Black Blood Brothers: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

Black Blood Brothers: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie Review

A fresh take on a tired genre.

Reviewed by Dustin Somner September 10, 2010

Black Blood Brothers made a humble beginning as a “light novel” series (a form of Japanese literature aimed at a younger audience) written by Kouhei Azano. Upon the conclusion of the original story, a 12-episode anime adaptation entered production for a projected release in late-2006, directed by Hiroaki Yoshikawa and animated by Studio Live (Street Fighter, Nadia, Grappler Baki). Steeped in vampire mythology that diverges in subtle ways from the traditional genre offerings, the series combines action, comedy, drama and mystery to deliver an experience that’s entertaining from start to finish, yet entirely forgettable.

As a vampire, Jiro's not a big fan of sunlight.

Set in the present day, Black Blood Brothers kicks off 10 years after a tragic war nearly destroyed Hong Kong. As we come to learn, vampire bloodlines have existed all through history, but remained hidden from human awareness until the emergence of the Kowloon bloodline. This particular group of vampires was led by the Kowloon king, who created an army of “children” both human and vampire, by turning them into slaves to his bloodline. As a result, the non-Kowloon vampires teamed up with the human resistance in Hong Kong, overthrowing the king and his children with the help of a valiant vampire warrior known as the Silver Blade. During the decade that followed, a select group of vampires and humans created a new vampire utopia known as the “Special Zone”, offering a safe haven for their kind away from the skeptical eyes of a fearful humanity. Among those hoping to find a fresh start in the Special Zone is the legendary Silver Blade (known informally as Jiro) and his younger brother Kotaro. However, their quest to enter the newly built haven quickly attracts the attention of old and new enemies, threatening the peaceful coexistence currently enjoyed by the residents of the Special Zone. Now the governing council must decide if Jiro’s presence should be considered a blessing or a nuisance, and do their best to eradicate several emerging problems within the boundaries of their city.

Black Blood Brothers is a series that’s difficult to get overly excited about, but still offers enough entertainment value to avoid feeling like you wasted your time. The majority of my lukewarm reception can be attributed to a pervasive sense of confusion as I attempted to keep track of the connections and motivations of each character, and how they played into the building conflict within the series. When background history is provided on only a handful of the roles that emerge, you end up feeling as if you entered the series at the midpoint, and lost all frame of reference as a result. The other struggle that emerged from this lost element is a lack of empathy for the plight of most characters throughout the series, since we hardly know them to begin with. Without a reference point, it’s awfully hard to keep your bearings.

The second area responsible for downgrading by overall enjoyment of the series was the decision to include a heavy dose of comedic elements in nearly all of the episodes. This always boils down to a question of personal preference, so I’ll readily acknowledge some anime fans will vehemently disagree on this topic, but I felt the comedy often seemed forced within the context of the subject matter (which is typically quite serious). I’m sure the addition of light-hearted comedy was a key element in the juvenile light novels on which the series is based, so I can understand the attempt to remain true to the original story, but allowing the story to move in a consistently darker direction could have taken Black Blood Brothers from watchable to memorable.

Now that we’ve dispensed with the elements I struggled to endorse, we can move on to a discussion of the areas where the series truly excels. Beginning with the strongest piece of the puzzle, I appreciated the fresh take on a somewhat stale genre, by including various bloodlines with differing strengths and weaknesses. Add in a setting that mirrors the aesthetics of modern day Japan, and you end up with a nice mix of elements that feel both familiar and foreign at the same time. Furthermore, I enjoyed the expansive structure of the overall story arch, which continues the plight of Jiro and the Special Zone from start to finish. Some series can pull off the inclusion of self-contained plotlines without growing stale, but I can’t imagine this being one of them. Perhaps if the primary storyline was spread over the course of a full 26-episode run it would’ve allowed for more flexibility, but as it stands, the number of plotholes became confusing enough without attempting to include side-stories.

