Anime: Black Blood Brothers

Black Blood Brothers is as mid and rehashed as anime can get, practically a collection of tested elements that have worked out many times in the past, presented in a subpar way. It took as few risks as possible and went for the formula others already established earlier and in better ways, thus it failed to be memorable. Here is the breakdown.

1) Incomplete story

The story is about a vampire super soldier fighting evil organizations of vampires, who want to … we are never told. What we are told is that this world is willing to have coexistence between humans and vampires and that many people are offering their blood willingly in order to keep the other kind peaceful. Plus, chances of turning into a vampire are not that high. So yeah, this coexistence is quite the interesting theme, but we never see what the villains plan to do and the whole brainwashing fuss I mention later kind of ruins it.

2) Annoying main character

At first, the lead reminded me of a much calmer Alucard (from Hellsing), as he too is a vampire dressed in red, fighting other vampires to protect the humans. But in reality he is a lot closer to Vash (from Trigun). He is the typical noble warrior, acting too goody with everyone and doesn’t want to hurt innocents; the result of which comes off as stupid. He clearly has no qualms about killing hundreds of vampire soldiers in the beginning of the show but he is more than willing to stop his attack and let the villains escape or heavily injure him if they are holding hostages. As noble as that sounds, it is nothing but lame in practice. The villains will escape and kill far more innocents, or he will almost lose his life for a nobody.

What is even more stupid is how he has no problem when killing vampires who are brainwashed to attack him. They basically count as innocents, so why is it okay to kill them so casually? Because of the berserk state they are in? Killing their controller would switch them back to how they were, so what the heck is his problem?

Also, he keeps around him two very annoying and problematic side characters. They are there just to cause trouble, so it’s stupid to drag them along everywhere he goes, just to act stupid and incompetent while he is next to them.

3) Annoying side characters

One is his brother, a very young cheerful vampire boy. People around him are cut to pieces and he will just ask for ice cream. He is completely out of touch with reality, and thus he ruins the atmosphere of the show. He will always trust people, always want to play, always say only the sweetest things. I WANT TO STRANGLE HIM. He is supposed to offer a bright side to the story and even act as a comic relief mascot animal with all that optimism of his. But for all we see he is nothing but a delusional idiot who always gets kidnapped or ends up in the middle of a battle, just to force his brother to side-track in order to help him out. He is not as uber-awful as Raki (from Claymore) but he shares the same ridiculous archetype.

The other sidekick is this neurotic office girl, who is the typical damsel in distress. As soon as she stands next to the MC she keeps hitting him and insulting him like he is a lowlife. Typical tsundere nonsense to make women come off as a bother and not funny at all.

4) The villains’ motives
We don’t get to see them. We see how stereotypically evil and megalomaniacs they all are, and that is pretty much all of it.

5) Brainwashing
Powerful vampires can mindcontrol lesser ones into doing anything they want, thus turning them to drones and cannon fodder in battles. They are mostly just innocents trying to have a normal life, yet with this cheap plot device the villains can have as many foot soldiers as they want. As cool as it sounds, it is just trashing the personalities of everyone if they can be stripped of free will in a heartbeat. It also ruins the coexistence theme of the two species and makes the MC to come off as a hypocrite when he won’t do a thing when the villains use HUMAN hostages, but he will have no problem when killing VAMPIRE innocents.

6) The hero’s hat
Just because it looked cool on Alucard or D, doesn’t mean that a big hat will look good on anyone. In this case, it was drawn in a way to make the hero look stupid.

7) Average production values
Animation and sound are just average; there are neither heavy artistic overtones nor great voice acting and smart dialogues. The main intro song was nice to listen to for a few times but that’s it.

Piece all the above together and you can see why it’s a simplistic adventure with annoying characters and wasted potential. But to be honest the fight scenes had decent choreography which was not mostly magic attacks doing any shit the scriptwriter wants. Besides stopping bullets and mind control, the action was cool hand-to-hand or sword-based. Not that anyone will care anymore, since the colors are not Demon Slayer level.

Note: This review is based on A-FanRips encodes. Good both quality and translation wise... Get them if you decide to watch this show after all.



