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!

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.

I first heard about trinity blood on a forum in the summer of last year. Not too much detail was given except for the small facts that it had vampires and a group of super soldiers working for the Catholic Church fighting against each other. Slightly intrigued I started browsing the web to research it a bit more, before I decided to watch it. During that research I found this description on the back story.

‘When Earth's population drastically increased, humanity was led by the United Nations attempt to colonize Mars. During the colonization, they discovered two alien technologies: the Bacillus and the Crusnik nanomachines. The ... colonists installed the Bacillus in their bodies which transformed them into Methuselahs. Continuing wars on Earth eventually led to "Armageddon," the apocalyptic event that happened 900 years before the start of the story, and the colonists returned to Earth to help with rebuilding. However, when the colonists returned to Earth, a war broke out between the Methuselahs and the humans who had remained on earth.’

This prologue was the main reason I decided to watch Trinity blood. Not only did it explain how vampires came into existence but why humans are at war with them. On top of that my favorite studio Gonzo was the creator.

I went into the first episode with excitement and for the most part I found the first episode very entertaining and fun to watch. The story follows a man named Abel Nightroad, a member of the Vatican and an AX agent trained to kill vampires. While traveling on a airship back to the capitol the ship is attacked and over taken by a pure blood vampire. Nightroad confronts the vampire on top of the airship where he shows his true form, a Crusnik, a being that feasts on vampire blood. This transformation is awesome on every sense of the word and I left that first episode with good feeling. The artwork was beautifully gothic and dark, setting the mood perfectly. The english dub was decent (as you aspect from funimation) and the main character had a split personality and was interesting to watch.

I left that first tale in the series with high optimism and excitement for the remaining 23 episodes. Want followed was some of the most inconsistent story arcs I have ever seen. The series hit a break wall already in the early episodes. It had become so boring with too much text and not enough action or development happing. I was thinking of the dropping the show around the fifth episode when out of no where I would get the awesome action packed episode I was looking for. Then straight after, the show would be back to boring text episodes where nothing happens. It seemed for every great episode I watched, 2 crap ones immediately followed, and the cycle would continue like that.

The show also suffered from lack of development for the supporting characters.
We are finally introduced to other AX agents who have great potential to be developed characters and they are barely in it.

For its faults there was something about Trinity blood that made me keep watching. It maybe because I got into a routine of seating through the pointless episodes, because I new, in the back of my head that soon there will be a kick ass episode right round the corner. And I was right.

The series had its strong points for sure. The soundtrack was haunting and fantastic along with the character designs being extremely cool. The development on the main character is also one of the highest points of the show. Half the fun of the series is figuring him out and his back story is revealed bit by bit making you want to keep watching.

I recommend this anime to any one who digs vampires or who needs an action fix. But be warned it’s not for everyone, a series like this needs attention and above all patents. You need to bear through the bad, to get to the good

First of all, I will say that I did not watch Trigun before seeing this. This I say because most people will tell you that this is a ripoff of Trigun. I have not seen it at this point, so I do not know.

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Prologue:

The anime was a great one, if you are a fan of action this has plenty of it, if you want drama this has plenty of it, if you are a fan of vampires this has plenty of it, if you are a fan of sci-fi this has plenty of it (no mechas though), and last of all if you enjoy ... history and some political fiction this has plenty of it.

Personally, I really enjoyed the allusion to historical empires and political ideologies present in the anime. For example: The New Human Empire (aka Empire of the True Race / Methuselah Empire) is very influenced by the Ottoman Empire, going as far as to have the Imperial Janissaries do the same job they did in the actual Empire, being the household guard of the Emperor (Empress, in the case of the anime) that and a mix of the earlier Byzantine Empire which was succeeded by the Ottoman Empire. Vatican is representative of the EU, and an allusion to the medieval Christian philosophies of the Roman Catholic Church. Albion is, I believe, the modern England adapted into the anime controlling only the British Isles at this point as well as being neutral in the Vatican - Empire tensions. Also, being born in Istanbul and spending the first 5 years of my life there (as well as many visits) I can say Istanbul was very nicely adapted into the Byzantium of the anime, which is the capital of the Empire as it was in the Ottoman Empire. Hell, even the parts of the city are accurately portrayed!

One thing I did not like about the anime was, it does not give much background information at all... The story is perfect! But the only thing the anime tells you is that there is a conflict between Vampires and Terrans and that this leads to tensions between the Vatican and the Empire. For this I had to read various sources to get information about the background, which might have led me to enjoy the anime fully. However, I really hesitated giving this a 10 because of that, had it portrayed the background nicely I would not have even thought of any other score.

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Story:

The story is perfect! However, if you are reading this I suggest that you do not become discouraged by the length and keep on reading as I will be telling much of the points of the story that I wish were told at the first episode.

At one point in the history of Earth, humans colonized Mars. And the colonists discovered two types of nanomachines there left by an earlier civilization: the Bacillus and the Crusnik. They subsequently injected the nanomachines, and those with the Bacillus were turned into the Methuselah, or as termed by normal humans (called Terrans by the Methuselah) into vampires. However, those with Crusnik installed into them do not live, except for four, who are Abel, Cain, Seth and Lilith.

When the colonists returned to Earth, a war broke out between the Methuselahs and the humans who had remained on earth. Abel, Cain, and Seth took the Methuselah's side—while Lilith supported the humans' side. The continuing war eventually led to "Armageddon," the apocalyptic event that happened 900 years before the start of the story. During the war, Cain went insane and killed Lilith. In grief, Abel took her body to the Vatican where she was buried. Abel remained at her side, weeping for her, for 900 years.

At the start of the story, there is an uneasy truce between the Methuselah and the Terrans. The Roman Catholic Church is a major military power determined to protect humans from the Methuselahs, with its seat of power based in the Vatican. The Methuselahs have their capital of Byzantium, which is surrounded by a field of particles to filter out UV radiation, protecting the Methuselah population. However, the Methuselah have an Empress that wishes for peace, and the Vatican is reluctant to start hostilities against the Empire because the Empire is the most technologically advanced nation on earth, with weapons and machines that surpass both the Vatican arsenal and Albion.

Both groups use "lost technologies," such as airships, missiles, and computers, to engage in a cold war with one another. A third great power, Albion also plays a role in the war with its superior arsenal of lost technology and weapons and higher level of manufacturing ability versus the Vatican. The independent monarchy of Albion is a primarily human country, however the secret of their expertise in lost technology is found in the Ghetto, an underground city of enslaved Methuselah. It is these Methuselah who operate and manufacture the lost technology, but with the death of the Albion Queen, some of the enslaved vampires begin a rebellion for the freedom of all of the Ghetto residents.

Last of all, Crusniks are beings that drink the blood of Methuselah, while the Methuselah are beings likened to vampires because of their superior strength, agility, prolonged life span, regenerative traits and their inability to be exposed to the sun (as the nanomachines would burn the host) together with their weakness to silver and their necessity to regularly drink human blood because the nanomachines are constantly destroying their red blood cells. They can have children, and they can eat normal food.

