Vampire Knight

Vampire Knight (ヴァンãƒ'イア騎士(ナイト), Vanpaia Naito) is a shōjo manga series written by Matsuri Hino. The series premiered in the January 2005 issue of LaLa magazine and has officially ended. Chapters are collected and published in collected volumes by Hakusensha, concluding with nineteen volumes released in Japan. The manga series is licensed in English by Viz Media, who has released all nineteen volumes. The English adaptation premiered in the July 2006 issue of Viz's Shojo Beat magazine, with the collected volumes being published on a quarterly basis.

Two drama CDs were created for the series, as well as a twenty-six episode anime adaptation. Produced by Studio Deen, the anime series' first season aired in Japan on TV Tokyo between April 8, 2008 and July 1, 2008. The second season, aired on the same station from October 7, 2008 to December 30, 2008. The anime uses many of the same voice actors as were used for the drama CDs. The anime adaptations were licensed for release in North America by Viz Media, the DVD released on July 20, 2010.

Plot

Yuki's earliest memory is of a stormy night in winter, where she was attacked by a rogue vampire and rescued by Kaname Kuran, a Pureblood vampire. Now ten years later, Yuki Cross, the adopted daughter of the headmaster of Cross Academy, Kaien Cross, has grown up and become a guardian of the vampire race, protecting her childhood crush, Kaname, from discovery as he leads a group of vampires at the elite boarding school. At her side is Zero Kiryu, a childhood friend whose hatred for the creatures that destroyed everything he held dear leaves him determined never to trust them. This coexisting arrangement seems all well and good, but have the vampires truly renounced their murderous ways, or is there a darker truth behind their actions? Because in this world of secrets, nothing is as it seems. And the price of misplaced trust may even be worse than death. Should Yuki truly find out what was in her past, is the truth going to hurt her worse than not knowing?

Media

Manga

The first chapter of Matsuri Hino's Vampire Knight premiered in the January 2005 issue of LaLa. The individual chapters were collected and published in tankōbon volumes by Hakusensha, in nineteen volumes released in Japan as of November 2013. The series is licensed for an English language release in North America by Viz Media. In addition to publishing the individual volumes, the series was serialized in Viz's Shojo Beat manga anthology from the July 2006 issue until the magazine was discontinued after the August 2009 issue. It is licensed for English release in Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment, which has released fifteen volumes as of December 2011. The final volume was released in English on October 14, 2014 by Viz Media. On November 8, 2013, Hino has released a special chapter titled "Life (å'½, Inochi)", which was licensed and released digitally by Viz Media on December 9, 2014. Another special chapter titled "I Like You (あなたのã"とが好きです, Anata no koto ga sukidesu)" was released on February 10, 2015.

Drama CDs

Two drama CDs have been released for Vampire Knight. The first, LaLa Kirameki, was released as an extra with the September 2005 issue of LaLa. The second, Vampire Knight Midnight CD-Pack, was released only via mail order.

Anime

Studio Deen produced a twenty-six episode anime adaptation of the Vampire Knight manga, using many of the same voice actors featured on the drama CDs and directed by Kiyoko Sayama. The episodes started airing on TV Tokyo in Japan on April 7, 2008 and ran until the season conclusion on June 30, 2008. The episodes were also aired at later dates on TV Aichi, TV Hokkaido, TV Osaka, TV Setouchi, and TVQ Kyushu Broadcasting Co. The second season, named Vampire Knight Guilty, premiered on the same station October 6, 2008. The final episode aired on December 29, 2008. On July 24, 2009, Viz Media announced it had acquired the license for the Vampire Knight anime and would begin releasing it to DVD on July 20, 2010. In the UK, the first volume was officially released on DVD via Manga Entertainment on November 22, 2010. In Australia, ABC3 began airing the series (English-language version) in March 2011 and began repeats on July 3 later that year.

The series uses four pieces of theme music. The opening themes of both the first and second season are performed by the duo On/Off, with "Futatsu no Kodō to Akai Tsumi" (ふたつのé¼"動と赤い罪) as the opening for the first season, and "Rinne Rondo" (輪廻 -ロンド-Rinne) as the opening for the second. Kanon Wakeshima performs the first season ending theme, "Still Doll", and also the second season's ending theme "Suna no Oshiro" (砂のお城). The soundtrack is composed by Takefumi Haketa and consists of 30 tracks (including the opening theme and ending theme).

Vampire Knight can be streamed on Hulu and on Netflix, as well as rented for the latter.

Light novels

Three light novels created by Matsuri Hino and Ayuna Fujisaki were published in Japan by Hakusensha in 2008 (the first two novels) and 2013 (the third), respectively. The novels feature side-stories that use the characters of the manga, but are not specifically based on chapters from the series. The first novel, Vampire Knight: Ice Blue's Sin (ヴァンãƒ'イア騎士 憂氷の罪, Vanpaia Naito: Aisu BurÅ« no Tsumi), was published on April 5, 2008. The first story within the novel looks at an incident that occurred at Cross Academy in the year preceding Yuki's arrival about a Day Class student named Fuka Kisaragi, while the second story details an incident that occurred while Zero was still in training to be a vampire hunter alongside Kaito Takamiya, another boy training under Toga Yagari to be a vampire hunter.

The second novel, Vampire Knight: Noir's Trap (ヴァンãƒ'イア騎士 凝é»'の罠, Vanpaia Naito: Nowāru no Wana), was published on October 3, 2008. The story focuses on two minor characters, Nadeshiko Shindo and Kasumi Kageyama, from the manga, following their respective unrequited love at Cross Academy, as well as detailing a case that happened when Akatsuki Kain and Ruka Souen go to visit Senri Shiki and Rima Toya's modeling studio.

The third novel, Vampire Knight: Fleeting Dreams (ヴァンãƒ'イア騎士ト 煌銀の夢, Vanpaia Naito: Flail no Yume), was released in 2014, featuring side-stories about Rido Kuran, Sara Shirabuki, and Yuki's and Zero's activities during the timeskip. The third novel is the only novel thus far to have been licensed by Viz Media and released in North America.

Video game

Vampire Knight DS (ヴァンãƒ'イア騎士 DS, Vanpaia Naito DÄ«esu) is a Japanese dating simulator based on Vampire Knight that was released by D3 Publisher in Japan in January 2009.

Fanbook

In November 2008, the official Vampire Knight, titled Vampire Knight Fanbook: Cross (ヴァンãƒ'イア騎士 ファンブックX, Vanpaia Naito Fanbukku Kurosu), was published in Japan. In addition to providing additional information about the series characters and story, it includes images and details from Hino's storyboard. The fanbook has been licensed by Viz Media and was released on October 19, 2010.

Artbook

A 94 page Matsuri Hino Illustrations Vampire Knight was released on July 5, 2010, the artwork included one original double page spread created for the Artbook and a compilation of 100 previously released Vampire Knight color artworks.

Musical

A live-action musical adaptation was announced and staged at the Hakuhinkan Theater in Tokyo from January 21 to the 25th, 2015.

See also

• Vampire film

References

External links

• Hakusensha's official manga website (Japanese)
• Official Viz Vampire Knight manga website
• Official Viz Vampire Knight anime website
• Vampire Knight (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Vampire Knight (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Vampire Knight: Guilty (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia