptation of Tomb of Dracula wasn’t born of any innate desire on Teoi’s part to develop an anime adaptation of a popular comic book, but rather of Marvel’s desire to expand their own audience. As such, testing a new market with a proven title was an easy enough choice to make, and Toei’s track record and reputation made them the perfect studio to take on the task. Of course, there was never any way that Toei or anyone else could fit seventy-issues and dozens of characters worth of content into a single film, so it fell on writer Tadaaki Yamazaki to sift through years of lore and pin down exactly what aspects of the original story would make their way into Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned.

Marvel’s Earliest Anime was the Perfect 80s Adaptation

Toei’s Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned hit every high note from the original series

Considering how deep the lore of Marvel Comics’ Tomb of Dracula ran at the time, not to mention how far it has been expanded in the years since with characters such as Blade and Brielle Brooks, it is surprising that Yamazaki was able to put together the genuinely enthralling story he did within a scant 94-minute runtime. The film ultimately merged several major comic book storylines into one, mostly cohesive thread. After giving audiences a brief history of Dracula’s early years, the film opened to find the titular vampire lord carving out a life for himself in Boston, Massachusetts, where he would cross paths with a Satanic cult headed up by the villainous Anton Lupeski. Among the cult’s other members was Domini, the woman with whom Dracula would fall in love and, after lying about his infernal nature, father a beautiful baby boy named Janus.

Tragically, the truth of Dracula’s nature would lead to Lupeski leading an attack on the vampire and his family, one which claimed the life of young Janus in a heartbreaking turn. While this drove Dracula to seek vengeance, it drove Domini to offer her own life up to God in exchange for that of her child. Surprisingly, this opened the door for Janus to be resurrected and reborn as the host to the Golden Angel of Heaven who, by its very nature, stood in opposition of Dracula and all other demonic beings. This alone would have made for a spectacular story, yet Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned also included the endeavors of other Marvel icons: Frank Drake, the vampire-hunting descendant of Dracula himself, Quincy Harker, the elderly son of Jon and Mina Harker longtime foe of Dracula, and Rachel van Helsing, descendant of the original Van Helsing and Quincy’s right-hand.

Over the course of the film’s runtime, audiences saw as Dracula took on Lupeski, the Golden Angel Janus, and the vampire-hunting trio, all of which were only the precursors to the film’s true climax. Or climaxes, depending on which equally prominent plot audience members determine is primary. By the time the film has come to a close, Dracula has stepped into the role of an unlikely hero, wielding crucifixes to his own detriment against the legions of evil that would otherwise harm innocent humans, all while Domini single-handedly rebuffs the power of Satan himself through sheer force of will and the love for her family. These developments make it both tragic and mildly bewildering when the final battle of Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned sees the titular vampire and Quincy Harker end each other’s lives, bringing down Dracula’s castle on top of them in a massive explosion. To close things out, Janus sheds the Golden Angel, leaving Domini with a restored version of her infant son in his stead.

Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned has Marvel Comics’ Strangest Legacy

Marvel’s most underrated animated film influenced other productions decades later

All things considered, Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned is a fine movie for what it is. There are plenty of moments that make it painfully obvious that it is very much a production of its time, yet there are also moments that remind viewers why that particular era is so beloved by fans in the first place. Much of the original voice acting is brilliantly played, especially Kenji Utsumi’s Dracula and Keiichi Noda’s Frank Drake. Similarly, the artistic stylings might leave something to be desired by audiences who grew up with the frenetic action that defines the likes of Bleach and Naruto, but longtime anime fans will be instantly enthralled by Technicolor reds helping to draw out the details in murky, hand-painted backdrops and sprawling set pieces. That being said, the most important part of Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned‘s legacy isn’t anything to do with its development, production, or critical response, but rather the precedent it set for things yet to come for Marvel Comics.

Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned was Marvel’s first foray into anime, but it was far from the last for the acclaimed comic book publisher. Just as original anime and manga in Japan continued picking up the popular trappings and tropes of Western superhero stories throughout the ’80s and ’90s, Marvel would similarly pick up on those of their overseas contemporaries. This eventually led to the introduction of the Marvel Mangaverse in 2002, which reimagined the likes of Spider-Man, the X-Men, and the Hulk into manga-fied versions of themselves. While the Mangaverse wasn’t all that well received, it would be followed up by a series of Marvel anime films and television series beginning with 2010’s Iron Man.

Since then, Wolverine, X-Men, and Blade have all received their own anime releases, while Earth’s Mightiest Heroes have been reimagined in anime productions in both Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers in 2014 and Marvel Future Avengers in 2017. This is to say nothing of comic book releases such as Kid Venom, which overtly draw upon manga and anime stylings as inspiration for their own original takes on other Marvel Comics icons. And, while it probably isn’t correct to say that none of these titles would have come about if not for Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned, it is absolutely true that it was the film that proved that taking a chance on something that is popular half a world away can be well worth it.