Vampire Hunter D
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| Vampire Hunter D | |
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 Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust movie poster |
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| 吸血鬼ハンターD (Kyūketsuki Hantā Dī) |
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| Genre | Horror, Pulp fiction |
| Novel | |
| Author | Hideyuki Kikuchi |
| Illustrator | Yoshitaka Amano |
| Publisher | Asahi Sonorama |
| Published | 1983 |
| Volumes | 17 |
Vampire Hunter D (吸血鬼ハンターD Kyūketsuki Hantā Dī?) is the title character of a series of novels by Japanese horror and pulp author Hideyuki Kikuchi.
Beginning in 1983, Kikuchi has so far written 17 "D" novels, illustrated by Final Fantasy series designer Yoshitaka Amano. The first and third books were adapted into internationally released anime movies (licensed in the USA by Urban Vision), reaching a minor cult status in the U.S.; the first ten novels are now available in English from DH Press, the prose division of Dark Horse Comics. On November 17th 2007 Digital Manga Publishing released an English manga based on the first book with the second is expected in summer of 2008. At least two art books, a survival-horror video game, Japanese-language audio dramas, and various other official (as well as fan-based) memorabilia exist based upon the Vampire Hunter D series.
Contents |
[edit] Premise
D, a sort of lone wolf-like knight-errant, wanders through a far-future post-nuclear Earth that combines the best of pulp genres: western, science fiction, horror and high fantasy with a good dash of H. P. Lovecraftian mythos, folklore and occult science. The planet, once terrified by the elegant but cruel Nobles (vampires), ancient demons, mutants and their technological creations, is now slowly returning to a semblance of order and human control — thanks in part to the decadence that brought about the downfall of the vampire race, to the continued stubbornness of frontier dwellers and, to the rise of a caste of independent hunters-for-hire who eliminate supernatural threats.
The year is approximately 12,090 AD. Some time in 1999, a nuclear war occurred and nearly ended all life on earth. The Nobility were vampires that planned for a possible nuclear war and sequestered all that was needed to rebuild civilization in their shelters. They use their science combined with magic to restore the world in their image. Nearly all magical creatures are engineered, with a very small number being demons who survived the holocaust. Despite their technology being great enough to create a blood substitute, they still prefer humans. As such they create a vampire-human civilization, eventually reducing the planet to parklands and cities. The society eventually stagnates when vampire technology perfects prophesy and determines they are at their zenith and are doomed to fall, and be overthrown by humans. The human race was also transformed at this time, with fear for the vampires being woven into the genetic level, and the inability to remember vampire weaknesses like garlic and crucifixes.
Unlike vampires from traditional lore, the Nobility have the ability to reproduce sexually, although their offspring will permanently cease aging after reaching physical maturity, in keeping with their immortality.
D is a dhampir, the half-breed child of a vampire father and human mother, therefore he makes the ideal vampire hunter. He is renowned for his consummate skill and unearthly grace, but feared and despised for his mixed lineage: born of both races but belonging to neither. Often underestimated by his opponents, D has surprising power and resourcefulness, possessing most of the strengths and only mild levels of vampiric weaknesses. It has been seen in both movies that his power is not only physical, but extends into magic as well. However he prefers his physical powers,only using his magic in time of great pain or stress. Unlike most dhampirs, D is able to live as a "normal" human, though marked by his unearthly beauty and powerful aura, and thus rarely accepted by humans. His only notable weaknesses are that he is, while not unfeeling, emotionally remote. He is also (far more rarely than other dhampirs) randomly susceptible to sun-sickness, a severe type of sunstroke, about once every five years. Otherwise, D does not suffer from vampiric weaknesses usual to dhampirs, possessing an imposing supernatural aura to his opponents and godlike reflexes surpassing even vampires.
D is the host for a sentient symbiote, Left Hand, a wise-cracking human face residing in his left palm, who can suck in massive amounts of matter through a wind void or vacuum tunnel. Left Hand enjoys needling the poker-faced D, but only appears as needed, rarely witnessed or heard by anyone other than D, yet aware of many of D's thoughts and actions. At all other times, D's left hand appears normal. Besides providing a contrast to D's reserved demeanor, Left Hand is incredibly useful, possessing many mysterious powers such as psychometry, inducing sleep, determining the medical condition of a victim, and the ability to size up the supernatural powers or prowess of an enemy, even beyond D's keen senses. In the first and second novels, Left Hand can also revive D when his physical condition is suffering, by consuming the four elements and converting the resulting energy into life force. This ability even saved D from the usually fatal stake through the heart he received from Rei-Ginsei in the first novel. Left Hand has its own mind and will, and acts as D's guide and sole permanent companion, providing a reservoir of knowledge pertaining to the lost Noble culture. So far, Left Hand's origins are unknown, and it is unclear how they came to be joined. However, some of its nature is revealed in the third book, which features a similar creature; it is implied he was one of the Barbarois (human/monster hybrids) who served in the personal retinue of Dracula.
