Hideyuki Kikuchi Wants You to Watch These Movies
The English translations of Vampire Hunter D mostly end with a postscript by Hideyuki Kikuchi. Some, I assume, are translations of postscripts that were written for the original Japanese novels but some are written especially for the English translations. I find these postscripts almost as fascinating as the novels themselves because they always have to do with Western vs. Eastern culture and the ways in which inspirations flow back and forth between the two. I just finished reading Vampire Hunter D: The Mysterious Journey to the North Sea Part One and The Stuff of Dreams today (grades were due yesterday so I’m now free). The postscript for The Stuff of Dreams is particularly interesting because in it Kikuchi talks about why Dracula. This is the very question I’ve wondered about ever since I read the postscript to volume 1: why Dracula? Is there no Japanese vampire tradition? Well, according to Kikuchi, the answer is yes and no. Kikuchi writes that there is no Japanese vampire tradition because in Japan “blood here isn’t surrounded by the same air of sanctity.” But, at the same time, Kikuchi muses that nevertheless, since Japanese culture is so very different from Western culture that even if he uses the European Vampire as the theme of his work, his vampire will necessarily be quite distinct from the European vampire. So my question now is, fundamentally different in what ways?
The other feature of the postscripts is that almost all mention western horror and western movies that have inspired Kikuchi at one point or another. I’ve only read up to volume 7, but I list them here for your enjoyment:
The Horror of Dracula
Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter
The Curse of Frankenstein
Escape from New York
The Brides of Dracula
The Revenge of Frankenstein
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein