LOS ANGELES, CA - July 29 - It has been announced that Spike Spencer will be voicing the character Takuma Ichijo from the popular Anime series Vampire Knight
For those unfamiliar with the storyline of the popular graphic novel, Vampire Knight takes place at Cross Academy, which is attended by two groups of students: the Day Class and the Night Class. At twilight, when the students of the Day Class return to their dorm, they cross paths with the Night Class on their way to school. Yuki Cross and Zero Kiryu are the Guardians of the school, protecting the Day Class from the Academy's dark secret: the Night Class is full of vampires!
Takuma is the vice-president of the Night Class, he is a noble-class vampire who is almost as powerful as Kaname, whom he is close to and respects, and can be seen reading a manga from time to time. Takuma maintains a close friendship with Senri Shiki, whose great grand-uncle is also a member of the council.
His grandfather asks him to spy on Kaname, but he refuses out of loyalty and attempts to break free of his grandfather's mold. Takuma attempts to protect the possessed Shiki Senri, forced to go against Kaname in order to protect all his friends. Following Shiki's freedom from Rido's possession, Takuma has rejoined Kaname's side, where he appears in time to stop Kaname from killing his grandfather and instead insists on being allowed to handle the issue. It is strongly hinted at that Takuma intends to end his life along with his grandfather, saying "Together, let us put an end to the Ichijo line." But it is revealed that he never got his wish, as he was discovered unconscious afterward by Sara Shirabuki, one of the only known Pureblood vampires, who said that she always wanted "to have" Takuma, as though he were simply a doll or a toy. He is currently in the hands of Sara Shirabuki, who is torturing him to extract information about Kaname. After the one year time-skip, he seems to be living with her and quite healthy.
"Vampire Knight is an important series that demanded skilled actors who could portray these complex characters without sacrificing any of the intensity and emotional drama each one exudes," says William Germain, Director, Programming & Music Sales, VIZ Media. "We also know there are a lot of fans of the manga that have been waiting for this series so we wanted to bring in some very talented people who we know will take Vampire Knight to a whole new level. Look for more news coming soon about the North American debut!"
ABOUT SPIKE SPENCER:
An accomplished actor, Spike Spencer has worked onscreen with such notable stars as Tommy Lee Jones, Sandra Bullock, Frank Langella, Tia Carrere, and Scott Glenn.
In the realm of voice acting he has voiced hundreds of episodes of Anime including Evangelion, Spriggan, Nadesico, Mar, Pre Tear, Code Geass 2, Buso Renkin and Bleach as well as numerous video games including World of Warcraft-The Burning Crusades, Tales of Vesperia, Trauma Center, Steambot Chronicles, and Star Ocean 2. Spike has lent his voice to many radio and television commercials and campaigns.
Spike is also an author/screenwriter and is in pre-production on his first feature film that he scripted, "Dwindle Down." Learn more about Spike at:
www.worldospike.com
www.spikespencer.com
www.almostevilminions.com
www.twitter.com/spikespencer
