Let me start off by saying this. If you like old PI series, horror, and anime, this is probably right up your alley.

Voices:
     The dubbed version of the protagonist, one Tatsuhiko Shido, sounds like something right out of those b/w PI movies back in the day. This in and of itself isn't a bad thing save it doesn't really match his looks. However, please to note that when he's emotional, the 'detective' voice drops and he sounds much more realistic, leaving me to believe it's a case of bad acting/directing.
     His partner (for lack of a better term), Yayoi Matsunaga (and someone tell me why they used the common Japanese practice with Shido's name at the site but used common Western practices for everyone else?) sounds like she could easily work as a phone sex operator. However, given the image of the anime standard 'cool, sexy chick who's calm under fire', I find this more than appropriate.
     Guni is a small fairy/familiar type critter (in the dub she says she's an urban fairy, whatever the hell that's suppose to be) who usually hides in Shido's hair (there's enough of it, rowr). It's high pitched, squeaky, and would probably be annoying (and probably is to a lot of people), but I personally liked her, and had no problem with it. This is mainly due to her personality, which I'll get to later.
     Riho Yamazaki... Shido's teenage secretary and has a crush on him. And I'll tell you up front that's about the only nice thing I'm going to say about her. Before you asked, hell no, this ain't unbiased. I'm a yaoi fan, damnit. Anyway, her voice was typical teenage little Miss sunshine. Reminds me of the English version of Sailor Mars, only nowhere near as shaky IMO. Of course, I'm bound to find it annoying simply because I don't like the character. Hey, I never said this wasn't going to be opinionated.
     Cain, the antagonist (I can't really call him a villain, though that's a personal reason) who changed Shido and basically caused him all kinds of grief. I like the second chara design (more on that later), but the voice, especially with the first version of him, was a heavily overdone Bela Lugosi type thing going on here. (Of course, when the actual word 'Transylvania' came up, I should have known it was going to be cheesy). Now I don't know if I simple got used/immune to it when Cain2.0 came along, but the accent didn't seem as pronounced. It was still there, though, rest assured. I personally think they would have been better off giving him an British accent if they want to give him some kind of distinguished sound, but that's just me.

Personality:
     Shido is typical 'cool under fire' anime guy mixed with slight pervert and typical 'angst ridden past' anime guy. IMO, he's at his best when he's being a pervert or he's fighting. Anything in between is just to get keep the story moving, I guess. Not really a typical vampire, however. He's got a sense of humor, you see. He does go to the 'doesn't hurt humans' end of the road. In anime, vamps usually fall under this or the 'humans are my Happy Meals' department. With better writers He could have had much more depth, but thinking about it, I don't think it's suppose to be a serious series anyway. I guess I have to look at it for what it is, campy. In that case, they did a good job. But if they intended for it to be a dramatic horror series, it fell flat in the drama depot.
     Yayoi is typical 'cool under fire' anime chick. She's 'well built' and carries a big gun. Up until ep 9, which is her origin story, she's just the partner in crime. She's also Shido food supply. Now according to the official CPM site, she's immune to the bite. However, this was never really (far as I know) explained in the anime itself... so you're on your own far as that goes.
     Guni is Shido's annoyance, to put it mildly. However, I like her mainly because of how she acts towards Riho. When asked by Yayoi where Riho was in one ep, Guni replied, "The assistant we never asked for?" She makes a lot of sense most times, and she helped Shido out major during a fight with Cain1.0. She really does care, but she's mainly sarcastic and, well, annoying. But in a good way to me.
     Riho is annoying, and in the bad way. Simple as that. She is the so-called innocent one, even after getting vamped out by Shido to save her hide back in ep 4 (I think, one of those eps). She's got an obvious and disgusting crush on Shido, and becomes jealous of Yayoi prior to finding out about Shido's 'eating habits'. (Girl tried to give him something she cooked... with garlic). Frankly, looks and personality wise, there's not much competition between her and Yayoi. Why they make her the love interest is far beyond me. She doesn't do anything save serving coffee and being, well, a secretary. She brought nothing to the series and, personally, I felt she detracted from Shido as a character. He probably could have been much better if he didn't have to spend nearly a third of the series worried about her.
     Cain1.0 (I'll get into why there's two different version in the character design section) was, to be blunt, overdone. Wanting to take over/control humanity, get Shido back on his side, yadda yadda yadda. This version also happens to be the only one who knows Shido's past, because he himself is suffering amnesia about his human years. Shido maybe [probably] isn't his real name, he doesn't know. Again, as far as this version goes.
     Cain2.0 is more subdued. He still holds humanity in the same regard we do a hamburger, but the megalomaniac aspect is either dimmed or removed altogether. He's focused on one thing and one thing only, getting Shido back. Granted, he's a cold, manipulative bastard who will do something really painful to Shido, only to say "I do this out of love." But, being the manic yaoi girl that I am... I can forgive him that. Then two, he only really shows up in two eps anyway... not enough to get a better feel of him outside what's been said.

