Intro
Yo! Welcome to The World is My Burrito, Mars Madness edition! A podcast where I journey across the stars and scour the red planet to provide you with the best legends!
Today we’re covering the 2023 Kickstarter comic Vampire Hunter D: Message from Mars, an American project based on an otherwise untranslated short story by the author of VHD himself, Hideyuki Kikuchi.
Welcome
What’s up all you Martian Manhunters and Centuries-old Cougars? Welcome to the what I think is my first intentionally-themed series! As always it’s your Cybernetic Host of Podcast Past…. from the Future, Kory T comin’ at ya from Tampa, FL this lovely DATE
Let’s get right into things with
Dish Duty
How’s that sound? I’ve never liked the term “kitchenkeeping” but it was the best I could come up with. Finally asked Zack for some ideas and this was one of them. What do you think? Dish Duty? Sound good? If not, feel free to express any and all negative opinions to him on Twitter.
It’s probably okay to spoil my Mars Madness plan, right? If only so you can hold me accountable for my promises then judge me for my indiscretions?
The other planned titles are Battle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicles the manga which I’ve already started on, Carole & Tuesday the manga and anime, and finally -hopefully not regrettably- Terra Formars the manga and anime.
There's no way these can all be completed before March is over but I'm pretty determined to complete this theme. Just to get an idea of what it’s like to have responsibilities. Maybe next year I’ll do one of those “plan” things?
I also still have a few smaller things to make. Namely a little video on Akira Toriyama because, hey, pour one out. You don’t need to be a fan but where AKIRA helped opened eyes to the quality that anime can achieve, DBZ really kicked down the fucking door and got it in here. There’s only a 9-year difference from AKIRA’s first airing to when DBZ re-aired and became successful.
Enough about sad stuff,
Hot take
It’s good! It’s a great blend of American and Japanese art and storytelling in a very relaxed way. Sometimes being in the middle of the road fits the content better and this does just that. Comics are known for being short format so this marriage to a short story is very complimentary.
Personal history/Why did I choose this topic?
Big fan of Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2001 movie). It is one of the few anime where the Dub is amazing even though John DiMaggio voices like 7 or more characters. Maybe especially because of that fact.
The blend of science fiction and fantasy really helps leave a lot of mystery in this world. We the observers have no idea what it takes to kill something or accomplish any feat, but D -the protagonist- does because he’s the pro. It’s always easy-ish for him but may not always be the same. D and Left Hand are resourceful.
Als I love Yamano’s art. Like how can you be alive and not love Amano’s art? In a very real way that’s what makes Vampire Hunter D. So when this kickstarter released, the advertised art caught my eye and the biscuit needed the risk, which paid off in the end.
As for a little extra on the historical end I haven’t actually read any of the D novels yet. I was trying to collect them one by one from used book stores until they FINALLY started releasing omnibuses in 2021. But now I have a podcast so it’s physically impossible to read a book without reviewing it, right?
Right?
Spoiler Alert
This is one of those where I can’t even give you the synopsis without spoiling everything so this is your spoiler alert. Like, beyond the part where a message comes from Mars and our hero goes to Mars, it’s technically all spoiled. SO IF YOU DON’T WANT THIS MATT DAMON OF A BURRITO SPOILED PUT HIM BACK ON EARTH
And if you did so choose to hold off for a minute honestly just go watch 2001’s Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust. It is beautiful to look at and such a great, fantastical, tragic story. It has a great English dub so don’t feel like you have to watch subbed. And then you can come back.
Synopsis (for those who won’t pursue)
Message from Mars is told from the point of view of Cecile, a girl who could see the future, one of the human colonists on Mars. D arrives to find a colony that is little more than a blood farm. With Left Hand -his talking left hand with various unspecified abilities- by his side, D sets out to cleanse Mars of the vampiric scourge! We see the ascension of the Nobility in the aftermath of a nuclear war on Earth and a part of the beginning of D's journey as a vampire hunter.
Author and Short Story
We’ll keep this short but important:
Hideyuki Kikuchi is the creator of the Vampire Hunter “D” novels beginning in 1983 and still running to this day. It’s a sci-fi fantasy series set in a dystopian future where magic, myth, old tech, and new tech all exist side by side. In just the Bloodlust film there’s a decrepit western town, spaceships, werewolves, vampires, and so much more as it relates to the aforementioned genres. As a quick aside, D is a dhampir: half human half vampire. The character is very thin, specifically to contrast all the swole heroes that were popular in America. This also released in ’83, the same year Fist of the North Star was released which actually began the popularity of swole protags in Japanese media. D’s left hand is its own being named Left Hand. I don’t know what his abilities are and honestly don’t want to ruin it for myself. He can suck things in and blow things out is about as simple as it gets. He speaks the most of the duo, so you can add “blowing hot air” to that list of abilities.
