>Volume 3 Blurb
The vampire hunter known only as D has been hired by a wealthy, dying man to find his daughter, who was kidnapped by the powerful vampire Lord Mayerling. Though humans speak well of Mayerling, the price on his head is too high for D to ignore and he sets out to save her before she can be turned into an undead creature of the night.

In the nightmare world of 12,090 A.D., finding Mayerling before he reaches the spaceport in the Clayborn States and gets off the planet will be hard enough, but D has more than just Mayerling to worry about. The dying man is taking no chances, and has also enlisted the Marcus family, a renegade clan of four brothers and a sister who don't care who they kill as long as they get paid. A post-apocalyptic plot, filled with chilling twists.

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>>289346360
Volume 3 Impressions

>The story
This novel follows the perspective of almost a dozen different characters in a deadly chase across the frontier. The Noble Mayerling is fleeing with Charlotte (she’s only ever referred to as “The Girl” in the novel, this name comes from the movie) while being pursued by D and the notorious Marcus Clan. Throughout this chase, we see D’s physical prowess shine while finally getting to see some human characters shine through. As the name implies, the novel never really “stops”; whereas there are no timeskips or breaks. Constantly, someone is engaged in a conflict or chase resulting in the volume being the most action heavy yet. We get to see several new types of abilities, a very interesting lore tidbit on sentient machines, a functioning society of demons/monsters, and a tragic ending.

>D in this volume
Save for one moment in the story, D was probably the strongest we’ve seen him yet. From his supernatural horseriding ability (Guiding the horse atop narrow stones along a fierce river), to his needle throwing (500 vampires-ghouls dead instantly), and his Left Hand literally soloing Caroline, D was unstoppable. The only times he “failed” was when he allowed himself to. He chose to save Leila at the cost of losing daylight and he chose not to pursue Mayerling while inside the village of Barbarois as to not dishonour the village. In Volume 1, D felt like he was more reacting than taking initiative, while in Volume 2, D simply wasn’t pursuing his objective all that well with his constant backtracking. In this Volume however, everyone else is reacting to him. The Marcus Clan plans around him, Mayerling constantly checks how close he is, and Barbarois Village knows of him before he arrives. The narrative spends almost as much time discussing D's reputation as it does showing him.

>>289346394
We get a few more peaks into his thoughts and feelings too. First, was his little exchange he had with Left Hand about Charlotte being possibly bitten. This is from the beginning of chapter 2:
“...After all, even if she’s been bitten already, if we slay the Noble she’ll be back to normal. That should please her no end.”
Shrouded as always in an eerie aura, D’s beautiful visage clouded for an instant.
“She’d be pleased? Because she was human again? Or because he was—”
“Don’t start harping on that again…”
This once again reaffirms D’s complicated thoughts towards the nobility. He doesn’t hate them or think of them as disgusting demons. Other moments being the silent exchanges he has with Mayerling. Two beings shrouded in darkness who hold an understanding of one another. But I will argue this about his character: D does have a soft spot towards women. Now, you could argue that we simply haven’t seen a male actually be nice to D and engage in friendliness with him, but D has clearly shown interest in the three heroines we’ve seen so far. He was down to fuck Doris, he let Lina hang out with him, and he saved Liela multiple times despite her being an enemy. Left Hand isn’t far off when he makes comments about D’s decision making.

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>>289346405
>The Marcus Clan
Nice to actually see some other Hunters. We’ve heard a lot about these other monster Hunters and the varying levels of skills they possess throughout the volumes but we’ve yet to see any until now. And I liked the Marcus Clan. And in theory, they really would be some of the strongest guys around (Had they worked together better). Kyle and Nolt are strong attackers who’d get cover fire from Borgoff while Liela would dive-bomb with her battle car. Groveck would be their ace card when needed. I’d argue they only failed because they kept splitting up in this volume. Had Liela not attack the Shelter by herself, Nolt not go off alone to finish off D, Grove launch an attack on Barbarois village without additional support, Kyle not get shitwrecked by Caroline due to horniness, and that final exchange Borgoff had with Mayerling (Before his body got taken over), they could’ve survived those exchanges if they had each other to back themselves up. My only complaint was that Kikuchi, our beloved author, couldn’t help himself and had to add incestuous rape into the story with Liela being the subject of abuse at the hands of her brothers. Even fucking mummified, skeletal Grove got in on that action. Dude was probably cumming dust.

