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Nanae Chrono's Vampire Anime Vassalord Previewed in Video

The Animate store chain began streaming a promotional video for the Vassalord original anime video (OVA) this week.

The limited edition for Nanae Chrono's seventh and final manga volume will ship with the OVA on March 15. (The manga is ending its run in Mag Garden's Monthly Comic Avarus magazine on February 15.) The anime will primarily adapt the story from the first "Kakurinomiya no Heliogabalus" chapter.

Kazuto Nakazawa (Kill Bill Chapter 3: The Origin of O-Ren) is directing the anime at Production I.G. Nariyuki Takahashi (Sisters of Wellber, The Prince of Tennis OVA Another Story II - Ano Toki no Bokura) and Chieko Miyakawa (Moshidora) are designing the characters. Sumire Kokusyoku contributed the theme song, and Yukio Nagasaki is the sound director. The limited edition manga/OVA bundle will only be available at ANIMATE from the publisher Mag Garden. In addition to the OVA, it will also have a 32-page original booklet with an exclusive eight-page manga and a Vassalord illustration collection (including new artwork).

The manga follows Charley (voiced by Ryōtarō Okiayu), a cyborg vampire under the Vatican's orders, and the vampire playboy named Johnny Rayflo (Keiji Fujiwara) with whom Charley fights alongside and sometimes against. Ryōko Ono was originally cast to play the child version of Charley, but French-Japanese voice actress Christelle Ciari replaced her due to the need to speak her entire part in a foreign language natively. The anime's website posted the character designs, screenshots, and storyboards.

Tokyopop published the first four volumes of the manga in North America. Chrono's other works include Peace Maker and Momo Tama.

Source: Saishin Anime Jōhō