Vampire Hunter D Volume 12: Pale Fallen Angels - Parts Three and Four

Vampire Hunter D #12

by Hideyuki Kikuchi, Yoshitaka Amano (Illustrator), Kevin Leahy (Translator)

Baron Byron Balazs nears the end of his arduous journey; his bodyguard-the enigmatic and deadly Vampire Hunter D -- has delivered him to his faraway home in Krauhausen. Having survived the near-epic journey, and many attempts on his life -- ordered by his father, the dread Vampire Noble Lord Vlad -- the baron thinks he is ready for his final battle, whatever the cost. But Lord Vlad is not so easily vanquished, as he unleashes yet another host of nefarious killers on his son, not least of whom is a mad doctor who was enlisted to perform sinister experiments on the young baron's mother years before!

* The epic conclusion of the longest Vampire Hunter D story ever. This book was originally published in four individual novels in Japan. To make this more affordable for fans, we're releasing this mega-novel as two omnibus volumes!

* Features thirteen black-and-white line illustrations by Yoshitaka Amano.

Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Manga, Vampires, Science Fiction, Supernatural, Paranormal

480 pages, Paperback

Published March 18, 2009

Reviews

[Marsha · Rating 2 out of 5]

The travelers have become separated. Miska, the female Noble, has been taken in by the simplest of ruses. She’s lost her two human charges as well, a pair of helpless girls. Miska was infected with a weapon of terror called the Destroyer and the girl Taki (once a magician’s assistant) remains a cipher with barely any personality.

All these and other wacky occurrences reduce this latest entry into the Vampire Hunter mythos to an overwrought soap opera, filled with mysterious appearances, disappearances, plot contrivances (The Destroyer! A hooded Guide! A mad scientist!), haphazard events occuring at different locations, poorly fleshed-out characters and, of course, the crazed fighting of heroes, villains and the bizarre. Cue the scary music.

Only die-hard D fans will be able to stomach this onslaught of exaggerated mayhem, obligatory fight scenes, over-used descriptions and ghastly purple prose.

[hotsake (André Troesch) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5
While the first two parts of this story were one big journey/chase, these final two parts changed the formula and spent more time on the secondary characters. Due to that change, the story slowed down a bit which allowed my mind to wander a bit during scenes without action or D. The ending was satisfyingly downbeat as D rode off into the sunset.

[Karissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the twelfth book in the Vampire Hunter D series and the second book in the epic story "Pale Fallen Angel". It wraps up the story of Pale Fallen Angel nicely. Although I had some issues with the writing style and following the plot.

In this book D continues to lead Miska and the Baron to the Baron's home town. The Baron is on a mission to kill his father and Miska needs to pick up something that her grandfather left to her.

I didn't enjoy the second part of this story as much as the first. There are a lot of extra characters thrown in here; including many doppelgangers of characters already present in the story. As is often the case with Kikuchi's writing it gets hard to tell who is talking sometimes and who is doing what (especially with the doppelgangers thrown in). The fight scenes can be pretty confusing. The plot itself is also a little crazy and switches viewpoints a lot. In general this book was a bit of a struggle for me to get through. I am not sure why; I usually enjoy these books quite a bit.

There were some positive things about this book too. The world is crazy and inventive as always. D continues to manifest new and interesting powers that give insight into his origin. The Baron is a great character and gives D a run for his money power wise. D continues to alternate between coldness and glimpses of feeling for the tumbling brother and sister.

This was an okay book. More so than in previous books; I thought the writing style/plot were a bit choppy and hard to follow. I also think that these continuous adventures of D's are getting a bit tired for me. D never makes a lot of progress as a character and I am unsure of what the series as a whole is building towards. Will I continue to read the series? I am not sure right now.

