POSTSCRIPT
POSTSCRIPT
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In this postscript I’d like to talk not about D or my own writing, but to discuss a certain Japanese author. His name is Futarou Yamada. And in the history of Japanese entertainment novels, he stands at the very peak. In my books I’ve used all kinds of superhumans and supernatural beings, but no matter how dramatic the characters or powers I created, I’ve never once been entirely satisfied. Once I’m done writing about them, I always think the same thing: I’m still no match for Futarou Yamada. I’ve long since given up hope of ever beating him. Though the desire to at least write something that matches his work drives my pen every day, all that I’m left with is a feeling of defeat with an affectionate smile on my face.
When I was in junior high and high school, Futarou Yamada had a string of massive hits lining the bookstore shelves. It was a series of paperback novels about Japan’s unique covert operatives during the Warring States era, depicting ninja using their closely guarded abilities in battle against other ninja—a series called Futarou ninpouchou. That was the genesis of the Vampire Hunter D series—and of all my novels, actually. The first volume was Kouga ninpouchou.
Foreign readers may be familiar with the powerful leader Tokugawa Ieyasu, who founded the Edo period. In this novel, a total of twenty superhuman ninja are chosen to battle to the death to determine who will be the shogun’s successor, with half of them from the Kouga clan and the other half from the Iga clan. One can spit out gooey threads like a spider; another can change to any color like a veritable chameleon, disappearing from view. The leaders of the respective factions are a handsome young man and a beautiful young lady, star-crossed lovers like Romeo and Juliet. The man is able to turn any attack back against his opponent with a single glance—sending the swords swung at him slicing into his attackers. And the woman has the power to defeat the special abilities of any ninja she trains her lovely gaze on. What’s absolutely perfect is there’s a man who’s just like a vampire—only he’s not. However, vampires are represented by a wild, ageless, undying female ninja who makes an appearance. She can be killed over and over, only to rise again and finish off her opponent when they let their guard down. Another ninja that made an even stronger impression is a beautiful woman who, clearly influenced by Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Rappaccini’s Daughter,” has breath that turns to poison when her passions are inflamed. In other words, one kiss from her can send the recipient to the afterlife. Sounds like an attractive yet terrifying ability.
After reading Kouga ninpouchou as a junior-high-school student, I wanted to read more like it, and it didn’t take long for that to turn into a desire to write books like this. Though the Vampire Hunter D series was directly sired by the 1958 film Horror of Dracula, the foundation for the story lay in Futarou ninpouchou. This book, Scenes from an Unholy War, is proof of that.
Kouga ninpouchou has been translated into English as The Kouga Ninja Scrolls. The Futarou ninpouchou series was such a great hit in Japan that there was really no need to sell it overseas—or (perhaps) the historical setting isn’t geared toward foreigners—so only the first book has been translated. But I heartily suggest you flip through a copy at least once. No doubt you’ll find the universal spirit of entertainment laid out on each and every page. What’s more, The Kouga Ninja Scrolls has been turned into the manga and anime Basilisk, as well as the film Shinobi: Heart under Blade.
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Hideyuki Kikuchi
June 25, 2012
while watching Shinobi: Heart under Blade
