Customer Reviews

Black Blood Brothers: Box Set

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4 star:		(2)
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There's really not a lot of original, un-cliched vampire television and/or movies out there. Your best bet is anime.

One good example of this is "Black Blood Brothers," an all-too-short anime that spins up several kinds of vampires -- good, bad, and creepy ones. Gorgeous art, a likable lead vampire, and a very unique mythology -- and while the first couple episodes are decent but not outstanding, the story starts to really bloom when the bad-guy vampires enter the scene. Too bad it ended WAY prematurely.

Two vampires -- powerful Jiro and his little brother Kotaro -- are stowing away on a Chinese ship on their way to Japan. Their destination: the Safe Zone, where vampires and humans are allowed to coexist.

But then a firefight breaks out on board between some immigrant vampires and an anti-vampire military squad, and Jiro has no choice but to get involved. Afterwards they are helped by a Company worker named Mimiko -- but things get nasty when the military shows up again. And then Jiro learns that his little brother and Mimiko are with the immigrant vampires -- and one of them is a Kowloon Child, the most lethal and contagious form of vampire. And it's headed for the Safe Zone.

Unfortunately this battle isn't the last one Jiro must face. More vampires are attacking them, and some old acquaintances of Jiro's are involved -- including the malignant Cassa, a former companion of his who betrayed him and his long-dead lover. As more Kowloon Children rise in the city, Mimiko starts doing research on something called the "eleventh yard," which is somehow key to the future of the Kowloon Children (and in turn, to everybody else as well).

As the secret of the eleventh yard is finally revealed -- along with Cass's secret plan -- Jiro must deal with the shadows of his past as the Kowloon threat becomes critical. Even more striking, the truth behind his brother's very existence is finally revealed.

"Black Blood Brothers" spends a minimum of time setting up its mythology -- you get to see what's going on through brief flashbacks and references to the past, such as Jiro's grief-filled battle with Cassa in the previous war. But it's an interesting one -- lots of different breeds of vampires, with different powers, weaknesses, and histories. Definitely different from the usual Dracula copies or bad White Wolf ripoffs, and a lot of thought has clearly been put into it.

And "Black Blood Brothers" is a great blend of mild horror and solid action. There are some mild horror scenes -- like Jiro staggering out of the water with all his flesh dissolved -- but most of it is bullet-dodging, some vampiric duels, and misty flashbacks to Jiro's past. And in the second half of the series, the action and horror start amping up in a slow build to the clima, including the clever twist of having Kowloon blood causing mass infection.

But it has some softer edges too -- there are flashbacks to Jiro's tender relationship to the dead Alice, as well as a cute budding relationship with Mimiko (including some rather erotic feeding scenes. And there's some distinctly tongue-in-cheek comedy as well, such as the "virgin's blood" scene, Kotaro being punished via being flung around the ship, and Jiro's distinctly upbeat, cheerful attitude. Not very vampire-like.

It's also worth noting that the artwork is simply stunning. If you can get past Jiro's big red Pilgrim hat, then the noir atmosphere and sharp, colourful, detailed artwork are astounding. And they do a pretty amazing job with the vampire battles -- the opening scene, a flashback to Jiro fighting an old friend-turned-enemy, is absolutely stunning.

Jiro is a likable vampire protagonist -- despite being deadly and rather tragic at times, and occasionally whomping his brother on the head, he can also be funny, goofy or affectionate. Despite his tragic past, he doesn't go all emo on us, and he has outbursts of all-too-human emotion ("You're DEAD!" he yells at an ally who messed up their travel plans) that make him very likable.

Kotaro isn't quite as endearing, primarily because he's a spunky little kid. It's almost impossible not to make them annoying, but he does have some endearing moments. And though she seems rather irritable at first, Mimiko makes an excellent potential love interest for Jiro. Cassa is a deliciously nasty piece of work, and many of the supporting vampires -- the enigmatic child-king Sei, the delightfully sociopathic Clock, and the traumatized Kelly -- are wonderfully detailed.

The biggest problem with the series? Well, while the immediate threat is dealt with, several plot threads are still sort of hanging at the end. It felt like there was a second season planned, but which was never made.

Despite its lack of a "real" ending, the "Black Blood Brothers" series is a solid anime series -- it has a delightful balance of blood, vampires, laughs and plenty of action. Definitely worth checking out.

