Hideyuki Kikuchi: Tale of the Dead Town

• Paperback: 276 pages
• Publisher: Dark Horse Books/Digital Manga Publishing; 1st DH Press Ed edition (December 29, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-13: 978-1595820938

When vampires attack a floating city, only one man can save paradise.
The City, a tiny metropolis of a few hundred sheltered citizens floating serenely on a seemingly random course a few feet above the ground, has long been thought safe from the predation of marauding monsters. It seems like a paradise.
A paradise shattered when an invasion of apparent vampires threatens the small haven. While the Vampire Hunter known only as "D" struggles to exterminate the scourge, a former denizen of the city, the attractive Lori Knight, and the brash John M. Brasselli Pluto VIII seize control of the city, lurching it onto a new and deadly course. D's travails are just beginning.
 Well, that sounds ominous, doesn't it? And not entirely accurate, but I won't spoil it for you...
 Kikuchi has an incredibly ornate writing style, to say the least. Lots of adjectives that people rarely use. I'm not sure what he thinks the effect is, but in English I don't think it's quite the same. While slightly amusing, it doesn't detract too much from the story once you stop noticing it.
  The plot: D's at it again, saving people that aren't too terribly thankful. It's a fact of humanity: what they don't know or understand scares them, and rather than look beyond their own prejudices, they will lash out with violence, if necessary. Or unnecessary as the case may be. But D is D, so he doesn't really give a flying rat's ass about a bunch of petty, stupid humans. He's going to save them because it's his job.
 This wasn't my favorite entry in the Vampire Hunter D universe, if only because there didn't seem to be a lot going on, and it got somewhat repetitive. There were also a couple of random things that happened that didn't really have a larger connection to the story and seemed to just be there for the horror of it all. I was extremely pleased to see a mention of one of D's past adventures though - it was my personal favorite thus far, and it was nice to see that the story is over but not forgotten and that these characters do continue on (if they're alive).
 As far as characterizations go, Kikuchi did a pretty good job with this one. The only person that drove me nuts was Pluto VIII, but that had less to do with skill in writing and more to do with the fact that I just hate characters like him. Ambiguous at its best. I guess that says something positive for Kikuchi's writing.
 Overall: B-
 It had some good elements, but overall I think it was kind of a rush job.