D rides a cybernetic horse with mechanical legs and other enhancements, wields a crescent longsword which looks similar to Yoshitaka Amano's scimitar sword design found in many of his artworks, but the sword has a hefty length to that of a Japanese nodachi, and always wears a mystical blue pendant. The pendant cancels many automatic defenses, such as laser fields and small nuclear blasts, produced by vampire technology, and will allow him to enter their sealed castles. In the novels and game, he also uses wooden needles which he can throw with super speed. He protects his milk-white face from the noonday sun with long black hair, flowing black clothing and cape, and the shadow of a wide-brimmed hat. Though he appears to be only 17 or 18 in the first novel (slowly aging as the series goes on), D's age is unknown (although he is implied to be at least hundreds of years old, and possibly over ten thousand years old). His beauty is mesmerizing, usually wooing women unintentionally and sometimes even making men flustered.
Very little is known of D's parentage, or his past. Some Vampires whisper dark rumours about the Sacred Ancestor, Count Dracula, bedding a human woman called "Mina the Fair". Dracula conducted bizarre crossbreeding experiments (involving himself and countless human women), with the only successful product of the experiments being D. D, wanting nothing to do with his father save for killing him, refuses to go by his true name. Instead, he shortens it to the first letter.
Dracula's role in the novels is very mixed, appearing both as bane and savior to isolated towns, and deified as an ancestral god-king to the vampires, many of whom never even met him. D quotes Dracula's precepts ("Transient guests are we" — implied to refer to the Nobility, obviously) in the first novel. Dracula appears both as a lawgiver honored for his intelligence, who showed some interest in preserving humans, and as a ruthless scientist in the second novel, conducting hybrid breeding experiments with humans in order to perpetuate his own dwindling species. D appears to have encountered his father on at least one occasion, as when at times D reaches a place where the imprint of Dracula's power remains, D remembers Dracula telling him that "You are my only success." Like D, Dracula is portrayed as a mysterious and handsome young wanderer, who deals out both life and death.
[edit] Media
[edit] Novels
Despite the popularity worldwide of the Vampire Hunter D movies, English translations of the books only emerged in 2005, from Dark Horse Press and Digital Manga, with translation by Kevin Leahy.
[edit] Animated movies
- Vampire Hunter D
One of the first anime films released outside of Japan, Vampire Hunter D remains a cult classic in the English-speaking world. Billed by the Japanese producers as a "dark future science-fiction romance" Vampire Hunter D is set in the year 12,090 A.D., in a post-nuclear holocaust world where vampires, mutants and demons "slither through a world of darkness" (in the words of the film's opening introduction).
The film features strong classical Western overtones and memorable voice-acting performances in both English and Japanese, most especially in regards to the title character, D. It was ground-breaking in that it effectively brought together elements of Gothic horror and dystopian post-apocalyptic science fiction in a Western framework that some have argued appears to be largely a homage to the film Shane.
Kikuchi has stated that a remake of this film is in the works.
- Vampire Hunter D ~ Bloodlust
The second film, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust garnered respect for its advanced animation techniques, voice-acting originally recorded in English (English voice casting/direction by Jack Fletcher), and its sophisticated orchestral soundtrack composed, arranged and conducted by Marco D'Ambrosio. Its art style closely mirrored that of the illustrator and original character designer of the first movie, Yoshitaka Amano.
The storyline features a larger cast than the first film and some believe that the film echoes more of Kikuchi's writing. The second Vampire Hunter D movie (VHD2000; Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust in the USA) is based on the third of Hideyuki Kikuchi's Vampire Hunter D novels (Demon Deathchase in English). The movie is rated R for Violence/Gore.
- Demon Journey to the North Sea
It has been stated by Kikuchi himself (in the afterwords of both volumes of Mysterious Journey to the North Sea) that the two-part seventh and eight books are the next candidate to become an animated feature.
[edit] Manga
Vampire Hunter D's first manga incarnation was released November 28th, with English being the first language published. It's an adaptation of the first novel, with Saiko Takaki hand picked by Hideyuki himself.
[edit] Video game
A video game based on Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust was also made for the PlayStation game console, titled Vampire Hunter D. It is a survival horror game, but also similar to a standard adventure title. The player can see D from different pre-rendered angles throughout the game, and allow D to attack enemies with his sword. D can also use magic, Left Hand's abilities, and items. The story of the game is similar to that of Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust, although it takes place entirely within the castle as D fights all the enemies. Only two of the Barbarois mutants appear as enemies. There are 3 endings, 1 of which is similar to the end of the anime.
[edit] Audio drama
Over the years, Asashi Sonorama has created audio drama adaptations of the earlier novels, in which the voice cast for the original OVA reprized their roles. Originally released on cassette tape, they were re-released as a Drama CD box set, including a small art book and a new short story by Kikuchi.
[edit] External links
- The Vampire Hunter D Archives
- DHpress Books
- Digital Manga Publishing
- Asashi Sonorama - Japanese publisher of the Vampire Hunter D series books and audio dramas.
- Hideyuki Kikuichi Official Fan Club (Japanese)
- [1] Official Vampire Hunter D Manga Website
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