Postscript

Postscript

This volume was the last handled by Susumu Ishii, who oversaw my Vampire Hunter D series from the very start. Allow me, if you will, to talk a bit about my early days.

My professional debut as a novelist was in September of 1982. My first book, Demon City Shinjuku, was published by Asahi Sonorama. Vampire Hunter D was my second book. My third was Alien Hihomachi [Alien Treasuretown]. These, together with Wicked City, were all the beginning of continuing novel series.

So, the cover illustrations for the Vampire Hunter D series are done by the renowned artist Yoshitaka Amano. If you look at the covers of all the books, I believe you’ll see a gradual change in D’s features and accoutrements over the years. While of course it’s true that creators can be greatly influenced by some stimulus or another, the same is true of their art. In the case of D, Mr. Amano’s style of cover illustration changed greatly after he did set design for a kabuki play—this was around the time of Mysterious Journey to the North Sea [originally published in Japan in 1988—ed.] Seeing the fine art stylings of the current covers, the image on the front of my first Vampire Hunter D book really seems like straight illustration. It was pure, gorgeous fantasy.

Having penned that novel with the intention of some hard-boiled leanings, I was surprised when I saw his illustrations. For example, the longsword D’s wearing on his back is fantasy-style, but I had a traditional Japanese sword in mind. Not unexpectedly, I said to Mr. Ishii, “It’s a little too far afield of what I’d pictured . . .”

At that, he grinned wryly and replied, “This’ll get you a lot of female readers.”

“The artwork’s wonderful.”

“The illustrations are beautiful.”

“The art really drew me in.”

“The illustrations really make it popular, don’t they?”

Almost all of those were from women. I wanted to tell them enough already about the art, but there could be no doubt the Vampire Hunter D novels sold well thanks to those illustrations. I chose to hold my tongue. Mr. Amano, thank you for all you do.

Speaking of Vampire Hunter D’s early days, let’s touch on the first time it got made into anime. To be honest, I wasn’t a huge fan of animation. Of Japanese animation, to be precise. Compared to the Disney features I was acquainted with from my childhood or Hanna-Barbera’s TV series, Japanese anime merely seemed crude. The project was okayed because I left the negotiations to Asahi Sonorama. Even after seeing the completed work, my impression didn’t change. However, something occurred that rocked me to my foundations. When the animated feature Vampire Hunter D opened in theaters in 1985, orders for the novel it was based on surged into Sonorama. I was stunned to get a phone call every week telling me they were going into a new printing. Ever since then, I’ve told myself not to be so hard on anime. Up to that point, the Alien series had been my top seller, but in no time at all, the tables had turned. And Vampire Hunter D remains on top even now.

Incidentally, the soundtrack to the anime was the first solo work of the world famous musician and producer Tetsuya Komuro; his band TM NETWORK did the theme, called “Your Song.” But because his composition is a bit highbrow, I still can’t sing it myself. Also, because I couldn't carry any tune in a bucket.

Demon City Blues is a novel series spun off from the Demon City Shinjuku series mentioned earlier, and shares its setting in the real-life Shinjuku—except my version is full of monsters, magic, and assorted fiends. You can read some of those stories overseas in either hard copy or ebook form. Several volumes of Demon City Blues were released in English under the title Yashakiden: The Demon Princess. And my very first novel, Demon City Shinjuku, even has a translated version now available. As for Vampire Hunter D, the Hollywood film continues to be developed in secrecy. I hope you’re looking forward to it.

In the postscript to the next Vampire Hunter D novel, I’ll tell you all about the other animated D film. But until then—

September 30, 2019

While watching The Return of Dracula (1958)

Hideyuki Kikuchi