Character Design
     For some odd reason, everyone save Riho and Guni underwent a redesign in mid series. For Shido, it was more subtle as his hair became longer, and I think his outfit changed slightly. Yayoi got a dye job and went from a redhead to raven black. I prefer the black, actually, it looked good on her.
     But Cain was completely redone. Version one was not that hot. Pink wavy hair, pointed ears, and protruding fangs (where Shido's only comes out when he's fighting/upset). His skin appeared slightly wrinkled, I guess to give him the aged look of an older vamp. I'm sure there's a fangirl who may like this version, but I'm not one of them. And it's not the one they show at the site, either. (So imagine how I felt when I first heard Shido call him Cain. ::shudder:: )
     Then around on the second DVD, we get version 2.0. This Cain is blond, the hair perhaps a bit straighter. His fangs are now hidden like Shido's, and he looks younger than version 1. It's a vast improvement (emphasis on vast), however, there's this little problem concerning plot...

Plot
     Don't get me started. If you're looking for something linear, you'd be better off watching Key: The Metal Idol, or Please Save My Earth. Hell, You'd get a more cohesive storyline if you watched Ranma 1/2 out of order. This thing is choppier than G-Force or Robotech.
     When it starts, you have Shido, a detective who takes cases concerning Breed. Breed seems to be demons of some sort who usually are either trying to find a body to possess, or else something that kills/eats humans. From what I gather, they are not vampires, but are a totally different grouping unto themselves. It's hard to say. Anyway, he's often teamed up with Yayoi, an agent of some group simply referred to as the NOS, who specializes in cases involving Breed attacks. Riho is his as yet still human secretary who doesn't know he's a vamp. (That lasts for all of... what, 2 eps? Sheesh).
     Now then, in the span of, oh four eps or so, Riho finds out Shido's a vamp (she still comes back). Cain1.0 appears talking about some "Golden Dawn", and we meet a woman who looks for her fiance, only he's been possessed by a Breed while in a coma. She makes out with said Breed possessed boyfriend, who dies later, then finds out she's pregnant. Half human half breed child that apparently is the signal to this whole Golden Dawn thing Cain's trying to make happen. At the same time, he tries luring Shido back to his side. You see a flashback of him and Shido snacking on some unnamed chick, and Shido doesn't seem to hate Cain at that point. Cain fails, he brings out Riho and slashes her (and if you're like me, you were hoping she'd have bit it). He and Shido get into it, he nearly has Shido, but Guni pops up for a last minute save (go Guni!) and Shido ends up holding a blade to Cain's neck. Cain tries bating him, saying he's the only one who know's Shido's past. Guess Shido didn't care to now about it anymore. Cain falls down, minus one head. And we all know if you lose your head and you're a vamp, you're pretty much dead. Cut to Shido holding the dying Riho (damnit, she didn't bite it) and her asking him to vamp her out so she can be with him or some crap like that. And dumbass that he is, does it. Great, so now I have immortal Riho... joy. Rapture. Really, you can feel my enthusiasm through the monitor, I'm sure...
     And if you think that was convoluted, imagine fitting it in to roughly 4-5 half hour eps!
     Now then, we come back, only the character designs have taken effect. Shido and Yayoi are still doing the Breed hunt thing, Riho's the reluctant vampire (sounds like a bad children's book), and Guni's... Guni.
     And mangled continuity, take one. Shido starts having flashbacks about his human past. Hello? Why? When? How? he couldn't remember anything. Okay, I'll let this slide. It's very possible to get memories back, even after a couple hundred years.
     Mind you, the one constant is the fact of when Riho is changed into a vamp. That doesn't change, and I assure you, will blow any theories you may try and come up with to explain it out the water. You see, in ep eleven we see a slice of Shido's past (the one he can't remember... ::smacks self:: Bad me.). Here he faces a witch and has several confrontations with Cain... version 2.0. Now if they had left this as it was, one could simply say, well, it's a flashback, and Cain was younger... right? Yeah, you could... except there's one more ep after this...
     This time it's the dream ep. I'm not going to spoil this one, I'm still trying to blot it out from my mind. But at the end we find everything that occurred was a dream Shido was having. He wakes up back in the present with Yayoi and the vamped out Riho... and we see who caused the dream. Yup. Cain2.0... I guess someone forgot to tell him he died as a pink-haired cri

