Product Details

• Actors: Ryoko Nagata, Omi Minami, Takahiro Sakurai, Miyuki Sawashiro
• Directors: Hiroaki Yoshikawa
• Format: Animated, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Funimation
• DVD Release Date: February 26, 2008
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: B0010X8NMI
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #144,103 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Black Blood Brothers: Starter Set" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Not all vampires are evil 10 years ago man and vampire teamed up to defeat the "Kowloon Children" a virulent breed of vampires seeking to infect all humanity. Now one of the heroes from the Great War Silver Blade is traveling to the "Special Zone" to retire with his younger brother in tow. Unbeknownst to them the remnants from the Great War are plotting their revenge.The starter set comes in collectible art box.System Requirements:Running Time: 100 minutesFormat: DVD Genre: ANIMATION/ANIME UPC: 704400059001 Manufacturer No: 0

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Black bloods and red bloods, February 27, 2008

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Black Blood Brothers: Starter Set (DVD)

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: Bad Tidings," the first volume of a very short anime. 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.

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. Once they stagger ashore, they are helped by a Company worker named Mimiko -- but things get nasty when the military shows up again, separating the brothers and capturing Jiro (after he accidentally falls in a fountain).

But Kotaro is in even more danger, along with Mimiko and the immigrant vampires -- one of them is a Kowloon Child, the most lethal and contagious form of vampire. And to save Mimiko, his brother and all of Japan, Jiro must break out of his cell and somehow destroy all the Kowloon Children that are trying to make it to the Safe Zone. If he doesn't, then all the vampires there might be destroyed...

"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. 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 "Black Blood Brothers" is a great blend of mild horror and solid action, though the first couple episodes are merely the set-up, and lack much in the way of real tension. 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, immigration conflicts, and misty flashbacks to Jiro's past, and the war with the Kowloon Children. In fact, every episode opens with a look at shaping events in Jiro's life -- mostly involving his dead lover Alice.

But there's some comedy too -- note the "virgin's blood" scene, Kotaro being punished via being flung around the ship, and Jiro saying, "You're drooling" during a very sensual moment. Speaking of which, "Bad Tidings" contains an outrageously erotic moment when Jiro feeds off Mimiko.

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 aloof, 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!") 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 his solid moments, such as head-butting his captor. And though she seems rather irritable at first, Mimiko makes an excellent potential love interest for Jiro. Even the Kowloon Children are more than 2-D enemies ("I eat to live, and I kill to eat!").

The first volume of "Black Blood Brothers" takes a little while to get going. But this unique, complex little anime is also chock-full of action, comedy, and vampires with swords.