Hideyuki Kikuchis Vampire Hunter D Manga Volume 1

Well, now there is the MANGA! The story is the same, but the artwork makes it worth grabbing. Even if the women are more shapely than most Playboy Bunnies. Get it. Read it. Love it...but not in that way. [..] Great for any library on manga, vampires or artwork.

I loved the novel, I loved the Anime and this Manga presentation fits beautifully in with first Vampire Hunter D novels. The scene when Doris comes to D to offer him payment before the job was finished is very well done but different from the Anime. I think this and Volume 2 are both must have for Vampire Hunter D fans.

I'm not a big fan of the movie version of this, but I'd heard the novels were better and that the manga was more faithful to those so I picked these up. At first the artwork surprised me. It's very busy. But then as I started to read I began to appreciate how the ornateness paired up with the spare dialogue to tell the story. The style reminds of a combination of Kaori Yuki (Angel Sanctuary/Count Cain) and Kouta Hirano (Hellsing), in a good way. It's dense with lines and textures, but most panels were easily understood despite that. There were only a few in battles scenes that confused me. The story has been described by the others, vampire hunter with a mysterious past saves a buxom (waaaaaay too buxom) girl and her kid brother (who sounds like he stepped off the set of Bonanza). This is a Western at heart. The trappings though are new and original, and I was intrigued by this futuristic new world where horses were constructs and men could have hands that talked. It looks like this could be a long string of volumes complete within themselves, but containing an arc slowly revealing D's past that strings them together. I've read the first two and thought they were really entertaining, lively action and bits of the puzzle of D to think about. I'd recommend them to anyone who likes mature graphic novels, vampires, dark fantasy, and science fiction.

I am new to manga...I've never really been able to appreciate the manga format as much as I should, but I am a veteran D fan. I adored Bloodlust, and over the past year have become a hardcore fan now that I've been reading the novels. I was excited to hear that a manga was coming out even though I don't read mangas, and now that I have it in my eager hands I was not disappointed! It's so wonderful to be seeing D and Doris, exactly as I saw them in my imagination. This was a splendid adaptation of the first novel, and the art work is simply gorgeous. The darkness, the pain, and the beauty was captured just perfectly. The dark, and captivating world of D was brought to life in a way the first movie failed miserably to achieve. The only thing I didn't really like was that there was just so much going on on each page, sometimes it was a little hard to follow. I think if I didn't know the story already I may have been lost. But then again you talking to a girl who didn't know your supposed to read a manga back to front, and right to left until two days ago.

Especially that there was this shocking news to an Anime fan that there was "No such thing" as an "Original Vampire Hunter D Manga". Direct from book to Anime. Rarer, but nowhere near unheard of. Also tangent "Shamanic Princess" for example. Overall, it is a very good Manga adaptation of the novel. Actually a bit of a gestalt of the Novel and the film, leaning heavily towards the former. A little bit of artistic license here and there for gag effect, but in no way detracts from the story. The artwork is very good although Amano's own artwork is much better but now much more stylized than most would like. This is simply a "Must Have" for anyone who likes D enough to have the films. To anyone who's maybe watched the films on TV or a rental or at someone's house, I'd still recommend the Manga, then perhaps the first volume of the translated book. Some examples of this are that Doris has black hair and is a bit of a more forceful personality rather than constant "Damsel in Distress" of the manga. The count's daughter, Lamika, is a blonde and is interested in rather than scornful of D. And the Count is still as formidable, but his powers are a bit...different. Won't say more and be a possible 'spoiler'...again I'll say its well worth buying. I don't even get that many comics or mangas these days, but I eagerly bought this one. What I think is even better is that there seems to be promise to make more of these books into novels, up to perhaps (market willing) the whole series. At the least, "Raiser of Gales" will be available next summer:-) Last, but not least, this book is a larger format. Half again the size of the standard manga. This, not licensing is no doubt the reason for its increased price, but it is thick and chock full of beautiful illustration, including a color front piece, something American Manga publishers seem to cheat out of for the most part.