Vampire Knight

Not to be confused with Vampire Night.

Vampire Knight
Cover of first volume of Vampire Knight released in Japan by Hakusensha on July 5, 2005
ヴァンパイア騎士 (Vanpaia Naito)
Genre	Romance, Supernatural, Action
Manga
Written by	Matsuri Hino
Published by	hanabusa
English publisher	Madman Entertainment Viz Media
Demographic	Shōjo
Magazine	LaLa
English magazine	Shojo Beat
Original run	January 2005 – ongoing
Volumes	18
Anime television series
Directed by	Kiyoko Sayama
Studio	Studio Deen
Licensed by	Viz Media Manga Entertainment
Network	TV Tokyo
English network	Neon Alley ABC3
Original run	April 7, 2008 – June 30, 2008
Episodes	13
Anime television series
Vampire Knight Guilty
Studio	Studio Deen
Licensed by	Viz Media
Network	TV Tokyo
English network	ABC3
Original run	October 6, 2008 – December 29, 2008
Episodes	13

Vampire Knight (ヴァンパイア騎士, Vanpaia Naito) is a shōjo manga series written by Matsuri Hino. The series premiered in the January 2005 issue of LaLa magazine and is still on-going. Chapters are collected and published in collected volumes by Hakusensha, with seventeen volumes currently released in Japan. The manga series is licensed in English by Viz Media, who has released fifteen volumes so far. 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 and 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

See also: List of Vampire Knight characters

Yuki's earliest memory is of a stormy night in winter, where she was attacked by a vampire... And then rescued by another. Now 10 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. But also 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.

Characters

• Yuuki Cross was a initially known as a human at the beginning. She had no prior memories of her past, except for the time on a snowy winter night when she was almost devoured by a bloodthirsty vampire 10 years ago. Yuuki wondered about her mysterious connection with the beautiful and charming vampire, Kaname Kuran. The person who saved her life and is in love with. Yuuki's growing curiosity to know the truth of her past, delves her deeper into the path of no return. Later in the series, her identity was revealed after she tried to force herself to remember the past on her own. Horrifying images of blood begun to flash all over the room and her mind was slowly plunging deeper into corruption. With very little options, Kaname had to awaken her before she loses herself to the hallucinations. Upon waking up, she remembers her missing memories and regains her true identity. She was actually a pureblood princess and is the secret daughter of Haruka and Juri Kuran.

• Kaname Kuran is the person who saved Yuuki from a level E vampire when she was a child 10 years ago. Kaname is the first ancestor of the Kuran family. He has an estimated age of 10,000. Kaname is one of the first founders of the vampire race. Due to his weakened state after being revived, Kaname had to transform his body to that of a infant and suppressed his memories. He entrusted his life into the hands of Haruka and Juri Kuran, who raised him in the place of their son that Rido had taken and killed. Kaname is Yuuki's fiancé and ancestor. Kaname is the president of the moon dorm and is the well respected king of the vampire society.

• Zero Kiryuu is the adopted son of Kaien Cross, the headmaster of Cross Academy. Before that, he was born into a vampire hunter family. He lost his family members and was turned into a level E vampire by a pureblood, Hiou Shizuka (known as the mad blooming princess). He holds a strong hatred and disgust to vampires ever since. He is Yuuki's childhood friend of 4 years.

• Rido Kuran is a pureblood and the main villain of the story. He is Yuuki's uncle and the birth father of Shiki Senri. Hiou Shizuka was originally his betrothed fiancée but has a illegitimate child with a noble vampire. As Rido is the biggest threat to Yuuki's live hood, Kaname sees him as the enemy he has to eradicate at all costs. Rido was the person who sacrificed the life of Yuuki's biological brother Kaname to reawaken the powerful ancestor Kaname from his thousand years of slumber. Technically making himself Kaname's master, Rido thought he could enslave the ancestor Kaname into listening to his every order. However, his plans backfires and was instead slashed into pieces by young ancestor Kaname. Taking him 10 years to regenerate his body. He comes back attempting to kill her once more.

Media

Manga

Main article: List of Vampire Knight chapters

The first chapter of Matsuri Hino's Vampire Knight premiered in the January 2005 issue of LaLa, where the series is still running. The individual chapters are being collected and published in tankōbon volumes by Hakusensha, with seventeen volumes released in Japan as of December 2012. 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.

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

Main article: List of Vampire Knight episodes

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 3rd 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" (ふたつの鼓動と赤い罪) 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).

Light novels

Two light novels created by Matsuri Hino and Ayuna Fujisaki were published in Japan by Hakusensha in 2008. Both novels feature two individual 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 (ヴァンパイア騎士 憂氷の罪, Vanpaia Naito: Aisu Burū 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, while the second story details an accident that occurred while Zero was still in training to be a vampire hunter.

The second novel, Vampire Knight: Noir's Trap (ヴァンパイア騎士 凝黒の罠, Vanpaia Naito: Nowāru no Wana), was published on October 3, 2008. The story focuses on two minor characters from the manga, following their unrequited love at Cross Academy, as well as detailing the accident that happened when Kain and Ruka go to visit Senri and Rima's modeling studio.

Video game

Vampire Knight DS (ヴァンパイア騎士 DS, Vanpaia Naito Dīesu) 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 (ヴァンパイア騎士 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.

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(Spanish)