Vampire Hunter D: Mysterious Journey to the North Sea

Last updated
Vampire Hunter D: Mysterious Journey to the North Sea, Part One
Mysterious Journey to the North Sea Cover 1.jpg
Cover of the English edition of 'Vampire Hunter D: Mysterious Journey to the North Sea, Part One'
Author Hideyuki Kikuchi
Original titleD - Mysterious Journey to the North Sea (First Half) (D-北海魔行(上), 'D - Hokkai-Makō (Jō)')
TranslatorKevin Leahy
Illustrator Yoshitaka Amano
Country Japan
Language Japanese
Series Vampire Hunter D Vol. 7
Genre Science fiction, Fantasy, Light novel
Published1988 (Asahi Sonorama (JP)
2007 (DH Press (USA)
Media typePrint (Paperback)
Pages280 (USA)
248 (JP)
ISBN 1-59582-012-4 (USA)
ISBN   4-257-76225-X (JP)
Preceded by Pilgrimage of the Sacred and the Profane  
Followed by The Rose Princess  
Part Two
Mysterious Journey to the North Sea Cover 2.jpg
Cover of the English edition of 'Vampire Hunter D: Mysterious Journey to the North Sea, Part Two'
Author Hideyuki Kikuchi
Original titleD - Mysterious Journey to the North Sea (Second Half) (D-北海魔行(下), 'D - Hokkai-Makō (Ge)')
Published1989 (Asahi Sonorama Flag of Japan.svg )
2007 (DH Press Flag of the United States.svg )
Pages Flag of the United States.svg 224
Flag of Japan.svg 345
ISBN 1-59582-108-2 (USA)
ISBN   4-257-76438-4 (JP)

Vampire Hunter D: Mysterious Journey to the North Sea is a Japanese novel by Hideyuki Kikuchi. It was first published in Japan in 1988.

Contents

Book description (Part One)

"A hero, no matter how reluctant, can never refuse the last request of a beautiful girl."

When a young woman travelling across the scarred wastelands is murdered over the possession of a strange jewel, she entrusts the gem, with her final breath, to the mysterious Vampire Hunter known as D, and charges him with a desperate mission—to deliver the priceless stone to her sister, far off in a fishing village on the shores of the North Sea.

D's journey is made ever more perilous by the motley unsavory scoundrels enlisted by the girl's murderer, who will stop at nothing to claim the jewel. Determined the hunter will not reach his destination, the villains are relentless in their pursuit, one of them harboring a secret, deadly agenda of his own.

Book description (Part Two)

"Vampire lore dictates that the creatures of the night shun the sea... or do they?"

The picturesque coastal town of Florence was known for millennia as a pleasure resort for the Nobility. As retribution for their decadence, the cruel and beautiful vampire inhabitants were "punished," driven out more than a thousand years ago by a solitary traveler in black. Only one—Baron Meinster—refused to leave, only to be thrown to the waves by the mysterious assassin.

Summoned to contemporary Florence by Su-In, sister of a murdered village girl, the enigmatic Vampire Hunter D discovers a vampire curse ravaging the town's human inhabitants. The plague apparently originating, impossibly, from the unforgiving sea—could it be Meinster's Revenge?

Plot summary

The 17-year-old Wu-Lin is traveling from the fishing village of Florence to Cronenberg to have a strange jewel appraised. No less than three people try to steal it from her: the young commoner Toto, an old artist named Professor Krolock, and the grotesque Gilligan, an obscenely overweight gangland boss in a custom exoskeleton. He has Wu-Lin killed, but her dying request of D is that he bring the gem back to her older sister Su-In in their village on the north sea.

Gilligan is determined to have the gem. He dispatches five mysterious individuals with the promise that the one who brings it to him will get all he possesses. This group consists of such colorful characters as Shin the Puppetman, King Egbert, Undiscernible Twin, and Reminiscence Samon. Also tailing D from Cronenberg is handsome Glen, a warrior and "seeker of knowledge" who wants to kill the Vampire Hunter because he's the only thing he has ever feared.