[Vakaris the Nosferatu · Rating 4 out of 5]

all reviews in one place:
night mode reading ;
skaitom nakties rezimu

About the Book: Both Lord Vlad and his son Baron Byron are determined to vanquish one another at any cost. Disregarding the ripples their efforts send through Earth and the local town, the safety of people. Which means D has his hands full, between two clashing vampires, and yet unseen supernatural forces they wield, trying to keep the innocent humans alive, and fulfil his obligation to the client.

My Opinion: It’s a very predictable story, mostly due to very clear moral compass all characters relating to D follow. While there is an attempt to cover the tracks and imply ambiguity, by the 12th book it’s pretty obviously a bluff. Hence, before the scene even ends it’s already clear how it’ll all unfurl. Still, new solid lore was offered, and that padded my dislike for the mundane plots. Looking forwards to new adventures, this one’s gotten sour.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed parts 1 and 2 more, but this was quite the conclusion. There's a lot going on here, and it's unpredictable, at least in part. If anything, there was just too much going on here. But that's not to say it's bad, as it was a still a very good read.

[Thom Brannan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was, to my eyes, a much different read than most of the other VHD books. After we got away from the frontier and into the village proper, with high-tech brothels and mad scientist lairs and vampire fortresses, and you know what? I liked it.

Also, things were different this time around with the dangers presented. Previously, people or things were described as dangerous beyond compare, but they were dealt with relatively easily by the beautiful man in black and his voracious left hand. But in this book, D isn't only in danger, he is hurt pretty badly more than once.

So I really enjoyed this one. My VHD steam had been flagging, to be honest, but this volume reinvigorated my enthusiasm for the series. I'll probably start the next one before the first quarter of 2023 is up.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

My thoughts:
-What was up with the ending? Johann had poisoned Taki or...?
+Miska redemption was unbelievable at first but when I really thought about it it made sense. The scene beforehand where she was going to sacrifice the kids was nightmarish and gave me anxiety.
-The Guide should have been a one-off character. He shouldn't have joined with Vlad, fitting that the Destroyer died with Miska.
-Climactic fight scene between father and son was underwhelming.
-Taki gets the shaft both in terms of characterization and her ultimate fate. But in the first book they were teasing that she might betray them...? Disappointing.
+The scene where D fights through the Field of Slaughter with Cordelia's doppelganger was awesome.
-Lord Vlad was underdeveloped as a character.
+de Carriole's thing with Cordelia was surprisingly touching.
+Lagoon is win. I want mercury armor.
+Sai Fung gives much-needed comic relief.
-I don't even remember the name of the other guy who D killed towards the beginnning.
+I never thought I'd see D rescue a child from prostitution...
-Hugh's return leaves more questions than answers.
-Way more unsatisfying ending than Vampire Hunter D Volume 09: The Rose Princess, which had people complaining. This ending really came out of nowhere and was breezed through in literally the last two pages. I still don't completely understand what happened to Taki and Byron.
In conclusion; not my favorite D story, but still has some good stuff.
I'm really looking forward to the next book, Vampire Hunter D Volume 13: Twin Shadowed Knight - Parts One and Two. I love stories where a familiar character is split in half... >:D

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

its was so far the best of the series, we find out so much more about D and his past. the story and the fights were good the story continuos form the 11th book and conclude the family fude. D shows composition for the people he is traveling with in a discreet way. D's sword play is amazing to read and the author keeps coming up with new ways to describe it.

[Eugenia]

Probably my favorites of the series so far (both this and vols. 1-2). If there's a third movie made, this would be my pick for its basis.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm going to use this as an overall review of the entire 4-parter that this story entails. For context:

Parts 1&2 - 5 stars
Parts 3&4 - 3 stars (even though I wanted to give it 2 stars.

This is becausePale Fallen Angel REALLY needs to be viewed as a whole, cause if I were to take Parts 3 & 4 just by themselves, I'd just tell you it's garbage and call it a day.

