Vampire Knight

Vampire Knight (ヴァンパイア騎士) is a shojo manga created by Hino Matsuri. The series debuted in January 2005 in the pages of the Japanese monthly shojo magazine, LaLa. In June 2006, the series was added to the North America shojo magazine, Shojo Beat.

Recently, the series has been adapted into a thirteen episode anime by Studio DEEN. The series premiered on April 7, 2008 on TV Tokyo and completed its run on June 30, 2008. A second season titled, Vampire Knight Guilty is scheduled to start airing in October 2008.

The protagonist, Cross Yuki's memory begins on a snowy night, covered in blood and was just attacked by a vampire. She is rescued by Kuran Kaname, a pure-blood vampire, who takes her to Cross Academy to live under the guidance of its headmaster Cross Kaiden.

Ten years after the attack, Yuki is now one of two prefects at Cross Academy. There she is part of the normal day class, and her job as a prefect is to protect the secret of the night class: that their all vampires.

Her prefect partner and childhood friend, Kiryu Zero was also taken to Cross Academy after his family was attacked by a vampire. His family was killed by a female pure-blood vampire possibly due to the fact that the Kiryu family were vampire hunters. Zero was bitten and is slowly falling into the temptation to drink human blood.

Characters

• Cross Yuki (黒主優姫)

When she was five she was attacked by a blood-hungry vampire, and saved by Kuran Kaname. Kaname brought her to the door of Headmaster Cross, who has since raised her. Now at 15 years old, Yuki is in love with Kaname. Yuki is now a prefect (along with Kiryu Zero), who protects the night classes secrets.

She is voiced by Horie Yui.

• Kiryu Zero (錐生 零)

When Zero was young his family was attacked by a vampire. Headmaster Cross brought him to live with him and Yuki. Zero was bitten by the vampire, but tries to resist their urge for blood. He seems to habor feelings for his childhood friend, Yuki.

He is voiced by Miyano Mamoru.

• Kuran Kaname (玖蘭枢)

When Yuki was 5 she was rescued from an evil vampire by Kaname after this she has admired him and even loves him. Kaname is currently the only pure-blood vampire at Cross Academy and is the leader and chairman of the night class, becuase of the respect he receives from the other vampires and from Hedmaster Cross.

He is voiced by Kishio Daisuke.

• Ichijo Takuma (一条拓麻)

Ichijo is a kind-hearted vampire who helps Kaname lead the night class as a vice president. He also at one time lived in the same home as Kaname because he grandfather was Kaname's guardian, he is also the only one who can speak to Kaname informally.

He is voiced by Chiba Susumu.

• Aido Hanabusa (藍堂英)

The school idol, Aido, also known simply as Idol, relishes the attention he gets from the girls of the day class. He has been known to wander around and get into trouble with Yuki or Zero, usually leading to him being repremanded by Kaname. Kain Akatsuki is his cousin.

Voiced by Fukuyama Jun.

• Kain Akatsuki (架院暁)

Aido's cousin and a member of the night class. He has a much cooler head then his trouble-making cousin but has been know on occasion to get into fights with Zero.

Voiced by Suwabe Junichi.

• Shiki Senri (支葵千里)

Voiced by Hoshi Soichiro.

• Souen Ruka (早園瑠佳,)

Voiced by Minagawa Junko.

• Tohya Rima (遠矢莉磨)

Voiced by Kitamura Eri.

• Seiren (星煉)

Voiced by Mizuno Risa.

• Headmaster Cross (黒主理事長)

Voiced by Goda Hozumi.

• Wakaba Sayori (若葉沙頼,)

Voiced by Ueda Kana.

• Hio Shizuka (緋桜閑,)

Voiced by Sonoda Keiko.

Anime

L to R: Zero, Yuki, Kaname

The series has most recently been apdated into an anime, which started airing on April 7th 2008. The show aired on the Japanese Television station TV Tokyo, during the 1:00 JST time slot.

The series is directed by Sayama Kiyoko (佐山 聖子), prodcued by Studio DEEN and Nihon Ad Systems. The story is based on the original manga by Matsuri Hino. The voice actors are the same as the ones from the original drama CDs.

The series ran for a total of thirteen episodes, ending its run on June 30, 2008. A second season of the show is currently in the works. Vampire Knight Guilty is scheduled to start airing in October 2008, during it's old time slot.

Music

The music for the series was provided by Sony Music Entertainment. The opening theme to the series,"Futatsu no Kodou to Akai Tsumi" is performed by the boy-group, ON/OFF. The ending theme is performed by a new singer/celloist, Wakeshima Kanon. The song is named "still doll" and is produced by Mana.

Categories: Manga | Anime | Shojo