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Hideyuki Kikuchi's Vampire Hunter D #3
Hideyuki Kikuchi's Vampire Hunter D, Volume 03
The vampire hunter know only as D is now on a race against time—this time, to hunt down a vampire lord who's kidnapped a daughter of a wealthy village elder. D must also contend with a notorious band of bounty hunters also hired to track down the abductor, and hell-bent on eliminating anyone or anything in their way of their bounty. D is faced with obstacles every corner he turns...can he reach the damsel in distress before she becomes one of the undead?
200 pages, Paperback
First published May 20, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
June 25, 2019
Now having read, Demon Death Chase, and watched the anime film, Blood Lust, finishing the manga version was a nice little treat for me to sink my fangs into. Great artwork, unique adaptation from previous versions, it was truly a glorious experience. Sometimes the mind needs a rest from soaking up all those words, and you need to sit back and enjoy some art. Bloody gothic fun all around. What happens when a human chooses to run away with a vampire over love? You'll find your answer in this tale...
F. D. Gross
F. D. Gross
August 4, 2016
Another great edition tho the hunter series in this manga. A must read.
February 8, 2021
Vampire Hunter D takes place in an alternate version of Earth where Dr. Van Helsing failed to kill Dracula and save Mina Harker; which resulted in Dracula killing the cast of Bram Stoker’s original novel, enslaving humanity and ruling the world with an army of scientifically manufactured demons at his disposal for thousands of years.
The year is now 12,090 A.D. The world has ended, ravaged in a firestorm of man’s wars and madness. But from the wreckage a few humans manage to survive, and a race of forgotten creatures rose up from the ashes. The vampires and their legions of bloodthirsty demons.
Over-the-top violence and flashy action scenes, a blend of every monster in the history of fiction and folklore pulled from every culture imaginable, an insane mashup of dark fantasy, science fiction, dystopian horror, sword & sorcery, spaghetti western, detective mystery and gothic drama. Vampire Hunter D is pulp fiction in its purest form, an orgy of every hammer film production and cheesy 70’s fantasy and horror novel you can think of.
Each book chronicles D traveling to a new location to solve a mystery and take down a tyrant vampire lord terrorizing the locals. It’s very formulaic and that’s not such a bad thing. If you’ve read anything by Robert E. Howard, Michael Moorcock or Arthur Conan Doyle, you’ll have some idea of what to expect. Travel to a new place, hunt some monsters, uncover long forgotten lore, solve mysteries, save pretty girls, big climactic battles between powerful warriors and bloodthirsty beasts. Rinse and repeat. Each monster vanquished brings D closer to facing his arch nemesis, the sacred ancestor who created him and everyone of his kind: Dracula.
Fun fact: Vampire Hunter D inspired the Castlevania series of video games in the same way the manga Berserk inspired the Dark Souls franchise.
***
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The year is now 12,090 A.D. The world has ended, ravaged in a firestorm of man’s wars and madness. But from the wreckage a few humans manage to survive, and a race of forgotten creatures rose up from the ashes. The vampires and their legions of bloodthirsty demons.
Over-the-top violence and flashy action scenes, a blend of every monster in the history of fiction and folklore pulled from every culture imaginable, an insane mashup of dark fantasy, science fiction, dystopian horror, sword & sorcery, spaghetti western, detective mystery and gothic drama. Vampire Hunter D is pulp fiction in its purest form, an orgy of every hammer film production and cheesy 70’s fantasy and horror novel you can think of.
Each book chronicles D traveling to a new location to solve a mystery and take down a tyrant vampire lord terrorizing the locals. It’s very formulaic and that’s not such a bad thing. If you’ve read anything by Robert E. Howard, Michael Moorcock or Arthur Conan Doyle, you’ll have some idea of what to expect. Travel to a new place, hunt some monsters, uncover long forgotten lore, solve mysteries, save pretty girls, big climactic battles between powerful warriors and bloodthirsty beasts. Rinse and repeat. Each monster vanquished brings D closer to facing his arch nemesis, the sacred ancestor who created him and everyone of his kind: Dracula.
Fun fact: Vampire Hunter D inspired the Castlevania series of video games in the same way the manga Berserk inspired the Dark Souls franchise.
***
My Social Media
My YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPPs...
My Instagram Account: https://www.instagram.com/michael_sor...
My Wattpad Account: https://www.wattpad.com/user/Michael-...
August 7, 2017
For Volume Three,
The Art: Still amazing D. Just don't like how the main women are drawn in these mangas...
The Story/Setting: Some earlier reviewer said that this was less sexist towards women. I have to disagreed. One point one of the women almost gets raped in the woods then gets saved and for a reward the guy that saves her tries to rape her too! Like what the? No!
Then the Marcus clan like...ew. No. "You belong to us." crap. Ew. No.
All the men related to any woman in this Manga are gross in my opinion.
Characters:
D- Good ole D. Trying to save everyone even if they don't want too. (Or I think it was for the money.)
Leila-I actually like her. I do feel sorry for her. She doesn't deserve what is happening to her and I love her strong character. For once, this is just what a strong woman character needs to be in this book series. Except the rape (creepy brothers) and of course, marrying a butcher at the end (couldn't figure anything else for her to do?) I really like her character.
Marcus Clan- Bleh! All of them! Bleh!
Mayerling- I actually like this character as while. He was different than most of the cast in this volume and I love how he was drawn.
The Woman: She has no name in the Manga I think, (I couldn't find it off hand) She is also one of those 'Damsels in Distress' characters. Bleh! But doesn't deserve the whole getting rape almost twice in a row either. Ugh.
All in all, the movie was way better. Go watch that. It takes all that rapey crap out.
The Art: Still amazing D. Just don't like how the main women are drawn in these mangas...
The Story/Setting: Some earlier reviewer said that this was less sexist towards women. I have to disagreed. One point one of the women almost gets raped in the woods then gets saved and for a reward the guy that saves her tries to rape her too! Like what the? No!
Then the Marcus clan like...ew. No. "You belong to us." crap. Ew. No.
All the men related to any woman in this Manga are gross in my opinion.
Characters:
D- Good ole D. Trying to save everyone even if they don't want too. (Or I think it was for the money.)
Leila-I actually like her. I do feel sorry for her. She doesn't deserve what is happening to her and I love her strong character. For once, this is just what a strong woman character needs to be in this book series. Except the rape (creepy brothers) and of course, marrying a butcher at the end (couldn't figure anything else for her to do?) I really like her character.
Marcus Clan- Bleh! All of them! Bleh!
Mayerling- I actually like this character as while. He was different than most of the cast in this volume and I love how he was drawn.
The Woman: She has no name in the Manga I think, (I couldn't find it off hand) She is also one of those 'Damsels in Distress' characters. Bleh! But doesn't deserve the whole getting rape almost twice in a row either. Ugh.
All in all, the movie was way better. Go watch that. It takes all that rapey crap out.
June 25, 2017
Me lo leí hace días y ni me acordaba que me lo había leído. Tiene los mismos fallos que los anteriores, cero capacidad de composición de página: Viñetas de acción pequeñas, recargadas y confusas; viñetas de dialogo grandes y vacías. Los personajes básicamente son todos idénticos pero con diferente pelo, además como intenta imitar a Yoshitaka Amano (entiendo que sería algo por contrato al ser la imagen "oficial" de esta obra) se nota que la autora no está cómoda.
Con respecto al guión a veces me da la sensación de que no se ha enterado del mismo y tira para adelante con lo que salga.
Aun así, de los tres primeros me parece el mejor.
Con respecto al guión a veces me da la sensación de que no se ha enterado del mismo y tira para adelante con lo que salga.
Aun así, de los tres primeros me parece el mejor.
September 23, 2017
Much better than the previous two volumes. The story of Meyerling and his love is always the best in manga, novel, or movie form. The beginning was strong and exciting. The middle slowed down in development and became disjointed with the usual random rape scenes and tiny complications. But then it sped up again with the conclusion. I remember the ending being more romantic and dramatic and I remember a post script with Leila in the future in the movie, but I guess that was not included here.
Definitely good enough for me to try the next volume (would have been four stars if the middle hadn't slowed down so much).
Definitely good enough for me to try the next volume (would have been four stars if the middle hadn't slowed down so much).
June 1, 2022
This is one of my favorite stories of the series of Vampire Hunter D. I love the perspective that it takes towards the "Antagonist", showing a more human aspect about him and making him a character whom you can emphasize even more than with the very protagonist or the secondary characters. The narrative is very straight and relates the story in way that supposes that you know why everything is happening without explaining the events, and might be a heavy for casual readers. But, even with that the story that relates is very good, and I highly recommend it.
April 2, 2026
More entertaining than the previous ones. Although the random abuse of the female characters is still present. It should've had more romance or at least shown us Meier's background, which felt at least as interesting as D's. The art was very good here, specially Meier and his lover. The bedridden brother had some good scenes too I guess, but I don't like the abusive subtext of any of the brothers.
August 2, 2025
★★★½☆ (3.5 stars)
The art is still some of the most beautiful I’ve seen in a manga. D is cold and distant, but not unkind. He shows emotion when it really matters, which makes him interesting. The big issue for me is that every woman so far ends up a victim of sexual violence, and it's honestly tiring.The way it handles women likely won’t change, but I’m still curious to know more about D
The art is still some of the most beautiful I’ve seen in a manga. D is cold and distant, but not unkind. He shows emotion when it really matters, which makes him interesting. The big issue for me is that every woman so far ends up a victim of sexual violence, and it's honestly tiring.The way it handles women likely won’t change, but I’m still curious to know more about D
November 19, 2017
The art is still amazing, especially D and Mayerling. I can't decide if I like the movie or this book more... The ending and the overall feeling of the movie was better though, and idk, every time I read a VHD book it seems to me that the story is ajust all over the place :/
June 23, 2017
This is basically a shot for shot reproduction of the Bloodlust movie. Quite enjoyable.
March 18, 2025
The only saving grace is the art. The story is TRASH compared to the altered one from the movie adaptation, Bloodlust.
February 11, 2026
Essentially like the anime movie vhd bloodlust but more crude and more moidly retarded stuff very disappointed by the quick abrupt ending unlike the movie
January 19, 2012
This manga adaptation is based off of the third book of the novels. There is also a movie adaptation called Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust. The movie is a much looser adaptation of this manga. There are numerous plot changes and character personality shifts.
D has been hired by a wealthy ailing man to find his daughter whose been kidnapped by vampire, MeierLink. We soon learn that the two are actually in love and want to escape together to a planet leaving the planet.
D isn't the only one on their tail. The father's also hired the mercenary Marcus brothers (with 3 brothers and a sister) for the same mission. It's a race to the finish for who will rescue her first.
Normally, I prefer the books or manga to a movie or anime, but for this series it was the opposite. The movie was visually stunning a the time with great action. I also much preferred the family dynamic of the Marcus brothers compared to the book as well. In the movie, they at least come off as somewhat likable. However, unlike the book, I felt MeierLink and Charlotte's relationship got much more attention and was able to shine through in the illustrations a bit more. There is one color still of them on the front of the manga that's completely gorgeous. The color is amazing. Leila's character comes off better in the manga than in the book as well, though she is still a bit softer than in the movie. Like the book, her feelings for D are a bit more pronounced. Even still, Leila from the movie is still my preference. Seeing the horror she lives through with her brothers illustrated is somewhat more disturbing than reading about it, so she does come off as more sympathetic.
If you've seen Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, I would recommend reading the manga. It's very interesting to see what the movie changed. I think I prefer the mangas over the books; however, the books are being produced at a much faster rate, so if you can't wait to see what next adventure of D's journey, get the books and then get the manga later. It is interesting to see how close your imagination is to the artist.
