Venus Versus Virus

Infobox animanga/Header


caption = "Venus Versus Virus" logo.
ja_name = ヴィーナス ヴァーサス ヴァイアラス
ja_name_trans = Vīnasu Vāsasu Vaiarasu
genre = Adventure, Fantasy, Yuri [cite web|url=http://gomanga.com/news/features_vvv_01.php |title=Venus Versus Virus Ultimate Guide|publisher=Seven Seas Entertainment|accessdate=2007-12-08] Infobox animanga/Manga
author = Atsushi Suzumi
publisher = flagicon|Japan ASCII Media Works
publisher_en = flagicon|USA flagicon|Canada Seven Seas Entertainment
publisher_other = flagicon|Taiwan Kadokawa Media
flagicon|South Korea Samyang Publish Company
flagicon|Italy J-Pop Edizioni
flagicon|France Soleil Productions
demographic = Shōnen
magazine = Dengeki Comic Gao! "(former)"
Dengeki Daioh
first = June 27 2005
last = July 26 2008
volumes = 8Infobox animanga/Anime
director = Shinichiro Kimura
studio = flagicon|Japan Studio Hibari
licensor = flagicon|USA flagicon|Canada Funimation
flagicon|UK flagicon|Germany ADV Films
network = flagicon|Japan TBS
network_other = flagicon|USA flagicon|Canada Anime Network
first = January 11 2007
last = March 29 2007
episodes = 12Nihongo|"Venus Versus Virus"|ヴィーナス ヴァーサス ヴァイアラス|Vīnasu Vāsasu Vaiarasu [In volume 1 of the original manga, "Venus Versus Virus" is sometimes referred to as simply V.V.V., while katakana only appears as furigana, or a pronunciation aide, to the English title.] is a Japanese manga series created by Atsushi Suzumi which was first serialized on June 27 2005 in MediaWorks' shōnen manga magazine "Dengeki Comic Gao!". The manga ended serialization in "Dengeki Comic Gao!" on February 27 2008 due to the magazine's discontinuation, but the manga continued serialization in ASCII Media Works' manga magazine "Dengeki Daioh" between March 21 2008 and July 26 2008. As of July 2008, eight bound volumes have been released by ASCII Media Works in Japan. The manga has been licensed for English language distribution by North American based company Seven Seas Entertainment; the first volume was released in July 2007. Later, a drama CD was created based on the manga series in October 2006. The series has since been adapted into an anime produced by Studio Hibari that aired in Japan between January and March 2007 on BS-i, containing twelve episodes.

Plot

"Venus Versus Virus" revolves around the life of the young girls named Sumire Takahana and Lucia Nahashi, who met as Sumire mysteriously discovered Lucia's secrets at the Venus Vanguard, a group who hunts demons called "Virus" lead by Lucia's adopted father Nahashi. Now, while accepting jobs from people who find the Venus Vanguard brochure, they fight off the “Virus” while seeking their true roots and motives, and for that, Lucia will find that Sumire can be a lot more useful than she seems.

Characters

Main characters

;Nihongo|Sumire Takahana|鷹花 スミレ|Takahana Sumire:anime voices|Minori Chihara|Natalie Arneson:Sumire is a young high school girl and the newest member of the Venus Vanguard, despite being terribly scared of Viruses. While initially she cannot be of much help to Lucia, they eventually find out that whenever her body reacts to the special chemical used to defeat Viruses (the so called Vaccine), she transforms into a "Berserker Mode", or a living Anti-Virus. With this strange ability, she becomes stronger and violent, and is capable of defeating Viruses with her bare hands, though when under the influence of this power, she cannot discern friend from foe.

;Nihongo|Lucia Nahashi|名橋 ルチア|Nahashi Ruchia:anime voices|Ayahi Takagaki|Joanne Bonasso:Lucia is a strong, young girl who lead the fights against Viruses alongside the other members of the Venus Vanguard, sworn to fight and kill all Viruses. Her left eye holds a mysterious powers, though is almost always covered with an eye patch. Use of her powers is taxing and wears her out, but can often be disastrous to her enemy in many ways. Her left arm has a symbol of the enchantment succeeded from her father.

;Nihongo|Sōichirō Nahashi|名橋 総一郎|Nahashi Sōichirō:anime voices|Jūrōta Kosugi|John Swasey:Sōichirō, who is always referred to by his surname (as per Japanese respectful standard), is the guardian of Lucia who loves her as if he were her real father. Before Lucia was born, Nahashi was studying to become a mage along with Lucia's mother Lilith, and Lucia's father Lucif. He harbored an unrequited love for Lilith, but never got close with her as she was in love with Lucif.

;Nihongo|Lola|ローラ|Rōra:anime voices|Ayumi Tsuji|Kim-Ly Nguyen:A mysterious blonde girl who lives with Lucia and Nahashi. She loves chocolate and is often seen eating it. She has a twin named Laila and neither of them seem to age since they are soulless dolls created by Lucif and Nahashi's teacher. She is a major character right from the beginning in the anime, but in the manga she does not arrive right away. In the English version of the anime, her name is rendered as "Laura".

;Nihongo|Laila|ライラ|Raira:anime voices|Ayumi Tsuji|Kim-Ly Nguyen:Laila is Lola's twin. In the anime, after Lucif left to find the True World, Laila went with him and Lola stayed with Nahashi and Lilith. Laila loves konpeito candy as much as Lola loves chocolate. Like Lola, she does not seem to age.

