It was with some misgivings that I purchased the first volume of the newly released Vampire Hunter D manga. Because, really, how many times do I need to see or read the story of Doris Lang? Yet, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this manga, drawn by artist Saiko Takaki and based off the original novels by Hideyuki Kikuchi, was actually quite enjoyable, despite being the third time I had been exposed to this particular story.

One of the main problems I had with the Doris Lang chapter of the Vampire Hunter D saga was the fact that everyone seemed so ga-ga over a girl that was just plain funny looking in the anime. One of the first points in the manga that won me over was the fact that in this version, Doris is actually quite beautiful. She wasn’t whiny and she wasn’t sporting some odd braided hair that made her look like a poodle. Of course, that didn’t change the story or the clichés that went along with it, but that is all forgivable for the world that is introduced.

Never has the Vampire Hunter D world been more pronounced and easier to believe than with Saiko Takaki’s illustrations. A dystopian future where we’ve pushed ourselves back to the middle ages because the technology we so adore got out of hand is displayed in a mixture of wild west, medieval, and futuristic science fiction that leaves you knowing such things can’t exist, but hoping they do. Robotic horses, enchanting monsters, and even the horrible ones are all displayed so prominently that you forget that you’re bearing witness once again to the old “Gorgeous girl whom everyone wants is bitten and needs to be saved” song and dance.

The characterization of D and Hand seem to take on a less wooden feeling, perhaps because we can see D’s eyes instead of just reading about them. Doris also seems like more of a real person, as does Milarca, though Count Lee’s particular personalization leaves him as little more than a villain-of-the-week type of menace. The most astonishing character revitalization in the Vampire Hunter D manga has to definitely be Doris’s little brother, Dan, who has gone from whiny and annoying to the type of kid you’d actually want as a brother, more honest and good-willed than any kid should actually be, with just a smattering of hero worship for D.

The story is one that I’ve been exposed to before not only in the anime, but in the original, un-illustrated novel, and thus I believe I may be a little less objective when it comes to that particular stand point. But the fact remains that the artwork and the loyalty to Kikuchi’s world and story exist from panel to panel, so faithfully one could believe the original author drew the manga himself. Whether we’ll get the entire series remains to be seen, but with a second book on the shelves and a third ready for pre-order, hopefully we’ll get the entire gambit of D stories in manga form.