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New Strike the Blood Video Anime's Promo Video Reveals Title, New Cast, Staff
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
Warner Bros Japan began streaming a promotional video for the new original video anime (OVA) series adaptation of Gakuto Mikumo's Strike the Blood light novels on Monday. The video reveals the OVA series' title as Strike the Blood II (Strike the Blood Second), and reveals the anime's cast and staff.
Most of the cast are returning for the new OVA series, which include Yoshimasa Hosoya as Kojō Akatsuki, Risa Taneda as Yukina Himeragi, Asami Seto as Asagi Aiba, Rina Hidaka as Nagisa Akatsuki, Ikumi Hayama as Sayaka Kirisaka, Ryota Ohsaka as Motoki Yaze, Kanae Itō as Kanon Kanase, and Hisako Kanemoto as Natsuki Minamiya. New cast members include Nao Tōyama as Yume Eguchi, and Yukiyo Fujii as Kiriha Kisaki. Both are new characters who first appear in the novel series' ninth volume, which the new OVA series will portray.
Much of the staff from the television anime adaptation and the Strike the Blood: Valkyria no Ōkoku-hen OVA are returning for Strike the Blood II, including Hideyo Yamamoto as director at SILVER LINK./CONNECT, Hiroyuki Yoshino on series composition, Keiichi Sano on animation character design, Aiko Taira as art director, Yukiko Tanno on color design, Takeshi Hirooka as director of photography, Kentarou Tsubome on editing, Jin Aketagawa as sound director, Magic Capsule on sound production, Assumed Sounds on music, Green as the background studio, and REAL-T as the editing studio. Other staff members include:
- Mechanical design: Mika Akitaka
- Visual design/mechanical design cooperation: Barn Storm Design Lab
- Art design: Toshinari Tanaka
- Mecha/Creature Design: Kio Edamatsu, Satoshi Yuri
- 3D CGI Production: Wired
- 3D Production Cooperation: IKIF+
- Photography studio: Nexus
Kishida Kyōdan & The Akeboshi Rockets is performing the opening theme song. The band previously performed the television anime's opening theme song. Risa Taneda is performing the ending theme song as her character Yukina Himeragi.
Strike the Blood II will have four two-episode volumes, with the first volume slated for DVD and Blu-ray Disc release on November 23. The OVA will start by depicting the story in the ninth light novel volume (cover shown right), and will take place in Blue Elysium, a resort facility near Itogami Island.
The second volume is slated for December 21, the third on March 29, and the fourth on April 26. The first volume's home video release will include the creditless opening and ending sequence, as well as a booklet containing annotations, an original story by Mikumo, and a manga.
The school action fantasy story of Strike The Blood begins with Kojō Akatsuki (voiced by Yoshimasa Hosoya in the earlier television anime), a boy deemed the "fourth progenitor" — the world's most powerful vampire, once thought to only exist in legend and lore. In the Itogamijima special zone for demons, a girl named Yukina Himeragi (Risa Taneda) is entrusted with watching over the vampire and if needed, hunting him down.
The novel series inspired a 24-episode television anime series in 2013, as well as an earlier two-episode OVA project last November and December. Crunchyroll streamed the television anime series as it aired in Japan. Discotek licensed the television anime for North American home video.
Yen Press is publishing the light novel series in North America. It published the third volume on May 24. TATE has been serializing a manga adaptation in Kadokawa's Monthly Comic Dengeki Daioh magazine since 2012. The manga's eighth compiled book volume shipped on April 27, with the ninth volume slated for September 27.