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>>289346423
>Mayerling (NOT “Meier Link”, THAT’S THE MOVIE VERSION)
Interesting to see our first “good” Noble. Volume 2 didn’t have one, so we only have Count Lee to compare him too, but it’s clear he wasn’t evil. His only mistake was biting Charlotte’s father instead of just outright killing him. As the novel explained, some people that get bitten by a noble die or become a vampire despite the Noble’s intent. In this case, Mayerling wanted to just drain him, but Charlotte’s father was turned into a vampire, a particularly infectious one at that. Within one night, the entire village was turned. There’s a bit of nuance required, but the series has explained to some degree the differences between a proper Noble and a freshly turned vampire; Nobles are typically thousands of years old, were officially recognised members of the Noble society, and most likely born into it. There’s a small passage mentioning Caroline’s mother being a wet-nurse for the Nobility, implying they did reproduce along with turn humans to expand their numbers. Freshly turned ones are usually weaker, compelled to serve, and lose their original personality. Back to Mayerling, not too much more to say. He loved Charlotte (SHE WAS ONLY 17, THAT SICK FUCK) and wanted to escape to the stars. His genuine belief in finding a functioning spaceship stemmed from his own desires overriding logic.

>>289346434
>New lore
The Sacred Ancestor had visited the Village of Barbarois ten thousand years ago. He was recruiting warriors for his cause.
Sunlight Syndrome for Damphirs
Genetically enhanced humans made another appearance. Volume 1 had Rei-Ginsei and his goons while this volume had the Marcus Clan.
We encountered another member of Left Hand’s species. Some sort of flesh parasite.
The idea of Shelter’s and superspeed highways. One very important tidbit was that the novel outright stated that Frontier roads weren’t being maintained by Nobles due to lack of motivation and interest. Very much in spirit of Volume 2, this is another example of the Nobility dying out as a result of general spiritual fatigue. They stopped caring and let themselves decay.
There was a whole machine war with sentient A.I.
Leila possesses some sort of immunity to being bit by a vampire. She wasn’t under Caroline’s control. Genetic enhancements or something that might appear again later?
Nobles did reproduce. Not just uplift humans.
??? (Tell me any more you picked up on)


I’m ending my review part here. It was shorted than I intended but this was a busy month for me. I had to finish the volume in just the last few days. I'm posting this thread the moment I wake up because I'm going on a trip today but I will phonepost when I can.

>Discussion Questions
Answer any of these or make your own

1. Rei-Ginsei’s crew Vs. Marcus Clan. NO BATTLE BUS (Leila gets her battle car though)
If you don’t remember, Rei-Ginsei had his Shrike Blades, the spider hunchback, speedster dude, a big guy with a steel body, and the witch with the Stand ability to make you insane, but she died right away. A lot to talk about here. Rei-Ginsei beats Kyle at his own game, especially with his dimension warping. The speedster dude might outblitz Borgoff’s arrows, maybe not. Spider Hunchback just seems too slow and would lose in a ranged fight. Nolt could probably damage the big steel dude. Grove vs. the Witch is hard to call.

2. Why did D save Leila’s life the very first time around? Am I right in saying it’s because he has a soft spot for beautiful women or would he have done the same for, let’s say, Nolt or Borgoff? Keep in mind, he did threaten to leave Left Hand if Leila died.

3. Obligatory Movie vs. Novel question. I didn’t comment on it in my review, but this is an entire discussion to be had. Tell me your thoughts on both and which one you enjoyed more.

