Black Blood Brothers: Box Set [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

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