The first half of Pale Fallen Angel, quite frankly, is probably my absolute favourite VHD story thus far.....so good in fact I've read it technically 3 times and never got bored once. And I get so enthralled whenever there's even the slightest mention of "The Sacred Ancestor" or D's backstory, and in Part 2 there's A LOT that happens.
To it's (albeit very limited overall) credit, Parts 3&4 present even more on an astonishingly deep level into The Sacred Ancestor that I just never ever thought would be a proper thing that happened in this series so early on (when there's 30 books, I expect drips and drabs but here we got a feast).

Parts 1&2 totally understood the job description. A great cast of characters diverse enough and complicated enough that they end up complimenting each other really well. A fantastic rouges gallery of enemies that stretches the entire journey, an additional wild card foe that dramatically effects the group, amazing Frontier locations and probably the most amount of dialogue D's ever spoken across all the previous books combined. Truly great twists and turns, INCREDIBLE development of the unofficial overarching mystery behind VHD and a truly "Felloweship of the Ring moving into The Two Towers" style ending.

I couldn't wait to jump straight into the second half.

But to say it shat the bed royally, would be putting it lightly. Whereas Parts 1&2 had a clear focus and vision and felt so well thought out, Parts 3&4 are a complete mess from start to finish. Where it does find some purchase is in characters like Fisher Lagoon and the genuinely shocking revelations behind the history of Byron, his father, his mother and The Sacred Ancestor. All that stuff ROCKED so hard with the latter having my jaw on the floor it's that shocking at times, like holy shit the Nobility are WILD.
But the antagonists are just so undercooked and weird in a, "are we sure these people are REALLY a threat" sort of way, to characters left right and centre just appearing out of nowhere with other characters literally appearing out of nowhere (and then dying a handful of pages later, wahoo!), storylines basically being abandoned or resolved off screen(?), bizarre, even by this series standards, descriptions and exposition about absolutely every single thing and every single person and every single thing that they do to an absolutely nauseating degree, to revelations and new characters and new secret developments popping up out of absolutely nowhere AND being resolved as close as FIVE PAGES FROM THE END, like, come on Mr Kikuchi, what are we doing here man? Like the levels of total utter nonsense this story becomes in the last 100 pages is abysmal.
Seriously, from page to page, we go from interdimensional beings to child rituals to paradise realms to scientific experiments to doppelgangers to Shakespearean mcguffins to body morphing to weird power scaling that ultimately leads to nothing because aforementioned doppelgangers had just been introduced in the middle of that so the JUST HAPPENED power combinations just got ignored to portals to disembodied voices to cured vampirism to not cured vampirism to you just bit her to kill me to THE END.
Like, WHAT IS GOING ON THERE.

It got so muddled and bloated and hard to follow i couldn't get my head around what was going on from paragraph to paragraph nevermind page to page with elements being introduced, described, given flashbacks, more development and then an ending in a single page multiple times in a row with brand new things being added everytime that haven't been around for the past 500 pages, it was just a pain to get through.

Having said that, because of how strong the first half of the story is and how okay enough the 3rd part is, you can get through the 4th part with some relative determination because you should already by invested by then to see it through.
I will genuinely re-read Parts 1&2 over and over again gladly, but will never ever touch Parts 3&4 again.
It's a 2 star book that gets 3 stars cause it's so fucking hilarious to me that of all the things, the genuine horrible things, that The Sacred Ancestor has done to humans, Nobles, the world, and D, that Fisher Lagoon of all people was the one guy he was like, "ayo, this guy a'ight, me and him tight af boi" and literally nobodies allowed to touch him cause he's Draculas homie. Love it.