Everyone arrives in Florence just as its short, week-long summer is about to begin. Millennia ago, the area had been a resort for the Nobility until the day, about 1000 years ago, when a traveler in black arrived and punished the cruel vampire residents. Only Baron Meinster refused to leave, and the traveler threw him into the sea. Now, for the past few years, the village's summer has been marred by vampire attacks -- "Meinster's Revenge." Su-In hired D because something particularly distressing is going on here. Though the world knows that the Nobility has difficulty with rain or flowing water, the vampire in Florence seems to be coming from the sea.

As the plot thickens, the five mercenaries hired by Gilligan resort to betraying each other and using dirty tactics to subdue D. Glen is able to dominate Simon into a love-hate-love relationship which leads to him becoming a noble, a desperate act following a near-death at the hands of a jealous King Egbert. Throughout the second half of the story, the bead is lost and claimed by numerous characters, finally falling into the hands of Dr. Krolock himself. The Doctor is able to crack the secret of the jewel and obtains Nobility-like status but is easily felled by D's blade.

Everything comes to a head when D finally defeats Glen and Meinster's abilities are revealed. Four summers ago, Su-in met a man she fell in love with, but she killed him when he tried to make her commit a terrible deed. His body was dumped into the sea, becoming the vessel for the defeated Noble. This event resulted in "Meinster" having no recollection of his 'true' self. In the end, D prevails, and Su-in returns to her happy life as a teacher for the village's children, with help from her friend Dwight and a reformed Toto. The latter claims to have seen the Hunter smile before departing.

At the close of the story, Samon confronts D. Wounded, and near death, the Vampire Hunter known as D promptly defeats her.

Related Research Articles

<i>Vampire Hunter D</i> Japanese horror novel series by Hideyuki Kikuchi and its franchise

Vampire Hunter D is a series of novels written by Japanese author Hideyuki Kikuchi and illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano since 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abraham Van Helsing</span> Fictional character created by Bram Stoker

Professor Abraham Van Helsing is a fictional character from the 1897 gothic horror novel Dracula written by Bram Stoker. Van Helsing is a Dutch polymath doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the string of letters that follows his name: "MD, D.Ph., D.Litt., etc.", indicating a wealth of experience, education and expertise. He is a doctor, professor, lawyer, philosopher, scientist, and metaphysic. The character is best known through many adaptations of the story as a vampire slayer, monster hunter and the arch-nemesis of Count Dracula, and the prototypical and the archetypical parapsychologist in subsequent works of paranormal fiction. Some later works tell new stories about Van Helsing, while others, such as Dracula (2020) and I Woke Up a Vampire (2023) have characters that are his descendants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mina Harker</span> Fictional character

Wilhelmina "Mina" Harker is a fictional character and the main female character in Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula.

<i>The Fearless Vampire Killers</i> 1967 film by Roman Polanski

The Fearless Vampire Killers, or Pardon Me, But Your Teeth Are in My Neck is a 1967 comedy horror film directed by Roman Polanski, written by Gérard Brach and Polanski, produced by Gene Gutowski and starring Polanski with his future wife Sharon Tate, along with Jack MacGowran and Alfie Bass, and featuring Ferdy Mayne.

<i>Van Von Hunter</i>

Van Von Hunter is a weekly hand-drawn parody manga started in 2002 by Mike Schwark and Ron Kaulfersch of Pseudomé Studio, based in Cleveland, Ohio. It has been published in newspapers, books, and as a webcomic. The story takes place in the land of Dikay, a country fraught with zombies, and focuses on the warrior Van Von Hunter and his "never-ending fight against evil...stuff".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryƫjin</span> Japanese deity of the sea

Ryūjin, which in some traditions is equivalent to Ōwatatsumi, was the tutelary deity of the sea in Japanese mythology. In many versions Ryūjin had the ability to transform into a human shape. Many believed the god had knowledge on medicine and many considered him as the bringer of rain and thunder, Ryūjin is also the patron god (ujigami) of several family groups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samantha Mulder</span> Fictional character

Samantha Ann Mulder is a fictional character in the television series The X-Files. She is the younger sister of FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder and the daughter of Teena and Bill Mulder. As a child, Samantha was abducted, ostensibly by aliens, and was never returned. It is this experience that drives her older brother Fox Mulder to join the FBI, and later take the reins of the X-Files section.