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Art:

The art / animation is good as it is not an old anime. The blurry-ish look really gets one into the story's dramatic and tragic tones. The way the faces of each character is drawn also hints at their respective character personalities. Also, the facial movements and eye effects truly reflect the mood of the characters.

The color choices used in the anime are really good for the atmosphere of the overall plot.

Other than those, there is not much I can say about the animation as it is not really an old anime.

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Sound:

The OP and the ED were both really good, even when I did not really want to spend much time I could not stop myself from watching / listening them.

The music and sounds used in the anime really help in setting the atmosphere of the moment. Especially I paid attention to it at the final episode where it really fit in with what was going on. There is no other way that I can describe that than saying it was "Epic".

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Characters:

I was actually kinda disappointed as there were no special characters like, say Lelouch, in this anime. They were all rather typical characters, you know, the guy with the tragic past (who I think over exaggerated it), the whiny-yet-nice-so-you-cant-get-mad-at girl, the little aristocrat boy who falls in love with a commoner and can't bring himself to say so, the best friend who betrays but then comes back in the end as he is about to kill his helpless best bud, the empress in disguise, the fanatically loyal guy who goes mad with his loyalty only to realize his mistake at the end... etc.

So the characters are all ones used in previous works with not much originality other than their adaptation into the awesome storyline of the anime.

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Enjoyment:

I really enjoyed this series, however the enjoyment at the beginning was limited due to the frequent plot changes at the first few episodes and the storyline that was not efficiently given at all.

Later on though, after the involvement of Esther into the plotline, the enjoyment increased as I started seeing political conspiracies, fanaticism, ideologies, and tragedy... of course not forgetting the epic action scenes which were really good btw.

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Overall:

Although due to the lack of information about the background storyline at the beginning, I really hesitated giving this show such a high score, I could not help but do so knowing the actual storyline and having finished the series together with the ending.

I really hope they would make a continuation of the story, as after properly knowing the storyline the series is truly a masterpiece quality one. That is of course in my opinion.

Nevertheless I highly recommend this anime, and I REALLY REALLY want to point out that you SHOULD DEFINITELY READ ABOUT THE BACKGROUND STORY BEFORE STARTING THE SHOW!!! What I wrote about the background story in the story section should be sufficient, although of course knowing more doesn't hurt ;).

Okay, here is my review for the anime Trinity Blood after watching the complete series.

Story (10) - Purely fascinating. Classic Vampire-Human drama and all that would encompass such with a amazing twist. A Japanese "what if tale" about the "Vatican" church, and all of it's not-so-known enforcers. (If only that we're really the case, how much cooler a religion would be.) I am happy to say that there aren't many filler episodes within this series, which is great. I love a hard-written story driven anime, and this one has that for sure hands down.

Art (8) - Only have seeing a ... total of three anime series now, I would say this was nothing all that spectacular. It was indeed, just very good. Nothing was hard to make out, all of the backgrounds, character designs, both futuristic and or medieval was done very well. I will note one thing that did stand out, the weapon of Abel Nightroad was quite possibly the single coolest melee weapon I've yet to ever see in any genre.

Character (9) - Well, as a new review-er. It was hard to pick a favorite for this series, at first it was Tres, in the end however I would have to go with Caterina Sforza, being a large part of the show herself, she had a very commanding presence and always brought a light to the situation at hand. As for the rest of the cast, all was quite brilliant, each character possessing a particular skill that was either distinct and/or original. The only reason why it didn't earn a (10) was due to some of the childish like behavior from Abel Nightroad, I found it to be a tad over-done considering the role of him. Well, and... Who doesn't love a Crusnik... I mean seriously...

Overall (9) - For the lover of Vampires-Humans in a "plot-vs-plot" but not sure what's-what. Does that make sense to you? Strong storyline, great character inter-personal relationships, hardly any filler episodes. Mysterious Crusnik Vampire class. A great series that won't make you feel bad for not going to church!

The story and characters in this series are fantastically enigmatic and complex. Ultimately the characters and their relationships are as interesting as the overall plot line. The biggest drawback to this series is that it ends without really explaining some important aspects of the story. The lack of background throughout the series provides suspense and intrigue, but anyone who has not read the Manga will probably want to look up a synopsis of the plot at some point. However, the series is definitely worth watching anyway.

The vampires are largely classical Braum Stokes in nature, though, there are a few interesting twists ... which crop up in the plot and backstory. The ambience is dark and mysterious, giving the show a dramatic feel. However, Abel’s antics serve to lighten mood from time to time. Abel displays many different faces throughout the series-though it seems they are all part of him rather than just masks he wears-providing his character depth not easily achieved in the typical conflicted protagonist role. Abel’s dorkiness is endearing and is necessary to balance the more serious and painful reality of his past and his current mission.

The change that comes over Abel when he releases into his fighting modes is shocking. He becomes horrible and beautiful, valiant and creepy, powerful and weak. While his essential shape remains the same, the change in his hair and eyes is chilling. That Able becomes terrible in his fighting form while the enemy of the world goes from charismatic in his human form to angelic in his fighting form is an appropriate archetype for real life. Abel’s form is honest to its own nature, while the success of the antagonist is largely due to his devious nature. He is a master at showing others what they want to see until they are no longer useful to his own purposes.

Though there are some obvious similarities between Abel and the main character in Trigun, the feel of this series is vastly different. Enough so, that the two series don’t target the same audience. Where Trigun is often lighthearted and silly, Trinity Blood’s plot weighs heavily as it addresses a variety of social and personal conflict issues.

Overall Trinity Blood is an intriguing story which draws the viewer in both through the overriding plot and through the depth of the characters and their own personal struggles. However, the series should have been extended to include an explanation to the history of events which propelled the world into the current state of affairs. Instead viewers are forced to look to other sources for any resolution to the story.

Vampires have been in the media for a long time. Everything ranging from the 1900s till today. But vampires today are not at all what they were years ago. vampires today are sugar coated diamond gay boys that prefer to hook up with young girls that are 1000s of years younger than them (im looking at you twilight). So as you can imagine, walking into a show such as trinity blood was either going to be a hit or miss. To sum it up before you read the rest of this; i enjoyed the hell out of this show.

Ill try and keep this review ... as short and straight to the point as possible.

~STORY~

The story for this show is actually pretty good. in this world lives vampires and humans (obviously). The two species are at the brink of war with each other and it's up to the church to take power and try to resolve the issues and prevent war. As the story progresses though we learn of things such as each sides motives and the "enemy of the world". Theirs alot more to this story, but explaining it would treed on spoiler territory.

~ART~

Being that this show was made back in 2005 ill admit that there are some flaws. However though, this show looks really good. The action scenes and transformations were eye candy and kept you interested till the end. at least it was for me anyway.

