Review: Vampire Hunter D Vol. 28
STORY
This is a rare treat, while I have reviewed both comics and movies as a Comic Crusader this is the first time I’ve found prose in my inbox. Oh the irony as it turns out I’d ordered this book from my LCS. For those unfamiliar with the work Vampire Hunter D is set in a post apocalyptic future at least ten thousand years beyond the time we live in now. Vampires (called the Nobility) rule over many lands and at their disposal they have not just supernatural powers but highly advanced technology. Monsters of all sorts exist as well as mutant, androids and cyborgs. D is a half vampire, a dhampir, who hires himself out to hunt the Nobility and other creatures that plague humans. He is armed with incredible powers and a demonically possessed left hand.
Vampire Hunter D is both a series of novels and at least two anime movies that I am aware of. You will need the above primer, the first novel or to watch the first anime in order to fully enjoy this book as it supposed you already know enough about D to jump right into the story. D is the quintessential gothic loner of a hero, he bears the strongly implied burden of being directly related to the Sacred Ancestors of vampire Nobility, Dracula himself. He is a loner by choice, performing a grim duty that few can who has exiled himself from the comforts of companionship and society in order to use his monstrous gifts to do battle with evil. Though there are times when a more intimate compassion or concern for others break through his stony facade the character is little changed here from the character as I’ve known him in other media. In point of interesting fact it is his snarky demonic had that will often express thoughts, feelings and observations that D might well share byt will almost never voice himself. In effect D becomes two characters for the price of one. One grimly stoic while the other is obnoxiously observant and communicative.
Given this the real meat of the story is more about the characters other than the protagonist. D was hired to slay the vampire Duke Von Doren, named the Tiger for his ferocity in battle especially against overwhelming odds. Van Doren is not some simple monster waiting to be slayed by a wandering hero but a complex creature with complex emotions and drives. In a lifetime spanning millennia he has little understanding of humanity and yet his taking and preserving a human wife for over one hundred years before she left him has greatly changed the formerly impassive Duke into something of a man of the people. He does his best to see to the well being of despite his inability to fully comprehend humans, even after his wife has left his side. His kingdom is beset but those wishing to overthrow or assassinate him in his apparent weakness and yet he only defends himself against direct attacks. He comes across as a much more tragically empathetic character than D frankly.
Being written by an Asian with Asian sensibilities there are times when those unfamiliar with how stories and characters are framed in the East might have some difficulty with the prose structure or themes. There are times when I myself had to reread a passage or two to make use I correctly interpreted the flow of events on the page. This could also be due to this author’s particular narrative style, as I may have only read one of his other works many years ago. It is a story worth getting into though for the uninitiated as the world of D is a rich one in all of its media forms.
ART
Amano’s art is legendary in its style and detail, having served not only to define the world of Vampire Hunder D but also that of Final Fantasy. His work has an aesthetic every bit as identifiable unique as Mobius or HR Giger. Once you see it you know it and welcome it.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I highly recommend getting into this series but either start at the beginning or watch the first anime move beforehand. 4.5 out of 5!
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VAMPIRE HUNTER D: THE TIGER IN WINTER
Writer:Â Hideyuki Kikuchi
Art:Â Yoshittaka Amano
Translation: Kevin Leahy
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