[Cicuta · Rating 1 out of 5]

For Christ's sake, this is the first time I seriously sigh out of relief after finishing a book.
For some reason, after reading the preview of the plot, these two books -consisting of two parts each, for a total of around... 960 pages? I think?- had been the one I had the highest expectations from. And, duly, they disappointed me greatly - hell that's an understatement.
They were awful; Ironically enough, this was the best plot idea out of this series' book I've read: less plain and hard to understand than the previous ones, which, in spite of having been read with *FAR* more care and attention, way more scrupulosity and will(hope) to find something intelligible, just don't even stick to the mind.
I was saying, this one had potential: a noble hiring a hunter to slay another noble?? Oh, it AT LAST (after, what, 12 books...?) has information regarding the main character??? Hell, wow! Innovative, it can't possibly be repetitive just like the ones written befor- oh. That's a crying shame, I guess. Fuck, I am certain of the surplus of useless characters and pointless twists and turns and details and overall an over-exaggeration in terms of unnecessary additions to the story (for the lack of a better word) being the reason why this was so atrocious; and by 'this' I refer to the whole monstrous series.
For instance: I've skimmed through the entirety of the narrative space dedicated to the 5 (or so) villains whose names I've never even registered - a recurring phenomenon in these books: the random ass villains pacing down the story and making it unbearably slow, when we (I) already know/can assume how it'll end (since it hardly ever is of any creativity) and just want to discover how the main focus of the plot evolves. They're all the godforsaken same, repetitive; they just seem like an agglomeration of individuals that goes indentified by "antagonists", with no standing out traits nor recognizable characteristics whatsoever.
And what can I say? Reading the LAST 4 PAGES of the LAST BOOK would've been enough. Like, literally, the same as wholly reading the brick-book.

I've given this an exorbitant amount of chances. And after this I think I can finally give a more concrete verdict to what these books are: empty reads. They don't bestow anything at all, nor does anything of them remain to you after reading. Therefore, the only reason why one would read them would logically be... Being an enjoyable read, with a decently done plot and writing style... Right?
Hell, there isn't even that here.
The only purpose I would find in reading this stuff is... The language... Learning new vocabulary... (overly formal and hence awkward for this is definitely not a masterpiece deserving all of the respect it demands; it's just vain - damn, have I actually managed to find a piece of literature pompous and arrogant? Maybe I'm the problem) In addition this wouldn't even apply to "learning how to write" as the writing style and the prose are awful.
Nevertheless, dear me, it needn't be said and goes by itself that even in such a desperate case, it wouldn't involve any commitment nor effort put into reading this.

I'll generously give this one star just for the plot thing, and after the 10th book (which I regrettably own but still haven't read, and I'm going to force myself to) I'll officially declare the end of this self-inflicted pain of a journey. I've given it plenty of excuses trying to find the good in it, but the ones antecedent to me were correct: there isn't.

[Angel Tortora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man this author just crushes my happiness with these endings, even up til the last page. I really wanted to give this 3 stars for having such a saddening twist in the end but within the context of the lore, it made sense. Genuinely though, I shouldn't have been surprised--this author has continuously left us with downbeat endings in this series thus far, which normally doesn't sit very well with me, but given how long we've seen Balazs as a character fleshed-out, I was satisfied nonetheless. Stories are interesting but I didn't care much for the characters other than our main group who'd been split. This volume made me appreciate parts 1 and 2 more, since it felt like they were mostly for set-up that would happen here in parts 3 and 4, but I am never going to like any of these other characters, what a bore. Most of the series thus far has been littered with stories that contain far too many characters for their page count, leading to very shallow development, tho on the rare occasion there have been good villains I suppose...Miska's character was fleshed-out some more, and Hugo's whereabouts are revealed in such an anticlimactic way that by the time it had occurred to me, I just didn't care about him. He's been relegated to plot device for me, not a character. May and Miska's relationship was perfect and it was a breath of fresh air having likeable characters for a change, along with Balazs being my favorite boy oh my sweet precious blue bastard... 3 Fly high king 3

But seriously "The Guide" ? I was really interested in the lore they'd set-up for this mysterious character whom we only know is powerful from the reactions others have upon seeing him...and yet in the end, he asks to merge with Lord Vlad for some unknown reason which ultimately doesn't get answered because he loses to Vlad's control. Overconfidence? The Guide doesn't seem so threatening after all this hype the author was building around him...not to mention the interaction he had with Miska where he seemed to move like a normal human rather than some all-powerful entity. I fail to understand what direction the author wanted to go with this concept. Unfortunate!

