The Story So Far
Author’s Bio
“It looks like those planned three volumes have turned into five,” observes the author of Yashikiden: The Demon Princess with a smile. As with any masterpiece, the child has exceeded the parent’s initial expectations and continues to blaze a trail on its own. Forthcoming developments will only make his books all the harder for his readers to put down.
Hideyuki Kikuchi was born in 1949 in Choshi, Chiba Prefecture. While studying law at Aoyama University, he participated in the college’s “mystery and detective novel” club. After graduation, he published stories in doujinshi magazines and translated science fiction while working as a magazine reporter. His debut as a novelist came in 1982 with the publication of Demon City Shinjuku.
In 1985, the highly-anticipated Makaikou was published to great acclaim, propelling Hideyuki Kikuchi into bestselling author status like a rocket. That status continues to this day, making him one of Japan’s busiest and most popular writers.
Yashakiden: The Demon Princess Vol. 2
Yashakiden:The Demon Princess vol.2 - Yashakiden 2 (c) Hideyuki Kikuchi 1997. Originally published in Japan in 2007 by SHODENSHA Publishing Co.,LTD. English translation copyright (c) 2010 by DIGITAL MANGA, Inc. All other material (c) 2010 by DIGITAL MANGA, Inc. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the copyright holders. Any likeness of characters, places, and situations featured in this publication to actual persons (living or deceased), events, places, and situations are purely coincidental. All characters depicted in sexually explicit scenes in this publication are at least the age of consent or older. The DMP logo is (tm) of DIGITAL MANGA, Inc.
Written by Hideyuki Kikuchi
Illustrated by Jun Suemi
English Translation by Eugene Woodbury.
English Edition Published by:
DIGITAL MANGA PUBLISHING
A division of DIGITAL MANGA, Inc.
1487 W 178th Street, Suite 300
Gardena, CA 90248
USA
www.dmpbooks.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Available Upon Request
First Edition: May 2010
ISBN-13: 978-1-56970-146-1
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in Canada
Author’s Note
As with any series, each new installment should be more interesting than the last, and Yashakiden: The Demon Princess, Vol. II should hopefully prove no exception to this rule. A crimson shadow has fallen across Shinjuku. There are no timeouts in this struggle to the death. Setsura has been badly battered and Mephisto is working overtime to keep it together.
I didn’t originally intend to push the story into so many precarious corners. It developed that way naturally. The enemies this time around are strong and terrifying, forces that must be reckoned with.
Victory was once assured for Setsura and Mephisto. Now the future is looking less certain. But I’m not the slightest bit displeased. Yashakiden: The Demon Princess has shaken off its bridle and is running free.
Hideyuki Kikuchi
Main Characters
Setsura Aki
The manager and owner of a Demon City senbei shop and a P.I. agency. A handsome man with magical powers literally at his fingertips, he defeats his enemies by wielding strands of sub-micron thin “devil wire.”
Mephisto
It is rumored that the “Demon City Physician,” as beautiful as he is feared, can even bring the dead back to life.
Princess
The Chinese vampire Biki—as gorgeous as she is evil—has wandered the world for four thousand years in search of a safe refuge for herself and her followers.
Kikiou
This crafty old warlock is Princess’s principal retainer. He desires to subjugate all of Demon City Shinjuku.
Ryuuki
A later addition to Princess’s retinue but also a vampire, he plays the mesmerizing ghost koto Silent Night and has a powerful, death-dealing qi at his command.
Shuuran
A vampire and servant of Princess, she can fashion killer vampire dolls from her own blood.
Takako Kanan
A college student specializing in ancient Chinese history, she is swept into supernatural conflict because of her obsession with the mysterious Daji from the Hsia Dynasty.
Yakou
A vampire who lives in Demon City’s Toyama housing project, he is the grandson of the Elder, who was defeated and killed by Princess.
The Story So Far
A vicious gang of four from China appears in Demon City. Nightly vampire attacks on the citizens of Shinjuku quickly follow. The victims are brought to Mephisto’s impregnable hospital, but these vampires are not deterred, invading the hospital’s layers of defenses and baring their fangs before Setsura and Mephisto.
The blood-drenched battle for Shinjuku has begun. Along with her three retainers—Kikiou, Ryuuki, and Shuuran—Princess has surmounted four thousand years of space and time in order to seize control of Demon City.
To fight these immortal enemies, Setsura and Mephisto have allied themselves with a clan of vampires living in the Toyama housing project, led by the Elder and his grandson Yakou. But Setsura is seriously injured by Ryuuki’s powerful qi and Princess slays the Elder.
Now her evil claws reach deep into Mephisto Hospital, where Takako Kanan watches over the unconscious Setsura.