Trinity Blood: Chapter 1

Reviewed By: Carla Land

Funimation Entertainment DVD

Review based on 1st disk (episodes 1-4)

Rating 16+

What it’s (basically) all about: In a post-apocalyptic Earth, humans and vampires are at war with one another. The Catholic Church has allied itself with agents from the AX force to help keep the vampires in check. Father Abel Nightroad, an AX agent and priest, is working to help quell the violence. It also helps that he’s a vampire that feeds on the blood of other vampires.

Nitty Gritty: This series is currently running on Adult Swim, so there may be some name recognition with it. The story is interesting, and in spite of the horror- vampire angle it isn’t as gory as it could be. That is not to say that it isn’t gory, because it is, and sometimes the images are of the squeamish variety. There is splattered blood, mangled corpses, heads being shot off, and even some good old fashioned fist-fighting. The language isn’t bad, there isn’t any nudity (outside of a brief nun-in-the-shower moment in which nothing is seen but her back,) and there aren’t any inappropriate sexual situations.

Abel, who is a priest, is also a vampire that feeds on the blood of other vampires. He downplays this part of himself though, and usually comes across as a mild mannered though faithful follower of the Vatican, which it is imperative to point out is NOTHING like Vatican as it is today. In fact, the way the Catholic Church is represented might bother some people, as it is run by militant cardinals and has military might not seen since the Crusades.

Special features on the disk include “Historical Artifacts” (a click through as you read slideshow of information about some of the real places, people, and things that are mentioned in the show) and textless open and closing animation. A bunch of trailers are also included for the Funimation Channel, Gunslinger Girl, Basilisk, Desert Punk, Fullmetal Alchemist, Trinity Blood volume 2, Speed Grapher, and Funimation’s online Z-Store.

Survey says: This one is better off in adult collections because of the violence, which is too gory to fit into a teen collection, and the interesting take on the future of the church, which may bother some devout Catholics.

Personal Ad: I liked it, partly because Abel reminds me of Vash the Stampede from Trigun. It hasn’t been too gory for me, and the story so far has been interesting. My seventeen year old nephew started watching it on Adult Swim and recommended it to me months ago.