BLACK BLOOD BROTHERS BOX SET was on sale at Amazon, so after reading the reviews and watching the clip I thought I'd give it a try.

The box set has three DVDs with 4 episodes on each DVD and is the complete BLACK BLOOD BROTHERS series.

The anime series is about a cool vampire named Jiro and his little brother Kotaro who make their way to a place called the "Special Zone," where humans and vampires live together in peace. They meet up with a vampire and human negotiator named Mimiko, who's a human, and she helps them along the way. Anyway, there's a sect of vampires called the Kowloon (koo-lawn) Children who are rabid, evil vampires and they want to destroy the "Special Zone" by infecting everyone with their tainted blood. So Jiro has to join forces with the good vampires and the humans to help defeat the Kowloon Children.

I found the series really riveting with an interesting storyline, endearing characters, great action scenes, and the animation is well drawn. The English voice overs are really good too as each actor matches the character he/she is portraying, but there's an option to play the original Japanese language track with English sub-titles.

At first, I found the character of Kotaro a little annoying but he grew on me after a couple of episodes.

If you like anime and are looking for a complete series that's cool, has great action, and endearing characters, I would definitely recommend the BLACK BLOOD BROTHERS BOX SET. Hopefully, there will be another season/series that continues on with the storyline and we get more of Jiro, Kotaro and Mimiko.

This is a really good anime!!! And like all the other comments, I WISH THERE WAS MORE EPISODES!!!! I watch the first episode on the internet and then decide to give it a chance and buy it. I am so PLEASED with it!!!! Three disc = 12 episodes. Both in Japanese and English. I do prefer to watch it in Japanese, because in English Jiro sounds so Old, and same with so of the other characters.
But thats all. =3

The art work is very nice. It's a decent Anime about vampires. The series does hint at vampire rules and lore that may go more in depth in the manga (but I don't know since I have yet to read the manga) Also the series ends with expectation that another series may spin off. (Perhaps the manga continues where the series ends). A little bit predictable and relatively short 13 episodes.
Blood brothers in a nut shell. Takes place in a futuristic world with vampires and humans. There is a linage of vampires that can infect vampires into some form of controlled monster with the need to bite and infect others. The good guys are trying to stop them. Our main hero has to get the motivation to take on team baddies.
Odd thing was although my brother and I thought it was just one more anime, It drew in the attention of my father who isn't big into anime, but was drawn into it due to the action and mystery.

i really enjoyed the characters throughout the Black Blood Brothers series. My only complaint is that it ended WAY too soon. Only 12 episodes to really delve into all that was happening with Jiro, his brother, Cassa (who's a real piece of work) and all of the other characters that live in the Special Zone. There are 10 different yards (sections) that the various residents live in. But there's talk of an eleventh yard that has everyone buzzing and hunting for something that may or may not be there.

Overall i really started to get attached to the characters, the animation was on point and the story about the various types of vampires and how they interact with the humans in the city. It made it that much better..again i just wished that it lasted longer than it did. I can only hope that they continue this in the near future. No question though, Black Blood Brothers is a series that you really should check out.

This was such a good anime! The back story was so interesting and flowed well with the anime. I'm so glad they introduce it with each episode instead of having one full episode where everything is explained. The plot moves quickly but not too quickly that you can't keep up with who's who or what's actually going on.

The characters were colorful and non-stoic too! Jiro is a great mix of Alucard and D but I'm so glad that he isn't the stereotypical brooding type. Mimiko is so funny, strong, and independent yet sensitive and willing to see vampires as people as well. Kotaro is just adorable and grows up so much in just 12 episodes. The Lord Dragon was AWESOME and Cain's true form totally catches you by surprise!! I even liked how the bad guys weren't completely Hell-bent on evil as well!

This anime came from a set of light novels that I'm dying to read! If they're anything like the Vampire Hunter D light novels, they're also worth buying... if you can find them!

All in all, a fantastic show! Definitely going to buy this one!

This was a great anime saga. Too short thought! It leaves you wanting more.......the continued saaga between the good and the BAD vampires!!!!! Yes! Loved it!

I see this anime for the first time for a causality... a very fortunate casualty! It's one of my favorite anime now... it's very quick, with only 12 episodes, but the history is very interesting. The only problem is the lack of profundity in some arguments, but in my view black blood brothers is an item to be pursue if you are an anime fanatic like me.

i bought this for x-mas for my child and she is going to love it she is an anime freak i guess you could say she love it