A review by kiki6k
Vampire Hunter D by Hideyuki Kikuchi, Yoshitaka Amano

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

This book is a major mess of genres, a pulpy vampire epic where a badass protagonist slashes through every monster imaginable. The descriptions are lavish, while the characters leap off the page, from the stoic D to the clearly Southern Doris. Battle scenes explode with over-the-top action like a light novel on steroids, and the dialogue, though a bit melodramatic, fits the cheesy charm perfectly. (Some translations probably didn’t westernize well.)

It's a genre blender gone rogue, a mashup of dark fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and spaghetti westerns. Vampire Hunter D is very much pulp fiction, an exhilarating ride that doesn't take itself too seriously. Just grab your stake, suspend your disbelief, and enjoy the fun!