~Sound~

Other than the OP and ED, i can't say that there were many tracks that stood out. Don't get me wrong, the music fit the over all tone of the show and defiantly shined when needed. But there were no songs that I can say were amazing and tell you to go buy the OST. The music is good, but not amazing.

~Characters~

I think this is both the strongest but weakest point of the show. The main characters got alot of time, development, and connection that had me admire the characters. But the antagonist and side characters didnt get much to it. Some of the side characters never really changed though the show, which is unfortunate but hey, what are you going to do?

~ENJOYMENT~

This show was alot of fun. the show reminded me alot of trigun for reasons that im not willing to explain. It had alot of action, good characters, humor, and a story that kept me guessing at times. This show is not for everyone, but if you enjoy a somewhat dark shows, vampires, or trigun, There is a really good chance you will love this show.

However I would advise you to stream the show before you buy. I advise this because the show is not for everyone, as mentioned. Also there is ALOT of religious references in this show. I dont know how people feel about religious context in there shows, if your not a fan of it...at least stream it, It's still a fun show.

Story (8.0) - At start is a bit confusing,but after seeing some episodes i got to understand it and it doesn´t sound so bad at all..in fact is a good one. It starts with a priest, called Abel Nightroad and is job is to solve the problems with vampires for the church. At some point the story turns to the negotiations between the church and the empire, where most of the vampires live. But here is a group that wants to create a war between the church and the empire, to bring destruction to the world, and for that they do everything to interfere ... in the peace talks. I wont tell you the result, if you want to know watch it ;).

Art (8.6) - I liked it. Character design, ambience design also good, graphics also look good.

Sound (7.5) - Just enough to not make this anime worse just because of this aspect. I didnt like it at all, but i dont think it was that bad, and it didnt really bothered me..besides is not that the quality of the sound is bad, i just didnt like it..you may think the oposite so i will give an 8 on here.

Character (8.8) - I like some of the characters, especially abel, but the others arent much worse. They are well develloped and thats good, some of them also look cool, 9.

Enjoyment (8.2) - I enjoyed it, it worth the time i spent watching. There are a lot of moments where there is almost no action, but action moments are also in great number in this anime, and that makes the anime much more interesting.

Overall (8.4) - An 8 close to 9, describes an anime that i consider very good and that i recommend to all that like action. At last worth a look, you may not like it, but you may also find a good way to spend your time.

sry about my english if there is some mistakes, i tryed my best, i hope you understand ;)

Two races form in the fallout of a world war – humans and vampires (humans who evolved from colonies on Mars) – and maintain a fragile truce. However, both sides have enemies who would break the truce and enable their respective race subjugate or annihilate the other. It takes the intervention of Abel Nightroad, a super-vampire far beyond either race, to ensure peace between both races.

This show stands out from the standard vampire anime for being a space opera. The story is a grand and epic tale, combining elements of sci-fi, horror, political intrigue, drama and even a touch of humour. The use of religious ... terms/themes makes this an intriguing and intricate story to explore. The characters are well-written and have interesting background and characterization to explore, and their voice actors are well-chosen (Troy Baker in particular is wonderful as the complex protagonist Abel). And the art is magnificently ornate and expressive, capturing the baroque world and its engaging characters in a stunning format.

The story lasted only one season, though. It was dealt a heavy blow by the untimely passing of writer Sunao Yoshida, and though the comic continued the story it didn't really feel right; the anime had to end where it did. It's a tragically underrated and incomplete anime. Also the show tends to draw influence from other shows (TRIGUN, TO TERRA, HELLSING, VAMPIRE HUNTER D); it's only a side- effect of the incredibly abundant anime industry, but these inevitable comparisons can take away from how unique and wonderful the show is.

On the whole, it's a very intricate and ornate anime that would have turned out to be one of the greatest vampire stories ever told, had fate been kinder to it.

Overview:
"Trinity Blood" is a gothic horror anime with a twist. Not only does it contain one of the most drastically different take on vampires this side of "Blood+", but it forgoes the usual setting of the genre in favour of a post-apocalyptic distant future. The results are... mixed, to put it mildly. While the series does have some great visuals and fantastic sound design, it unfortunately falls a little short in the storytelling and world-building department, and ultimately never even comes close to making the most out of its huge potential.

Story & World (6.5/10):
900 years after a failed attempt to colonize Mars led to ... the creation of vampires and the near-annihilation of the human race, the Roman Catholic Church has evolved into a major military power determined to protect what remains of humanity from the threat of vampires, or Methuselah as they call themselves. The protagonist of the story is Father Abel Nightroad, a priest who works for an organization known as the AX, short for Arcanum Cella Ex Dono Dei (Latin for Papal State Affairs Special Operations Section), which stands as the primary defence against the Methuselah. However, while Abel may seem goofy on the surface, he hides a dark secret- he is actually a Crusnik, an especially rare type of vampire that feeds on other vampires, who has chosen to side with the humans and protect them from his own kind, a decision shaped by trauma from a tragic past. It is up to Abel and the other members of the AX to counter any threats posed by the Methuselah, all while trying to find a way to have the two races co-exist together and bring an end to the centuries-long war.

Does this premise sound complicated to you? Well, it only gets more complicated as time goes on, which certainly isn't helped by the fact that the anime rarely takes the time to explain anything. From the first episode, we're thrust into the middle of the conflict without so much as an introduction, with most of the stuff I have already said being all there in the manual. As such, anyone who goes in without at least some second-hand knowledge of the series is bound to be more than a little confused, with things only becoming slightly clearer overtime. The individual arcs and episodes are still enjoyable enough on their own, with some being better than others, but the overarching story that ties them together is pretty lacking, to say the least.

The setting of the series is certainly fresh, with a lot of gothic architecture to be found, mostly Italian due to it being centred around the Vatican, and where people use what they call "lost technologies" such as airships, missiles and old-fashioned computers, though there is more advanced technology as well including a living, breathing robot (more on him, later), which makes for a very interesting combination of both the past and the future. There's also a good few episodes where we see society from the perspective of the Methuselah, mostly to show us that Abel isn't the only vampire who's not out for blood against humans, and in fact many of them share humanity's goal of co-existence. Sadly, while the world is very interesting, it's overall pretty underdeveloped, with the almost complete lack of exposition meaning that we're rarely given any insight as to how various things work. And while the last few episodes live up to what you would expect from a season finale, the story ultimately ends with little to nothing actually resolved, and, much like "Kaze no Stigma" and "Highschool of the Dead", it's unlikely to ever be continued due to the original author passing away before the written story could be completed.

Art & Animation (8/10):
A lot of people will most likely dread to hear that Gonzo is the studio who animated this series. Fortunately, any fears you may have should be quickly put to rest, as this is easily one of their best efforts. The characters and environments are all very well-drawn, with none of the rough edges one would normally expect from a Gonzo anime, and the animations are just fluid enough to be believable. It definitely doesn't look spectacular, as there's still the conspicuous CG effects Gonzo is notorious for, but these are infrequent enough to not ruin the overall quality, and overall this is definitely one of their better looking anime, especially for its time (2005-2006).

