Vampire Hunter D, Vol. 1

I'm an older gent. I cut my teeth on the anime version long before I knew of the novels. I recently bought a kindle (extremely pleased with the latest model... I don't normally plug products in reviews unrelated but I got the epub version of this book and it looks fantastic on my reader... okay...moving on) and I was able to rediscover this book in the electronic format. I'd like to say I'm a writer or something with a little ethos to validate my opinion, but I am just a dude, so consider the review source... that said... I really enjoyed the heck out of this story. I also wasn't aware that it was a series and so, I look forward to continued reading. If I cast a critical eye on the novel, I'd say that it is appropriate for the time in which it was written (and bear in mind, this is a translation and I'm literally learning Japanese so I can read the original sans interpretation... langage makes the culture in many ways) but may strike some as being the opposite. D is a fun fellow to follow and having some insight into his backstory (no spoilers here) prompts one for a second read with a slightly adjusted perspective of the story. I am a gigantic fan of Yoshitaka Amano (I even own some of his work) and the occasional ink plate of his art adds a nice touch. Does the structure follow the standard hero's journey? Not exactly, but the difference is what makes the story unique. D is something of a 'hold over' static character with some of the hero/anti-hero tropes of pulp fiction story telling (extremely gifted/powerful... but still tragically flawed in many story creating ways). He is a hero (of sorts) that is basically going to work (like a daily grind job)... except that work involves pest control of the vampire type. The world building lends to some interesting visualizations of a future where the highest of tech meets the lowest of human living conditions (typified by a medieval living standards for the 'lowly Humans' and what I would describe as "star trek post scarcity/galactic level 2 society"... but with way more violence... for the 'High/Nobel Vampires'). It is a clashing world of the future that is nothing but a leftover from some greater civilization founded by... vampires. So, what you get with this world is a bit of a neogothic-cyberpunk-vampire science fiction/fantasy setting... that's a lot to wrap up into a single story but it is actually an easy and entertaining read (with 20+ more books in the series... so I expect to learn more about this world of complete opposites). It seems paced well (to an amateur) and given the number of sequels... it clearly stood the test of time. I highly recommend this book in any format you can get it in. So go get some!

As someone who was turned off by vampires as a mythology and subject matter, largely due to the over-saturation and terrible portrayals of the past decade or so, Vampire Hunter D is amazing enough to make me reconsider my stance on vampires. The story has plenty of action, tension, drama, and surprises to keep you reading and wanting more. The characters are colorful enough and also quite memorable. Kikuchi-san's writing style is a blend of some very pretty, flowery imagery and yet also very matter-of-fact statements at times, but he's good at bringing the story along. Most importantly, the novel is FUN to read! Yoshitaka Amano's illustrations work better in color, but I thought even his black and white drawings helped bring the story to life that much more. If you have any interest in fantasy, gothic, or vampires, definitely pick this up!

I'm not a vampire novel fan, but I am a big fan of anime. Nope, I don't watch anime for the graphics, or the voice acting, I watch it for the different storylines and methods of approaching a story. Their stories are different to Western mainstream stories. This is why I love this novel, despite (let's face it!) the fact it's terribly written. I'm putting that down largely to quirks in translation. Firstly, the negatives: > While dialogue is serviceable, it's by no means outstanding (though I should note it's WAY better than the anime of the 80's). > You are constantly reminded of how gorgeous the characters are, and they are repeatedly described in detail (while characters who I guess are "ordinary" are described hardly at all). > The word "countenance". Seriously, count how many times it was used. > You are frequently given the result of an action, only to have the narrative backpedal to explain how such a result came about. I found this had a jarring effect on the flow of the story, until I started to get used to it by about half way through. > The omniscient narrator often addresses the reader directly (a personal dislike). > A bit of head-hopping, particularly in the beginning. > For folk who haven't seen the anime, I imagine there's a bunch of things that won't make sense until late in the novel. Now for the positives: > Characters were likable- a huge plus with me. > The enemies were so epically powerful that it was hard not to root for them, just to see them show off their stuff. > The story is very action-driven. There are no boring bits. Even the (few) lulls are filled with tension. > The story is set in a unique world in a distant post-apocalyptic future where there's a strong gothic/medieval influence (from the vampires and how they've shaped the world), but also very high-tech as far as cyborgs and weaponry goes. The creatures of myth and fairy tales are the result of vampiric influence and genetic modification. > Things continue to get worse for the main characters, and the flow of events weren't terribly predictable. > From someone who hasn't read (or enjoyed) very much vampire fiction, this was enjoyable and unique. For me, the pros outweighed the cons. The story moves at a fast pace and therefore you don't pay as much attention to the truly awful writing. I'll definitely be reading volume two. If the writing improves, I'll be a happy girl.

