Dance With Devils

is a Japanese anime television series. It began airing in October 2015 and has been licensed in North America by Funimation. A manga began serialization in '' GFantasy'' in September 2015. It is often abbreviated as "DWD" or DanDevi (ダンデビ ''Dandebi'').

Plot

Ritsuka Tachibana, a second-year high school student who attends Shikō Academy, lives a peaceful and quiet life with her mother, Maria Tachibana in Shikō Town. One day, she is summoned to the "Third Library", which is not allowed for students to enter except the members of the student council, on suspicion of violating school rules. There she meets the head of the student council, Rem Kaginuki and its other members; Urie Sogami, Mage Nanashiro, and Shiki Natsumezaka. After claiming her innocence and leaving the library, Ritsuka returns home to find that her house has been ransacked and her mother has been kidnapped. In addition, she is attacked by mysterious men who are searching for the whereabouts of a mysterious magic book known as the "Forbidden Grimoire", which will enable anyone who possesses it to rule the world. As her normal life falls apart, Ritsuka becomes embroiled in the conflict between the devils and vampires seeking to obtain the Forbidden Grimoire...

Characters

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:A sixteen year old second-year student of Shikō Academy. She lived with her mother, Maria Tachibana, in Shikō Town before Jek ransacked their house and kidnapped her mother. She is, in fact, the "Forbidden Grimoire", leading the demons and vampires into a competition to obtain her. She wears a pendant containing potpourri given to her by her mother, which was intended to mask the scent of the grimoire. The grimoire's scent becomes more prominent when it reacts to Ritsuka's strong emotions in the form of a bright light that is unleashed from her body, and if it is removed from her, she will die. In episode 10, it is revealed that she is half-human and half-devil, due to her father being the fallen Demon King, Lord Maksis.
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:A high-ranking devil and the head of the academy's student council. He is the heir of the Arlond family in the Demon Realm. At first, he only sees Ritsuka as a 'pawn' in order to find out the location of the grimoire, but over time, he starts to develop genuine feelings for her.
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:Ritsuka's cousin, born a year before her. His real mother, Marta Tachibana died when he was young, and Maria Tachibana raised him and her daughter, Ritsuka as siblings since then. After being charged by their grandfather to protect the Tachibana family, he traveled to England to become an exorcist, returning after their mother's kidnapping and enrolling at Shikō Academy. He is very protective of Ritsuka, due to his feelings for her that go beyond family affection. When he is enraged, especially regarding someone threatening Ritsuka, his eyes will turn red and his fingernails transform into claws. In episode nine, it is revealed that he is a dhamphir, half-human, half-vampire.
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:A womanizing devil (incubus) who serves as the vice-president of the student council. While he is not equal to Rem in status, they are closely matched in power.
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:An athletic and self-confident devil who serves as the student council's secretary.
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:A sadistic fallen angel who serves as treasurer for the student council.
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:Ritsuka's mother. She was kidnapped by Jek at the beginning of the series. It is later revealed in episode 10 that she is, in fact, the wife of the fallen Demon King, Lord Maksis.
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:Ritsuka's best friend at school. She cares for Ritsuka and is always worried when her friend gets caught up with the Student Council whom she doesn't trust nor like. In episode six, she is revealed to be an exorcist. She is killed by Jek in episode eight.
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:Rem's pet Pomeranian. He is terrified of Shiki due to the latter's tendency to torment him. It is revealed in episode seven that he is in fact Cerberus, the same as the mysterious person who can pass in and out of the third library freely, and is the servant of Lord Maksis; he wishes to procure the grimoire to help his master's fading strength.
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:A vampire who is searching for the prohibited grimoire. He has an army of minions under his control. He is in the service of an entity named Nesta.
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:The king of the vampires. He is searching for the grimoire, hoping to use it to overthrow the devils. Jek is one of his many servants. He is Lindo's biological father, having seduced Marta in an attempt to learn the secrets of the grimoire.
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:Ritsuka's deceased maternal aunt and Lindo's mother. She died before the events of the series.
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:A devil king and Ritsuka's father. His servant, Loewen, is searching for the grimoire so that he may regain his lost power. In episode 10, it is revealed that he initially got close to Ritsuka's grandfather in order to trick him into sharing with him the secrets of the grimoire, until he met Maria whom he fell in-love with and married, resulting in Ristuka's birth. When he learned that the "Forbidden Grimoire" slept within his daughter, he was overjoyed as it meant he would be able to rule not just the whole of the Demon Realm, but Heaven and earth would be in his hands as well.

Media

Anime

The anime television series is produced as a collaboration between video game developer company Rejet, music studio Elements Garden, and music company Avex. The series is directed by Ai Yoshimura, with the animation studio Brain's Base producing the animation. The series is written by Tomoko Konparu, based on a concept by Daisuke Iwasaki and Grimoire Henshūshitsu. Hirotaka Maeda and Yuka Takashina provide the series character designs. Junpei Fujita and DIVE II Entertainment produce the series' music, which is composed by Elements Garden. The opening theme song is by Wataru Hatano, and the closing theme song is "Mademo★iselle" by Pentacle★, a group composed of Sōma Saitō, Wataru Hatano, Takashi Kondo, Subaru Kimura, and Daisuke Hirakawa. It aired on Tokyo MX, Sun TV, and BS Fuji starting on 7 October 2015. Funimation licensed the series for release and simulcast in North America. Funimation also offered a "broadcast dub" for the series, starting on 11 November 2015.

An anime theatrical film was announced at a ''Dance with Devils'' concert event on 29 January 2017, titled ''Dance with Devils: Fortuna''. It was released on 4 November 2017, with the staff and cast from the anime series returning to reprise their roles in the film.

Episode list

Manga

An original manga, written and illustrated by Samako Natsu and titled ''Dance with Devils -Blight-'', began publishing in Square Enix's '' shōnen'' magazine '' GFantasy'' on 18 September 2015. Rika Nakase will collaborate on the story.

Volumes

Stage plays

A series of 2.5D musical stage plays began in 2016. The visuals reveals Daiki Ise as Jek, Kōhei Norizuki as Noel, Ryūjirō Izaki as Holland (double-cast with Subaru Kimura). The previously announced cast includes Keisuke Kaminaga as Rem Kaginuki, Jin Hiramaki as Lindo Tachibana, Tsubasa Sakiyama as Urie Sogami, Yū Yoshioka as Mage Nanashiro, Junpei Yasukawa as Shiki Natsumezaka, and Taiki Naitō as Loewen. Kaori Miuchi began to direct the musical and writing the script. The play will have 14 performances between March 3–13, 2016 in Tokyo. The second musical plays were started at December 21–27, 2016 and the third stage plays were started on March 15–25, 2018.

Video game

Rejet released a ''Dance with Devils'' game for PlayStation Vita on 24 March 2016. The theme song, composed by Elements Garden, is performed by Wataru Hatano.

References

External links

*
* at Rejet
* at Square Enix
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{{Brain's Base

Brain's Base
Anime with original screenplays
Funimation
Gangan Comics manga
Male harem anime and manga
Manga based on video games
Music in anime and manga
Romance anime and manga
Tokyo MX original programming
Vampires in anime and manga