Sound & Dialogue (8.5/10):
The music, while far from terrible, tends to blend into the background for the most part, with very few memorable tracks coming to mind. What's absolutely memorable, however, is the opening theme "Dress", which perfectly captures the gothic atmosphere of the show, and is good enough that I found myself listening to it every single time I started a new episode. The ending theme "Broken Wings" is great as well, having a soothing, somber feel to it that makes it especially good to listen to at the end of episodes with tragic endings, of which there are quite a few. On the other hand, the voice acting is brilliant, having a slew of great talents that really make the most out of their roles, with Troy Baker, Christopher Sabat and Colleen Clinkenbeard, who provide the voices of Abel, Tres and Esther respectively, being standout examples.

Characters (7.5/10):
There doesn't seem to be any real expectations as to how people of religion should act in this world, as Abel's general mannerisms are far from what you'd expect from a priest, being very goofy, clumsy and absent-minded, though he's also very kind, compassionate and considerate. When he activates his Crusnik form, however, he becomes very sober, ruthless and overall completely different from his other persona, though his compassion still remains. While he is a very interesting and likable protagonist, he does have a bad habit of contradicting himself, at one point claiming that he's vowed never to take another life despite having killed multiple people only a few episodes earlier. While one could argue that he means he won't kill unless his hand is forced, the poor phrasing makes him come off as a hypocrite. There are also times when his goofy persona makes him more pitiful than charming, which is a shame since that's by far his most prominent persona due to him only using his Crusnik form as a last resort. One character that never annoyed me, however, is Tres Iques, another AX agent who's frequently paired up with Abel. Take Arnie's second Terminator, give him two pistols with nearly unlimited ammo and an actual backstory, and you pretty much have Tres. Due to being a robot, Tres, in contrast to Abel, is ruthless and no-nonsense when dealing with those he deems a threat, though he is capable of compassion and even has a sense of humour, albeit a very dry one. And as one would expect from a character voiced by Christopher Sabat, he is a total badass, having literally inhuman aiming skills, hence his codename "Gunslinger". I just wish he showed up more often- despite being a main character, his role is greatly reduced in the second half of the series and he doesn't come back again until near the end, though the role he plays then proves to be crucial to the show's climax.

Next up is Esther Blanchett, an orphaned girl who was raised in a covenant and meets Abel in one of the early episodes. After her home is destroyed and Abel saves her from a group of vampires, she travels to the Vatican with him, becoming his most prominent companion throughout the series. She is generally quiet and timid, but also very brave, compassionate and kind. Unfortunately, her character arc could definitely use a little work, with one major part of her backstory coming out of seemingly nowhere in the final arc of the series with almost no foreshadowing throughout the series. There's also Ion Fortuna, a young Methuselah who proves to be one of the show's most important characters despite only being introduced about halfway through. Due to his young age (by his species' standards, at least), he starts off as a total brat with a strong distaste for humans, which is definitely not uncommon among his kind, though he soon mellows through interactions with Esther, with whom he becomes very close friends with. His development is pretty decent despite his late introduction and there are a few moments when I really wanted to hug the poor boy, though given the show's dark atmosphere the same can be said for a lot of characters, Abel himself included.

The final member of the main cast is Caterina Sforza, the leader of the AX agency and Abel's superior. Her character will most likely bring Integra Hellsing to mind for a lot of people, with even how she first met Abel being very similar to how Integra first met Alucard. She is by far the most reasonable authority figure in the Vatican, often serving as the mediator between her ruthless older brother Francesco and cowardly younger brother Alessandro, the latter of whom is Pope despite his young age, though due to his meekness he pretty much never uses his authority or power, leaving the important decisions to his siblings. Besides who's already been mentioned, the cast of characters is quite large, disproportionately so in regards to the length of the series, and so while some of them get their moments in the sun, others are lucky if they even get any characterization. Quite a few of them are also killed off for real, so you should definitely be wise in regards to who you get attached to.

Enjoyment (7.5/10):
"Trinity Blood" is definitely not short on action. While there are plenty of drama scenes, almost every episode has either a fight scene or some kind of suspense to keep the viewer invested between episodes. And while the series is very dark, as you no doubt suggested from the genre, it never goes overboard with it and has plenty of heartwarming and even funny moments. This very much works in the show's favour, as it makes the tragic moments stand out all the more instead of simply being something you would expect from the series.

Overall:
"Trinity Blood" isn't a bad gothic horror anime by any means, but it's nevertheless a series that feels incomplete in many respects and ultimately falls pretty short of delivering everything that it promises, making it yet another anime that could have been so much more than it ended up being, albeit due to no fault of its own given the author's early death. It's still worth watching for its originality, atmosphere, characters and action, but if you find yourself wanting more by the time the credits roll, don't say I didn't warn you.

Score:
6.5+8+8.5+7.5+7.5=38/50=7.6/10

I am going to state this as simply as possible. When I review anime, a 7 is a 70% which means the anime was average but nothing special. I noticed most people would say that was worth a 5, or a 50%, but that is an F. If an anime didn't have any obvious flaws other than being nothing special, then I don't think it failed. So please read my reviews with this in mind. This is why most of my ratings seem on the high end. If I enjoyed it enough to finish it, it should be getting a C, not any lower.

Trinity blood ... is a very solid anime with good characters and an interesting story. I was tempted to rate the anime higher, but in the end I would say that Trinity Blood is good, but not too much more than that.

Story(7/10)
Though the story was good, it wasn't particularly original. There is a vampire empire, there is the Vatican, there are political disputes. It all works well together, but the themes and background aren't exactly original. Watching this also reveals a lot of similarities to Trigun's story line and concepts.

Art(6/10)
There isn't too much to say here. The animation is good, and certainly won't bother you. However, it has aged quite a bit. I wish it had chosen more of a style, other than a very generic art.

Sound(6/10)
The soundtrack is nice, but sometimes feels somewhat random or repetitive. It seems like there are only four or five songs. In the end, the sound falls short for failing to be memorable.

Character(8/10)
I would say that the characters are the strongest piece of Trinity Blood. The develop well over the episodes, and are generally enjoyable. I can't think of any character that I outright disliked and wished wasn't there. For the most part, the characters are well rounded; they have enough backstory to feel important, but not so much that the series felt like watching flashbacks.

Enjoyment(7/10)
Definitely worth your watch, if nothing else. The engaging story and characters really make this one interesting. There was enough action to be entertaining, but enough dialogue to flesh out the story. I just wish there were a few more episodes at the end to explain what happened, and what the results of the final battle were.

