Vampire Hunter D

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Before anything else, this is a review of the first novel only, not the entire series. So I can't judge the rest.
If there was any novel that really should have been a graphic novel, it is this one. It wants to be a graphic novel so badly that it seems to abandon the idea that it is a novel at all and lingers somewhere in between the two. The narrator desperately wants us to understand how amazing D is. Instead of letting D's perfection be revealed to us, it is forced upon us. He does ... this by describing the immense speed with which every offense is executed. Because D is so fast in his attacks, the reader must endure a sort of novel replay where the writer has to back track and describe, in slow motion, what just happened that was too fast for the reader to even recognize. It is aggravating to say the least.
The story itself I have never been a fan of even in film form. It isn't compelling to me to read about a girl who is willing to trade sex for just about anything it seems. Already she is a weak character when we first meet her. She only gets weaker. Perhaps I should give the third novel a try since, as the basis for Bloodlust, it is more intriguing.
If you are a fan of Yoshitaka Amano, like I am, check out Coffin: the Art of Vampire Hunter D. Through this you can relish the illustrations without having to read the books.

I imagine most of you are here after watching the movie(s) - which you liked so you’re looking up if the source material is also as fun. Vampire Hunter D definitely fits the visual medium. The novels would be quite good as a script for another screen adaptation. As a stand-alone literature, the experience is not so great.

First, I’d like to say that I really like the setting of this franchise. Dystopian post-apocalyptic gothic cyberpunk that incorporates classic fantasy elements with sci-fi explanations for them is intriguing. The overall aesthetic are pretty unique, but again, visual medium is where this main strength shines much more.

The ... problem with the writing is that majority of the content reads like a side story of a side story, with most of the rest being side story of side story’s side story. Episodical format is certainly not a bad thing by default, but the stories here just lack not only any sort of overall goal, but also any feel of consequences. The story could be very much summarized with “Protagonist finds and defeats the foe of the weak, either thanks to his previously mentioned overpowered abilities, or thanks to entirely new overpowered ability pulled out just in time to be put into use”. It certainly doesn’t help that the protagonist here is a textbook example of Gary Stu. The stakes are entirely absent, as literally never through the volumes I had even a hint of feel that the protagonist might not emerge victorious.

It also took eleven volumes for me to come across the story concept that actually interested me. And I’m not skipping the two volumes that were already adapted into the movies that I’ve liked. Yep, even though I liked the movies, the original novel form just falls flat. Even the one volume that I’ve found interesting quickly went on tangent of matryoska of side stories as what seemed to be a primary goal went further and further away.

Too frequently I caught my attention being drifted away, as the text was too long for having said so little. “Purple prose” really is a good way to describe the writing Style of Vampire Hunter D. In a way, it was more interesting reading about the story Vampire Hunter D than it was to actually read Vampire Hunter D. Nonetheless the style of writing reminds me more of western novels than of eastern work, so if you for some reason dislike the usual style of light novels, then you might still enjoy Vampire Hunter D as it doesn't really feel like light novel - without the Japanese name of the author and prior knowledge of the franchise, I don't think I would have guessed this is a light novel series.

That said, there is one more strong point of the novels, and that’s the illustrations. They are gorgeous, atmospheric and unique. They really create the identity of the franchise, perhaps more so than the story itself. I would absolutely love to read a manga done by the illustrator. A full manga, not just some illustrations here and there.

I’ve tried to like this, I really did. But if I put away my lenience that I had thanks to me liking the movies, I just can’t fairly give this a higher score. I do hope for more adaptations though. As I’ve mentioned, different medium is where Vampire Hunter D can shine.

(This review is for up to volume 17, as it doesn’t seem very probable the writing will improve much, so I’m not motivated enough to continue with further volumes at this point in time.)

Footnote: Concerning the English release, I find it weird how all the volumes include previews for the following volumes. Not just a short, but 10-15 pages. It's pretty much selling you extra duplicate pages I can't imagine anyone actually needs. Of course, this didn't influence my rating of the series itself at all, but I found it a bit bizarre.

There is a phrase that exists to describe works to which we are unreasonably attracted to despite their utter awfulness: so bad it's good.

The writing is laughable. This guy is like Dan Brown... in third grade. Words like "vermilion" and "phosphorescent" abound.

The story itself is not that bad. It's very cliche, but that's part of the appeal. With its thoroughly developed world, frequent homages to earlier vampiric lore, and an unwaveringly stoic hero, it has a very cult feel despite the lack of quality. Basically, the foundation of the story is fantastic. What is subsequently done with that foundation is anything but.

Would I recommend reading ... these books? Maybe. The language is excruciating. It's not the kind of bad that flows because of its simplicity; it's laden with details of the worst kind (vehicles, weapons, and generally all machinery are described with useless precision), with purple prose, tangents, and poor translation. For this alone, waiting for an adaptation might be a better idea (so far there are two movies and the manga is in progress). But if you are interested in the inner workings of D's world, it is very much essential.