<i>Vampire Hunter D</i> (1985 film) 1985 Japanese film

Vampire Hunter D is a 1985 Japanese fantasy horror OVA film produced by Ashi Productions, in association with Epic/Sony Records, CBS/Sony Group Inc. and Movic. The screenplay is based on the first in the long-running series of light novels written by Hideyuki Kikuchi.

<i>Hideyuki Kikuchis Vampire Hunter D</i>

Hideyuki Kikuchi's Vampire Hunter D, known simply as Vampire Hunter D in Japan, is a manga adaptation of the Vampire Hunter D novel series by acclaimed horror writer, Hideyuki Kikuchi.

Bad Blood (<i>The X-Files</i>) 12th episode of the 5th season of The X-Files

"Bad Blood" is the twelfth episode of the fifth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. Written by Vince Gilligan, directed by Cliff Bole, and featuring guest appearances from Luke Wilson and Patrick Renna, it aired in the United States on February 22, 1998, on the Fox network. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. The episode received a Nielsen rating of 12.0, being watched by 19.25 million viewers. In addition, "Bad Blood" received largely positive reviews, with many critics praising the episode's humor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Syamantaka</span> Hindu mythological jewel

The Syamantaka is a legendary jewel featured in Hindu literature, regarded to be blessed with magical powers. It is described to be a ruby. The jewel is described to protect its owner if they were virtuous and good, but bring evil to them if they were not.

<i>Anno Dracula</i> 1992 novel by Kim Newman

Anno Dracula is a 1992 novel by British writer Kim Newman, the first in the Anno Dracula series. It is an alternate history using 19th-century English historical settings and personalities, along with characters from popular fiction.

<i>Blast of Tempest</i> Japanese manga series

Blast of Tempest is a Japanese manga series written by Kyō Shirodaira and Arihide Sano, and illustrated by Ren Saizaki. It was serialized in Square Enix's Monthly Shōnen Gangan from July 2009 to March 2013, with its chapters collected in ten tankōbon volumes. A 24-episode anime television series adaptation by Bones aired from October 2012 to March 2013. The anime series was licensed by Aniplex of America in North America and by Madman Entertainment in Australia.

"True Lies" is the second episode of the fifth season of the American series The Vampire Diaries, and the series 91st episode overall. "True Lies" was originally aired on October 10, 2013, on The CW. The episode was written by Brian Young and directed by Joshua Butler.

Dracula: The Dark Prince is a 2013 American fantasy horror film directed by Pearry Reginald Teo and written by Nicole Jones-Dion and Steven Paul. The film stars Luke Roberts, Jon Voight, Kelly Wenham and Ben Robson. Dracula: The Dark Prince is an (R) Rated film due to some violence and Sexuality/Nudity. The film was shot in Romania and was released on October 15, 2013.

<i>The Vampires Ghost</i> 1945 film by Lesley Selander

The Vampire's Ghost is a 1945 American horror film directed by Lesley Selander, written by Leigh Brackett and John K. Butler, and starring John Abbott, Charles Gordon, Peggy Stewart, Grant Withers, Emmett Vogan and Adele Mara. The film was released on May 21, 1945, by Republic Pictures.

<i>Slasher</i> (TV series) Canadian-American anthology TV series

Slasher is an anthology horror television series created by Aaron Martin. It premiered on Chiller on March 4, 2016, and on Super Channel on April 1, 2016. The licensing rights for the second season were acquired by Netflix in January 2017. The second season was released on October 17, 2017. On August 8, 2018, the series was renewed for a third season, which premiered on May 23, 2019. An eight-episode fourth season was ordered for Shudder, premiering on August 12, 2021. On February 10, 2022, the series was renewed for a fifth season, which premiered on April 6, 2023.

Folktales about luminous gemstones are an almost worldwide motif in mythology and history among Asian, European, African, and American cultures. Some stories about light-emitting gems may have been based on luminescent and phosphorescent minerals such as diamonds.