Ep 9, the origin of Yayoi
     ...and the first of the annoying timeline trick they pull about three different times on the second DVD, because they open the ep directly in the past and don't clue the viewer in until the very end that the entire thing was a flashback. Once is fine... but three times (the last being a dream sequence versus a flashback) is a bit much. Especially so close together. Anyway, I'm going to spoil this ep simply because I did like it. You've been warned.
     Open with Shido first arriving in the city and complaining about not there a day and crime all around. Enter Guni and their first meeting. For some reason or another she just sticks around and annoys him. (Glad she did). He checks into an inn(?) and meets Kasumi (aptly named). While signing her in we also meet her sister, some poor girl who's face is wrapped in bandages (and shall hence be known as Mummy Girl, or MG). MG harbors the usual hatred towards the beautiful sister and takes it out on her every chance she gets. During first argument Kasumi gets bitch slapped and loses her pendant (cue foreshadowing). Shido picks it up and returns it to her later. Kasumi sadly explains to Shido how a they had been playing with matches when they were children and a fire started, costing them their house, family, and her (twin) sister's face. Not that it's Shido's business. Cut to outside scene of him and Guni going for a walk. Cue scream. Run. Find body with face ripped off. Cue Breed speculation. More interaction between him, Kasumi, and MG. Cut to different night and first confrontation with Breed, who gets away. By this time he suspects its MG (and by this time the viewer knows better). He corners MG about it when she comes in that night, but Kasumi gives him an alibi about being with her the whole time. Lie, of course. Cut to scene with sisters, during which time MG chokes Kasumi until she's unconscious, ranting about hating her, yadda yadda yadda. Kasumi's out cold, MG takes the pendant and heads for the basement. Shido and Guni are discussing things in his room when they see MG walk off. Cue the tailing scene. Pendant turns out to be a key to a door. MG goes inside and viewer gets a dim look at faces plastered all over the place (they could have been more graphic with this part. It is horror). Shido walks in for another confrontation, MG claims innocence, enter Kasumi who admits to everything and saying how it was all her fault. Cue flashback. Her and MG in the fire as kids, Kasumi screaming she didn't care what happens to her, but someone to save her sister. Fade to hospital where Kasumi wakes up untouched. Here she meets the Breed who says it granted her wish. In return, it would inhabit Kasumi's young, beautiful body (obviously this one's got a vain streak). Cut back to present, cue short fight scene with Shido, only MG stops him, saying it's all her fault (these girls have an obvious guilt complex going on). Cue yet another flashback, with young MG bugging Kasumi to do something. Scene shift to the girls lighting a birthday cake reading 'Happy Birthday Kasumi [and] Yayoi"
     Gee, bet you didn't see that coming....
     Yayoi explains how if she hadn't pushed her to do it, none of it would have happened. And she felt guilty, but she couldn't cope, so it came out as hate, and heh, Kasumi's an easy target. She still has her face... It was the only way to deal.
     Two words, behavior therapy.
     Cut back to present, Kasumi has set the place on fire, saying she's going to end the nightmare and take Yayoi's hate with her as her proof of how much she loves her. Yayoi tries bribing the demon to take her instead. Pheh, right. It wants a beautiful body, Mummy Girl. So she tries choking it out. Nope. Kasumi runs into the flames, Breed finally comes out. One shot by Shido nails it. Yayoi