Vampire Hunter D Volume 17: Tyrant's Stars - Parts Three and Four

Vampire Hunter D #17

by Hideyuki Kikuchi, Yoshitaka Amano (Illustrator), Kevin Leahy (Translator)

Vampire Hunter D continues his quest to overcome the interstellar evil brought to Earth by the ultimate Noble, the terrifying renegade vampire Valcua! Wielding a sword that can cut through the fabric of space and time, Valcua has a score to settle with the bloodline of humans responsible for his exile. The family has enlisted D to protect them from Valcua's wrath, and the Vampire Hunter might be their only chance at survival.

Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Manga, Science Fiction, Vampires, Supernatural, Fiction

314 pages, Paperback

First published February 28, 2001

Reviews

[Vakaris the Nosferatu · Rating 5 out of 5]

all reviews in one place: night mode reading ; skaitom nakties rezimu

Onto the next part of Tyrant’s Stars (3-4) by Hideyuki Kikuchi, marking 17th book in Vampire Hunter D series. It was better than the previous one, I’ll give you that.

My Opinion: Big part of the story revolved around the Great Ancestor, giving us insight in his former plans, reasons behind various obscure actions, and possibly the source of his powers. It was truly a very curious read, but I am a sucker for good lore. The book improved in other aspects too, D’s not just a stoic strong-silent type here anymore. Ranged through various anger levels, as stakes got so high, I guess he slightly lost his cool, and it was genuinely good. If you made it through the previous book, this one is going to be a treat.

A 5 out of 5, maybe not entirely worth that much, but to hell with it, I had fun.

[hotsake (André Troesch) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Things got stagnant, repetitive, and stretched out in the second half of the story.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

An uphill read the likes of which I've never encountered more so in another Vampire Hunter D novel

the book has too many characters to care about and it distracts from the main stay characters of the story a very uneventful finish to the supposed main foe Valcua for what is a 4 part series if the author generated more discussion around his past early on or had more scenes with their would be more interest in and the finale would not feel abrupt

a recent pattern with Kikuchi's writing is grandiose plot elements that are shoehorned into these books of fantastical science fiction and fantasy devices that ultimately amount to showing off the titular D's unquestioning strength and you mainly get the sense that the author incorporates these somewhat at times contrived elements in for specific beats or scenes in the story

I reference Pale Fallen Angel Part 2

all in all stories around Vampire Hunter D are best when the amount of characters is modest and the author gauges what the range of the story should be to best fit the narrative he's trying to achieve Tyrants Star didn't need to be a grand 4 part series the assassin plotline comes back and it impedes getting to know the actual villain

the idea was probably to characterize Valcua through his henchman that go on to fight D but the characterization tells little and there too few scenes for how many of them they're are such that they begin to homogenize together quite a bit

The ending was nice and bittersweet and is what the story could have been if focused onto the aspect of a family ill-fated to be hunt down by a bitter Noble due to their bloodline as the family deteriorates after losing their members with D gaining a soft spot for the children after being purview to their tribulations

Parts 1 and 2 had a very down to earth relatable story of a family bereft of an addict father taking money from his family that are toiling to make ends meet with a elder brother that is forced into the position of having to pull his weight for the sake of his mother and sister both of which also are burdened due to a degenerate father

it feels like such a waste honestly

the ending is the only thing preventing me from giving this a 1 star because it's a recalling star of what the story should have been more focused on similar to how Vampire Hunter D novels of the past have operated

Vol.2 is about a girl who is discriminated by her entire village due to formerly being abducted by Nobility and is sexually abused and raped by her caretaker the mayor and her only comfort is in a singular hope of leaving to the capital due to a scholarship program though as the story goes on her past begins to creep in more and more as D investigates the disappearances that happened years ago to her and other children in the village

Vol.4 is about a D investigating a possible Noble infiltration aboard a Mobile Village in the air that is separated from the natural horrors that lurk below in the frontier lands as he investigates a radiation-poisoned girl he finds just before coming to the mobile village has lost her family and she has permanent damage to her vocal cords her storyline being about finding the strength to live on her own

D is sort of an observer to the tragedy and sadness of others and his own wearied heart of over countless millennia is stirred by these people as he accompanies them alongside his own responsibilities as a professional Vampire Hunter and a Dhampire permanently stuck in Twilight neither accepted by kin of the night or day

the story does not live just on saturated action spectacle the heart of the series also requires the poignancy of conflict within the human heart and the intertwining tragedy of Vampirism

this was a disappointment I'm glad to be done with it

[Thom Brannan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the one before and this one together (as is my wont with these multi-part VHD books) and liked the first one better. The main antagonist, Valcua, is more like a final boss in that we don't actually get to see him and his capabilities until much later. Instead, D and his temporary compatriots have to fight through several of the big bad's retainers and all they have to offer, and this is good stuff.

Then we get into the Ultimate Noble, and it feels like it goes a little downhill from there. There's a new character who is made of questions and no real answers are forthcoming. Valcua sends D through this gauntlet of challenges to gauge his strength, and it comes back over and over more than can be measured. Then there's the final confrontation, which got kind of weird.

