Ranked #825

Trinity Blood

Some people say it's a Hellsing rip-off, some people say it's a Trigun rip-off, some people say it rips off scenes from Equilibrium (which it does), however, that doesn't change the fact that the series is enjoyable... sort of.

Story: Why I say "sort of" is because of how confusing this story can be. It sort of assumes that the viewer has already read and manga and/or the novels. I've watched TB with many of my friends and in almost every episode I have had to explain to them what is happening - Why is an episode called "the Iblis" when they never explain what the Iblis is? Why is Abel a Crusnik? Why is the world in the state that it is? What's with the flashback scenes? Etc, etc. Also the pacing is sort of off - an episode full of action will be followed by an episode of nothing but political intrigue and sitting around talking. I give Story a 7 if only because it is somewhat inaccessable to new viewers, possibly to the point of frustration if you don't know what's going on, and also for the pacing issues.

Art and Sound are very good so I give them both 9. The art is beautiful (except for the stupid CG, which there is thankfully not much of), the music is great, and if you're watching the English dub, the voices are actually not bad at all (except Ion... *shudders*)

Character gets a 10. Lots of character development throughout the show. I've heard Abel is similar to Vash, so if you like Vash you may like him as well. Most all of the characters are complex and interesting. Even many of those that seem flat at the start later reveal many sides to themselves. I think that is my favorite thing about this anime, how even minor characters grow and develop as the story progresses.

Enjoyment gets a 9 from me. However, I predict most people would enjoy it at maybe an 8 (or possibly a 7) level, which is why I rate it overall 8. It's a great story and generally underappreciated, but I do understand that it's quite inaccessable unless you already know the backstory. So my suggestion is this: Read a synopsis of the backstory first, then watch the anime. Better yet, read the manga or the novels first. Trinity Blood is best enjoyed as a unit (manga, novels, and anime) rather than as just an anime. All three of the storylines are slightly different, each adds its own dimension to the world. As a stand-alone anime TB is pretty good, but taken with the other works it is amazing! read more

Reviewer's brief notables: If you're a fan of the Trigun series, Trinity Blood just might be the next best thing.
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Story:
There are several things in the story that, I believe, need to be included into the current synopsis. There are many key details that viewers must acknowledge to fully appreciate the story behind Trinity Blood.

In the series' current setting, there are two forces: the Terran (Human) and the Methuselah (Vampire). The story is based 500 years after the Armageddon in the future of Europe. The anime does carry much of European architectural design and also displays many notable landmarks that are found in Europe presently.

The Terran population is more resembled upon civilized life presently. They have a monarch approach of government rule that is highly organized and nobly respected. As it seems to the story, the Roman Catholic Church is the foundation of the political and martial power of the Terran including the presence of a Pope. The Terran force is also referred to as the Vaticans.

The Methuselah population was once human. At a time, there was an outbreak of a virus infecting human beings. The virus would feed on the host's blood cells until they deplete. Soon after, they thirst for more blood to keep themselves alive. Symptoms of the virus include the mutation of their genetic makeup and also to latent superhuman abilities that varies between hosts. With the crave for blood and newfound abilities, they are commonly and ironically called Vampires.

Both the Vatican and the Methuselah forces are engaging an ongoing war. Both of these races have the same motive: to eliminate the opposing race. This does not relate to everybody though. There is a resistance group that wants the Terran and Methuselah to coexist in harmony. This group being called, "Ax". The members of "Ax" include very aristocratic individuals from both sides of the field.

As for the real story review, I think this anime has outdone itself. Trinity Blood has a very rich and deep plotline that is very consistent and also very engaging. Trinity Blood reveals an ample amount of information for its 26 episode season, but is also simple to understand. There are two things that I have to complain about. First being how there are several plot holes in the season about Abel's past and identity. Second, being what I feel, an incomplete ending. It seems as this anime, though ironically, pushes an abundant amount of information at you, and yet seems to slip some of the more significant essence. If excluding that setback, I'd say this series is nearly perfect.
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Art:
I truly like Trinity Blood's style of animation. The style is mostly seen in more action-oriented genres, like Trigun, but possibly a step better in quality. For the animation, there is nothing really to complain about. On the other hand, the CG behind Trinity Blood is quite terrible. For its time in production, I'd expect far better CG. The CG looked very edgy and choppy--also looks, and feels like it doesn't belong with the standard animation. Being that, I give the Art an Eight out of Ten.
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Sound:
The introductory song to each episode fit in nicely with the opening animation and the overall feel of the anime. Nicely done. The music scores in this anime are nicely done as well. The music was very appropriate at each scene. I gave the Sound portion an Eight because in some instances in the series, the background music was overplaying the voices of the characters, especially during sensitive and important scenes where the characters talk in a soft manner. It just seemed to really bother me.
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Character:
The main character in this anime, Abel Nighroad, is much like and often compared to Vash the Stampede of the anime, Trigun. They both are very cooperative and kind also somewhat of a pacifist. They also have refused to kill any human at any point of time. They have a lust for food; Abel being tea with 13 spoons of sugar and Vash being of donuts. Also, the two characters have very devastating capabilities with immeasurable potential.

Throughout the series, there is some MAJOR character development. Possibly taking up most of the series itself. There are several flashbacks and isolated thinking scenes that reveal much more of the characters. I personally, was swept up by almost all of the characters which made me have their upmost support.

Character development is, what I think, the real strongpoint of this anime. It is possible the very thing that had me hooked to this anime.
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Enjoyment:
I can't say that you won't enjoy this series if you're not ready to see some very gory violence (blood, severed limbs, decapitation). Though with all the violence, it really makes Trinity Blood more engaging and much deeper. It's just not the same without it. Trinity Blood is one of the very few series' where I can freely just literally shout at my computer all my many emotions that go on throughout the series. Very engaging indeed. As I've mentioned, or along the lines of, the enjoyment factor is upon the character development--well, for me it is. I would say that I would enjoy this series much more if it had a second season to cap off some of the missing links in the series. read more