Originally written as light novel series by Azano Kouhei and directed by a first-time director Yoshikawa Hiroaki Black Blood Brothers[/b] is an utter mess of stereotypical ideas and their lame execution. As far as I can tell the story follows a hundred years old vampire who seems to be some sort of war hero from a very important war we never get any coherent flashbacks of. Along with his little annoying brother he, for some reason, travels to a place referred as "Zone" where humans and vampires live together under relative peace. There he once again enters battle fighting against his adversaries from the past. That is at least what the show tries to make you believe, as you never really learn what happened to him in the past, nor do you even learn what happens to him in the present as the show just stops in the middle.

To tell the truth I was constantly getting the feeling that I was watching a spin-off of some show I have never seen. It starts and ends in the middle without any notable resolution. Most characters know each other and never bother to reveal their personalities to the viewers. Even animation feels as if it was recycled from somewhere else, dressing Jiro, the main character, into Alucard's costume with a pointy hat making him look like a clown. The point of this anime completely eludes me, what in the name of hell did they want to show us? It fails as action show since action scenes are spread too far apart and most of them are second rate. It fails as a plot driven show because though with a wide variety of ideas it doesn't realize a single one of them. It fails as character driven show because none of them are given any depth, thus making it impossible for viewers to sincerely relate with them. It doesn't even have ecchi fanservice or exaggerated show offs to justify its flaws. It is not bad in the sense that it makes you annoyed or frustrated, it's just boring. I mean, I would take an idiotic harem full of naked girls over this anime any day, since I find melting brain with fanservice preferable to starring at the wall, or in this case, Black Blood Brothers.

Animation: 5/10

Okay, technically animation by Group TAC (Street Fighter II: The Movie) might be better than the grade I give it. The problem is that, even though backgrounds and character designs have a moderate level of detail, they are recycled from somewhere else. I was constantly getting the vibes that I have seen everything this show draws somewhere else, be it costumes, character faces or simple backgrounds. Not a speck of originality or charm, it's as if the painters took the book of "anime basics" and copied everything from it. Furthermore many characters look alike and most of them having generic personalities doesn't help to tell the guys apart. Seriously, the only attractive designs I've noticed were those of the main guy minus the pointy hat and his past lover. Though I get the feeling I have already seen them in Gungrave. Main heroine of the present is one of ugliest female leads I have ever seen though. Fluidity of motions is inconsistent as in some action scenes everything flies with beauty and in others you can see characters slide or have motions of running without actually moving. Some fights are completely in real time and others use still frames which makes animation look even more fractured.

Sound: 6/10

OP Ashita no Kioku by Naozumi Takahashi is some sort of light rock and jpop mix, which actually fits the vampires mood quite well. It kind of sounds like a lower quality variation of Trinity Blood's opening. ED Shinkirou by LOVEHOLIC, on the other hand, is an awesome song. Its korean lyrics make it stand out from generic EDs and its slow melancholic nature fits perfectly with long-living vampires. Frankly, it was a waste to put such a nice song for ending a show of this quality.

Background music composed by the talented Sahashi Toshihiko (Gundam Seed, Hunter x Hunter) is a mixed bag. I actually feel that some of the tracks would sound better stand alone than with the show, as simply, Sahashi Toshihiko is used to compose good tracks which accompany good shows and he was left on a thin ice here since the show was crap. Though music doesn't always go foot by foot with the overall atmosphere of the show, there are some pretty nice tracks to listen to, making music into the only part I could actually enjoy to some extent in this show.

I have mixed feelings concerning seiyuu performance as well. Even though Jiro, the main character, is voiced by the talented Sakurai Takahiro (Code Geass as Kururugi Suzaku, Mononoke as Medicine Seller) there are moments when his voice fits very well (angry/serious) and there are moments when his voice feels completely off (slapstick). Though it's more of a problem with the script than with the talent of a voice-actor. You can notice more big name male seiyuu doing work in this show, but with the dialogue they have there is little chance for them to say something cool. Female voice-acting feels considerably weak though (guess I got spoiled by Kugimiya Rie and Tanaka Rie from all those romantic comedies).

Story: 3/10

There is very little to say about the story that I haven't already. The setting actually has potential, unfortunately unused since pretty much nothing is explained or given coherent depth. Wars between humans and vampires are nothing new, but I liked the fact that they introduced different species of vampires, some contagious and some not. Also it was a pretty funny idea to make blood sucking give sexual pleasure, too bad it never had any reasonable function in the plot. The show would have been much better if it had one or two coherent episodes about that war of the past. I never really learned what exactly that "Zone" was either. Hell, I only realized it was in Hong Kong when I was watching last episodes. This show kind of makes you observe plot go without justifying its setting making all the stuff on your screen slightly unbelievable to say the least.

