ISBN-13: 9781569707906
Language: English
Direction: Right to Left
by: Hideyuki Kikuchi, Saiko Takaki
Pages: 242
Publisher: Digital Manga Publishing
Type: Series
Genre: Seinen, Action, Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Sci-fi
Synopsis:In a secluded village void of the dangers that come during the night, there lies an ageless sleeping beauty once bitten by a vampire 30 years ago. She is the key that holds the delicate balance in the village in which mortals and the Nobility can coexist. But when the wandering vampire known as “D†is drawn to the town by recurring dreams of the mysterious girl, the town will stop at nothing to protect that tranquil balance and stop the vampire hunter’s in his tracks.
Character Musings:
Sybille Schmitz, a vampire victim who has been asleep for thirty years, unchanging and un-aging.
Nan Lander, a young girl of the town who has had multiple dreams of D. Lively, vibrant, and full of life. Yet envious of Sybille.
Krutz Bogen, the town sheriff and one time lover of Sybille. A fair man, but unable to forget his past love.
General Musings:
This was an interesting volume that was both fun, but also a little confusing to read. The confusion though was a good one making for an interesting read.
The volume starts off with a superb colour panel. I’m not a fan of the art style, but I have to admit that when done in full colour, this art style looks awesome. Likewise the cover of the volume looks superb as well.
I’ve read a few of the Vampire Hunter D novels, but don’t remember this one so it was a nice change of pace for me, not knowing what’s happening. The story this time was rather interesting, since there was no vampire this time.
Rather than having a “evil†vampire to be slain this time we have Sybille, a young girl who was bitten and then slept for thirty years. That’s pretty much the crux of the story, D trying to find out why she’s been asleep for so long, and why she called him to her.
I liked how the story played out, with the true events being hidden until the very end. The ending of the story was very sad, probably one of the worst I’ve read so far. Worst as in heart wrenching, not bad.
Art wise this is a very hard series to judge objectively. I don’t feel the art does the characters justice, and I especially don’t like how the men of the series almost always look evil, even when they aren’t. Though I will admit that I like the way the girls look, with the exception of both the male and female characters having huge black marks around their eyes.
Yet, I have to admit that the art does manage to get across the feel and atmosphere of the novels. DMP did an excellent job as always with this volume, the editing was done perfectly with great placement and choice of fonts.
As with all Vampire Hunter D manga this was an excellent read well worth investing in.
