Vampire Hunter D: Six Questions for the Creators
Connecting with one of Japan’s leading horror authors and the renowned Japanese artist known for illustrating Neil Gaiman’s Sandman: The Dream Hunters and the Final Fantasy games.
In this bizarre and deadly far future, the most dangerous thing of all is not a vampire, but the one who hunts them—the one who is half them—a dhampir, the unearthly beautiful wanderer known as D. This human-vampire hybrid occupies a post-apocalyptic world terrified by the elegant but cruel vampires known as Nobles—a world where his half breed status has obvious advantages… but ultimately means that he belongs to neither faction.
One of the best-selling series in history, Vampire Hunter D is a long-running novel series series written by Hideyuki Kikuchi and featuring illustrations by renowned artist Yoshitaka Amano. Launched in 1983, the books have sold more than 17 million copies around the world. Dark Horse has proudly published these novels in English for many years. As of April 2022, 40 novels have been published in the main series (spanning 52 volumes).
The Vampire Hunter D series has also spawned anime, audio drama, manga, comics adaptations, a video game, as well as a short story collection, art books, and a supplemental guidebook.
Below, find out more about the creators and learn more about their thoughts behind the Vampire Hunter D series…
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About the creators of Vampire Hunter D
Hideyuki Kikuchi is a Japanese author famous for his horror novels. His most famous works include the Vampire Hunter D series, Darkside Blues, and Wicked City. He has been compared to both Stephen King and H.P. Lovecraft.
Yoshitaka Amano is a comic book and manga creator, artist, and cover artist known for his work on Aliens, Sandman, and Speed Racer.
Questions for writer Hideyuki Kikuchi
Q: One of your novels was inspired by Escape From New York. What other films have influenced your work?
Hideyuki Kikuchi: “Tons of movies have influenced me…of course, D being heavily influenced by Shane. But in another one of the stories, part of it was based on the battle scenes from Lord of the Rings.
“I’m influenced by all kinds of films, love stories, gangster movies, war movies and westerns. Some of the funnier things that are said and done in the dialog have been influenced by the kind of dialog you find in Hollywood movies.”
Q: Why the fascination with vampires?
Hideyuki Kikuchi: “Unless they get a stake through their heart or are taken down by another weakness, vampires can live forever. However, I don’t know that vampires actually want to live forever. I think eternal life would be incredibly boring and painful.
“I thought that when put in that situation, the ageless and immortal superhumans might seem even unhappier than ordinary human beings. I think that’s probably the greatest draw for vampire stories.”
(Behind the Scenes of Vampire Hunter D | Hideyuki Kikuchi Interview | VHD the Series)
Q: You mentioned that you are a big movie fan. Is Vampire Hunter D was inspired by any particular movie character?
Hideyuki Kikuchi: “He was based on Christopher Lee’s interpretation of Count Dracula, so his unearthly beauty was intended to land the female fans and it worked [LOL].”
Q: Can you talk about the appeal of D’s character?
Hideyuki Kikuchi: “Vampire Hunter D is my image of the perfect man. So, for starters, he’s very tall. No other man can compare with his looks. This appealed to female readers. Even now, D has more female fans.
“Though Yoshitaka Amano’s illustrations for the book garnered lots of attention, I was really worried until he’d finished them because who’s supposed to draw someone of such beauty on paper?
“Despite my worrying, Mr. Amano perfectly captured the surpassing weariness of the character, which drew even more female fans. Thanks to this, it has proved a hit both in Japan and the U.S.”
(Behind the Scenes of Vampire Hunter D | Hideyuki Kikuchi Interview | VHD the Series)
Questions for artist Yoshitaka Amano
Q: How do you approach character design for a project like Vampire Hunter D and Final Fantasy? Does the writer or client supply you with a heavily detailed description of what they are looking for, or are you given a lot of freedom to conceptualize the visuals?
Yoshitaka Amano: “Usually, they just give me the story or a script and pretty much leave the design to my imagination. Sometimes, I create a character or a monster that wasn’t in the material, and they incorporate it into the story if they like it. So yes, I’m given a lot of space to play around.
Q: Do you still find yourself discovering new aspects of Vampire Hunter D after doing illustrations of him and his world for Mr. Kikuchi’s works for so many years?
Yoshitaka Amano: Yes, I do! My idea of D himself is that he has a beauty which is not completely human, nor completely un-human. It lies somewhere in-between and I find it fascinating to try to capture that quality on a sheet of paper.
author interview
Behind the Scenes of Vampire Hunter D | Hideyuki Kikuchi Interview | VHD the Series
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