Plot itself is like an old horse. You meet it when it's already far past into its life and it drops dead before reaching its destination. Not to mention it has neither energy, nor passion. Seriously, it's been awhile since i have observed a show have a plot so hollow. Technically it doesn't sound as bad, there are flashbacks, there are reasons for characters to do their stuff and vampires are always interesting. However, the way it is realized makes you think that the director himself had no passion directing and was just copying stuff he has seen elsewhere. Everything follows standard formulas and stereotypical situations finally leading to an ending which ends with words "interesting things to come". It's like the important plot never really kicked in and all you have observed were some random activities by the main characters and would-be villains. The show might become better if it gets a season two, but as it stands now it is no better than a bundle pages randomly ripped from a middle of the book. I was more interested in the stuff which happened in the past, or will happen in the future sometime, but sure I wasn't interested in all that pesky stuff going in the show's present.

Characters: 3/10

Stereotypical and fake. That's the characters of this show. You can pretty much turn off the sound and subtitles and you will still understand what they will be talking about. All the dialogue and situations that follow are easy to predict and have already been tried in many other shows. Jiro, the main character, is your usual do-gooder vampire who goes to save damsels in distress whenever he has free time. Though rather than damsels he ends up saving his idiot for a younger brother Kotaro most of the time, who pretty much represents all of the most annoying traits young brother archetypes have. He is kind, innocent and always gets into trouble, he always says stuff like "we must help him" or "she is a good person, she gave me candy" and never backs his words up with any common sense or logic, furthermore he is a genuine idiot, even for being a younger brother. Finally, Katsuragi Mimiko, the main heroine, is among the most annoying heroines I have ever had displeasure to see. She is loud, contradicts herself a lot, has a sense of justice, but never backs it up and uses retribution of "ecchi" behavior at the most awkward situations, even though the show doesn't even have ecchi. She ends up going with the flow of the show and is just used for some plot devices, but her existence as a character starts and ends up at simply being annoying.

The only characters I relatively liked are the villain Cassa and Jiro's past lover Alice. Unfortunately, Alice gets like two minutes of combined screen-time through the whole show and Cassa is never given a chance to expose her personality, since she only comes in action at the last episodes, being ghost from main character's memories for the longest of time. I got the idea what she was trying to do in the very end, but I was never told why, heck, I don't even know why does she do anything. I liked her only because she seems to fall into the cool archetype of laid-back villains who cause carnage for fun. Alice on the other hand seems to belong to the innocent and pure yet wise character archetype.

There are many guys in the "Zone" with various powers who appear to be important and even have long winded introductions of what kind of vampire noble they are or whatever, but never really get any screentime or function in the plot. You are told who they are and that's it. Well, obviously the show is unfinished, so they might serve a purpose in the future light novels, but as I'm not reading them, I got annoyed by the number of useless characters.

Myiers-Briggs personality type indicator:

Alice Eve - INFJ (E)
Mochizuki Jiro - ISFJ (E)
Katsuragi Mimiko - ESTJ (F)
Mochizuki Kotarou - ESFP (F)
Warlock Cassanda Jill - ENTP (E)

Show Spoiler

Value: 4/10

I'm deleting this show the minute I finish writing this review. It is so stereotypical and recycled from everywhere that it offers nothing worthy to be re-watched. Indeed it has some relatively nice action in the last episode, but so do a million of other shows. It was boring the first time around, I fear it would turn me into a mummy the second time.

1. Conclusion[/u]:[/b] It's suitable for people above 13 years old, but whatever is your age I don't recommend it. It has no original or interesting things to offer. It's a hollow show lacking cool characters, interesting plot or entertaining action. You will only waste your time watching it. Heck, if you want a cool show about vampires go for the stylish Hellsing or even that bundle of broken parts sewn together Trinity Blood. Those shows don't have much substance, but at least they have cool moments.

[/ol]

An all-around decent series that suffers mainly from being too short. There's an interesting take on vampires, and what appears to be the start of half a dozen sub-plots, but it all ends at the twelfth episode. It's rather frustrating.

I'd suggest finding something else unless/until a sequel comes along (provided said sequel does not suck, anyway).

