Product Details

• Format: Animated, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: Japanese, English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rating: Unrated
• Studio: Funimation Prod
• DVD Release Date: November 11, 2008
• Run Time: 300 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001F2U6XS
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #30,568 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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  Movies & TV > Anime & Manga > Characters & Series > Black Blood Brothers

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
The supernatural adventure Black Blood Brothers (2006) takes place in a world divided between Red Bloods (humans) and Black Bloods (vampires), both of whom are menaced by The Kowloon Children, a virulent clan of mutant vampires. Jiro "The Silver Blade" Mochizuki helped defeat the Children in a war in Hong Kong 10 years earlier. When he brings his younger brother Kotaro to the Special Zone, where vampires reside, violence erupts. The Mochizuki brothers are joined by Mimiko Katsuragi from the Order Coffin Corporation, which administers the Zone. Mimiko and Kotaro find themselves caught in the middle of a new battle that pits the surviving Kowloon Children against Jiro and the officers of the Corporation, some of whom are powerful sorcerers. The story grows more complicated with each episode, and many of the narrative threads are left dangling. But director Hiroaki Yoshikawa keeps the story moving at such a crisp pace, the unanswered questions fall by the wayside. Black Blood takes considerable liberties with traditional vampire legends: humans only become vampires if they drink vampire blood or are bitten by one of the Kowloon children; other vampire bites don't hurt them. Jiro can survive exposure to daylight, although he finds it ennervating. The character of Mimiko provides comic relief and a potential love interest, which helps to leaven an otherwise dark story. Black Blood Brothers is lighter-hearted and more entertaining than such gory vampire tales as Hellsing and Trinity Blood. (Rated TV MA: violence, violence against women, alcohol and tobacco use, suggestive imagery) --Charles Solomon

(1. Black Blood Brothers, 2. The Compromiser, 3. The Kowloon Bloodline, 4. Old Blood, 5. The Special Economic Zone, 6. The Coven, 7. Silver Blade, 8. Protector, 9. The Eleventh Yard, 10. The Order Coffin Company, 11. The Ocean, 12. For the Eternal Pulse of Mine Bloodline, I Would Offer this Blood in Totality)

Product Description
It’s been a decade since the sacred war between humans and vampires. The rise of the Kowloon Bloodline, a new breed of monsters bearing an infectious bite, set the streets ablaze under the reign of their king. Humanity had never witnessed such pure, animalistic brutality.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Black blooded, August 31, 2008

By	E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

1 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jiro rulezzzzzzzzz, February 1, 2009

By	B. Camila "anime hunter" (Italy) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

1 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars christmas present, December 22, 2008

By	Sharon Boughner - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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