Today’s stew is a special blend that can only be perfected by the world’s best cooks.  The recipe states to first fill a pot full of human blood and bring it to a boil.  Then, add in a generous amount of vampires into the stew, similar to the ones found in “Hellsing.”  Be sure to continue stirring the stew while adding in the ingredients.  We also need to throw in a “Vampire Hunter D” type of post-apocalyptic world with humans at war with these vampires.  Next, we can add in some awesome gunplay for some flavor, as also seen in “Hellsing.”  Then, mix in some character design and art reminiscent of “Castlevania: Symphony of the Night” for the PlayStation.  Finally, throw in just a dash of Vash the Stampede from “Trigun,” and cook the whole thing for 30 more minutes.  What is the result of this amazing mish-mash of anime?  Adult Swim’s newest vampire anime series from Gonzo, “Trinity Blood.”

 “Trinity Blood” is a product of the geniuses at Gonzo animation studio and the Japanese novels by Yoshida Sunao (hence the world’s best cooks).  Gonzo is a world-renowned animation studio responsible for some of the best animated series to ever grace the small screen.  You might know their work from such gems as “Hellsing,” “Last Exile,” and “Samurai 7.”  “Trinity Blood” marks Gonzo’s second venture into a vampire-centric anime series.  That’s right, “Trinity Blood” has vampires and lots of them!  The story takes place in the distant future in a post-apocalyptic world after the destruction brought about by Armageddon.  In this distant future, the vampire species called Methuselah overwhelms mankind, as the war between humans and vampires rages on.  There are three factions in this world, the Methuselah, the Knighthood of the Rose Cross, and the Vatican (wherever there are vampires making a mess, the Vatican shouldn’t be too far behind to clean it up).  A priest named Peter Abel Nightroad is the main protagonist in this tale.  He is a representative for the Department of Foreign Affairs in the Vatican, as well as being a vampire that feeds on the blood of other vampires (quite a twist, eh?).  Father Abel works with Sister Ester, and the two of them go out on various missions under the command of Cardinal Catherina Sforza.  The missions concern the Methuselah and the Rose Cross, the two enemies of the Vatican .  Not sure what to think of “Trinity Blood” just yet?  Well, allow me to suggest to think of “Trinity Blood” as “Hellsing” with a twist, mixed in with some “Trigun” for that soothing, familiar flavor.  Oh, I guess I should explain how it is similar to “Trigun,” right?  Well, Father Abel is kind of a dimwit, but in a good way, which is very similar the personality of Vash the Stampede.  He has that lovable idiot quality to him.

The character design and artwork are both very good, and very reminiscent of “Castlevania: Symphony of the Night” on the PlayStation.  The action sequences are extremely well done, as expected from a Gonzo series.  This animation work has been some of Gonzo’s best in recent years.  They are very tight and will fill your Saturday nights with loads of excitement.  I believe the excellent animation work has translated into the tremendous ratings found each week on Adult Swim.  The combination of the music with the animation delivers an exceptional setting that helps audiences become captured in this world.

Another positive part of the series was the superb casting job of the English voice actors.  I thoroughly enjoyed both the Japanese and English voice actors equally in this series.  I was honestly shocked by it.  Normally, I am screaming bloody murder whenever I am exposed to the English language track of an anime.  Many studios tend to cast the stereotypical voices for each of the characters instead of putting forward the proper effort to try to provide a match between the characters’ personalities and the voice acting performance.  But in this case, Funimation should be commended for providing an English dub that meets the quality of the original Japanese voice acting.  Funimation has obviously made it a focus to provide the right amount of time and effort in order to accomplish this.  I have noticed that this is also consistently true with a good number of their most recently acquired licenses.  Therefore, it looks as though Funimation is quickly challenging ADV for the title of the anime fans’ company of choice.

Though the story starts out very well, it does end up faltering.  In fact, I became increasingly disappointed with the storyline of this series as it progressed.  It was not enough to cause me to hate the series all together, but it definitely hurt its score in my book.  The animation, music, and language tracks were enough to counter the disappointment in the story, so that kept me coming back for more.  So just be warned that if you choose to watch this series, try not to have such high expectations and I’m sure you will enjoy it.

Japanese Dub: B

English Dub: B

Animation/Art: B+

Music: B

Story: C-

Overall*: C+
*not an average

Links:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=4874