 | | ▪ | RELEASED BY: | | DIGITAL MANGA PUBLISHING | | | ▪ | ADAPTATION / ART: | | SAIKO TAKAKI | | | ▪ | FORMAT: | | JAPANESE / B&W | | | ▪ | PAGES: | | 220 | | | ▪ | RATING: | | YA | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 05/20/2009 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 05/18/2009 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | HOLLY ELLINGWOOD |
Any Vampire Hunter D fans familiar with the hit anime film Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust will have to pick up this manga. It retells that famous chapter in D’s saga with different twists and stunning art. A distraught father hires D to rescue his kidnapped daughter from the hands and fangs of the Noble Mayerling. D is offered a handsome sum to rescue her – or if she’s been turned into a vampire – slay her. The dispassionate hunter takes the task but he is not alone. There are other vampire hunters abroad who are hungry for the bounty and some are far more ruthless than the vampire they are chasing. The Marcus Clan is a family of hunters who have an arsenal at their disposal, a younger psychic brother with unmatched powers, and a sister, the lovely and tough Leila. Unlike the movie, the manga goes more in depth into Leila’s life and the hardships she suffers at the hands of her grotesque brothers who will stoop so low as to use their own sister to satisfy their base needs. On a reconnaissance mission she is rescued by D and a bond begins to grow as their paths cross multiple times in the long chase after Mayerling and the young woman he’s carried away. It isn’t a tale of a foul vampire kidnapping an unwilling and beautiful victim. The two are in love and their forbidden love between vampire and human causes all hands to turn against them as they chase an impossible dream of happiness. D and the Marcus Clan fight each other. D also confronts Mayerling more than once as well as the dreaded monsters of the Barbarois. Three of them defy their laws to chase after D and kill him. In one of the violent fights against a woman who can take on the aspects of anything she touches, it is the human Leila who comes to D’s aid. Could the love between vampire and human have inspired another such forbidden union between a human bounty hunter and a dhampir? The story culminates to a violent climax and one that is heartrending involving the end of dreams, the doom of lovers lost, and the oblivion that all who cross D must face. Adapted straight from the third novel of the series, the manga holds a captivating tale of star crossed lovers, ill met fate, and the smallest hope within a sea of torment. Along with the gripping story, a personal favorite of mine among the Vampire Hunter D series, the art by Saiko Takaki continues to impress with how well it captures Kikuchi’s riveting tale of supernatural horror. It does so while adding a personal flair to illustrations that come close to the surreal beauty of Yoshitaka Amano’s original art from the novels. Takaki’s art captures the Gothic sensual beauty and immersing fantasy quality held within the heart of every Vampire Hunter D tale. This volume of the manga also holds a special treasure for Hideyuki Kikuchi fans. It has an exclusive preview of Hideyuki Kikuchi’s new vampire novel series Tashakiden – The Demon Princess, to be published for the first time ever in English in North America. The manga also holds a lustrous Gothic image of Mayerling and his beloved in a forbidden embrace on the cover page.
IN SUMMARY:
D faces one of his most dramatic trials when he must choose between slaying a vampire and human in love – or help them. All while having to contend with rival bounty hunters an unexpected and beautiful human ally that could tempt even the stoic yet eternally lonely D. |