In closing, those considering a purchase should be aware there’s not much of a conclusion to this 12-episode run of Black Blood Brothers. Several loose ends are tied up and there’s a decent climax in the final episode, but aside from a substantial revelation to explain the motivations of the villains in the series, we’re left with the door wide open for future installments. Don’t let this deter you from seeking out the series, but those who need a prominent end-cap to fully enjoy an anime production should take note (since it can certainly impact one’s feelings toward the show).

Black Blood Brothers: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in 1080p utilizing the AVC codec (at an average bitrate of 21Mbps), Black Blood Brothers appears fairly average in comparison with other upscaled anime series. As expected, edges and textures lack fine precision and clarity across the majority of the production. However, the nuance found in this release that stands out as the most problematic has to do with inconsistency from scene to scene. One moment the picture will retain a surprising level of fine object detail, followed immediately by a scene where clarity exhibits a noticeable hit. I can't be certain the variance is related to the creation of this transfer (since it could also be inherent in the original animation), but it posed enough of a problem during my viewing session on a 100 inch display that it's worth mentioning. Turning to the coloring of the show, Black Blood Brothers sports a surprisingly bold spectrum in comparison to the typical gothic setting of a vampire series, though I suppose the abundance of comedic elements helped pave the way for such a cheerful artistic design. Unfortunately, despite the bold coloring found on such items as Jiro's crimson trenchcoat or the blue uniforms of the Suppression Team, the overall coloring of most scenes appears a bit washed out or dulled, compromising the majority of the rich hues and giving the series an overly bright appearance. Furthermore, there's a slight dip in the strength of black levels from time to time, creating less than ideal baselines for contrast differentiation. Collectively you may be thinking this is a bit subpar, though it's important to take note that artifacting, aliasing, banding, and other digital anomalies are kept to an absolute minimum, allowing this to emerge as a clear step up over your typical DVD offering.

Black Blood Brothers: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Black Blood Brothers was originally released on DVD back in early 2008 (by FUNimation), so it's not terribly surprising to find the lack of a 5.1 channel option for the English dub. Within the past two years, the studio has made a definite shift toward the inclusion of the best possible audio presentation (often recording the English dub in 5.1 and including the original 2.0 Japanese offering for native language purists). While I'll acknowledge it's a shame we're not given a full surround option on such an action-heavy release, the fact that we have both the English and Japanese 2.0 tracks in lossless clarity is enough to satisfy my desire for an upgrade over the prior DVD version. Switching back and forth between both tracks I failed to notice an appreciable difference in the nuances of each mix, so your preference should boil down to a matter of personal taste. Clarity is quite good, volume balance is precise, and there's notably strong side-to-side movement in each track. Unfortunately, despite the proficiencies found in the included tracks, I can't paint the overall experience in an undeserving light, making it necessary to reiterate the simple fact that this audio presentation will pale in comparison with the majority of anime series on the market (most of which have the added benefit of 5.1 separation).

Black Blood Brothers: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Episode Commentaries: Unlike the typical Funimation release, Black Blood Brothers contains an audio commentary track for every episode completed by members of the original Japanese cast and crew. Considering this is a U.S. release, the conversations are subtitled in English, which makes it impossible to play subtitles of the actual show next to the commentary dialog. Personally, I only found a small portion of the discussions intriguing, meaning it's rather difficult to sit through the shallow banter.

TV Spots (480p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 2:27 min)

Original Commercials (480p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 4:29 min)

Sneak Peeks (480p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 5:16 min): This is simply a collection of clips from the series intended to wet our appetite.

Rounding out the extras, we have textless opening and closing songs, along with a collection of trailers for other FUNimation releases.

Black Blood Brothers: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Black Blood Brothers never mustered more than a ho-hum reaction out of me, making it difficult to offer much enthusiasm in a final recommendation. There are certain aspects of the series I enjoyed, and I never felt put-off or overly disappointed by any one element, but when the final episode came to a close, I couldn't shake the feeling that the entire production was merely average. As a result, I'd suggest most anime fans stick with a rental until you're able to jump on a bargain-bin deal for the series.