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Strike the Blood II Sequel Anime's 1st 3 Minutes & Title Sequence Streamed

Warner Bros. Japan began streaming the first three minutes and the title sequence of Strike the Blood II (Strike the Blood Second), the new original video anime (OVA) series adaptation of Gakuto Mikumo's Strike the Blood light novels, on Tuesday. The opening theme song is "Blood on the EDGE" by Kishida Kyōdan & The Akeboshi Rockets, who also performed the television anime's opening theme song.

Warner Bros. Japan previously streamed a promotional video for the anime in August.

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, Kentarō 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

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 Wednesday, 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 23, 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 in November and December 2015. 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 fourth volume on September 27. TATE has been serializing a manga adaptation in Kadokawa's Monthly Comic Dengeki Daioh magazine since 2012. The manga's ninth compiled book volume shipped on September 27.

Update: Though it was initially announced for December 21, the second volume's release date has been changed to December 23.