Trinity Blood is a very solid anime, pulling inspiration from Hellsing and Trigun. It was a nice watch that wasn't too heavy, but wasn't too light, if you know what I mean. I recommend this to anyone who likes Vampires, politics, or action. Like many of the other anime I have reviewed, I do not recommend this to anyone who expects their world to change after watching this. I would also say if you are easily bored by dialogue, this isn't for you.

I definitely understand the mixed receivings of “Trinity Blood”. It has a lot of potential, but many times come out as very confusing and incoherent. It also has been accused of copying other work such as Hellsing, something which I must disagree with. Yes, Trinity Blood for shore contains a lot of the same elements as Hellsing, for example a powerful organization (the Vatican) fighting methuselah (vampires), the guns, and having their own trump card in the form of a more powerful being (a krusnik) that drinks the blood of other vampires. Which in my opinion is concepts that gladly can be used again and ... again, due to that form of plot are exciting to me. And the execution of Trinity Blood´s story and the overall feeling is nothing Hellsing, both shows have their own specific touch to it. Worth knowing is that the novel/manga was still ongoing at the time the anime was made, so a satisfying conclusion will be absent in the end. Hence, I will make some comparisons between the manga and the anime in my review.

So, what was Trinity Blood good attributes and what was it lacking in my opinion? Let´s get down to that now shall we.

Story: 6/10
The story takes place in an alternative setting of Europe in a distant future. 1000 years ago, Armageddon accrued, and vampires came to exist on earth and the modern technology (called lost technology) was lost in the events. Ever sense, humans (Terrans) and vampires (Methuselah) has been at each other’s throats. Prejudices and fear won´t let the two races to coexist in peace. The Vatican´s department of foreign affairs task is to take care of any problem related to vampires, led by cardinal Caterina Sfroza. The division is called AX, and includes some of the elite fighters and agents within the Vatican.

During a mission, Father Abel Nightroad encounter the young sister Esther Blanchett, and after her adopted family is murdered by the city´s ruling vampire, she accompanies him to the Vatican to train and become a team member of the AX. But something is stirring in the shadows, an organization called the Rozencreuz has started to make their move for a world war between the Terrans and Methuselah, and let their leader to take the place as the worlds almighty ruler.

I actually really like the base plot a lot. Powerful organizations fighting each other for different goals, vampires and humans on the brink of war, a bit a revenge quests, and a super powerful being that drinks vampires blood. What´s not to like! So why a 6 you may ask? Because, as I mentioned before, Trinity Blood´s story many times comes out as confusing and incoherent. Sometimes I felt like I most have missed like 3 episodes or something, much do to with unexplained major time skips in the story, or missing explanations regarding terms, characters, and important plot devices. Also, what was to be believed important plot events and for shore would have a huge impact on the overall story, was left behind end never mentioned again. Or characters that are introduced are just dumped somewhere and are absent for most of the remaining plot, for them to just show up at convenient moments. That left me very confused at times, so the overall enjoyment was dragged down. The pacing could also be very uneven. A couple of action and information filled episodes could be followed by some very slow and very uninformative ones.

After reading about 70% of the manga, I can see the root to these problems. I don´t know yet if the manga follows true to the novel, but the manga definitely make so much more sense than the anime. The manga is also much more enjoyable, I rate that one a 9 so far. It seems that the anime version of Trinity Blood takes several different routes, and are making a couple of anime original arcs. The anime version is still keeping the main plot as a base, but does several things differently and leave somethings unexplained and unexplored, which makes the whole experience kind of confusing and incoherent.

The show also has a little Sci-Fi touch, which I after read the manga actually enjoying quite a bit. But in the anime, it was mostly confusing and just added more questions. Of course, as in many story´s, the mystery elements are one of the alluring aspects, but since the anime was so incoherent and in many aspects uninformative, and never got a sequel... Well, the mystery aspect became more of a confusion factor.

The overall story is kind of dark and tragic, but more light-hearted and comical scenes are also present – mostly in the form of Father Abel´s clumsy and specific persona. These moments are a lot funnier and fitting in the manga then in the anime, at least I think so. When some action occurs, it´s often pretty great. Then you hear “Krusnik, 40% release approved”, you now shit is about to get real.

With all that said, the story does have its good parts that really pulled me in, and let me become interested and intrigued. Hence why I started to read the manga, and boy I´m I glad I did that!

Art: 8/10
I actually really enjoyed the art. It differs slightly from the manga´s art, which I liked even more. I would not go so far as call it super unique, but it do has something that make it stand out. Studio Gonzo is the studio behind Trinity Blood, and for the time it was produced (2005) I must say that they did a good job. The characters have long lean bodies, and both men and women have beautiful features. The colour palette is not particularly anime vivid or depressingly dark either. More light and bright colours are used the more light-hearted scenes, and darker colours are used in the more serious scenes (Yay, me to state obvious things). It´s suites the mood of the show, and are adapted to the atmosphere of a specific scene. I most complement the light setting in the show, it’s almost always spot on, and letting the characters and the environment shin in the same light. I made it feel like the characters always belonged in the environment. The backgrounds are beautiful and detailed, for example a city silhouette or garden. Always a pleasure to look at.

For the animation, its good but nothing really outstanding either. Few weird and jerky movements, with an all over smooth feeling to it. The action scenes are nicely done, but are no masterpieces either. Not much CG has been used, and that which has been used are used in a nice manor.

Sound: 8/10
I personally aren´t a fan of both the OP and the ED. Both felt to slow and boring to me to really suite the show, which has a darker theme. I skipped both after heard them a couple of times. For the OST, it was much better. Dramatical orchestra music during for the action and more serious scenes, and some guitar pieces for the more calm or light-hearted scenes. Absolutely to my liking.

Background sounds and such, was always on par with what happened on the screen and did its job to highlight an event.

For the VA´s (dubbed), I think all did their job very well. The voices matched their characters and often managed to bring out their personality.

Character: 6/10
Once again, I feel like so much potential was lost. Like, I didn´t even realize that Esther was one of the main characters until I read the manga. She´s handled in such a way that she could have been the cute side character love interest to Abel, and not the main heroine. Again, here´s the problems with the different routes the anime chooses to take, Esther´s development and importance to the plot is completely overshadowed. Her warm, badass and quite funny personality never really came to life in this adaption. Same can be said about Tres (the machine who only serves Caterina). In the manga, he is an important character, and despite being an artificially made human, he has a lot of characterization and development.

But I must say that I like all the characters, it’s just that I feel that they weren´t used to their full potential. Trinity Blood for shore contains a lot of cool, likable and interesting characters. And to my delight many badass female characters is present. Such as the almighty cardinal Caterina, the powerful methuselah Asta-san, and the mysterious girl Seth. All great characters that are pretty fleshed out even in the show. Most of the characters, even the villains, are given specific and intriguing personalities, so at least I would not call them boring or waste of space. Some fill up their role in the show great, and other just feel like random inputs, which never happens in the manga.

