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Strike the Blood Final Anime's 2nd Volume Release Delayed to July 29

The official Twitter account for the Strike the Blood anime franchise revealed on Friday that due to "production circumstances," the release date of the second and final Blu-ray Disc and DVD volume of Strike The Blood FINAL has been delayed one month from June 29 to July 29.

In addition, the anime franchise's official website streamed a commercial for the second volume.

Strike The Blood FINAL is the fifth and final original video anime (OVA) "season" based on Gakuto Mikumo's Strike the Blood light novel series, and it adapts the 22nd and final main Strike the Blood light novel volume in four episodes. The first two-episode volume shipped on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on March 30.

Megumi Han joins the cast as Raadorii Ren (Romanized spelling not official), the MAR leader Shafrial Ren's younger sister.

Kishida Kyōdan & The Akeboshi Rockets performs the opening theme song "Akatsuki no Kaleid Blood." Risa Taneda performs the ending theme song "Engagement ~Yakusoku~" as her character Yukina Himeragi.

The new OVA features returning cast and staff, including director Hideyo Yamamoto, scriptwriter Hiroyuki Yoshino, character designer Keiichi Sano (joined by Hideki Furukawa), sound director Jin Aketagawa at the sound production studio Magic Capsule, composer Assumed Sounds, and animation studio CONNECT.

The main story of Mikumo's Strike the Blood novel series ended in the 22nd compiled book volume in August 2020.

The novels debuted in 2011 with Manyako's illustrations. The school action fantasy story of Strike the Blood begins with Kojō Akatsuki, 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 is entrusted with watching over the vampire and if needed, hunting him down.

Mikumo's original novel series inspired a 24-episode television anime series in 2013, as well as two OVA seasons in 2015 and 2016-2017. Crunchyroll streamed the television anime series as it aired in Japan. Discotek licensed the television anime for North American home video. Crunchyroll is streaming the first two OVAs, and it will also stream the third OVA.

Strike The Blood III, the third Strike the Blood OVA season, shipped in five installments between December 2018 and September 2019. Each release featured two episodes, for a total of 10 episodes. The season covered up to volume 17 of Mikumo's original series, as well as the end of the "Holy War" (Seisen) arc.

The Strike The Blood IV OVA series debuted its first two-episode home video release on April 2020 after a delay. The OVA's second volume was delayed from June 2020 to July 2020 due to the pandemic. The remaining four volumes (each with two episodes) shipped in October 2020, December 2020, March 2021, and June 2021.

The Strike The Blood: Kieta Seisō-hen (Disappearing Holy Lance Arc) special OVA shipped in January 2020, and was the first in the franchise to tell an original story episode not in Mikumo's novels.

Thanks to BigOnAnime for the news tip.

Sources: Strike the Blood anime's Twitter account and website