But the weird isn't the problem. It's how entirely OP Vampire Hunter D is, that's the problem. Throughout most of the adventures, D is just a hair better than he needs to be, just a shade better than the antagonists, which is okay. But this Ultimate Noble is ridiculously overpowered, and therefore, so is D. And that's the issue. Why was the whole front half such a struggle if D is so everything? And don't think about the preceding fifteen books with this power level, right?

It's the Superman problem, but with D. It really left me dismayed with future adventures. I mean, I'll read the next one, but... eh.

[Marsha · Rating 2 out of 5]

The action gets more frenetic and disjointed as vigorous battles are fought, won and lost on many separate fronts. Even D’s chatty left hand has to take off to attend to business while D is busy elsewhere. The fights are more elaborate as the opponents acquire ever more outlandish powers. Even the stakes get higher as the earth itself faces utter annihilation. It’s like the X-Men meeting John Wayne. The main story is then broken into by an appeal for help from another quarter! Doesn’t the protagonist have enough to deal with without answering the call of every damsel in distress? It’s enough to exasperate even the most patient reader. D’s foes are relentless and he seems to fall from one vicious battle into another with only the barest respite. At times the attacks are so cartoonish in their exaggerated violence that you have to re-read a passage to understand just what the hell is happening. You can understand why D has to have such incredible powers; no ordinary being could survive. A little judicious trimming would have served this story better. One gets the sense that the author is once again compensating for the blandness of his eternally beautiful but blank-faced protagonist by piling on the action, gore and mayhem. As always, the gorgeous drawings of Amano help soothe sensibilities worn to a frazzle by all the non-stop action.

[Grimread · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have a sense of deja-vu saying this but; WTF did I just read?

Staying faithful to D is probably the only thing that drives me to keep reading this series. Otherwise all I can remember from reading almost 400 pages of Tyrant's Stars is the conveniently placed horses (like in a video game where you never run out of bullets) and the never-ending cryptic question of '[D] Who are you?' and the answer that is always cut in the middle. After 15 books is it really necessary to still keep this from the reader? We all know it and there is no suspense in it any more.
And again you have a bunch of characters that fall flat because you can't relate with any of their intentions or feelings. They are just there to fill in the blank space of paper. Everything else is so Grand and Beautiful because apparently it is necessary to blow up every sentence and then explain what author 'presumes' has happened or a character has felt. Why he is presuming so much, I don't know, but I have a strong feeling that Kikuchi skips the part of rereading his manuscript leading him to repeat himself constantly.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love D and the books. I have plowed through 17 volumes in 6 months. I found this volume a little tedious thought. D has too much on his plate in the Tyrants Stars. I liked all the inferences that D is the son of the Sacred Ancestor, and that Mr. Left Hand was able to go off on his own adventures. It provides some comic relief from the fighting. Lots of fighting. All the same moves in the fighting. After a while I started to wonder if the author was using the fights to pad the text. Also, there were a lot of extra, nonessential characters that distracted from the story base. The ending was very sweet, and I was happy Sue found peace, but it was never fully explained how she got there. Maybe I zoned out in the chapter because all the fighting was exhausting. Going to take a break from D for a while and read something with less fighting. I hope D can go into hibernation for a while before the next volume too...

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one started out as an improvement over vol 16. I liked the Left Hand acting independently and giving other people a hard time. I also liked Sue's relationship with the various characters. Then it devolved into random crap happening. Then it devolved further into random crap that was not properly explained as Kikuchi rushed to end the story by the end of the fourth part. I did like how D managed to keep his contract, but not enough to add back the third star.

[Janice · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first of the Vampire Hunter D series are good to quite good, but - and I hate to say this - they've gotten very repetitive with nothing really new, which makes them boring. Had a really hard time actually finishing this one. I have another 10 or so, and there are more in the series than that. I'm going to move the series out of the current rotation and give it some time before I go back to it. See if that helps.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one went off the rails for me by the end. I loved parts 1 and 2, but parts 3 and 4 just seemed to totally veer off in weird directions. The ending was confusing as well. Still a great series but I didn't care so much for this volume.

[Brittany Roberts-Navedo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can someone just tell me who D is at this point?

Either he's the son of or the actual person Dracula? I don't know if I have another 13 books left in me to read.

[Alexandru Simionescu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fuck that Matthew guy, such a scumbag and a piece of shit
MASSIVE respect to Count Brajou and Duchess Miranda 🙂‍↕️

[Tara Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

This took me a very long time to complete, mostly because I was on VHD overload from reading 4 books in the series back to back. Read one every 6 months, as they are released, the repeated storylines of D facing overwhelming odds are fun and entertaining. Just don't read them back to back. I wil say this was a fair installment that ranked 3 stars, until I got to the ending that I liked so much I added one additional star.

[Emerch · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was ok, but not the best D material IMO.
I'm hoping the future for D includes less annoying charachters than Matthew and Sue - who clearly can't stay away from parental watch for 5 minutes before getting into trouble...

[Searska GreyRaven · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ending was a bit of an ass-pull, but it worked, so I'll allow it. ^_^

[Felix · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, I'm not sure I liked that ending. I was expecting something more climatic then that...