As far as character development goes, it also limited by these alternative routes. Abel has in the manga together with Esther a wonderful development. And that development comes together with the plot of the manga, in the show he mostly stays the same. The sweet and heart-warming moments he and Esther shares are also very reduced in the show. Abel hides his fears and agony behind this goofy and clumsy persona. He has a dark past, which are slightly explored in the show. Bits and pieces of his past is given, but not at all to give the whole picture. He sees himself as “the enemy of all humans”, and lives only to repay for the sins he´s made. The part Esther is playing in Abel´s embrace of some parts of his past is undermined in the adaption as well, but here they do manage to portray some of Esther´s importance to Abel, and that she reminds him of someone important to him that he lost long ago.

The decision to take different routes and cut out some important parts, leave the feeling of somewhat incomplete characters. Not one- or two-dimensional, but just that - incomplete and lacking in something.

Enjoyment: 7/10
It may sound from all my whining in this review, that I didn´t enjoy myself watching this piece, which is wrong. I did enjoy it quite a bit, even if I many times was somewhat confused. I love vampire vs. human story´s and as a plot base Trinity Blood has a great one! Action, mysteries, a bit a blooming romance, super power and fantasy is some of my favourite genres, and even do the adaption was done in a poorly manor these bits still shined for me. It made me pick up the manga, and for that I´m always going to be grateful for.

Overall: 7/10
Absolutely, worth the watch for me. I love the genres and always crave more vampire story´s like this. The alternative routes, cut out of important information, limited character development, and a inconclusive ending dragged the score down for me. The thing is that I had soooo many questions during the show that never was answered. Like, how did Abel become a krusnik, and what is krusnik really? What was the Mars project? And what released the Armageddon and why? Hence, I picked up the manga. So, I would recommend the anime Trinity Blood to all of you that like vampire story´s and can put up with being confused and not getting all your question answered in the end. Because, the art and animation was quite good, so the watch will bring something new. I would recommend Trinity Blood the manga even more, the characters are awesome, the plot is intriguing and exciting, and the art is beautiful.

Hope you find this rant of a review somewhat helpful and informative! Skål!

As an Anime Trinity Blood has received some criticism that it rips off other anime's and it's rather story is rather bland. I disagree with the first, to say that you would have to accuse hundreds of other anime's for the same thing,( e.g: Hoop Days from Slam Dunk.) There are always going to be similar scenes and themes and characters that share a similar personality, it's kind of unfair to mark an anime down for that. Plus it doesn't help if the anime is made from the same studios that brought other popular and stunning anime.

As for the second i somewhat partially agree to ... it, it's not bland, it is just not explored.

The Story is set the distant future after the destruction brought about by Armageddon. Set 900 years after an apocalyptic war between humans and vampires, the series focuses on the on-going cold war between the Vatican and the Empire. Fighting on the Vatican's side is Abel Nightroad, a Crusnik which feeds on vampires. some in the Vatican and the Empire strive for peace, other factions will do anything to stop it, Vatican has to rely on other allies to counter the situation.

so it's not your typical Vampire story of humans versus vampires in a struggle for survival or whatever, after the war some peoples of both sides desire peace others believe there should be war and the main antagonist and his faction of the series are trying to to star a war, the story focuses, on the main protagonist and other main characters in their attempt to stop a war for happening a work for a peaceful future. so it's not a complete rip off, of Hellsing or anything.

The only problems with the story is that it lacks some originality, the whole vampire theme and some of its story outlines have been done before, and that in the Anime it is not as explored as deeply or as thoroughly as it should have been. It mainly shows the characters and their interactions with others and their relationships, their own personal conflicts, their missions etc. in short it doesn't really show the bigger picture, and the anime assumes you have read the Manga and Novels, so it leaves a lot out.

however it does give a good blend of sci-fi, fantasy, political intrigue, drama and horror. So the it can't be written off completely. i rate the story at 8.

The artwork is animated by Gonzo and going by Gonzo's works it is done extremely well, very impressive looking with stylish and vibrant looks for the characters in their clothing, varied character designs, and also good detail on other minor characters, they are not left as bland as they are in other anime's they still look pretty sharp so it doesn't ruin the whole thing, the whole thing is very eye catching, excellent CG enhanced backgrounds, brilliant fight scenes. The quality does lessen a bit in some scenes though and though there is varied character designs, some can complain that a few of the female character's would look the same if you changed the hair and eye colour for this reason i rate it at 9.

The sound for the anime is done really good, excellent sound effects for various things, good theme musics to help with the drama of the scene, i'm not too keen on the opening song, but thats down to preference really, i enjoyed the ending theme though had great sound to it. Unlike many anime's Trinity Blood has a got a really good English dub, the voices fit with most of the characters well some of the voices i really didn't like and for the opening theme sound rated at 9.

The characters of the story are well done and also interesting, and show a lot of development, always a strong point in anime. The main protagonist in the anime, Abel Nightroad, is quite similar and often compared to Vash the Stampede from the Trigun series, and with good reason, they both have goofy and kind also somewhat pacifistic nature, they also have refused to kill unless in extreme situations that is beyond their control and they are always sad at the loss of a life, all of this is also hiding a rather highly intelligent and a powerful being, also hiding the fact that neither are human. They both have MASSIVE appetites, shown to eat great amounts of food, rather quickly. most consider this a rip off, but i think its more of a tribute or parody if not more of a coincidence, it is definitely not the first time i have seen a character that is similar to Vash.

Most major developments of characters come from the two main protagonists Abel and Esther Blanchett, Abel showing how he deals with his own conflicts and dilemma's etc, Esther is shown to mature quite a bit and does have quite a lot of plot relevance, almost as much as Abel does.

The other major developments come from the Methuselah(vampires) Asta and Ion, who are shown to let go of their prejudice's against humans.

Overall, all the character's play their part well and add their bit to the story, probably most of the Anime is taken up by showing the character developments, even some of the minor character's grow and develop, character development is a strong point in Anime however it probably spends a little too much time on them hence, it does not get into the story as deeply as it should. i rate character's at 9.

After watching the Anime i loved it, great characters and visuals with good quality all the way through and a good story into the bargain, Trinity Blood deserves a little more credit than it is generally given, I understand that some probably won't like it, but you really need to read the Manga to understand it better and certainly need to read the Novels to get the full background story of the series.
There are difference's between all three of them (Anime/Manga/Novels) each telling it slightly differently. As an Anime on it's own i would give the Anime an 8 overall, but after reading the novel's and Manga i would give it a 9 overall since i understood the background and story better, i would loved to have given this anime a 10 overall but the way the Anime tells the story kind of marks it down a bit, it also has similar and it ended quickly (24 episode season) if it had another season or a few OVA's that could fill in the gaps it would be better, so overall i rate the Trinity Blood Anime at 9.

still considering i stumbled across the anime completely by accident, that score is pretty good. Read the Manga's and Novels to get a better story, after reading them, i re-watched the series and enjoyed it a lot more. Even on it's own it's still well worth watching.

