From 'Coffin: the art of Vampire Hunter D':

"...Kan-Oke (coffin) is a symbol of the final moments of a human life. It is then, however, that vampires are reborn. One might say that the coffin is like abed. Because "D" is a blood-sucking vampire who lives forever, it is a title that only "D" could use. "D" will still be alive, five hundred years, or a thousand years, into the future. Which is to say, that in "D" I have found a subject fit for works that will last throughout history. Like the Mona Lisa, after five hundred years, it won't matter whether the model really existed or not. The picture itself will be everything. "D". if the pictures are powerful enough, may come to be seen as something remarkable in the history of painting. Why I clings to this hope is "D" himself, as depicted by Hideyuki Kikiuchi, the world of "S" is shot through with a passionate aesthetic. It is hardly necessary to mention the character of "D" himself. The beautiful vampires called the aristocrats and the monstrous animals who, together with the vampires, are "D" 's antagonists are also saturated with a mysterious fascination. The aesthetic sensibility in the depths of this story disturbs and arouses me. And there still remains the form in which it is realized.
Part 2 of this collection may appear five hundred years from now, because "D" may, then, still be alive. That is why, clinging to this hope, I want to leave word of this book to distant generations to come. The portrait I have conceived of "D" will live forever in this collection. Kan-Oke (coffin) is proof that "D" exists."

-Yoshitaka Amano