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Forum - View topicREVIEW: Vampire Hunter D Novel 1
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vashfanatic
 Posts: 3495 Location: Back stateside |
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Wow, this book has been out for over two years, and you're only reviewing it now??
As for the Vampire Hunter D novels... the first one I actually kept after reading was #4, and they don't get really good until #6. Kikuchi definitely improves as he goes along. |
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Dargonxtc
 Posts: 4463 Location: Nc5xd7+ スターダストの海洋 |
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3 years, 5 months, 20 days actually. I for one am glad it is getting reviewed however. I actually wish some more older stuff that never got reviewed would get some looking at. Though I understand why it doesn't. |
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marie-antoinette
 Posts: 4136 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
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I read this a year ago. It was okay, but I think that D was made a bit too powerful to start it off, as well. Having him spoiler[come back from the dead] in the first book of the series really makes any danger he'd face later a bit trivial since even if similar events happen again, he'll be just fine.
I don't think I'd be picking up any of the other books, except perhaps the one that Bloodlust is based on, because I thought that story was quite interesting. |
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max_genus
 Posts: 12 Location: US - Mid Atlantic |
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What I find hard to believe (aside from the time the book has been available) is rating the C+ for the art!
Get Real! This is Yoshitaka Amano's work we're talking about! |
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maaya
Posts: 976 |
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I`m really happy to see more novel reviews, no matter how old the novels are. For manga and anime there are many sources, but information and reviews of light novels are a bit more difficult to find. So it's hard to tell which one is worth reading. So, thank you and I'm looking forward to more 
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Alucalb
Posts: 171 |
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Well, he is spoiler[the son of Dracula, it's a given that he'd be tougher than a cockroach. Besides, he needs the Left Hand to ressurect him, and ol' Lefty to get chopped off every once in a while so there's still some danger of permanent death if the hand gets lost or eaten.]
The illustrations were rather bland by Amano's standards. But, much like the writing, they improve greatly over time. |
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sepherest
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Wow, I didn't know the site would be reviewing something so...old.
I thought they would've reviewed one of the more recent releases. I'm also a bit surprised at the c+ art rating, but I do agree that it gets much better as the books go on. I own one of the artbooks and some of the colored pieces are absolutely stunning. |
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Lunarose
 Posts: 128 |
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I'm neutral about buying it, but I am interested in the psychological aspect of it. Storyline seems really confusing and complicated though. Maybe not.
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Dardre
 Posts: 166 |
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What I found most interesting about this story is that the vampires (as a whole) aren't depicted a pure evil; they are more... decadent and morally corrupt than anything else. It's pretty much stated that it was the vampires' foresight and preparation that allowed humans to continue to survive after they blew themselves back into the Stone Age via nuclear war.
What I found kind of ironic is that it was the vampires that led the way into a sort of technological golden age (crystal cites and space travel) so advanced that the humans of the current age can't understand most of it. The whole series shows vampires having both saved humankind, and then made them their slaves (or perhaps it's more like prevented them for ever being a threat to them). The irony really shows up in later novels, when the reader is shown those crystal cities and how those cites no longer function due to the actions of the ignorant humans. The series shows both vampires and humans at their worst, and fairly evenly at that; the humans are just as bad as the vampires sometimes. What I didn't like is Kikuchi's 'fixation' on how unearthly beautiful D is; it actually gets worse in future novels. It seems that he can't go without mentioning it almost every time he refers to D. Add in a somewhat chauvinistic attitude toward women (and in later novels this borders on misogyny) and it can make for some uncomfortable reading (though in his defense, this series is set-up as having a medieval mind-set and attitude). Take Doris for example, she's introduced as strong and independent but by the end of the story spoiler[she's reduced to a weak and dependent girl who'll have to rely on a man (in this case her brother) in order to survive; never mind that she's been taking care of her farm for years and raising said brother by herself. This happens to just about every woman that appears as a major character (when she's not being kidnapped or raped anyway).] That's the main reason I stopped reading the novels after the fourth one. Still, it's a good novel and series, for the most part. |
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vashfanatic
Posts: 3495 Location: Back stateside |
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...which is unfortunate, because by books 7-8 (Journey to the North Sea), he's dispensed with most of that and had really strong female leads. The opening chapter of #6 even makes fun of the way he always introduces D! 1-3 are pretty dumb, 4-5 improve a little, and then 6 and onwards so far I've really enjoyed. But really, why did it take 3 years for this to get reviewed? |
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Alucalb
Posts: 171 |
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Perhaps the same could be said of all religions.
Anyway, got the newest release today, Pale Fallen Angel. Looks to be a good one. |
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portgas
Posts: 66 |
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A reviewer has every right to grade something as he sees it, but a reason for the C+ for the art would have been nice.
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18458 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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The C+ grade was a testament to how much the artistry didn't impress me. The single biggest flaw is that it's so heavily shaded that it obscures most of the detail, but I also found it too rough for my taste. As for the time lag? A review copy just happened to get sent to me a few weeks ago, and since we had never gotten around to reviewing any of the series, I figured it'd be worth doing even though a couple of years had already lapsed. (Normally we don't do titles that old unless it's a recently-released boxed set of an older series, and normally there's plenty enough new stuff available to prevent us from ever getting around to older, neglected stuff.) |
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Beruda
Posts: 114 |
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I've read every book in the series so far and each book has their strengths and flaws but I have enjoyed each enough to keep reading. I was also somewhat dissapointed with the first book I felt the writing wasn't that good but I still wanted to read more.
I'm finding this world that Kikuchi has created becomes more fascinating to me as time goes on. D as a character has evolved too IMO although very slowly, lol and Kikuchi's writing does get better as the series goes on. I just finished reading the latest volume and I can't believe we have to wait until March 09 to read the conclusion. Cheers B. |
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Dardre
Posts: 166 |
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Really? Well, if he has added good, strong female characters, maybe I'll just skip ahead to books 7 and 8. It just really irritated me that even the strong girls in books one and two spoiler[ either lose that strength (by falling in love, no less!) or are killed.] I'd just like to see at least one woman stay strong and independent right through the end (spoiler[and preferably not raped]). |
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