''Crow's Blood'' (stylized as ''CROW'S BLOOD'') is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

six-episode horror

streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air a ...

drama series with an original story concept written by

Yasushi Akimoto is a Japanese record producer, lyricist, and television writer, best known for creating and producing some of Japan's top idol groups, Onyanko Club and the AKB48 franchise. Total sales of the singles he has written exceed 100 million copies, maki ...

and executive produced by

Darren Lynn Bousman Darren Lynn Bousman (; born January 11, 1979) is an American film director and screenwriter, best known for his work in horror films. He has directed four of the '' Saw'' films: '' Saw II'', ''Saw III'', ''Saw IV'', and ''Spiral''. He also direc ...

. It stars

Mayu Watanabe is a Japanese former idol, singer, actress, and former member of the Japanese idol girl group AKB48 under Team B. In the annual AKB48 General Elections event, she had consistently been voted by fans to rank among the group's top members. She has ...

(at the time a member of

AKB48 AKB48 (pronounced ''A.K.B. Forty-Eight'') is a Japanese idol girl group named after the Akihabara (''Akiba'' for short) area in Tokyo, where the group's theater is located. AKB48's producer, Yasushi Akimoto, wanted to form a girl group with ...

Sakura Miyawaki is a Japanese singer and actress based in South Korea. She is a member of the South Korean girl group Le Sserafim. Miyawaki began her music career with the girl group HKT48 in 2011, and was a concurrent member of their sister group AKB48 from ...

(at the time a member of

HKT48 HKT48 (read "H.K.T. Forty-eight") is a Japanese idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto. HKT48 is named after the Hakata-ku, Fukuoka city of Fukuoka Prefecture, where Akimoto originally intended to base the group. The group currently performs at ...

Takahiro Miura is a Japanese actor. He graduated from Juntendo University Sports Health Science Department. He is represented with Anoré. His father is Tomokazu Miura is a Japanese actor. Life and career Miura attended Hino high school in Tokyo. He was ...

and Tetsuya Bessho, along with many other then-members of

AKB48 Group , or AKB48 sister groups, shortened to 48 Group, 48g, refers to the sister groups of the Japanese idol girl group AKB48. Based on the same concept "idols you can meet", it currently consists of 5 sister groups in locations across Japan and 7 s ...

in supporting roles, and the series was directed by Ryo Nishimura and written by Clint Sears and additional screenplay cooperation by Satoshi Oshio. Episodes also feature

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

s by performers including

Lily Franky is a Japanese illustrator, writer and actor. He has appeared in more than 40 films since 2001. Career In 2016, Franky received the Cut Above Award for Outstanding Performance in Film at Japan Cuts JAPAN CUTS: Festival of New Japanese Film is a ...

and

Shota Sometani is a Japanese actor from Koto, Tokyo. He is known for his protagonist roles in ''Himizu'' and ''Parasyte''. Career Sometani was a child actor. He has worked in both film and television, gaining his first leading role in ''Pandora's Box'', ...

. It was marketed in Japan with the slogan "Yasushi Akimoto × Hollywood × AKB48", reflecting the collaboration between Akimoto (noted as both a writer of horror and founder of AKB48 Group), lead staff drawn from the United States of American film and television industry, and members of AKB48 Group. The first episode premiered on

Nippon TV JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as , is the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned-and-operated by the which is a subsidiary of the certified broadcasting holding company , itself a listed su ...

in Japan on July 23, 2016, while all six episodes were released for streaming on Hulu Japan the same day. In December 2016, Miramax acquired the worldwide sales rights for the series, excluding Japan. The series made its English-language debut in the United States on

El Rey Network El Rey Network (Spanish for ''The King'') is a media brand founded by Robert Rodriguez on December 15, 2013, that is currently owned in a joint venture with FactoryMade Ventures. Until December 31, 2020, El Rey was a cable and satellite network ...

, which aired all six episodes on October 28, 2017. In the United Kingdom, the series has been licensed by

Channel Four Television Corporation Channel Four Television Corporation is a British state-owned media company headquartered in London. Its original and principal activity is the British national television network Channel 4. The company was founded in 1982 as the Channel Four T ...

. The first episode was broadcast on

Film4 Film4 is a British free-to-air television network owned by Channel Four Television Corporation launched on 1 November 1998, devoted to broadcasting films. While its standard-definition channel is available on Freeview and Freesat platforms, i ...

on Wednesday 31 October 2018 and all six episodes were released for advertising-supported streaming on

All 4 All 4 is a video on demand service from the Channel Four Television Corporation, free of charge for most content and funded by advertising. The service is available in the UK and Ireland; viewers are not required to have a TV licence—requir ...

the same day. Unlike in the United States, in both instances the episodes have only been made available in Japanese with English subtitles.

Plot

As science is growing ever closer to the taboo field of regenerative medicine, a mysterious new student named Maki Togawa begins attending the . Soon after, a series of strange and horrific events occur in and around the school, seemingly in the proximity of or due to new student Maki. Another student, named Kaoru Isozaki, finds herself learning that Maki was initially killed in a hit and run and was dead until later revived by her own father, Dr. Akihito Seto, with an experimental regenerative procedure developed by an American scientist. Unfortunately, Dr. Seto learned too late of the side effects on Maki's psyche and cellular tissue, turning her into the patient zero of a new contagious virus, easily transmitted via kissing, which renders females able to regenerate indefinitely, however with some rather horrific side effects.

