Nightwalker: The Midnight Detective DVD

Shido Tatsuhiko is a vampire with no memory of his past. He works nights as a private detective in a unnamed Japanese city, taking supernatural cases that conventional law enforcement cannot explain and will not acknowledge. His office staff consists of Riho Yamazaki — a teenage orphan who wandered in looking for work and stayed, unaware for longer than she should have been of exactly what her employer is — and Guni, a small green imp who serves as Shido's familiar and provides running commentary. His uneasy professional partner is Yayoi Matsunaga, a beautiful and relentless government agent from the Nos — a secret bureau that monitors supernatural activity — who has her own reasons for working with a vampire rather than against one. The cases center on the Nightbreed: demonic entities that possess human bodies, committing murders and feeding on victims before discarding their hosts. Episode by episode, Shido hunts them, destroys them, and tries not to drink anyone's blood. Threading through the procedural case structure is a longer, darker story: Cain, the ancient vampire who turned Shido centuries ago, is moving through the city toward him. And whatever Cain did — whatever happened between them that Shido cannot remember — Cain intends to finish it.

Night walker: The Midnight Detective is a 12-episode television series produced by Animate Film and directed by Kiyotoshi Sasano and Yutaka Kagawa, based on the PC-98 adult visual novel Mayonaka no Tantei Nightwalker by Aaru. It aired on TV Tokyo in 1998 and occupies a specific and well-loved niche in late 1990s anime: a supernatural detective procedural with genuine horror atmosphere, a bishounen vampire lead with a layered mythology, and a tone that balances episodic monster-of-the-week structure with a building serial mystery. Maaya Sakamoto — the year before her breakthrough performance in Escaflowne — voices Riho. Originally released in North America on two DVD volumes by Central Park Media (US Manga Corps) in 2001, with reissued volumes in 2003; each volume contains six episodes with an identical extras package. 

Notable Staff & Voice Talent

Directors: Kiyotoshi Sasano & Yutaka Kagawa
Original Visual Novel: Aaru (Mayonaka no Tantei Nightwalker, PC-98)
Studio: Animate Film
Music: Takashi Kudo

Japanese Cast:
- Takumi Yamazaki as Shido Tatsuhiko
- Maaya Sakamoto as Riho Yamazaki (Escaflowne, Magic User's Club TV)
- Emi Shinohara as Yayoi Matsunaga (Moldiver, Sailor Moon)
- Akira Ishida as Cain (Gokudo, Slayers, Now and Then Here and There, Rurouni Kenshin)

English Dub Cast:
- Richard Cansino as Shido Tatsuhiko (Rurouni Kenshin, Mahoromatic, Princess Nine)
- Sherry Lynn as Riho Yamazaki
- Mari Devon as Yayoi Matsunaga
- Steve Blum as Cain (Cowboy Bebop, Mahoromatic, Moldiver)

DVD Features (Both Volumes)

- Storyboards with Corresponding Video
- Japanese Trailers
- DVD-ROM: Art Gallery, Storyboards, Cast Credits, Scripts
- Central Park Media / US Manga Corps Previews

Spoken Languages: English & Japanese Audio, English Subtitles

Edition Details

Japanese Title: ナイトウォーカー 真夜中の探偵 (Naitowōkā: Mayonaka no Tantei)
Runtime: ~300 Minutes (Complete Series, 12 Episodes, 2 DVD Volumes)
Directors: Kiyotoshi Sasano & Yutaka Kagawa
DVD Release Year: 2001 (Original Release, Central Park Media); 2003 (Reissue, US Manga Corps)
Original Broadcast Date (Japan): July 8 – September 30, 1998 (TV Tokyo)
Publisher: Central Park Media (US Manga Corps)
Rating: 13+
Region: Region 1 (U.S. / Canada)
Genre: Supernatural, Horror, Mystery, Detective
Themes: Vampire Detective, Nightbreed Possession, Lost Memory, Ancient Vampire Nemesis, Supernatural Procedural

Media assumed VG+ unless otherwise noted.