For the hardcore fans of the”Vampire Knight” manga or anime series, Matsuri Hino’s “Vampire Knight: Official Fanbook” is a fantastic informative book on the characters, the vampires and also a good number of extra features that fans should be happy about. Definitely recommended!
© 2008 Matsuri Hino. All Rights Reserved.
MANGA TITLE: Vampire Knight: Official Fanbook (金éšå±‹å¤æ›¸åº—)
STORY AND ART BY: Matsuri Hino (樋野 ã¾ã¤ã‚Š)
FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: Hakusensha, Inc.
PUBLISHED IN USA BY: VIZ Media, LLC/Shojo Beat
RATED: T for Older Teen
RELEASE DATE: October 19, 2010
Delve into the world of your favorite vampires with this official fanbook filled with insider information about the hit series. Includes a Cross Academy student ID card, glossy color pages, character design sketches, storyboards and an exclusive interview with Vampire Knight creator Matsuri Hino!
In 2005, mangaka Matsuri Hino’s “Vampire Knight” had its premiere in LaLa Magazine and is still continuing today. Spawning drama CD’s and a 26-episode anime TV series, the series has its strong fan following in Japan and in different countries.
The story revolves around a teenager named Yuki Cross who was attacked by a vampire at a young age. He was rescued by Kaname Kuran (a pureblood vampire) and since then, Yuki has longed for her hero. Fastforward ten years later, Yuki and her good friend Zero Kiryuu are school guardians at Cross Academy, a school where her father Kaien Cross is the headmaster.
Yuki and Zero attend Cross Academy’s Day Class and as guardians, their goal is to protect the students from the Night Class students, the vampires but most importantly, to let the students not know of the secret that the night class are vampires.
One day, Zero has been turned into a vampire and is quickly losing his sanity. Yuki offers herself to become a vampire and submits herself to vampire Shizuka Hio (the vampire responsible for killing Zero’s family and turning him into a vampire) if she restores his sanity. But Zero prevents her from doing so and in the process, Kaname Kuran returns and offers his “pure blood” to Zero to prevent him from going insane. This sets off an event with revelations of the true nature of Yuki and her relation to Kaname.
With eleven graphic novels being published thus far (in Japan and also the US courtesy of Viz Media), a special fanbook was created for those who want to know about each character, wanting to know more about the creation of the manga series courtesy of Matsuri Hino, many sketches and art from the series plus storyboards from the anime series, “Vampire Knight: Official Fanbook” is a fantastic special manga for fans of “Vampire Knight”.
Here is what you can find inside “Vampire Knight: Official Fanbook”:
- Proogue: Cross Academy – Welcome to Cross Academy, The Headmaster’s Secret Notebook, Cross Academy Fan Club Membership Rules, Specially drawn for this fanbook – “The mangaka’s brain always welcomes vampires covered in blood!!”.
- CHAPTER 1: Day Class – Yuki Cross, Zero Kiryu, Sayori Wakaba, Nadeshiko Shindo, Kasumi Kageyama, The Moon Dormitory Maid, Fun Ways to Approach the Night Class
- CHAPTER 2: Night Class – Kaname Kuran, Hanabusa Aido, Akatsuki Kain, Takuma Ichijo, Senri Shiki, Ruka Souen, Rima Toya, Seiren, Maria Kurenai, Heart-Racing Partner-Finding Test, The Soiree – Before You Go, The Truth about the Kettle Club, Illustration Gallery 2: Crossing Night.
- Intermission: Vampire Society – The Biology of Vampires, The Life and Death of Vampires, Vampire Society, Organizations Surrounding Vampires, Those Who Harm Vampires, The Vampires Family Tree and Relationship Chart
- CHAPTER 3: Vampire & Hunter – Rido Kuran, Haruka Kuran, Juri Kuran, Shizuka Hio, Sara Shirabuki, Aseto Ichijo, Ichiru Kiryu, Toga YAgari, Kaien Cross, Yuki, Kaname, Zero – The Truth about the Three!
- CHAPTER 4: The Making of Vampire Knight – Storyboards – The Blueprints of the Manga, Concept Illustrations for Cross Academy Uniforms, Concept Illustrations for the Eyes, Interview with Matsuri Hino, Special Messages from the Japanese Anime Cast, Treasure Collection, Vampire Knight Glossary
Also, included is the Vam*Fan Hall in which Matsuri Hino shares her answers to questions from loyal fans and a fans Q&A for Yuki, Zero, Kaname, Aido, Kain, Ichijo and Shiki.
“Vampire Knight” is a popular manga and anime series and with a fanbook, it’s a testament to the popularity of the series that mangaka Matsuri Hino has created an official fanbook. Featuring many beautiful artwork by Hino plus a lot of information on the characters of the series and interaction with fans and interview with Hino, this is one fan book that fans of the series don’t want to miss. And it helps that the fan book is inexpensive as well.
For those who are wondering if there is a manga story in this fanbook, there isn’t. This is pretty much a book with information on each characters, focusing on the day and night classes and everything that you want to know about the vampires that are featured in the series.
It’s one thing for fans to love this fanbook for its artwork and information but for the artists inspired by Matsuri Hino, she also goes into detail on the initial sketches she had for the characters, the various clothing, the shape of their eyes and more. It’s also awesome that though this fan book focuses on the manga series, there is also words from the seiyuu (voice talent) of the anime series as well. And for those who want to know more about the creation of the manga, included are the storyboards of how Matsuri Hino lays out the storyboards and more. Also, included is a Cross Academy Student ID card & membership card as well.
So, there is a lot featured in this official fanbook and fans of the series who want to know more and see more “Vampire Knight” will no doubt enjoy this special release.  Definitely recommended!