Vampire Hunter D, Vol. 2: Raiser of Gales [Paperback]

Hideyuki Kikuchi (Author), Yoshitaka Amano (Illustrator), Kevin Leahy (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 30, 2005

The adventures of Vampire Hunter D continue! Vampires: murderous creatures in the shape of humans, they stalk the night feeding on the blood of innocents. Seemingly immortal, they can be destroyed only by the use of a stake through the heart, severing of their heads or exposure to sunlight. By the year 12,090 A.D., vampires have ruled the Earth for almost 300 years, and it is only these weaknesses that have kept these foul monsters from totally overrunning the world.

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Dark Horse Books/Digital Manga Publishing; 1st DH Press Ed edition (August 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1595820140
• ISBN-13: 978-1595820143
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #116,890 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #26 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Publishers > Dark Horse
  • #36 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Manga > Horror
  • #64 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Manga > Science Fiction

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A masterpiece from Japan!, October 25, 2005

By 

Takanobu Suzuki "yakineko" (Tokyo, Japan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Vampire Hunter D, Vol. 2: Raiser of Gales (Paperback)

I have read both Japanese (original)book and the translated one. I was impressed how good the translation is! If you like the original, this is a piece you would also like to check out for whatever your purposes are. I bet it!

As for the content, you can see the beauty of insight the Japanese original author has developed under the influence of his culture. It is not a simple horror story (which would be assumed from the title of it), it is highly imaginative fantasy in which a background world is well-established.

I recommend you check the movie which must be available in amazon first to get to know the world of "D".

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars VHD Vol 2 is another enjoyable vampire story, September 4, 2005

By 

VampireNovelFan "VampireNovelFan" (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vampire Hunter D, Vol. 2: Raiser of Gales (Paperback)

D is called to a town where there are vampires capable of walking in the daylight. He has to figure out where the source of this is and how to stop the murders going on in the town. We learn that 10 years ago, 4 people were abducted and returned with no recollection of what happened while they were abducted. A young girl names Lina is one of these 4. She's very intelligent for her age and has always been interested in knowing the history of the Nobility. Unfortunately, her town has other ideas in store for her. She trails along with D aiding him in getting to the bottom of this mystery in order for him to complete his mission and for her own sanity.

I really enjoyed this book as well as the first! I felt a whole new atmosphere in this one than the first book which is a good thing. I liked the book cover for the volume one better. However, the illustrations throughout this text I felt were better than the ones we see in the first book. D's quite a gorgeous specimen indeed. I liked how it was much more mystery-like allowing me to unravel some clues on my own. It didn't cause me to lose the sense of action and adventure either. I liked Lina's character. She had to deal with a lot of turmoil, but still acted like a typical love-struck 17 year old. I LOVED D being the romantic one. I loved him trying to figure out Lina and why she had the effect on him that she did. The erotic situations were kind of gross, but it got the point across to make my skin crawl and hate characters. I noticed some stuff out of this book is what we see in the Bloodlust film:

The first account was when how Lina talked about the rain making one sentimental. In bloodlust Leila and D have a moment in the rain where she states this.

The second was when D was caught in the dimension. He had to deal with the situation somewhat differently in Bloodlust though.

Then we see the hallucinations. D sees the woman in a white dress with long black hair in front of her face as to not reveal her identity. I think it was implied that it was his mother like in Bloodlust.

I cannot WAIT until volume 3 is released. It is what the second movie is based off of and I totally loved the second movie.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mysterious, intense, erotic....definately "Vampire Hunter D", December 4, 2005

By 

John W. Leon "vmi_raven" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Vampire Hunter D, Vol. 2: Raiser of Gales (Paperback)

Although the book can be a bit awkward due to the rough translation from the originial Japanese, it nonetheless provides us with an excellent story of D not found in anime. This time D finds himself against a potentially dangerous foe, a vampire who walks in the day light.

Fans of the animes (Vampire Hunter D and Bloodlust) will not be disappointed here, D is still the bad-a## that he is and the imagry is as vibrant as ever. But unlike the animes, this novel slows down the action just a notch and increases the amount mystery/crime-solving and eroticism (which is the norm of any vampire story). A decent read for any vampire enthusist, a must for any fan of "D".