4. Obligatory Heroine question. Doris, Lina, or Leila? I still like Doris the most.

5. Which new piece of worldbuilding fascinated you the most?

6. Is Mayerling evidence that the Sacred Ancestor was wrong? Let me explain: Volume 2 has the Sacred Ancestor trying to overcome the flaws of the Dark Gene and create a Nobility capable of evolving (Physically, that is). Mayerling seems to embody a spiritual evolution instead: he rejects domination, genuinely loves a human, and even dreams of leaving Earth rather than clinging to the decaying Noble order. He’s a "successful" Noble. Perhaps that was the path the Sacred Ancestor should have walked instead.

>>289346486
7. Did Charlotte and Mayerling need to die in the final pages? Or would the novel have been stronger had D's lie become reality and they truly escaped together? If you haven’t picked up on it yet, Volume 1’s ending was a good day for D. Last volume and this one drive home the point that his “adventures” end with corpses all around him. But did Charlotte and Mayerling need to be killed within the last few pages of the story so suddenly like that? Honestly, I think the movie did it better.

Fuck the 2000 character limit

I've just finished it. It's hard to be objective because i'm a fan of the movie so for better and for worse it isnt easy to compare the two, even though it isnt the wisest thing. Especially because in my opinion the book falls quite short even on his own and it ends up being quite forgetable. The Marcus brothers here are not that interesting or cool. They kinda fall on the overpowered thug character just waiting to be slayed by D, which seems to be common in these early volumes. Leila too, she's alike the heroine of the first book, strong and capable only until D comes around and turn her into a damsel in distress and show her where she belongs: the kitchen. Grim. Not sure there was supposed to be a romance between Mayerling and the girl (does she even have a name? lol). A weak effort, but it doesnt overstay its welcome. It's shorter and on point, at last. 06/10 (and i'm probably generous).

>>289347279
I'm kinda expecting most girls D encounter will be a damsel in distress desu. I feel like most of what this volume did was an attempt into making D more humane in a way? I feel like he reacted more to the actions towards him compared with previous volume.

>>289346486
1. Kek, nice question. Movie-wise, Marcus clan wins by rule of the cool. Book-wise Rei-Ginsei is indeed probably stronger than Borgoff (who still manages to fight on par with vampire though) but i feel the rest of the Marcus gang, especially thanks Grove, have more tricks down their bag. A tie? why not.
2. Because the author is a lame chauvinitst, i fear. D just must tip his large hat to swooning ladies, but only beautiful young ones, of course.
3. Movie, no contest.
4. Lina by far. Book Leila is quite forgetable.
5. Barbarois were cool. Killer ants too. I bet Movie Borgoff got a can of them, a killer ant molotov.
6. I feel we dont know enough about him to make assumptions about the guy.
7. A more sweet ending would have been fine, but considered the tone of the book, i feel it fits. I was actually surprised seeing D sparing them. A bit out of character from what we have seen so far.

>>289346360
I don't understand why this is still ongoing, every bad guy is death

Also let me joke about something: our D got this sun sickness that can greatly fuck up dhampirs from days to week, something months? No worry, he's fine after 30 mins because he's just that special. Caroline turns Leila into a thrall or whatever is called here and almost manage to kill her, the girl that loves Mayerling (i swear she doesnt even have a name in the book) and maybe D too? Actually Leila is a bit special too and she's resistant to this kind of stuff. How convenient.

>>289347672
What you mean?

>>289347723
I mean last book was implied D to be one of the "sucess" , but despite all of that i feel like for all his gary stu he still falls short considering how many horrible shit is happening

>>289347816
In the end he's just a guy with a sword. It's not like he can do that much. Besides without the hand demon he would be less of a gary-stu, little guy is the true hero of the story.

>>289347562
>A more sweet ending would have been fine, but considered the tone of the book, i feel it fits. I was actually surprised seeing D sparing them. A bit out of character from what we have seen so far.

Didn't he spare Count Lee's daughter? She died regarldess, but D seems okay with "good" nobles so long as they fuck off. Despite his animosity towards the sacred ancestor (that spirit or echo we saw last volume), D doesn't hate Nobles. He was operating on the assumption that Mayerling had wiped out the village purposely but upon realizing that wasn't the case he had no reason to hunt him anymore.