*Review also posted to Amazon
D has been hired by a wealthy ailing man to find his daughter whose been kidnapped by vampire, MeierLink. We soon learn that the two are actually in love and want to escape together to a planet leaving the planet.
D isn't the only one on their tail. The father's also hired the mercenary Marcus brothers (with 3 brothers and a sister) for the same mission. It's a race to the finish for who will rescue her first.
Normally, I prefer the books or manga to a movie or anime, but for this series it was the opposite. The movie was visually stunning a the time with great action. I also much preferred the family dynamic of the Marcus brothers compared to the book as well. In the movie, they at least come off as somewhat likable. However, unlike the book, I felt MeierLink and Charlotte's relationship got much more attention and was able to shine through in the illustrations a bit more. There is one color still of them on the front of the manga that's completely gorgeous. The color is amazing. Leila's character comes off better in the manga than in the book as well, though she is still a bit softer than in the movie. Like the book, her feelings for D are a bit more pronounced. Even still, Leila from the movie is still my preference. Seeing the horror she lives through with her brothers illustrated is somewhat more disturbing than reading about it, so she does come off as more sympathetic.
If you've seen Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, I would recommend reading the manga. It's very interesting to see what the movie changed. I think I prefer the mangas over the books; however, the books are being produced at a much faster rate, so if you can't wait to see what next adventure of D's journey, get the books and then get the manga later. It is interesting to see how close your imagination is to the artist.
*Review also posted to Amazon
July 19, 2015
There was less sexism toward women in this volume, but still using them for plot devices and related to rape was rather less than admirable. Women have more potential in a story line than that. Still disappointed by the poor portrayal of women by this author. I was hoping things would improve, but hey, it's the third volume. Shit isn't going to change. I was somewhat interested in reading a different series by them, in hopes that the role of the female characters would be improved, but I'm having doubts.
This story was the base from which Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust [the anime movie] was created. I liked seeing the differences and I understood why they changed particular aspects. The transferring face might have been too much to understand, and the rape concepts were not for all audiences. But I would say that the movie had a better time depicting what Grove was doing. I think that without that before hand reference, I might not have understood right away what his ability was. Cinematic verses illustrations.
That being said, I liked learning more about the lore surrounding D and his kin, but I feel like a lot of the story and reasons for the vampire's actions weren't explained as well as they were in the movie. I don't think I would have enjoyed reading this volume as much as I had without the prior knowledge/having seen the movie first.
This story was the base from which Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust [the anime movie] was created. I liked seeing the differences and I understood why they changed particular aspects. The transferring face might have been too much to understand, and the rape concepts were not for all audiences. But I would say that the movie had a better time depicting what Grove was doing. I think that without that before hand reference, I might not have understood right away what his ability was. Cinematic verses illustrations.
That being said, I liked learning more about the lore surrounding D and his kin, but I feel like a lot of the story and reasons for the vampire's actions weren't explained as well as they were in the movie. I don't think I would have enjoyed reading this volume as much as I had without the prior knowledge/having seen the movie first.
April 19, 2016
Ah, so, obviously by now this is one of my favourite mangas (I really love the light novels that they are based on). And this, so far, has been my favourite of all of them. The art is beautiful and it's got my favourite vampire/human romance I've seen in a pretty long time. That said, one of my complaints about the series is how hard it strives to make sure everything has a bittersweet or just plain downer ending. Plus, I could do without the sexual violence against women that's something of a theme (this volume is the most obvious about it – with Leila's background). Still, I do really like it – even with all its problematic elements.
July 29, 2009
The artist for this series is one of my favorites of all time! Her work is SO beautiful. The author hand picked her personally and I see why! I am eagerly anticipating the 4th volume...
December 31, 2011
Graphic novel of the book. With some minor differences it was nice to see in black and white Kikuchi novels. But at the same time it took part of the magic away.
September 16, 2012
Weird.
March 24, 2014
Lots more battles and a little less story. Dug the gal who thought she'd be his assistant!
April 13, 2016
the stories are good but the art is really hard to keep up with the action.
this is making me want to reread the books though.
this is making me want to reread the books though.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews