Mysterious Journey To The North Sea Part 1
a review by Christopher Seaman

VAMPIRE HUNTER D has been a cultural icon in Japanese horror anime and science fiction for 20 years now, incarnated in movies, novels, and soon, a manga. Many stories have been told about this character. The artwork by Yoshitaka Amano is often praised for its beauty and sweeping use of line. This seventh novel, published by DH PRESS, is another epic in the making, with the added twist that it is a two part story- the conclusion being released in September.

The story, like all the others, is set in a post apocalyptic future where humans struggle to survive in the world against a race of super vampires- the much feared and mysterious Nobility. Once all powerful, this race is in decline, their numbers dwindling faster thanks to the efforts of the seemingly indestructible D. Unlike other stories, however, D this time travels out of the wasteland to the North Sea, ostensibly on an errand to deliver a precious bead to the family of a young woman who died at the hands of thugs led by a massive, monstrous character named Gilligan. As Wu-Lin (the young woman) died, she asked D specifically to carry out this deed, and without question, he does so, undertaking a sea voyage to the fishing town where the main part of our story is set. Along the way, he is hounded by the grotesque fiends working for Gilligan, a fighter named Glen, and others. He also makes the acquaintance of Su-In, who turns out to be Wu-Lin’s sister. Arriving in the village, though, D quickly realizes Gilligan’s goons, still hunting the bead, have followed him, and Glen is also on the scene looking for a fight- just because he is a fighter and that is what they do… D also discovers one of the Nobility lives in the area, and has been something of a problem for many years. With this piece added to the puzzle, the stage is set for some classic D action.

Changing the scenery has really helped to set this novel apart from the others. New settings give new life to the kind of stock characters that Hideyuki Kikuchi populates his stories with. The brawlers and supernatural types were starting to get a little old by now. Taking in some brisk cool air, though, has pumped new life into them, and has made this novel a quick, richly textured and absorbing read. Once again, Kevin Leahy, in translating this book, has given life to the prose, and in the descriptive passages created some beautiful passages that make this one of the most pleasantly descriptive editions in the series so far. D does not appear as often in this volume as in some of the others, but is often known to be in a scene even when his name is not mentioned directly because of the numerous references to the ‘beautiful’ man amongst the crowd. One scene, where Glen is mistaken for D plays effectively on this, because he is described as being handsome, but not a beautiful as D. This, apparently, should have been a clue to the misfits attacking Glen that they got the wrong guy. It also gives some idea just how into D the author really is.

In terms of the visuals, the illustrations by Yoshitaka Amano are wild, black and rich in crazy lines and forms, with some of the images almost appearing abstract in conception. They compliment the text nicely, and give the whole book a classy look. As for extras, there is a postscript by the author, lending us more insight into his creative processes. Also, there is an extensive preview of the next volume, which contains the concluding part of this story. Normally, as a reviewer, I don’t read this section too closely, as I can enjoy it better when included in the next book as a part of the whole story. This time was different. I read the preview very carefully.

That should say something in itself.