>>289347869
He's definitely stronger than just being "a guy with a sword". But I do wholeheartedly agree that Left Hand is the real MVP

>>289347935
I feel D is quite prejudiced toward vampires. Maybe rightly so, i dont know. As for now he never tried to reason or accepted to discuss with them, he's a man on a mission. If you spare Mayerling shouldnt also start to question your own life as a bounty hunter as well? Because he sure doesnt do it for money or to help people.

>>289348069
He is very prejudiced but i think his standard is to not punish those that aren't a lost cause or is able to make a compromise, while he goes against nobles 98% of them are being actively harmful and being predatory.but the few that might be "better" he seems to let it go.

>>289348123
Yeah, but how do you even know? By instinct? Once you go believing 99% of the vampires are irredeemable monsters would you really trust the single one it doesnt act like one? Or you would rather think it could be just an act. Or that it's just a matter of time before the vampire will fall to his perversed ways.

>>289348368
I got the impression that nobles are very "honest" in that they will show how wicked they are without much trouble so it gets easier to discern i believe. If you are to get rid of someone because they might become wicked, there is no point in sparing the humans either since they aren't really the most saint in this work

>>289347279
The Marcus clan in the movie depicts them as much cooler, but I still liked them in the book. Leila's character arc of becoming a literal housewife does kind of suck, however D does hold the opinion that women shouldn't be hunters. The jobs just too brutal. Either you become a thug like the Marcus Brothers, or you become disconnected from people like D. The Marcus clan were competent, just that they fucked up by constantly splitting up.

As for Liela, I do think her affection for D was the most shallow this time around. Doris and Lina got to spend meaningful time with him while Liela barely interacted with him. Then again, you have to think about it from the perspective of these women, an incredibly hot, strong, and brooding guy shows up and saves your life, of course they're going to fall head over heels for him.

>>289346486
I feel the goal of Sacred Ancestor is leas about vampires finding alternatives and more about overcoming a restriction imposed by higher beings

>>289349656
>Then again, you have to think about it from the perspective of these women, an incredibly hot, strong, and brooding guy shows up and saves your life, of course they're going to fall head over heels for him.
She had her brothers. A true queen, 4 manly brothers all for her. Sadly it was depicted in the form of a rapey cruel thing. Kikuchi wasnt bold enough to give it a favourable light, after all if we consider how harsh is life on the frontier, incest is the last thing you have to worry of.

>>289350866
The incest thing was stupid. There'd have been more complexity to the brothers had they been simply protective and softer towards their one and only sister. That scene where Kyle, the wildest of the brothers, was shaken up and quite worried about her made me think that was the direction Kikuchi would take. But no, they had to have been possessive rapists.

>>289351126
Depicting them as some kind of psycho thugs was a bad choice considered they have more scenes than D himself. In the movie they're cool anti-heroes and it works great. It improved the story a lot.

oh hey, this is just Bloodlust

>>289351560
yup, third book is where bloodlust comes from, though the two dont lack many differences, especially in the last part. no carmilla and her castle, for example.

>>289351872
>though the two dont lack many differences
I had to read that twice

>>289352994
skill issue

>>289351872
I'm glad Carmilla wasn't a character within the book. Had she been introduced and killed off as a side character, especially this early on, I'd have been upset. She should be a major villain, possibly even spanning a few volumes.

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tomboy imouto leila

>>289355798
>D at the beach

>>289347437
desu in distress

First of all, I wasn't sure if there was gonna be a thread this month since the one from vol 2 seemed to have been taken down.