Trinity Blood is at this moment of writing eleven years old, and a lot has changed in the world since the days this anime aired. In fact, this anime aired a year after Fullmetal Alchemist and Ghost in the Shell aried on Adult Swim and in its own year saw series like Speed Grapher, Blood+, Shakugan no Shana, and Rozen Maiden to name a few series of the time. Watching Trinity Blood was truly like viewing a time machine, for I found myself constantly admiring little tropes in the writing and how characters acted or expressed themselves that modern anime either doesn't do or just ... do like anime did some ten years ago. That is not to say that Trinity Blood is superior to modern anime by any means, but even still, there are things to take note of and enjoy of a series from this time.

Let me get this out of the way though, yes, Trinity Blood in its writing rips off Hellsing and Trigun with the same shame that DOOM (the 1991 video game) has musical cues ripped from popular metal songs. But just because something rips off those two works doesn't mean that the series is inherently flawed or terrible. Off the top of my head, Trinity Blood would have been a far worse ripoff about a vampire who doesn't like killing traveling on a desert planet while getting occasional orders from his female superior as he tries to maybe find his brother and atone for his sins (or something). That's one example I can come off my head. Looking at Trinity Blood from its own perspective, it's a series set in a distant future where the Earth riddled itself with nuclear warfare in a war for new-found longevity. The series focuses on people who are trying to keep the peace between mankind and the Methuselah (what vampires refer to themselves as) who now inhabit the Earth.

With that out of the way, let us examine Trinity Blood a little further. Trinity Blood is originally adapted from a light novel by Sunao Yoshida, who died just a year before the very release of this anime. Due to Yoshida's death, Trinity Blood is fated to have some issues arise from this situation, mainly in being adapted from an incomplete story and partly from just being a light novel adaptation.

The story overall is nicely told, though there is an episode or two early on that feel sorely out of place and could have been handled differently than what we find ourselves with. There are also some issues I feel with the way the anime explains its setting. There simply isn't enough for the average viewer to get on the first or second watch, and would require some extensive research outside the anime as to what is even going on in the series in the first place. I wonder if this was a purposeful tactic though, just to spring interest in the novels for those who have questions of the anime. Or if the anime was made in such a rush that this was considered okay.

The animation and art honestly swaps between fantastic to highly noticeable issues. I didn't particularly see a lot of errors, but I did see some usage of CGI that was noticeable and just not at all appealing. Further, when the vampires moved at high speeds, they would be given this sort of after image effect that just looked cheap. Speaking of which, there are moments in many action scenes where character movement feels more like someone moved the character frame by frame across the scene, rather than individually draw their movements, leading to a floaty feeling from time to time. The worse offender though comes towards the end, where during the action, we zoom in on a character's hand. Only, they don't animate this, so you get a literal zoom into the pixels and a cut to a drawn close up. This is either just a lazy decision, the result of a troubled production, or just a flat out badly thought out idea. But even then, the art and animation is still particularly good, even when it makes a mistake here and there.

As for the music and general sound, it's alright stuff. The music either sets the tone well or really gets the blood pumping for an action scene. If I may take a moment, the opening song Dress from Buck-Tick was originally made in 1993 and is a particularly good choice of music for the series. However, the ending song is just dreadful, with some of the worst Engrish you will ever hear and possibly some of the worst singing I could ever allow myself to harm my ears with. I don't even know what anyone was thinking with this decision, but they use another such song during the anime as an insert song, and it was just torture. I don't know if this is just a case that the production staff didn't know enough English to know that this was grating to the ears or something, but someone should have spoken up at the first moment this was all suggested and just said no to it. The only thing as bad as this is when they got Mari Iijima to do the English voice work for the English dub of SDF Macross, and that was just embarrassing.

However, if I may take a moment towards the end here to be more general, the series strength is in its writing. It's action is quite lacking really and leaves you yearning for more than what it gives you. This is a shame then, because most times you feel like a grand spectacle of a fight is going to break out, but it doesn't. Abel Nightroad simply dispatches all of his problems without fail. A fight simply ends far too quickly or without satisfying resolution. But on the other hand, this series does a superb job in setting up the satisfying moment when Abel or the like just comes out and reveals the true nature of themselves and just absolutely wipes whatever smile was on their opponent's face, not too unlike how Alucard does so in two early fights where he just comes back at his opponent with a force they never imagined.

The series greater strength is in its writing. At all times I watch this series, I find myself immersed in this world and everything about it, yearning to learn more about it and watching characters interact with the world. It really is a shame that this series ended the way it does though, as it leaves me with a continued want for more and a dissatisfaction not to dissimilar to those coming from the ending of either Hellsing (the TV Anime) or Black Blood Brothers.

However, anyone who makes comparisons of this series to Hellsing, especially in this day and age, may need a history check. At the time this series was airing, the only Hellsing anime to exist was the thirteen episode TV series, the Ultimate series wouldn't come about until a year later. The original Hellsing anime was not at all a fantastic spectacle that the Ultimate series was. Sure, there are many cases where the anime was better than what we get in Trinity Blood, but not by much, honestly.

On the other hand, Abel Nightroad is such a one trick pony in his spectacle that it does get boring to see him do the same thing over and over again. Alucard though? Alucard was always finding a way to kill his opponent in some spectacular manner, constantly topping himself off with the violence he brought to you. It is such a shame then, because Abel could have possibly reached such heights, or even any other character, but the anime never took the liberties to allow for such fights to happen, and so we get a series of energy blasts and light shows.

In the end, we have Trinity Blood as a small relic of the past. While it isn't the most groundbreaking anime you will watch, I think it is worth some viewing value. It has aged remarkably well over the years, its art still holds a candle to a lot of modern anime, and it's story, while horribly flawed, is better than so many light novel adaptations created today.

I can't recommend this series as a vampire anime though, nor can I recommend it as an action series, nor can I recommend it alone on story. But I do recommend at least giving this series at least one watch. At least one, with an open mind and considering the series on its own merit.

To start off, I will try make this a short review. I don't have much to say about it, but enough to make my opinion known.

Story - 7
This is a good story, don't misjudge my 7. The reason I knock the score down is the poorly told story.
The story IS there, and its a good one! My issue is how it folds out. I understand making a confusing plot line and wrapping it all up by the end. However this is not the case. Yes, it wraps up the story, however very, very, very, slowly and still confusing.
I was completely lost on the ... story. Events happening early on in the series seem like "A New Adventure Every Episode!" kind of situation.
In reality they weren't, and to realize this, you need the important info revealed at the almost end of the series, but wait, we won't be specific enough, so it still raises some questions... Just to find out that the piece of missing info was revealed earlier on in the series.
I had to look up the general plot by the end of watching the show to clear up everything.
Broken up score
Plotline - 9
Unfolding the story - 4

Art - 10
This is some of the best artwork I have ever seen in an anime. Very pleasing to the eyes.