;Nihongo|Lucif|リュシフ|Ryushifu:anime voices|Daisuke Namikawa|Illich Guardiola:Lucif is Lucia's father who, before she was born, left to find the path to the True World. His past is filled with mysteries, and Nahashi refuses to talk about the subject with Lucia. It is thought he turned himself into a virus so he could obtain the 'true world'.

;Nihongo|Lilith|リリス|Ririsu:anime voices|Wakana Yamazaki|Stephanie Wittels:Lilith is Lucia's mother who once worked under a mentor with Lucif and Nahashi to learn magic arts, but after he died, their training ceased. Lilith fell in love with Lucif and eventually became pregnant with Lucia, though by the time she was born, Lucif was already gone on his quest for the True World. A virus allegedly killed Lilith when Lucia was still two years old. The virus that killed her was Lucif so he could obtain her special fragment, although in the end, the fragment disappears.

;Nihongo|Yoshiki|与識:anime voices|Kiyotaka Furushima|Blake Shepard:Yoshiki is a young man Sumire met one day in a park while he was reading a book. After a few more meetings together while exchanging books to read, Yoshiki starts to develop romantic feelings for Sumire. However it is later discovered that he is actually one of Lucif's followers named Aeon, he tries to take Sumire's fragment but stops because he trully cared for her, thus, he betrays Lucif but Lucia not knowing of his betrayal kills him.

umire's friends

;Nihongo|Nene Mikumo|三雲 音々|Mikumo Nene:anime voices|Sakura Nogawa|Carli Mosier:Nene is Sumire's female cousin who always tries to look out for her like an older sister. She often encourages her younger brother Riku in his attempts to ask Sumire out on a date.

;Nihongo|Riku Mikumo|三雲 理久|Mikumo Riku:anime voices|Hiromi Hirata|Luci Christian:Riku is Nene's younger brother who has a crush on Sumire. Multiple times, Riku attempts to ask Sumire out on a date, but something always interferes, leaving him heartbroken each time. He has a timid personality, which makes it even more difficult to ask Sumire out.

;Nihongo|Mika|ミカ:anime voices|Kaya Miyake|Pamela Morris:Mika is one of Sumire's good friends and classmates. She has a tomboyish personality.

;Nihongo|Kyōko|京子:anime voices|Noriko Shitaya|Tami Nutt:Kyōko is another one of Sumire's good friends and classmates.

;Nihongo|Shizu|しず:anime voices|Tomo Adachi|Nancy Novotny:Shizu is another one of Sumire's good friends and classmates.

Other antagonists

;Nihongo|Sonoka|苑果:anime voices|Fumi Morisawa|Christine Auten:Sonoka is the current leader of the Virus, and has a particular focused interest in Lucia and Sumire.

;Nihongo|Ruka|ルカ|Ruka:anime voices|Yui Itsuki|Melissa Pritchett:Ruka is a young girl who serves under Sonoka. She has a sadistic personality and has the power to control water and wind, however she states her speciality is electricity.

;Nihongo|Guy|ガイ|Gai:anime voices|Akio Suyama|Josh Grelle:Guy is another one of Sonoka's henchman. He has a similar personality to Ruka, though has proven to be more skilled than her; he has the power to control fire and earth.

Media

Manga

"Venus Versus Virus" began as a manga series first serialized on June 27 2005 in the shōnen magazine "Dengeki Comic Gao!" published by MediaWorks. On February 27 2008, the manga ended serialization in "Dengeki Comic Gao!", but continued serialization in ASCII Media Works' manga magazine "Dengeki Daioh" between March 21 2008 and July 26 2008. [citeweb|url= http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-07-28/venus-versus-virus-manga-ends-in-japan|title="Venus Versus Virus" Manga Ends in Japan|publisher=Anime News Network|date=2008-07-28|accessdate=2008-07-28] As of July 2008, eight bound volumes have been released in Japan by ASCII Media Works under their "Dengeki Comics" label. The manga has since been licensed in America by Seven Seas Entertainment with the first volume released in July 2007.citeweb|url=http://www.gomanga.com/manga/venusversusvirus.php|title=Seven Seas Entertainment's Venus Versus Virus page|accessdate=2007-07-13]

Drama CD

A drama CD based on the manga series was first released in Japan on October 25 2006 produced by Frontier Works.

Anime

The "Venus Versus Virus" anime was produced by the animation studio Studio Hibari and aired in Japan between January 11 2007 and March 29 2007 on the BS-i network, containing twelve episodes. The anime was made available in November 2007 on Anime Network's On Demand setup. The anime was originally licensed by ADV Films for distribution in North America, but in July 2008, the anime became one of over thirty ADV titles transferred to Funimation Entertainment. [citeweb|url=http://funimation.com/f_index.cfm?page=news&id=455|title=Sojitz's ARM Corporation Transfers Rights to More Than 30 Titles|publisher=Funimation Entertainment|date=2008-07-08|accessdate=2008-07-21] The anime's opening theme is "Bravin' Bad Brew" by Riryka, and the ending theme is "Shijun no Zankoku" by Yousei Teikoku. The anime's original soundtrack contains background music composed by Hikaru Nanase.

Episodes

Notes and references

External links

* [http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/vvv/ Official anime website] jp icon
* [http://www.gomanga.com/manga/venusversusvirus.php Seven Seas Entertainment's website on the manga]
*ann anime|id=6830