[Jayme · Rating 3 out of 5]

The longest VHD story to date, done and dusted. The previous two-parter (Mysterious Journey to the North Sea) was rough -- I wrote in my review that I felt the second half just didn't need to exist, due to it being a story of battle scene upon battle scene until it ended.

Here, that's somewhat rectified. New characters are introduced, previous ones whose fate was left unknown return, and you actually genuinely see some arc-like development in others.

I praised the decision to include a Noble as a main character in Parts One and Two, and do the same here. It's an insight that adds a lot of intrigue to the world.

The ending is impactful and rather shocking. I wasn't expecting it to end the way it did, but it brings the whole story together -- coming full circle on a plot seed sewn early on.

I give this three stars because these books' strength is in their brevity and their concept. Without brevity, the excitement surrounding the concept wears off. Still, it was worth making it to the end, and experiencing VHD as a regular length novel for once (when all four parts are added together).

[MaskedSkull · Rating 4 out of 5]

Era lo que esperaba y con muy buenas peleas, sin embargo, me dejo deprimida el final T-T

Bueno al menos "El Destructor" o como se le llame en español no va a volver a aparecer y eso es un alivio xD ¿creo? lo poquito que se mostró de su poder me pareció una entidad realmente apocalíptica ;w; ¡wah! voy a extrañar a Lord Byron fue un personaje sumamente interesante y también a Miska con sus "tsundereadas".

[Ricardo Matos · Rating 4 out of 5]

It had a bit of a pacing issue... but it did deliver new things to the franchise: a mad doctor, a different Noble, a lady in the water and a makeup artist?!?! The ending was unexpected and it made feel a bit sad. If not for the pacing issues, it would have gotten the 5 stars

[Ivan Bonari · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a very strange experience, no doubt. I like the unicerse of Vampire Hunter a lot, but these parts are not my cup of tea. Too little logic in the movements of the characters. Too many strange plot points, especially about such powerful forces (the Destroyer and the Guide).

[Dane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not nearly as good as parts 1 and 2. I'm feeling more and more like Kikuchi is great at campy world building, but sucks at most everything else.

[Justine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just not the right format- I wanna get into vampire hunter d but this really didn’t draw me in.

[Sean L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of action and way more MC talking

[kira · Rating 4 out of 5]

The translation could be a lot better and it actually improved over the last few books. I wish Kikuchi would stop with the formulaic plot for each book. Such a great setting could lead to one of the greatest series ever but is bogged down by the shockingly less than mediocre translation and the repetitive plot.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

This first four-part epic tale in Vampire Hunter D lineage of volumes most certainly did not fail to impress me

after the exciting and partly bonding journey through the horrors and relics found in the frontier with our characters parts three and four transition us into a premise more resembling that of Vol.1 of Vampire Hunter D which Kikuchi at times has been known to do remixing old scenarios in new ways

we're introduced to the final foe's defenses in the opulent night city of Krauhausen is the most developed village in the western region and despite the Noble Castle overlooking the village humans enjoy quite the nightly indulgences from the neon-lit brothel owned by the one-eyed giant Fisher Lagoon

This novel holds the premise of Vol.1 but seems to take footnotes from Vol.3 when it comes to the general themes of the story revolving around the relationships between nobles and humans showcasing the dual sides of Nobles there are some sympathetic and fair to humans like the Greater Noble Lord Meyerling but at the same time we have viscous and sadistic Nobles like Baron Meinster