I became interested in this series after watching "Bloodlust" and was hoping to get more info on D, his background and his talking left hand. While I liked how the book was fast paced and descriptive, I got more background information from Wikipedia than from the novel. Though to be fair, it is the first in a series of seventeen. Hopefully D's mysterious background will be revealed in later volumes. The story was fun and delightfully harrowing though the writing itself could be choppy and a bit confusing. At times I felt I was either spoon fed the plot line or like I was watching an episode of the 1960s "Batman". The author would insert inane questions into the narration as if the reader was too dense to figure the plot out for his or herself. But, I suppose that might be due to alterations from Japanese translation as they have a different writing style than what most Westerners are used to. Also these books were written in the 1980s and writing styles may have changed somewhat. Nevertheless, once I got passed the erratic narration, I thoroughly enjoyed the story. It was dark, erotic and had great battle and character descriptions. The author did a wonderful job of conveying emotions as well. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has watched the Vampire Hunter D movies or is just a fan of vampire stories.

I only found this series because I was looking for art for my half vampire dnd character and mistyped "Vampire Hunter DnD". When I looked up what it actually was I was shocked to learn I'd never really heard about it in any online circles or anime threads. After a short wiki dive to see who, and what, D actually was, I decided to pick up the first book. Half way through I had already bought the second and third books and watched the 2000's Bloodlust movie on YouTube (highly recommend; it's fantastic). All this to really say that the book's a lot of fun and I'm definitely looking forward to reading more of the series. The writing style's a little weird and not really what I'm used to, but I like it. It's like a pulpy 80's Japanese quasi horror adventure story with an interesting and genuinely cool protagonist. Highly recommend. It won't change your life, but it's definitely good fun.

Vampire Hunter D Volume 1 tells the tale of a young girl being bitten by the nobel Vampire Count Magnus Lee, a vampire at least 5,000 years old. She looks for a way to defeat this vampire before he takes her for his wife, as the Count hasn't tasted blood as sweet as hers in ages. She hires D to defend her and her young brother and destroy the Count. It is hinted that D might be the descendent of the greatest vampire of them all, Dracula. There have been two movies created based off the books, both animated. The book goes much more in depth about the strength and weaknesses of the vampire. D struggles since he is a Dhampir, half vampire, half human. You get a real feel for each character and the battle scenes are well drawn out. It is a pretty easy read and great read if you enjoy the whole vampire legend. First book of a long series and I plan to read the rest.

If you saw the 80s anime movie, or Bloodlust in the 90s, both are here, with another story. Excellent detail, great characterization.

I loved this novel, which is funny, because I didn't like the first Vampire Hunter D movie which was based on this novel. The movie cut out a lot of the information, mostly background and character information, which would allow us to understand and enjoy what was happening. We get a bigger picture of life, or what life is like, on the Frontier, in the Capital and in the year 12,090 A.D. First published in 1983, given birth by the author watching Horror of Dracula starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, it still has a lot of punch. And for a vampire lover like me, I really enjoyed the setting, the characters, the plot and even the action scenes. A must for any vampire library. Warning, this is NOT a graphic novel or manga. This is a text novel.