Sound - 7
The sound track is a hit or miss.
Sound effects are fine.
Voice acting is a hit or miss with some characters (Dubs).

Characters - 7
Decent back stories, but this also falls in the story telling part too. Character back histories are poorly revealed.

Overall its worth a watch or 2. While the story IS good. Its not revealed good. Pay close attention to the plot, perhaps you'll understand it better than I did.

An anime that is over 17 years old at this point, and yet its' art looks like it could've been made yesterday.
Apart from the character design ofc which was more akin to the character design most anime had back then, and has evolved and changed over time, the rest of the art itself looks absolutely stunning, and would put many anime today to shame.
Back then the story would've gotten slack for being "yet another vampire story", since most of the big ones like vampire knight, helsing, etc all originated roundabout that time period.
Looking at the state of anime today however and the amount of isekai ... with endlessly repeated tropes, an anime like this would've been a breath of fresh air.
Also, in hindsight the amount of vampire story anime's that ended up being released back then aren't as much as some reviews make it seem, and I still believe this anime is somewhat of a "hidden" gem today.
It's truly a shame that Trinity Blood only ended up lasting 1 season, because imo it deserved far more

I thought this was actually quite a magnificent anime, the non-stop action was what drew me in, but what I really like about it was the mystery behind each character, and not knowing what they are capable of, is the best part I think actually. But, as an atheist most of the religious stuff that has to do with this anime, actually made me laugh in some parts ha ha. But, through and through, I actually did think this anime was quite good, and what made me want to watch this in the first places is when I finished the anime "Hellsing". I wanted something ... similar to that, and this seemed to be a decent replacement for it I guess.

Okay, this anime gave me the impression of when you're like driving your car on a nice sunny day on a nice straight road then suddenly something came across your path and you go off road and it gets bumpy you dunno where you're going and then somehow manage to come back on the right track again. Yeah that kind of feeling.

The fact is, this anime was close to perfection, given the scenarios and the plot, the back story of some characters especially for father Abel is very strong and interesting, like wow, this character is BADASS! But... i don't really like how he turned ... out to be. So much for my expectations huh? I was hoping for another Van Hellsing or a Dante version kind of vibe. But oh well, it doesn't matter, i still like how he turned out to be, to be a priest and taken a vow not to kill anyone in order for him to atone for his sins is cool, there is nothing wrong with that right? But the problem is, he is sometimes useless or rather, the hero is not suited to be called a hero, why? Because he is off timing (this is the part where the hero should pop up and save the day!) if only "they" made use of him properly and timed his entry of execution and badass exit, even his clumsy attitude would be overlooked or rather add to his charm but what's happening is quite the opposite everywhere he goes for a mission i'm sure you noticed, yeah, more people die when he's around, is that what you call a vow to protect? For me it's pure BS. The only character that really caught my attention was the "SWORD DANCER" now that's what you call a HERO in disguise, yeah let the sword speak yeah.

I was expecting alot of action and more drama from this, but what a disappointment this is. I'm giving it a 7/10 i kinda like the humor that's all.

Back before Meyer's Twilight ruin the entire vampire scene and gay'd up the genre. Trinity Blood was the go-to vampire anime series that had it all, at least when it ran on adult swim during unforgettable nights. Nowadays, I avoid ever having anything to do with vampires, period.

But nonetheless, I found myself going through the series once more and found it to be pretty refreshing.

/* -= Art=- */
If you're a steam punk fan, you'll definitely love Trinity Blood's Victorian-style art. Much of the enjoyment of the show lies in the background artwork and it sets the theme for the rest of the episode, pretty much ... like the background of a street fighter stage.

There is, however, one draw back to the style that Trinity Blood uses. For maximum quality or effect of the style to take place, you need to view the show in a dim-lighted room. Watching it in board daylight is like walking through a haunted house fully lit.

The character's overall look is also design for cosplay. Pretty much anyone who has ever laid there hands on a fantasy MMORPG has played a priest, and anyone with a Priest clothing fetish, well you do the math.

/* -= Character=- */
Character development in Trinity Blood is more or less important. There is only one thing you need to know about the characters; either vampire or not a vampire. Once you can make the distinction, nothing matters. The human characters don't usually last long or live long enough to develop, mostly they died fairly quickly. On the other hand, vampires or noble characters generally fights Abel and ends up dying anyways.

If anything, the only characters that matter is the Abel, Cain, and Esther. Esther pretty much keeps the anime from being a sausage-fest, so other than that, she is just the cheerleader in the background or Abel's rebound girl.

Abel and Cain's character developed is slow and gradual, but usually developed the same way like a yin-yang roll. Nothing deep, nothing special, but the point is their fighting each other based on different beliefs.

/* -= Enjoyment=- */
For maximum enjoyment, don't watch this anime during daytime. Originally, I discover this series on Adult Swim and the overall art style is extremely fitting when viewing at night.

Particularly, I enjoyed the parts where Abel goes Crusniks mode and pretty much owns up the place. Blood pours, splashes, and even defy gravity. The music shoots up %100 in volume (and stays that way on average until the battle ends) and the choir of singing death angels follow by a overkill of pain and agony background music ensues.

Research has known that %90 of the Adult Swim viewers' bodies were not ready to watch Trinity Blood.

Overall, I give this anime a 9 out of 10.

Synopsis:

The background is in the distant future, a post-apocalyptic world after the destruction brought about by Armageddon. The war between humans (Terran) and vampires (Methuselah) continues, as a struggle between two factions: the Vatican and the New Human Empire.

Yet, amidst the bloodshed and violence, many desire a peaceful co-existence between the two species. However, standing between them and this goal is the Rosenkreuz Orden, a group of vampire extremists who manipulate the two sides and pit them against each other. To combat them, the Vatican special operations group "AX," led by Cardinal Caterina, must use everything they have - even a vampire who preys ... on the blood of other vampires.

My opinion:

Well to be honest I really loved this anime. After see Hellsing I really got curious about Trinity blood. The theme was similar, so it picked up my interest. The story line is great, the art and characters too. I really got seduced by how the characters are carefully and meticulously draw. It was more smooth than Hellsing in my opinion what made it easy watchable ( I saw the 24 episodes in one night more or less.) I guess the only thing that disappointed me a bit was Esther role, she could have entered more in the anime and acted more. I liked how Ion gowned up and matured, he was a really good surprise in this anime. He can be a minor character but I totally love them. Regarding the Pope, I was expecting something different but it was so sweet and funny see him, however I was waiting for more development in his character.

The plot itself is not that much original since there's many animes with similar story lines, however it stills interesting see Trinity blood and appreciate it completely because the story line itself is not too complex, so it's easy to understand the main story and the little sub-stories on it. Despite the fast pace that the story is told, it stills exciting and thrilling until the very end. I really recommend this anime for the ones who loves supernatural stories.