Animation:
The animation gets the job done well enough, but I can't really say that it's particularly impressive.

Sound:
Again, the sound is entirely serviceable. You won't be skipping the OP or ED, but I doubt you'll remember them, either.

Story:
The story is the hardest part to evaluate. It's set in a fairly unique world, with an interesting take on Vampires. There's a fair amount going on, too. The problem is that the anime ends right when it's getting good.

Character:
There's a fair amount of characters, most of them seem to be somewhat interesting. Unfortunately, it ends before most of them have a chance to do much.

(Edited this greatly since the first time I posted it)
Ok, the first Review I'm posting here on AniDB.
My first impression of BBB was that of a futuristic vampire drama that would focus most on shady fighting scenes and less on chracter background. After seeing all of the episodes I must admit that my first impression was pretty flawed, altough the events are staged in a futuristic nightmare the anime comes with a lot of funny moments and conversations.
Although I enjoyed every second watching this show I feel it greatly lacks an ending. The story is left too open and basicly the threat is far from over.

Animation
The animations were decent, they started out really nicely but in all honesty were nothing special. The fighting scenes often lacked while it could have been such an improvement had they done more to contribute.

Sound
The voice acting was pretty good, the voices used were pretty representative for all of the presented characters, they stuck with me really fast and to be honest I probably wouldn't have liked it any other way.
The music was so so, I think more dynamic use of the music could also have contributed a lot to the atmosphere of this show still it was not something that was truly disappointing.

Story
The story itself started out pretty nicely, a big gap about what happened in the past made a sort of mysterious atmosphere around the main cast, the way the characters themselves were introduced was pretty good, the buildup was at a nice speed and was also no cause for complaint. As the story itself progressed I became more and more disappointed, more and more plot holes were introduced that at first seemed to be answered in the course of the show but left you very much disappointed in the end when in fact none but one of them were.
This could have been such a great thing about this show but unfortunately it was cut short and really leaves a lot to be desired.

Character development
The charter development was terrible if non existent at all, it started out hopefully by introducing the two 'brothers' and their lives where they kept meeting more of their kind who all seemed to have interesting backgrounds themselves. That is also where it ended, after introducing all of these cool people with their interesting backgrounds none of them were ever elaborated or further explained with the sole exception of our main hero who was explained in the end but that opened up a whole new hole of questions that they left unanswered.

Value and Enjoyment
Despite the badly developed characters and the uncompleted story, the lacking animation but the yet hope full sound this show still gave me a lot of laughs, the way the characters are presented and the way the story progresses (as far as it does) did bring up a lot of interesting scenarios. I can recommend this for people who want something interesting to watch but have no desire to see it through, if you are someone who loves story and character development you will be greatly disappointed when watching this.

I hope this was a more satisfying review than the draft that was first standing here :/

I really enjoyed BBB despite its flaws. At first glance, I thought it would be a shallow fighting series where the character fought, gave a long-winded corny speech, fought some more and so on. I'm glad I was wrong.

Animation: Very nice, as to be expected. There are few lazy scenes and the fights are well animated with good effects. The backgrounds are gorgeous and the character designs fit the characters well. Fight scenes are well animated and entertaining, though a bit corny at times.

Sound: The sound was actually surprisingly good. I was expecting the beginning to be a generic Jpop song (ok it was, but it grew on me) and the ending is very nice. The BGMs were good too, if you didn't notice them I suggest you go back and listen. There is a chilling piano solo that prompts a revelation will be had. Most voice actors did a good job, but i think whoever did Kotarou went a tad overboard with the cutesy sweet voice.

Story: The story was very interesting and I was really into it. The problem is the series is too short. I would have loved to have learned more about the vampires and their history. That aside, I think BBB did a decent drop in answering most questions, but the ending disappointed me greatly. I'm really hoping for a sequel, since that's the impression the last episode left. Even though it leaves many holes and fails to have an ending, I feel that the atmosphere alone was so unique that I can appreciate BBB just for that.

Character: The same problem with the story is here with the characters. All of the characters were very interesting and I would have loved to have learned more about all the secondary characters, but due to BBB's length, it focuses almost exclusively on Jirou, with a tiny bit, if any, on others. All in all, a decent job was done considering the length of the show.