Anyways, Kikuchi has apparently been hosting these events in Shinjuku called Talk-Live for a few years now. It sounds like a mini convention directed at the younger generation where attendees can interact with special guests from sci-fi and horror publishing, movies, and anime.
The actual short story of today’s topic could be won at said event. What a neat thing to win, right? An unpublished short story by a famed author? Also from what they say and what I can find this truly is the first time it’s been published in any way, bringing us to
Comic History
Originally titled “Message from Cecil”, this introduced those winners to the fantastical Vampire Hunter universe in a 5-issue comic series that was also collected into a very nice hardcover trade paperback.
This campaign began on June 30th, 2016 (the start of Anime Expo) and was supposed to conclude on Aug 8th, 2016 (the end of Gen Con.) I did not realize it was this old until researching for this episdoe and don’t actually know why they took a damn 5 year break. I know there’s something in there about switching from one artist to another but otherwise that’s it.
If you go to kickstarter right now, the originally advertised tier rewards are not what I could pick from. Be cool if they did. Maybe back then I could have afforded the Left Hand statue.
It’s a little weird that this is kind of a big deal but I cannot find anything stating how this project even happened and that is just baffling.
Production
Original Story: Hideyuki Kikuchi
Character Design: Yoshitaka Amano
Created by: Kurt Rauer
Series Translator: Kevin Leahy
Writer: Brandon Easton
Artist: Ryan Benjamin
Inks: Richard Friend
Marketing and additional art provided by
- Christopher Shy,
- Artgerm,
- Agnes Garbowska,
- Houng Taek Nam,
- Jae Lee,
- June Chung
Artist Assistant - Kira Brown
Editor and Lettering & Design - Emmalee Pearson
Layout - Shaun Clapham
Production - Peacock Print Co.
Unified Pictures
Executive Producers Kurt Rauer & Scott McLean
Digital Frontier
Character Designer: Yoichi Mouri
Creative Executive: Mitsumoto Suzuki
Technical Director - Keitaro Hamabe
The Topic
The story begins with the beginning of Cecil’s message framed by D’s landing. From here-on out we phase back and forth between the past and the present like a mountain road. When she waxes poetic about her history with futuresight and seeing D’s arrival, the story is focused on D maneuvering through what is basically a sidescroller of the world. When she talks about hard history like her foresight, introduction to Mars, romance, and vampire invasion, that’s all focused on her.
But we’re not here for her we’re here for MARS! The nuclear war on earth somehow leads to vampire’s leaving their mark on the earth, so much so that they can comfortably head to Mars. Galtus and his gang somehow learn about the base and Galactic Drive and decide this is the best way to take over the remainder of the universe. For some reason Vampires can just exist in space -or at least on Mars- without protection. There’s no explanation for this. But they can so clearly they are the ultimate species in the universe. For some reason they need the Galactic Drive to go places. Do you wanna know what the Galactic Drive does? So do I. It’s never explained. Moving on.
One of the best visual representations in this is the stark difference between the vampires who arrive on Mars -all of which appear very normal and human to the point Cecil didn’t notice a difference- and the Vampires D defeats in the future, many of which have become biologically or artificially twisted, or seemingly reverted back to a more primal stage. Somehow both Franz and Cecil are of noble blood which gives them additional powers, but don’t worry about that either. The transference, functions, and benefits of noble blood aren’t explained.
Compare this with the humans, all of which were healthy in the beginning but many of which look kinda like Gollum by D’s arrival. The most human of them are either blood banks or servants directly to the throne. The remaining humankind have their own classes of laborers, subjects to scientific testing, and other creepy vampiric needs. One page explains how the vampires were trying to alter human DNA and physiology to better suit them to space travel, but it didn’t work so Galtus instead threw people into a pit of “all manner of viral bacterial infections” in hopes of creating a more resilient line of human. Mars is just a shithole. They did turn a nerdy science outfit into a dope castle, but a shithole nonetheless.
The writing is great. The sheer disrespect of the human race is wonderfully written. Galtus Has a great introductory line calling us "Unsuitable for interstellar colonization, incapable of operating the Galactic Drive". Franz saying the quiet thing out loud when talking about the stages turned vampires go through concerning human treatment. There are some great witticisms from Left Hand and Cecil, as well as plenty of powerful statements throughout.