I feel the overall message ties greatly to the decline or the future potential of the nobility as we see in the first volume where some Nobles like Magnus Lee become apathetic and practically sterile to life holding no vitality and the only way to inject any vigor into his immortal existence is by entertaining himself with a captured human he will crave and make his wife before after some decades or millennia he rids himself after the amusement and lost itself

The Nobility that exists that only manages to stimulate their existences do so by inflicting torture onto humans and we see that by the mutations and experimental creatures released into the frontier wilderness meant purely to terrorize humans judging by this it's clear that apathy and lack of stimulus beyond mindless sadism caused natural atrophy within Nobility who lost vitality for their immortal existences

and we follow up that point greatly within Pale Fallen Angel similarly to Raiser of Gales with the ever-looming trail of Sacred Ancestor as his experimentations pop up again in the story creating a tragic family dynamic that weaves throughout the novel in a way I found more sympathetic than that of Magnus Lee and Larmica in the first volume

I think Pale Fallen Angel really shows how far Kikuchi has evolved from when he penned the first Volume of Vampire Hunter D

“For me, D travels constantly through a world of black-and-white film. Whether his exquisite features are glowing a pale blue in the moonlight, the skin of a beautiful woman is taking a rosy flush in the light of day, D’s blade is sending out bright blood, or a Noble’s manor is crafted of gold, D is still a resident of a world of darkness and light. A world where everything last creature that draws breath in the white world melts in a heartbeat into a world of darkness. Those who dwell there are shadows. D’s tale is told in beautiful silhouettes.”

Hideyuki Kikuchi
Vampire Hunter D: Pale Fallen Angel Parts Three and Four Postscript

[Tara Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this 2-part series, though I do admit that at times the characters that kept being killed, then suddenly revealed to not have actually died after all (clones, last minute saves, intervention by other supernatural beings) was a little annoying. But in general a very good conclusion to the story arc. There was one character that I wished would not have died, but I really did like this installment of the series. It stands out as one of the better novels, on par with Demon Deathchase and the very first book. I would read it again.

[aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

the four part "mega-light-novel" in the vampire hunter d series finally comes to a close...and what a close it is! in this novel, which includes the third and fourth novels in one, d and the baron continue their journey to destroy the vampire lord vlad. in their journeys they meet more enemies that they will have to dispatch before facing off against the powerful foe. then, to top it all off kikuchi throws a little twist at the end...enjoy!

[Lindsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the vampire hunter d series over all. I like his shorter books better not these multi two, three and four book stuff he has been doing. I feel like he just crams to many characters in. His earlier books have more background and the character development that I like. Characters are still unique and amazing but you just get tired of reading fight scene after amazing fight scene in these longer ones.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing was exactly what I've come to expect from KIkuchi, as was the over all plot. However The Pale Fallen Angel story seemed to have a little too much going on subplot wise. And the ending was a bit sadden then I've come to accept for D. This book took me over a year to read and now I can finally move back to the next in the series.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

D is so good looking he can make straight men swoon and moonbeams bashful. He is beautiful to the point of violence and in this book the wind is embarrassed to look at him.

Once you can get passed the bizarre purple-y prose, these books aren't so bad. You just have to know what to expect. What was bizarre was that ending, though. It just came out of left field and was so abrupt.

[Emerch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Included one of the most gross scenes I've ever read from D novels; D removing the flowers from his body while their roots are all over his insides. Can I just say: "YUCK!"
- Thanks. And now that I got that one out from my system, I can say, even though it was icky, it strangely made me fall, once again, little deeper to the rabbit hole and to D's fascinating world...

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seriously, this dragged out too long. And so much of it was filler, nothing but pointless filler. I want to see D kick butt, I was to see D looking hot.

[Mara · Rating 2 out of 5]

At the moment it was the most boring and illogical book of the whole series. Will see what next volumes are to bring.

[Kaitlyn]

Wonderfully paced, and I will admit some parts left me breathless and itching for more. A beautiful, yet startling conclusion, to another tragic happy ending in the Vampire Hunter D saga.