Customer Reviews

Vampire Hunter D, Vol. 1

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

While I know many Americans are familiar with the manga "Vampire Hunter D", the popular series of Japanese novels have finally been translated into English and are being published in the US. This novel, set in the year AD 12,090, is an entertaining mix of genres, most importantly post-apocalyptic futurism and basic horror, with little sword and sorcery thrown in.

Vampires have ruled humanity since the 21th century, after humanity initiated the last world war. Now their time is coming to an end, humanity is reasserting itself, and specially trained humans are needed to kill the various monsters, mutants, and vampires that still prey on mankind.

D (the only name he is given) is such a hunter. D is a dhampir, the off-spring of a vampire father and a human mother. With his tremendous supernatural powers, D agrees to help young farm girl Doris fend of the ammorous attentions of Count Magnus Lee, one of the few vampires to rule his domain.

First, the unpleasant truth. This isn't a particulary well-written book. There is the caveat that this is a _translated_ work. However, I suspect that this was a pretty literal translation. Stylistically, Kikuchi seems to be heavily influenced by 19th century European works as well as early 20th century pulp ficion--many of the turns of phrase, elaborate description of setting, reminded me of an imitation of H.P. Lovecraft imitating Charles Dickens. Kikuchi has an interesting tendency to editorialize about the qualities of his characters: the villains are evil, he states over and over, and the heroes are good. Consequently, the character development is enough to keep the action going.

This may sound negative, but it's not meant to be. So the stuff ain't Shakespeare. I did enjoy the novel, even if its artistic merit is limited. The action sequences are vividly described, the plot is intriguing, there's a fair ammount of suspense, and the characters are likeable. The dialog is servicable, but never really clangs on the ears. In a sense, "Vampire Hunter D" is comparable to a summer blockbuster. Its light, fun, and keeps the reader turning the pages.

One big problem I had was the formatting. There was not a hyphen to be found, and so the end margins were uneven. Hopefully DH Publishing will clean this up for the rest of the series, as it was a distraction.

I do look forward to the next novel in the series. I don't think I've signed on as a fan, so to speak, but there are worse ways to spend the afternoon.

I've been a fan of D ever since I was 9 (I'm 23 now) and stumbled across a midnight showing of the original on cartoon network back when space ghost hosted movies. Anyway this has for years been one of my favorite movies, and D may be my favorite literary character. I have also been trying for a long time to get the original novels of which there are around 20 but until recently none were available in English. So when I was at my local store and noticed that these were now available I just about flipped, buying both volumes immediately. In terms of the writing style it is obvious that a lot of attention was paid to giving us an accurate translation. Also the translator has great English grammar and syntax. However this book does not flow, it is written poorly from a literary standpoint. There are places where the text is clunky and disjointed although grammatically flawless. Also there are many times when the writing seems redundant and certain ideas seem to be over explained. Now before we bash this too much, let us take into consideration the fact that this was originally in Japanese and the great differences between the basic structures of that language and our own makes for a difficult translation. My opinion is that the translator did a great job, worked very hard and is very skilled. However my opinion is also that he is not a good writer in his own right and often times leaves things in or over explains things that probably worked great in the original language but when moved to English becomes choppy or redundant. With all that said the story is so interesting, the characters so drawing and the progression so artful that this remains an amazing work of fiction. And since I don't plan on learning Japanese anytime soon I am very grateful for this copy no matter what the faults. This is a must for any vampire enthusiast. And any D fan who does not get this book. Is no fan. There is a tremendous amount of extra scenes, info and characters that either got squashed together, changed in some manner or outright deleted from the film. Highly recommended.

After reading the review by Zdenko Juskuv, I feel a few issues about this book should be addressed.

First off, criticizing a work of fiction for its lack of use of meter is like criticizing a poem for not having a plot. Since when does prose concern itself with meter?

Second, the book's premise is presented upfront: it's a story of a vampire hunter in the far future. To pick up the book after knowing that, read it, and then complain about what you got is nonsensical. If the concept of this book peeks your interest, you will enjoy the plot. Kikuchi does a fantastic job of setting up tension, delivering what was promised, and posing a new crisis for the characters to respond to.

Also, Kikuchi does not use Deus Ex Machina in every chapter, and I honestly have no idea where that remark even came from. The characters are always in control of their own destinies. Never does a divine force save them from an undesirable situation.

There are times when the narrator does ask a question to the reader. I don't see how this is a negative, though. There is more than one way to tell a story, and more than one type of narrator an author can implore. Kikuchi uses the type of narrator known as "the storyteller." It has a fairytale feeling to it. If you've read any Neil Gaiman, you know the type of narrator I'm talking about.

