Distributor Gonzo Certificate | Certificate 15 | Price £25
Abel Nightroad seems like a normal, if clumsy, priest on his way to the Vatican, but this is a dark future where humans and the vampiric Methuselah are at war and Abel is not all he appears to be. Steeped in warped Christianity, Trinity Blood chronicles a world twisted by a plague where humanity lies in ruins, nations have fallen and the church has risen up, providing hope to the people as well as mankind’s last line of defence against the vampires.
Trinity Blood is based on a series of Japanese novels by the late Sunao Yoshida, which takes the standard anime vampire and spins it into an epic future where good and evil literally do battle. This future is a warped place where the church is headed by a child and modern technology mixes with cities that have a distinct Renaissance feel about them. The series is beautifully animated by Gonzo and, while it does have a dark tone, the character designs betray a note of light-heartedness, which suits Abel’s character perfectly – only to have him change into a rather beautiful boy later, when he transforms into his Crusnik form.
The story is compelling but it does take a while to absorb all the details about this new dystopian future. The DVD comes with some pleasing extras, including tarot cards, clean opening and ending themes, trailers for other releases, and the usual English and Japanese dubs.
5/5