Vampire Hunter D Volume 2 cover image

Sci-Fi/Horror; Rated “YA” for “Young Adults 16+”

The science fiction/horror novel, Vampire Hunter D, by Japanese horror author, Hideyuki Kikuchi, debuted in 1983, and was the first in a long series of novels chronicling the adventures of a monster-killing dhampir (half-human/half-vampire) named, D.  Hideyuki Kikuchi forged a deal with Digital Manga Publishing to produce manga adaptations of his Vampire Hunter D novels.  Saiko Takaki was chosen to adapt and illustrate the manga, and the first volume of the Vampire Hunter D manga appeared in 2007.

In Vampire Hunter D, Vol. 2 (which was published in 2008) D, the supernaturally powerful mix of the knight-errant and the American cowboy, continues his horseback journey in the far-flung future, circa the year 13,000.  He hunts the Nobility, the vampire race that once ruled over the Earth with mystical powers and highly advanced technology.  Now, the Nobility is in decline and is practically extinct – except for the legacy of its nefarious designs.

D arrives in the sleepy village of Tepes, where he encounters a new breed of vampire.  Ten years earlier, four of the town’s children wandered into a group of ruins and disappeared.  These ancient ruins, which tower of Tepes on a nearby hillside, were once erected by the Nobility.  Only three of the four children return, and the villagers have been suspicious of them every since.

D arrives in Tepes to find a missing hunter and to investigate a recent string of bizarre murders in and around the village.  What he finds are villagers reluctant to help him, except for one – the beautiful Lina Sween; she was one of the four children who disappeared ten years earlier.  Lina falls in love with D, and her connection to him will solve the mystery of Tepes.

THE LOWDOWN:  Unlike the first book, which was a science fiction and horror fight comic, Vol. 2 is like a gothic, murder mystery.  This story is certainly drenched in awesome displays of magic, with a generous helping of the kind of kinetic fight scenes that manga do so well.  This volume, however, resembles the suspenseful gothic of Bram Stoker’s Dracula more than it does the pyrotechnics of sci-fi vampire horror like the Blade films or the Trinity Blood anime.

Saiko Takaki’s wild and untamed art style – a fierce windstorm of line work and stylish graphics that imply constant motion – well served the active mood of the first volume.  Here, that same pulsating art gives this moody and slower moving tale such necessary environments as dimly lit caverns, haunted rural landscapes, and a hick town full of murderous rednecks.  In a way, the second volume of Vampire Hunter D does lack the visual hysteria and excitement of the first, but its themes of doomed romance and creeping horror make this a nice manga spin on the Gothic novel – the perfect home for the vampire and his hunter.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  Readers who can stand the mix of both weird and romantic fiction will like this second volume of Vampire Hunter D.

B+