Anyway, I appreciated this volume for being yet another change of pace and giving us a plot revolving around a benevolent vampire. Although he's never given excessive focus, D is hardly in this one and a lot of the story ends up revolving around the rival gang of hunters who are chasing the same prey as him. This is also the point where I really have to step back and say something about the rape and sexual violence going on in this series. We're 3 for 3 and while I understand this is a common trope in fantasy fiction, the way it has been used so far is just excessive. The scene where Leila is assaulted by one of her brothers is too much, but we later find out that all of them have had their way with her and it's just cringeworthy. Kikuchi tries to add complexity to Grove towards the end through his interactions with the bride character, but in light of everything that came before, it just doesn't work.

>>289359474
>Q1
Personally I thought the Marcus Clan was way more interesting than Rei-Ginsei and his gang. For one, the Marcus gang is much more of a primary antagonist, since the main Noble in this volume isn't really a threat, and the weird stuff with Groveck added some mystery that increases their remarkability. On the other hand, I'm much more likely to remember the ability of Rei-Ginsei in 6 months if only because it is incredibly stupid.

>Q2
Kikuchi had to have at least some woman crushing on D this volume and Charlotte doing so would really muddle the whole pure love thing she has going on with Mayerling.

>Q3
I had planned to watch the movie for this one before today but I forgot...

>Q4
I think I like Lina the most but I'm not super strong on any of them. I'm getting to the point where I believe some of these stories (not so much this one) would benefit from giving D a consistent comrade he can bounce off of, sort of like how every Eternal Champion character has his Eternal Companion or Consort character. D's magic hand weakly fills this role, but their interactions are neither entertaining nor often enough.

>Q5
I really dig the concept of the village of Barbarois.

>Q6
There's still so much room for exploration that I'm not sure how to answer this. It certainly seems to indicate that his approach was wrong, but hardly any of the full lifespan of the Sacred Ancestor has been explored so it's possible his views evolved over time. He's certainly being propositioned as a sort of transcendant, perhaps even sage figure, so maybe by the end of his life he did shift to seeking spiritual rather than biological evolution for his race.

>Q7
Living or dying would have both fit, but I suppose that them dying reinforces the gothic tragedy vibes of the series so far.


All in all, complaints aside, I enjoyed reading these over the past 3 months but this is where I call it quits. Best of luck in keeping up with the read through.

>>289347279
I did appreciate that it was shorter than the first two. I recently saw the physical omnibus for vols 4-6 and it is noticeably thinner than the first. (Although you never can take that at face value since I've seen publishers change paper thickness in the middle of a series which completely messes with ability to judge length by looking at the spine.)
>>289347723
It was extra ridiculous because they were saying that because it had been so long or that he was so powerful, then the sun sickness would affect him more than anyone else. At least I think I remember reading that?

Also has anyone read the manga adaptations? There's one for volume 1 and 9 and I believe there was a storytime way back when. Not sure how they would compare but it's always neat when you can see the same story across 3 different mediums. There's also a game too apparently.

>>289359474
I think the previous thread got killed because we were just bumping it after discussion died
>3 for 3 on rape
Yeah...

>>289359495
>comrade he can bounce off of
Left Hand would fill this role better if they spoke in greater length. D is too autistic to ever chat

>>289362586
This is one of those things that I mean when I say the action kind of blends together. A giant mechanical hand should be very cool in theory, but in this book it's just a sort of whatever setpiece. I finished the book about a week ago and completely forgot about this until just now. Leila's car is more memorable to me than this and it didn't even get an illustration.

>>289346360
Unfortunately I'm not able to follow along with the reading right now but I want to say that I really appreciate these threads OP. They give me hope for /a/

>>289360059
there is a manga goin through the first volumes i think up to volume 8 and now volume 9 is the current ongoing,its pretty rushed though


>>289360387
>>289359474
Kikuchi does tone down on the rape thing, i feel he really takes the idea of each volume being episodic to a extreme where he has a few formulas like women (17 y/o) crushing on D, and probably some rape, it does drag the work down if you decide to take your time just reading the books without anything in the mean time.

>>289363160
This fight in particular was forgettable because the exchange wasn't any special. There was not trick, no stakes, no challenge or strategic play on D'S part. He just won by being faster/stronger. But I did think Caroline's ability to turn anything into a vampire was cool