Trinity Blood

Following Armageddon, an apocalyptic war, mankind faces yet another menace: vampires. The continuous confrontations between the races have split the world into separate factions. The race of vampires, Methuselah, are affiliated with the New Human Empire; whereas the humans, deemed Terrans by the vampires, make up the Vatican Papal State. Furthermore, extremist groups like the Rosenkreuz Order strive to rekindle a war, despite the factions' attempts to avoid direct conflict.

To combat terrorist organizations, the Vatican has implemented the AX unit. Led by Cardinal Caterina Sforza, the AX agents investigate vampire-related disturbances with hopes that the Terrans and the Methuselah will one day achieve peaceful coexistence. Amongst the AX unit is priest Abel Nightroad—a seemingly disoriented but gentle-hearted fellow who is a fierce vampire slayer on the battlefield. Joining the unit as his partner is agent Sister Esther Blanchett, a brave and gentle young nun troubled with a tragic past.

As the two grow closer, they begin to uncover signs of malicious schemes and dark forces working in the shadows. But the path they walk is riddled with misfortune that might just force them to confront the memories that plague their hearts.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Nightroad, Abel Main

Touchi, Hiroki Japanese

Iqus, Tres Main

Nakai, Kazuya Japanese

Blanchett, Esther Main

Noto, Mamiko Japanese

Fortuna, Ion Main

Minagawa, Junko Japanese

Sforza, Caterina Main

Honda, Takako Japanese

Nightroad, Cain Supporting

Suwabe, Junichi Japanese

von Lohengrin, Dietrich Supporting

Suzumura, Kenichi Japanese

Nightroad, Seth Supporting

Matsuoka, Yuki Japanese

de Watteau, Hugue Supporting

Kitade, Shinya Japanese

von Kämpfer, Isaak Fernand Supporting

Fujiwara, Keiji Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Yasuda, Takeshi Producer, Planning

Nagai, Masaru Producer

Takechi, Tsuneo Producer

Reviews

May 26, 2022

Joe_Devaney

Recommended

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

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Dec 23, 2023

Haakuji

Mixed Feelings

Just finished the anime. It was entertaining enough… Not bad and not AMAZING…. I must say I’m a huge fan of the “Evil Twin” trope, where each twin is the protagonist and the other is the antagonist, such as Blood+ and Trigun. When I heard this one had it, I came running to watch it. But sadly we didn’t know enough about the conflict. Why are Abel and Cain fighting exactly? Did they use to get along better? We don’t know. Other than that, I love how the anime handles peace and character development. The red haired girl bothered me sometimes but she’s pretty tolerable ... most of the time. It didn’t have any annoying forced romance. The cast is amazing, especially the robot guy. I just wish we learned more about the twins… My bad I came here just for that. To be honest, this anime is Hellsing, Blood+ and Trigun all combined somehow. It could’ve been better.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Sep 13, 2020

Tiffanys

Not Recommended

The first time I watched this ~10 years ago I rated it a 10. I don't know what the hell I was thinking. Upon a rewatch I score it a 4, though it could really possibly be a 3.

The thing is, I really like vampires. And a Cruznik is a pretty cool concept as well. The problem with the show is that the story is inconsistent with at least 90% of the episodes really being largely filler and pointless. Worse, it has no real ending, which isn't really explained. There are also other elements not really explained like the state of the world or the ... past. It's a clusterfuck, basically.

It's sort of like a really lame Van Hellsing if Alucard refused to actually kill, even if millions of people's lives were at stake. Except, where he doesn't even keep to that sometimes if they're vampires. Except later vampires are super humanized, then that becomes wrong and he refuses to even kill vampires. A vampire hunter that refuses to kill. What a joke.

And there's not one but two whiny characters. One (especially in the dub) even has a real squeaky ear piercing voice when he yells - and he does rather a lot.

It really does come down to most of the storylines having no real meaning or purpose feeling like filler, building up to a not-so-epic but meant-to-be-epic final battle which is never even resolved and we're left on a cliffhanger of what even happened, with no actual ending and no explanation.

Hardly anything about the story or world or backstory is ever even explained. From a storytelling and character perspective it's basically trash. I like the themes they used, but that's about it. It feels extremely unfinished like an incomplete rough draft that was never even fully fleshed out and without an ending.

They also play the child card way too often. "Oh no it's a child." "Oh no they're children." "Oh this character is a child." "Oh this character is an even younger child." "Here's an even younger one that we made super adorable to try to warm your heart." "Here's a little whiny pope that just cries all the time." "Oh and your secondary protagonist? She also cries and whines all the time and is useless, only ever getting in the way. But she's a Mary Sue, somehow."

Story 3, Art 6, Sound 8, Character 2, Enjoyment 4, Overall 4.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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