I was very impressed with this book, and I graduated with an English degree. Anytime you criticize a book, you have to do so on its own ground. Vampire Hunter D is presented as a sci-fi/fantasy/horror book that is meant to be a fun read. And that's exactly what it is--it's a page turner. If you're thinking of buying this book because you're intrigued by the concept, characters, setting, and plot, you will not be disappointed. And unless you are looking for Bradbury-esque prose, you should enjoy the style the book is written in. If you're looking for an allagory of the Cold War padded with dense symbolism and metaphorical tirades prodding you to embrace a new vision of your life, you might want to skip this one.

Personally, I got exactly what I wanted out of this book and I hope DH Press decides to translate and publish all 17 of the Vampire Hunter D novels because I'm hooked.

The Crowgrrl (www.crowgrrl.com) is very thankful that D.H. Press is finally bringing English translations of Hideyuki Kikuchi's Vampire Hunter D series to American audiences! I've loved the two anime movies, but the books add dimensions that films can't capture.

The first in the series, aptly just titled Vampire Hunter D, lays the groundwork of the conditions in the year 12,090 A.D., a post-apocalyptic world peopled by not only surviving humans, but supernatural beasts such as lycanthropes, 3-headed Medusas, behemoths, etc. The ruling class over all, until recently, was the Vampires. After a human uprising, the Vampires now keep to themselves, with plenty of safeguards in place. They're still known as Nobles, however, and given healthy respect - unless they attack outpost human villages.

Doris Lang, a 17-year-old orphan, struggles to survive with her younger brother Dan on their family farm at the outskirts of one of those outposts. She also is fighting off the unwanted advances of the village mayor's son. But after being bitten by the Vampire lord, Count Magnus Lee, her world becomes so much more complicated. The Count is determined to take Doris as his bride - his daughter Larmica doesn't want the Lee line tainted by a human in their midst. If other villagers knew that she had been bitten, Doris would be hunted and either killed or imprisoned in an "asylum" - with no safety net in place for Dan's survival.

Desperate to kill Count Lee and have effects of his bite die with him, Doris searches for a savior; which comes to her in the form of the greatest Vampire Hunter of all - simply known as D. D is a dhampir, or half-Vampire, more than human, and without weaknesses of Vampires; he is as visually stunning as he is potentially deadly. But are his skills enough to protect Doris and her younger brother against both the townspeople AND Count Lee? Not to mention a vicious outlaw gang with supernatural powers led by Rei-Ginsei, who is after the demise of all of the other factions, hoping Count Lee will make him one of the Undead himself.

Excellent book! I can't wait to read the rest in the series.

The book is different from the anime, and seems more raw. It fills in a lot that the anime missed, such as the background of the world and the vampires' roles in it. I could be hard to read sometimes, being a rather dry and old-fashioned style. Someone compared it to earlier European books; I would have to agree. All in all I was very pleased and finished it in a night. I recommend it for many readers, save the pained Goth kids whi think vampires are a suffering lot that look like tortured, pretty French boys. Have fun reading!

Excellent book. Excellent translation.

I'm confused. Why is it that other reviewers think that 'something is lost in translation'? As a translator, I would consider that one of the biggest insults there is.

People, PROFESSIONAL tranlators are chosen for these jobs. They are persons who have worked for many, many, many years in the original language (Japanese in this case). Unless your Japanese is better than theirs', or you comprehend Japanese on par with them, how can you EVEN CONSIDER making such a statement!?

Have *I* read the original? YES. Do *I* comprehend Japanese? YES. And I am telling you, if you have any problems with the style, look no further than the original.

Do I think the original is lacking in anything? Most certainly not. They are both fine books. I enjoyed the Japaense original and the English translation.

Fantastic work about the far future in which vampires have given Earth its greatest technological advances after normal humans destroyed the world. Known as the Nobility, they are the rulers of a world that is dying with them. Inhabited by monsters and demons, the Earth is an amalgation of technology and medival settings. Similar to King's Gunslinger world in idea setting.

A fun read.

My first obvious opinion is similar to the last review here: the writing style threw me off at first. It's incredibly informal, let's keep it at that. However, after a chapter or two, this becomes less of a problem because the story is interesting and the characters are compelling. I many ways it's like reading a graphic novel in text form.

The anime based on this novel was one of the first anime I had seen (right after Macross). It's interesting to compare differences between two, from the minute (small character appearance changes) to the large (entire characters being absent in the film version). That's not to say some one grabbing this book blindly won't find things of interest, but it definitely adds another dimension to the title. It has taken so long for these books to be translated by comparison that the film is more etched in my mind than anything else in the D universe.

