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Vampire Hunter D (Volume 1) – Written by Hideyuki Kikuchi
Illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano
English translation by Kevin Leahy

Where to start with Vampire Hunter D?

As mentioned in my last post, my curiosity was piqued by this novel, mostly because of the illustration artist, Yoshitaka Amano. That, and I’ve always been interested in vampires, and vampire lore, and for this novel to develop on that, and include dhampirs, I figured it would be right up my alley.

Well.

It’s not that it isn’t, not per se. However, this is a strange novel; it’s set in the future, and yet because of the almost post-apocalyptic nature of human history, the way in which humans live has both regressed and progressed. It’s contradictory but understandable once explained, I suppose.

The book is both difficult and easy to ‘get into’. There are plenty of hooks to grip the reader, but the writing style itself seems clunky. In some places it seems overly convoluted and complex, and yet there are grammatical and spelling errors running rife through the 2005 DH Press edition I bought. Sometimes the writing itself seems clunky, others it’s overwrought and difficult to navigate. Now, I’m not sure whether this is due to the translation perhaps being off, or just the original writings being that way, but it was this that made the book difficult to read.

One element of this text really surprised me, in that Doris (our heroine, or damsel in distress who is more than willing and able to fight back) readily relinquishes her virgin qualities to the first Hunter that comes along that can maybe save her. There are hints at romantic possibilities throughout the novel, but nothing is ever made of them, and she is never flatly turned down. Along with other aspects of the novel, the question of Doris and D’s relationship is never truly answered, and this can be frustrating.

The most interesting thing about D is his abilities and his history, not to mention the tumour companion that resides in his right hand. Perhaps the plot of the novel didn’t necessarily call for more explanation of these things, but I would have liked to see some expansion on them, and perhaps a little more use of D’s abilities as a dhampir, as they are what truly make the novel its most interesting.

I was a little disappointed by Vampire Hunter D, I’m not going to lie (I was also looking forward to more illustrations, some perhaps in colour but I didn’t really get them), however that’s not to say I wouldn’t read more from Kikuchi’s series. Perhaps the novels mature in depth and readability as one progresses through them.