Value: Since it is so short, has great animation and sound, a very interesting story and likable characters, I could definitely watch this all the way through again. I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in vampire stories, but may be tired with the same old story. If you are a stickler for plot holes and resolutions (even though I usually am, too), you might want to steer clear of this one.

Enjoyment: Surprisingly, this may now be one of my favorites, and I can only hope there is a sequel in the making. It takes a lot of liberties with the stereotypical vampire, and I liked that. Watch this if you don't need something to be perfect to still enjoy it.

This is an obviously incomplete anime. After 12 episodes, there is no ending, no resolution whatsoever, and a tremendous lack of background with many questions left unanswered and plotlines left open. If there is a sequel, maybe these flaws can be corrected, but as it stands now these are gaping flaws.

This anime tells the tale of Jirou, an Old Blood vampire, and his "brother" Koutaro, an innocent young vampire boy as they travel to the "Special Zone" for a myserious reason; a place where vampires and humans live together in harmony, run by the "Company" and several Old vampires.

One interesting aspect of this anime is its' treatment of vampires: in this anime, vampires are able to get along with humans in the Special Zone, which is ruled by a combination of humans and vampires, and it is a special kind of "evil" vampire, the "Kowloon Children" who both the vampires and humans fight together against (unlike anime like Hellsing, where all vampires are considered "evil" by nature). Also unlike Hellsing and other vampire anime, not all vampires have the same weaknesses: for example, Jirou is weak to running water and sunlight, while Koutaro is not. And, not all vampires have the same powers or abilities.

The main story follows the conflict between Jirou and Casa and Jirou's quest to protect first Koutaro, and then also Mimiko, a human "Compromiser" from the Company. There is some backstory given as to the relationship between Jirou and Casa, and Jirou and Alice, but this backstory is limited, and ultimately serves little purpose in the overall storyline so far (though, if there is a sequel, I expect these storylines to come together).

For example, the war in Hong Kong is mentioned fairly often, and there are a couple clips concerning the events surroundng the war, but by the end of the 12 episodes we really have no clear picture of what happened and why; especially the question of why Casa became "evil".

As to the characters, Jirou is pretty shallow: over-protective, quick to anger, and overall pretty childish and immature for a person who is supposedly over 100 years old. Also, in typical anime fashion, he is only at his strongest when he, through the support of his friends, realizes he has something to protect; otherwise, he loses to weaklings or suffers massive amounts of injury. Despite his hundred or so years of experience and "wisdom" he seems unable to focus and seems to always make reckless decisions which he is reprimanded for by his friends and comrades.

Koutaro is the typical innocent young child figure who is always trying to make friends and brings out Jirou's "softer side". Mimiko is an innocent young woman who strives for the protection of vampires and the inclusion of Jirou and Koutaro into the Special Zone. She attempts to aid Koutaro in the "softening" of Jirou and attempts to help control his anger.

Side characters include Old Bloods such as Cain, Sei, and Zelman, each of whom are extremely powerful vampires who show their powers over the course of the series; personally I hope that, if there is a sequel, we see more of them, because each was more interesting then any of the main characters.

As to the villians, Casa is the only interesting one; her two "brothers" are both extremely annoying and not very interesting, especially Jaffery, who was the most annoying character in the anime. However, Casa is given little background, and the major aspect of her character, the supposed "betrayal" of Jirou and Alice, is never explained or shown.

The animation is fairly good; special effects are interesting, especially the effects dealing with the various vampires' abilities.

The soundtrack is pretty much nonexistent; I am struggling to remember any song from the anime, even the OP/EDs....overall a forgettable and pathetic soundtrack. The voice actor for Jirou was pretty pathetic also; his acting wasn't too polished and he just didn't make me feel that Jirou was really a 100-year old vampire. The voice actor for Koutaro was extremely annoying: I have no idea why they allowed him to have that extremely high-pitched voice. However, the voice actors for Mimiko, Sei, Zelman, Casa, and Cain did do a fine job; especially Sei and Zelman: unlike Jirou, they made me feel as if they were hundreds of years old (never rushed their words, rarely were riled up, always confident when speaking, etc)

Overall, I enjoyed the anime, but without a sequel this incomplete anime leaves too many questions for me to be satisfied with it. Its' unique take on vampires and a cast of excellent supporting characters allow me to reccomend this anime, but be ready to be dissatisfied with its' lack of resolution and dozens of questions.