Visual Prison - What We Know So Far

If you like your anime with a tinge of horror or vice versa, don't sleep on "Visual Prison," an upcoming series that blends the anime genres of teen drama and vampirism, and the Japanese visual kei movement to create a series like no other.

"Visual Prison" has an impressive assembly of talent with lots of anime experience, starting with the show's creators, Noriyasu Agematsu and Afredes. Agematsu is also the frontman of the Japanese rock band — or, technically, "collective of composers" — Elements Garden, via Crunchyroll. Elements Garden will also be doing the music for the series. They previously composed the music for the anime shows "Utano Princesama," "BanG Dream!," and "Symphogear." 

"Visual Prison" was announced earlier this year, and observers are already impressed with the show's visuals and characters. Even better, you won't have to wait much longer to check it out. Here's everything we know about the upcoming gothic musical anime series.

As reported by Anime News Network, "Visual Prison" will premiere in October 2021. A more precise release date has yet to be announced. The premiere date was announced during AnimeJapan 2021, the biggest annual Japanese anime convention, which was held online this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

For English-language viewers who prefer to watch without subtitles, no release dates for English-dubbed versions of "Visual Prison" have been announced yet, and neither has the network that will be airing them. Typically, English-dubbed versions of Japanese anime arrive in the United States about two weeks after they premiere in Japan. So, look for the American version to premiere in the middle of October 2021, at the earliest. 

If you'd like to get a taste of "Visual Prison" early, you can check out the official teaser trailer on YouTube. The teaser is in Japanese without English subtitles and it doesn't feature much of the actual show, but it does serve as a handy introduction to all the main characters.

In March 2021, "Visual Prison's" anime studio, A-1, announced the main cast for the series. As reported by Anime News Network, Shōya Chiba has been cast for the role of main character Ange Yuki. Before "Visual Prison," Chiba was most well known for voicing B Cell in "Cells at Work!" and Tahoumaru on "Dororo." He's also a singer, which should definitely come in handy for voicing this character. Joining Chiba in the band Oz are Makoto Furukawa as Guiltia Brion, Hiroki Nanami as Eve Louise, and Shun Horie as Robin Laffite. 

Opposing them are the musical groups Lost Eden and Eclipse. On Lost Eden, Takuya Eguchi plays Latour Saga, along with Shimazaki Nobunaga as Mist Flaive, Takuma Nagatsuka as Veuve Elizabeth, and Shougo Yano as Jack Mouton. As for Eclipse, Toshiki Masuda plays Dmitri Romanee, while as Shouta Aoi has been cast as Hyde Jayer.

Before we get into "Visual Prison," first you need to know about visual kei. That's a goth and glam-flavored Japanese rock subgenre that usually features ballads with elaborate visuals. As reported by Anime News Network, "Visual Prison" takes place in a world where many of Japan's top visual kei musicians are secretly vampires. Once a year, they all gather at a festival in Harajuku called the "Visual Prison," where they all perform songs that entrance the audience. The festival takes place during a blood moon, and the act with the best song offers it up as a sacrifice to the moon.  

The main character is Ange Yuki, a lonely teen who doesn't fit in. The story begins when Yuki travels to Harajuku and stumbles on the yearly festival, where three groups are competing: Oz, Lost Eden, and Eclipse (via My Anime List). Yuki gets roped into the competition, joins Oz, and finally finds a place where he belongs.