When Doris was attacked by a vampire, she knew either the vampire had to be killed or he would keep returning until she changed into one of his kind. She is lucky enough to find a Hunter specializing in vampires before long, and hires a young man named D. Killing vampires isn't ever an easy job, but D's is complicated by the interference of Doris' jilted would-be-lover who also happens to be the son of the mayor and the arrival in the small town of a group of violent outlaws who call themselves the Fiend Corp.

One of the first things a reader will probably notice about this book is the purple prose, particularly during descriptions. Some readers may be very put off by this, but I've rather gotten use to it in this series. I have read allegations that the translator exaggerated this in the writing, trying to make it sound more "gothic" but as I can't read Japanese I couldn't say if it might be true. Rarely the translation falters a little, and becomes jarring or unclear. (One of the worst instances of this happens in the middle of page 14. I'm still not sure what exactly was suppose to have happened after having read this book a number of times.)

The setting and cultures in this series are fascinating. I'm a sucker for interesting world-building, and will forgive a great many flaws if you give me a nice imaginary place to play with.

Some characters could be a little more fleshed out, but for the most part the main ones are engaging and provide enough substance that they don't feel as if they are just serving the plot. I would have liked to see better motivation for some of the minor characters.

Despite its flaws, this series remains one I enjoy reading. I would caution people who have seen the anime films based on this series, particularly VHD:Bloodlust, that this is quite different. I definitely prefer the books, finding the films rather dully PC and too inclined to follow typical anime tropes, but that's probably because I started reading the books and developed a stubborn picture in my head before seeing the films. If future readers of this book want to try one of the films, I recommend the 1985 one just titled Vampire Hunter D over the new one.

Added this book to the Weird Western Bookbox, which is on its way to GoryDetails.

I've been interested in trying some of the Vampire Hunter D books after coming across the TV tropes entry, so I'm taking this from the Weird Western bookbox. (I was torn between this and the two-volume/three-part books also in the box, but I liked this cover better {grin}.)

Later: I liked some of the aspects of the story - the whole post-apocalyptic-vampires situation, for one - but the prose is most definitely purple. I can take a certain amount of that, but here it tended to give me the giggles. And the opening scene between D and the beautiful naked woman with a whip was pure fetish fuel (if a bit heavy on the explanations as to just how beautiful each of them was), at least until we learn that the girl's name is Doris, and that she's not really the kinky femme fatale she seemed to be. (We get to go through this again when Rei-Ginsei, the "Asian Apollo", shows up; I can see some advantages in manga here, as they can just draw the really gorgeous characters with sparkles instead of having to spend paragraphs telling us how stunning they are!)

The story interested me enough that I'd like to see the movie now; will see if that makes me want to pursue the series further.

[I did find myself wondering idly whether this "D" is any relation to the Count D who runs the pet shop of horrors... He's another impossibly-beautiful, surprisingly-dangerous character!]

I'm putting this book into nattabee's Can't Wait to Get on the Road Again shrinking bookbox. Enjoy!

Selecting from the "Can't Wait to Get Back on the Road Again" Bookbox. Thanks for including it.

This was the first in this series that I read. I started out liking the book, but by the end I grew tired of the characters and their story. I'm not sure why.

Adding to emmejo's Vampire book box so that others who may not have read the first one will have an opportunity to select it with others in the series.

Took out of emmejo's Vampire Bookbox

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