Vampire Hunter D Volume 3: Demon Deathchase

If you have seen Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, then you may wish to pick up this volume. It is this book that the movie is based on. Of course, the movie is not just a copy of the novel, there are certain twists and turns that make them different. In fact the ending in the movie seems to be brighter than the one in the book, just slightly. The Marcus Clan are not people I would want to hire or even meet in a coffee shop. And vampire Noble Mayerling, while not the good guy, still comes off as more honorable and interesting than many of the humans in the book. Well, he is a vampire. A must for any vampire library.

I first watched Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust before picking up this novel, and I am glad I did because it makes me respect this book even more! At first I thought it was going to be a hard read after reading some reviews... so I watched the movie (which I loved) so I bought the book. As is in most cases, the book trumps the movie by far. There really is much deeper story to the book than the movie. I was unable to put down this book for days. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the movie(s) and/or Vampire Tales.

This is the book that the second Vampire Hunter D movie is based on. If you thought the movie was good: this is WAY better. Some of the scenes that might not have made much sense in the movie are better explained in the original story, and there are pleny of shocking elements in here (probably considered too much for the movie) to keep you turning each page. Definately worth the money!

So far I love all the Vampire Hunter D Novles. It was a lot better than the movie. It was nothing like the movie. It was very different from the movie. Hopefully next time they make another Vampire Hunter D Movie (I hope they do.) I hope they follow it more closely to the book. D as a twisted, cold sense of humor. I love the book and I can't wait to read the next one.

Having seen "Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust" long before this book became available, I have found it difficult to judge the book on its own merits without comparison to the anime. "Bloodlust" was a masterpiece: great characters, artwork and animation among the best ever, tremendous action, tragedy, pathos, imagination; it had it all. Not unexpectedly, the book contains quite a number of differences from the film. Quite a number of scenes from the movie simply are not there: the confrontation on the bridge is missing; the scene where the father asks D to find his daughter is radically different, but much creepier; the ending is different and more tragic. Much of the book would not have worked as well visually and much of the movie would have been less effective in print. The book, though, was the original, and it deserves primacy. It is a bit more lurid, creepier, and perverse in places. The movie is more of an adventure story with horror elements, but it is more true to the air of Kikuchi's series, steeped foremost in the horror tradition. As with the first book, many questions are answered that were never quite explained in the movie, including the nature and origin of the face in D's hand. Comapared to the other VHD books, this one is an easier read; the translator is doing a good job, and seems to have a better grip on how to handle Kikuchi's sometimes overrich descriptions and mood-setting. The first book was not an easy read, but there were many connections to the first movie that made it easier to follow; in fact, the book cleared up a huge number of ambiguities and questions left over from the movie. The second book was lurid and dense; it took a fair amount of effort to read, and the pure horror quotient was stronger. Even so, it was still a good read. This third installment is worthwhile both for its connection to the movie and for its differences. You get much more of the true mindset of its author, and it's definitely more of a pure supernatural horror story. Differences from the movie aside, it's simply an excellent horror novel and is unquestionably worth the time and effort. The excerpt from the fourth book at the end already has me anxiously waiting for its August release; it looks like quite a different story tack and has a very different style of opening than any of the other stories.