Of particular interest to me was the further explanation of the time period. In the film, the futuristic aspects seem to show up out of nowhere with nothing leading into them. This book, more casually than anything, explains some of the history that led up to the medieval lifestyle of the humans and the role of vampires and monsters in their society.

A related thing I also noticed was how similar the anime Ninja Scroll is to this book in quite a few ways. I never would have came upon this idea simply by comparing the two anime titles. However, compared to the book, Ninja Scroll shares some ridiculously similar battles and enemies. The relationship between the main characters is also far more similar. Just something to think about, I guess.

Overall this is a very entertaining book. I'm looking forward to the future ones with my only real hope that the writing style improves a bit.

This book is totally wicked... case being if you're a die hard VHD fan like myself. I was seven when I watched the animated Vampire Hunter D. Over ten years later I'm still a huge fan.

If you're nitpicking about whatever that other guy (zdenko) said about the book, then don't read it. However, this is a MUST read for every fan of the animated movies. I was so surprised by how much they changed the story for the anime. Characters, scenes, and even main themes were different. I loved it. It puts a new, fresh spin on things. ^_^

I'm only sorry that I read it all in one night. Without a doubt I'm going to buy the rest of the series as it comes out.

Imagine a postapocalyptic wasteland, where technology is slowly sliding into a new medieval age... and vampire Nobles have ruled for ten thousand years.

Hideyuki Kikuchi left the rules of vampire novels behind when he crafted "Vampire Hunter D," mingling dark science fiction with ancient mythical creatures -- werewolves, vampires, and so on. Though his style is rather distant, the result is sort of a futuristic western by way of Bram Stoker.

Farmgirl Doris Lang stops a sword-carrying youth on a cyborg horse, and finds that he is a Vampire Hunter. Good thing, because Doris has been bitten by the vampire Magnus Lee, and needs this young man -- who calls himself "D" -- to save her and her brother from the vampire. Haughty vampire ladies, werewolves and feuding villagers all visit Doris' farm -- only to be repulsed by D.

But to deal with Lee, D must venture into a disgusting, labyrinthine castle, dealing with demonic serpent-women, lethal mutants, and the Count himself. Outside, Lee's servants and daughter Larmica grapple with various villagers, intending to capture or kill Doris -- but none of them realize what D, a dhampir, is hiding in his distant past...

The world Kikichi concocts is a pretty fascinating one -- it's over ten thousand years in the future, in the waning days of a vampire empire that ran the whole planet, and Earth is overrun with vampires, werewolves, fairies, mutants and cyborgs. He's invented a gloriously rough, wild kind of world, sort of a postapocalyptic Wild West.

However, his writing is anything but -- detailed, atmospheric, and full of creepy scenes (including D's, uh, left hand reviving him when he's "killed"). If there's an overhanging problem, it's that he has to infodump his audience at times, so they know about stuff like Gargantua grapes.

Kikuchi relies on a formal, distant style reminiscent of 19th-century novels, though more spare and stripped down. But sometimes he bursts into outright pulpy prose ("The people saw the crimson glean of his eyes in the darkness -- the eyes of a vampire!"). And he spins up some pretty intense suspense about D's true nature, and his hidden identity.

D is a rather elusive, haunted character -- Kikuchi rarely shows us what he thinks or feels, but gradually hints at his inner struggles. And he's backed by a pretty solid cast of characters -- feisty Doris, the despicable rich boy Greco, haughty vampiress Larmica, and the downright creepy mutant Rei-Ginsu, who is able to warp space inside his body.

While it has a few rough spots, "Vampire Hunter D" is a haunting, futuristic tale of vampires and the mysterious Hunter who pursues them. An excellent beginning to the series.

This book was amazing, I'd seen the two vampire hunter D movies years ago, and they were okay, a nice story, but it most seemed about the darkness and gore rather than any real vampire mythology. They didn't leave a real imprint on me, except for a crush on D. On a whim I decided to read the book recently and I was utterly shocked. The movies are nothing like the books, the books are rich in myth, story , emotion and suspence, that the movies just don't hope to touch on. D is a very gripping character simply becuse you almost cannot like him...he's so cold, detached and almost heartless....but every now and then he'll do something so kind and privotal you cannot help but to like him and wonder what exactly does this egnimatic vampire/human feel...if anything.

This book sets the scene very nicely for the rest of the series, in the movie Doris was so awfully clingy and annoying. However in the book she's MUCH more likeable, and self suffient.