Cast

as Kaoru Isozaki *

as Maki Togawa *

Yuki Kashiwagi is a Japanese idol and singer. She is a member of the Japanese idol girl group AKB48 and a former member of NMB48 and NGT48. She auditioned for AKB48 on December 3, 2006, and is now a member of AKB48's Team B. She was previously the captain of T ...

as Mai Utsui *

Anna Iriyama is a Japanese actress and YouTuber who has bases of operations in Japan and Mexico. She is a former member of the Japanese idol group AKB48, in which she was a member of Team A. She is represented by the talent agency Ohta Production. She was p ...

as Aoi Nojiri *

Yuria Kizaki is a Japanese actress and former member of the Japanese idol girl group AKB48, where she was the captain of Team B. Biography On November 13, 2009, Kizaki passed SKE48's third-generation auditions. On June 23, 2010, she got promoted to an o ...

as Hikari Yanaka *

Rena Kato is a Japanese tarento, model, and actress. She is a former member of the Japanese female idol group AKB48, and was in Team A. She was also a member, along with her good friends Anna Iriyama and Rina Kawaei, of a one-shot AKB48 subunit named A ...

as Keiko Yodogawa * Mion Mukaichi as Nami Katayama *

Yui Yokoyama Yui may refer to: People * Yui (name), a Japanese name *Yui (singer) (born 1987), Japanese singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and actress * Yui people or Ibi, a Timucuan-speaking people in what now is Georgia, United States Places * Yui, Sh ...

as Chisa Furugōri *

Jurina Matsui is a Japanese TV personality, singer, actress, and YouTuber. She is a former member of Japanese idol girl group SKE48 and former concurrent member of AKB48 (in 2012–2015). She is recognized as SKE48's absolute "ace", having placed in the top ...

as Shinobu Matsumura * Tetsuya Bessho as Doctor Akihito Seto * Chris Glover as Doctor Gary Grossman *

as Takeshi Sawada * Tomoharu Hasegawa as Kōji Ogasawara * Tomohiro Kaku as Yoshio Tachibana *

as The Undertaker (cameo) * Mitsu Dan as Eiko Yoshikawa *

Maiko A is an apprentice geisha in Kyoto and Their jobs consist of performing songs, dances, and playing the or other traditional Japanese instruments for visitors during banquets and parties, known as . are usually aged between 17 to 20 years ...

as Chizuru Tamura *

as Man in Wheelchair (cameo) *

Katsuya is both a masculine Japanese given name and a Japanese surname. Possible writings *克也, "gram, to be" *勝也, "win, to be" *勝矢, "win, arrow" *勝哉, "win, how" *勝夜, "win, night" *活耶, "active, father" *活弥, "active, extensive, ...

as Detective Shigeo Takuma (cameo)

Dub Voice Cast

Xanthe Huynh Xanthe Huynh () is an American voice actress known for her voicework in English dub of anime series. Her most well known roles include Ui Hirasawa in ''K-On!'', Sachi in ''Sword Art Online'', Yuna in ''Yuki Yuna is a Hero'', Hanayo Koizumi i ...

as Kaoru Isozaki *

Cristina Vee Cristina Danielle Valenzuela (born July 11, 1987), known by her stage name Cristina Vee, is an American voice actress and voice director. She provides voices for English dubs of anime, animation, and video games. Vee's roles in anime include ...

as Maki Togawa *

Derek Stephen Prince Derek Stephen Prince is an American voice actor who has played various roles in the ''Digimon'' series, the voice of Elgar in the live-action '' Power Rangers Turbo'', and '' Power Rangers in Space''. In the world of anime, he played Keitaro ...

as Takeshi Sawada *

Richard Epcar Richard Epcar is an American voice actor, voice director, and writer who has voiced over 1,200 characters in animation, video games and anime. Some of his major roles include Raiden in the ''Mortal Kombat'' franchise, The Joker in several proje ...

as Doctor Gary Grossman * David Vincent as Kōji Ogasawara *

Todd Haberkorn Todd Haberkorn is an American voice actor and director, who has dubbed in anime, films, and video games. Career While Haberkorn was working in theater, he joined Funimation as a voice actor, with minor roles in ''One Piece'', ''Black Cat'', a ...

as Yoshio Tachibana *

Stephanie Sheh Stephanie Sheh is an American voice actress, ADR director, writer and producer who has worked for several major companies, including Cartoon Network and Sony. She is often involved with work in English dubs of anime, cartoons, video games and fi ...

as Chizuru Tamura *

Bryce Papenbrook Bryce Austin Papenbrook (born February 24, 1986) is an American voice actor and martial artist who has done voice work for Funimation, Bang Zoom! Entertainment, Viz Media, Animaze, Studiopolis and Scoffer Studios. He has voiced in several ani ...

as Man in Wheelchair *

Michael Sorich Michael John Sorich ( , born March 23, 1958) is an American actor, writer and director. Biography Sorich has been a prominent and ever-present voice actor for many different characters in the ''Power Rangers'' franchise (until the end of the '' W ...

as Detective Shigeo Takuma

References

External links

* * {{AKB48 Hulu Japan original programming 2016 Japanese television series debuts AKB48 Channel 4 miniseries Channel 4 television dramas Japanese horror fiction television series Japanese television miniseries 2010s school television series Television series by Miramax Television Thriller television series