Trinity Blood Vol. #1 (of 6)

By: Bryan Morton
Review Date: Friday, July 13, 2007
Release Date: Monday, July 02, 2007



What They Say
Angels of mercy, gunmen for God...

Centuries ago, man's Armageddon birthed the vampires' wrath. As man and immortal clash, a reality-shattering threat looms. Hope resides solely in a new breed of hunter operating under the Vatican's authority. The true battle between holiness and evil has begun.

Episodes Comprise
1 - Flight Night
2 - Witch Hunt
3 - The Star of Sorrow 1 - City of Blood
4 - The Star of Sorrow 2 - Hunter's Banquet

The Review!
Treading some of the path once trodden by Hellsing, Trinity Blood takes us to an Earth of the future where Vampires once again walk the Earth. The Vatican stands as the defenders of humanity, but amongst their numbers Father Abel Nightroad is unusual: a Crusnik, a vampire who feeds on vampires...

Audio:
Audio for this release comes in Japanese stereo and English 5.1 surround mixes. I listened to the Japanese track for this review. Trinity Blood is quite dialogue-heavy, with occasional forays into action scenes where Abel is allowed to show off his abilities. The soundtrack handles both types of scene with no problems " the available channels are used to place dialogue and effects on the soundstage, while music comes across very well. The opening and closing themes are both very good tunes and sound particularly good.

Video:
Video is presented in the show's original 1.78:1 widescreen format, enhanced for anamorphic playback. For the most part it's a good-looking transfer, especially given the heavy use of darker scenes, but there were occasions when backgrounds, particularly colour gradients, exhibited some blocking. It's quite noticeable and distracting when it happens, but fortunately it's not too widespread.

Packaging:
No packaging was provided with our review copy.

Menu:
The menu is a rather ominous, gothic-looking piece with fits in well with the show's setting and is backed up by a piece of suitably dramatic background music taken from the series. Direct access is provided to each episode, along with a Play All option and submenus for Extras and Setup. It's all quick and easy to use " no problems here.

Extras:
Very little in the way of extras here " there are creditless versions of the opening & closing themes (both of which I could happily stick on repeat for a while), and a set of tarot card images.


Content: (please note that content portions of a review will contain spoilers)
The Earth is not what it once was, after humanity unleashed Armageddon on itself several hundred years ago. Into the chaos came the Vampires, and the war has been raging ever since. Back to the future, and we meet Jessica Lang - she's currently a barmaid on an airship, but she's hoping to become a pilot. Her ambitions may be cut short when a vampire attacks her ship and seizes control, setting the airship on a collision course for the headquarters of the Vampires' greatest enemies - the Vatican. Fortunately, there's a priest on board - Abel Nightroad, and although he may not appear to be anything like a good fighter, he has other talents. As well as being a technical whiz, he's far from human himself.

Bishounen vampires " you've gotta love 'em. I seem to recall mention somewhere that Trinity Blood was based on a shoujo manga series, but other than said bishonen and some very strange hats (as sported by Cardinal Caterina, the power behind the throne in the Vatican) I'm not sure I see it - blood and guts is definitely the order of the day here, in between some good character-piece stories.

Let's get those Hellsing comparisons out of the way, though - while the worlds in which the two shows take place & the organisations involved are very different (Hellsing is present-day, Trinity Blood is far future), there are a number of direct points of comparison. Both Arucard and Abel are Vampires fighting against their own kind; both are under the control of shadowy organisations and need to release some sort of seal on their powers before they can fight; in both shows religious organisations are the cause of all sorts of problems. And there's the high blood-and-guts value (although Hellsing has an easy lead in that department). Past that, though, the two shows diverge and become their own creatures - Trinity Blood is less visceral, relies less on shock value and more on story, and is presented very well.

The opening two episodes get straight into the action, introducing the main characters and organisations. This future world isn't just a straight fight between the Vampires and the Vatican - the Rozen Kreuz Orden sits between the two and causes problems for both, and just like the modern world there's all sorts of behind-the-scenes politics going on, affecting both the Vampire territories and the Vatican, that affects how the battle is fought. That's very intriguing in its own way, although no doubt some will see it as a distraction from the hacking & decapitating that gets unleashed when Father Abel's powers are released.

Abel is a Crusnik, you see " a vampire who feeds on other vampires, and in that role he's being used by the Vatican (apparently willing) to make sure they have something higher up the food chain than humanity's would-be new masters, to keep them in check. It's when Abel releases the seal on his Crusnik nature that things begin to get gory " at this stage in the series that only for a few minutes each episode, tops, but it's certainly impressive and provides a good break from the dialogue-heavy scenes that make up the larger part of the stories.

The Vatican have other cards up their sleeves, as well " mechanical warriors, an army and air force, a revived Inquisition that provides intelligence for the Vatican's military commanders " the list goes on, and gives a picture of an organisation that's about as distant from the "real" Vatican as it's possible to get. Trinity Blood's pope is sadly something of a wimp " a young boy, easily manipulated and unable to make a decision on his own, leaving the way clear for Cardinal Caterina to be the one who's really in charge. She's a pragmatic type, always looking for ways to defuse situations with the least possible fuss and doing her best to keep a leash on the Vatican's more gung-ho members.

Also in the show's favour is the presentation " the setting is dripping with atmosphere and in most cases the background settings carry a good amount of detail, that makes watching Trinity Blood a more immersive experience. The only concern with that is whether we're going to end up with a classic case of GONZO style over substance " it's too early yet to tell if that will be the case, but given GONZO's past record it's a possibility that needs to be borne in mind.

In summary:
These four episodes provide a good introduction to Trinity Blood's world and characters, and left me looking forward to seeing more. It's not a problem-free series, but some good characters, decent storylines and a world that's dripping with atmosphere add up to make for some very enjoyable viewing. Hopefully the next volume will continue the good work.

Features
Japanese Language 2.0,English Language 5.1,English Subtitles,Creditless Opening & Closing Sequences,Tarot Cards

Review Equipment
Panasonic TX-W28R30P 28" widescreen TV; Pioneer DV-626D player; Acoustic Solutions DS-222 5.1 speaker system.