In the same written vein, Cecil’s precognition of death makes the vampiric angle more fun because it kinda throws a wrench in her previous understanding of how death works; sometimes you can come back from the dead. She saw Franz die and was surprised by his return 2 years later. But also I guess she can then see the second death? Once again it’s not explained in any way. She frequently talks about it as a prison or the torture it causes. Nothing can be changed and nobody will ever understand that, creating enemies for Cecil. Knowing pain will come does not stop it from happening, so she has to sit and wait as a vampire for 1000 years before seeing her final relief.
Before leaving the writing bit, let us once again draw attention to the multiple diaries. It’s fun and smart to eventually switch from the character who sees everything to the character who can see the character who can see everything. Franz does seem to have a thing for Cecil which is why he not only tries to preserve her life but so readily dies for her when the inevitability arises.
If you’re that listener who is wholly unfamiliar with the Vampire Hunter world, things just have powers and there’s never an explanation. Do you notice a theme here? Some vampires can phase through things, some are made out of lightning, some seem to be built into mech suits, but all are weak to wooden stakes, garlic bombs, D’s trusty longsword, and having every atom of their body eradicated. Oh and I guess they can just live in space on the side of strengths.
I will probably always talk smack about Twilight because those rules just kinda seem dumb. And then you have this world, where everything’s made up and the points don’t matter. It goes so far into left field that you’re like, “Yeah. I’m sure a vampire could turn into pure energy yet still be cut by a sword. That checks out.” Just in the Bloodlust movie alone there’s a human who can create an etherial duplicate and shoot laserz, a plant girl who can move freely through plants like water, and a werewolf but his chest is the mouth. Are you confused?Embrace it. Again, combining so many aspects of fantasy, scifi, myths, you name it, it becomes much more freeing to me.
Speaking of things that aren’t explained, Let’s talk about how Galtus goes into hibernation looking like a string bean then comes out looking like Count von Schwarzenegger. Once again, no explanation but I am here for it. Maybe we won’t like nobles when they’re mad, but his seething rage is very entertaining. Dude busts through the ceiling, shoves D onto an exposed beam for safekeeping, walks up to Franz and rips him in half, and then goes to torturing Cecil. This is where the weird fun of Japanese storytelling shines. It’s not one-liners, it’s the actions. The threat is very real.
I think maybe the final point worth mentioning is how this is just a sidescroller. D arrives, off a dude with no effort, enters a room with creatures, offs them with barely more effort, and just kinda keeps entering more rooms with more complex enemies. The first dude returns as a mid boss. The final boss literally takes him down to the base level for a showdown.
The Book
Like art. Haze around light. I had to look it up but D’s pendant disables electronics. Seems like it’s only used twice and the first time isn’t really noticeable, but the second makes a whole lotta sense. When D disables
Dislikes
This is going to be a long section but not for traditional reasons.
I have only one teeny tiny dislike about the topic and it’s only about the digital version: there are no chapter markers. And it ain’t much, but there is some benefit to having a visual marker separating parts of the story. On first read I became confused at some of the letter because we reached bits of narrative from Franz’s perspective, so it seemed like some bits were Cecil and some, Franz. But it was all Franz. Had there been a chapter break this change would have been far more obvious.
Looking at the kickstarter comics it really does look like it went dead for a while with no response from the creators. That’s a bummer.
Other than that it’s a little annoying that I can’t say “hey go buy this”. It’s not readily available in ANY way. It seems like only 2 issues are available for the physical comic, good luck on finding one at a reasonable price. I saw one of the sets of a signed trade, all 6 individual issues, and some other kickstarter stuff on eBay for $5,700. Stranger Comics doesn’t even offer a digital version on their website. I get not making everything involved in the kickstarter readily available to the masses -and maybe never producing more physical copies- but not even digital? Stranger Comics indeed. Maybe there was some kind of agreement with Kikuchi or it's a time thing. As of this year all global productions have been delivered so maybe something will change? Otherwise, don your eyepatch and pegleg or learn how to use e-mail.
Your thoughts?
I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume nobody listening has read this. At least nobody within the first 20-40 streams. So instead of asking your thoughts I'll once again recommend you check out Bloodlust. If you're feelin' super spunky go check out the original movie. Both should be FAR more available and affordable now than they were when I was young.
References
The only real references in this episode are the
