See, I started out an anime traditionalist--with what I watched at the beginning anyway. Utena, Fushigi Yuugi, Ranma, Evangelion... these were among the first anime I watched. But my favorite was Vampire Hunter D. The original *and* the sequel. They do different things for me. In the end however, I just love D.

They've translated the books. They've translated the books. They've translated the BOOKS! And I'm not talking like they're going to be in stores in a month. No, I'm talking I picked up a copy of the second volume *today*. And placed a hold on the first volume. Funny thing was, they put them in the sci-fi/fantasy section. That's not really a bad place, but I pointed out the market that would really buy the book would need to see it in the manga section.

For anyone who needs to look up the books, the author is Hideyuki Kikuchi (no idea which is the proper family vs personal name) and the illustrator is Yoshitaka Amano.

Amano is one of those artists who I acknowledge as good, but don't particularly care for their art--especially his Final Fantasy stuff. However, his style is particularly suited to VHD; the stark and peeled down lines work especially well with gothic tales, which VHD is.