Based on a series of light novels, Black Blood Brothers is, like a bundle of pages torn from the middle of a book, an anime lacking both the beginning and an end. Following bland adventures of vampire Jiro and his kid brother Kotaro, this show is completely devoid of anything even relatively interesting. I have watched it, so you don’t have to, it’s amongst the most boring anime offers.

People’s hearts have both a hidden and open side. Just because there is a hidden agenda does not mean we must assume that the open side is meaningless.

Originally written as light novel series by Azano Kouhei and directed by a first-time director Yoshikawa Hiroaki Black Blood Brothers is an utter mess of stereotypical ideas and their lame execution. As far as I can tell the story follows a hundred years old vampire who seems to be some sort of war hero from a very important war we never get any coherent flashbacks of. Along with his little annoying brother he, for some reason, travels to a place referred as “Zone” where humans and vampires live together under relative peace. There he once again enters battle fighting against his adversaries from the past. That is at least what the show tries to make you believe, as you never really learn what happened to him in the past, nor do you even learn what happens to him in the present as the show just stops in the middle.

To tell the truth I was constantly getting the feeling that I was watching a spin-off of some show I have never seen. It starts and ends in the middle without any notable resolution. Most characters know each other and never bother to reveal their personalities to the viewers. Even animation feels as if it was recycled from somewhere else, dressing Jiro, the main character, into Alucard’s costume with a pointy hat making him look like a clown. The point of this anime completely eludes me, what in the name of hell did they want to show us? It fails as action show since action scenes are spread too far apart and most of them are second rate. It fails as a plot driven show because though with a wide variety of ideas it doesn’t realize a single one of them. It fails as character driven show because none of them are given any depth, thus making it impossible for viewers to sincerely relate with them. It doesn’t even have ecchi fanservice or exaggerated show offs to justify its flaws. It is not bad in the sense that it makes you annoyed or frustrated, it’s just boring. I mean, I would take an idiotic harem full of naked girls over this anime any day, since I find melting brain with fanservice preferable to starring at the wall, or in this case, Black Blood Brothers.

Animation: 2

Okay, technically animation by Group TAC (Street Fighter II: The Movie) might be better than the grade I give it. The problem is that, even though backgrounds and character designs have a moderate level of detail, they are recycled from somewhere else. I was constantly getting the vibes that I have seen everything this show draws somewhere else, be it costumes, character faces or simple backgrounds. Not a speck of originality or charm, it’s as if the painters took the book of “anime basics” and copied everything from it. Furthermore many characters look alike and most of them having generic personalities doesn’t help to tell the guys apart. Seriously, the only attractive designs I’ve noticed were those of the main guy minus the pointy hat and his past lover. Though I get the feeling I have already seen them in Gungrave. Main heroine of the present is one of ugliest female leads I have ever seen though. Fluidity of motions is inconsistent as in some action scenes everything flies with beauty and in others you can see characters slide or have motions of running without actually moving. Some fights are completely in real time and others use still frames which makes animation look even more fractured.

Sound: 3

OP Ashita no Kioku by Naozumi Takahashi is some sort of light rock and jpop mix, which actually fits the vampires mood quite well. It kind of sounds like a lower quality variation of Trinity Blood’s opening. ED Shinkirou by LOVEHOLIC, on the other hand, is an awesome song. Its korean lyrics make it stand out from generic EDs and its slow melancholic nature fits perfectly with long-living vampires. Frankly, it was a waste to put such a nice song for ending a show of this quality.

Background music composed by the talented Sahashi Toshihiko (Gundam Seed, Hunter x Hunter) is a mixed bag. I actually feel that some of the tracks would sound better stand alone than with the show, as simply, Sahashi Toshihiko is used to compose good tracks which accompany good shows and he was left on a thin ice here since the show was crap. Though music doesn’t always go foot by foot with the overall atmosphere of the show, there are some pretty nice tracks to listen to, making music into the only part I could actually enjoy to some extent in this show.

I have mixed feelings concerning seiyuu performance as well. Even though Jiro, the main character, is voiced by the talented Sakurai Takahiro (Code Geass as Kururugi Suzaku, Mononoke as Medicine Seller) there are moments when his voice fits very well (angry/serious) and there are moments when his voice feels completely off (slapstick). Though it’s more of a problem with the script than with the talent of a voice-actor. You can notice more big name male seiyuu doing work in this show, but with the dialogue they have there is little chance for them to say something cool. Female voice-acting feels considerably weak though (guess I got spoiled by Kugimiya Rie and Tanaka Rie from all those romantic comedies).

Story: 1

There is very little to say about the story that I haven’t already. The setting actually has potential, unfortunately unused since pretty much nothing is explained or given coherent depth. Wars between humans and vampires are nothing new, but I liked the fact that they introduced different species of vampires, some contagious and some not. Also it was a pretty funny idea to make blood sucking give sexual pleasure, too bad it never had any reasonable function in the plot. The show would have been much better if it had one or two coherent episodes about that war of the past. I never really learned what exactly that “Zone” was either. Hell, I only realized it was in Hong Kong when I was watching last episodes. This show kind of makes you observe plot go without justifying its setting making all the stuff on your screen slightly unbelievable to say the least.

Plot itself is like an old horse. You meet it when it’s already far past into its life and it drops dead before reaching its destination. Not to mention it has neither energy, nor passion. Seriously, it’s been awhile since i have observed a show have a plot so hollow. Technically it doesn’t sound as bad, there are flashbacks, there are reasons for characters to do their stuff and vampires are always interesting. However, the way it is realized makes you think that the director himself had no passion directing and was just copying stuff he has seen elsewhere. Everything follows standard formulas and stereotypical situations finally leading to an ending which ends with words “interesting things to come”. It’s like the important plot never really kicked in and all you have observed were some random activities by the main characters and would-be villains. The show might become better if it gets a season two, but as it stands now it is no better than a bundle pages randomly ripped from a middle of the book. I was more interested in the stuff which happened in the past, or will happen in the future sometime, but sure I wasn’t interested in all that pesky stuff going in the show’s present.

Characters: 1

Stereotypical and fake. That’s the characters of this show. You can pretty much turn off the sound and subtitles and you will still understand what they will be talking about. All the dialogue and situations that follow are easy to predict and have already been tried in many other shows. Jiro, the main character, is your usual do-gooder vampire who goes to save damsels in distress whenever he has free time. Though rather than damsels he ends up saving his idiot for a younger brother Kotaro most of the time, who pretty much represents all of the most annoying traits young brother archetypes have. He is kind, innocent and always gets into trouble, he always says stuff like “we must help him” or “she is a good person, she gave me candy” and never backs his words up with any common sense or logic, furthermore he is a genuine idiot, even for being a younger brother. Finally, Katsuragi Mimiko, the main heroine, is among the most annoying heroines I have ever had displeasure to see. She is loud, contradicts herself a lot, has a sense of justice, but never backs it up and uses retribution of “ecchi” behavior at the most awkward situations, even though the show doesn’t even have ecchi. She ends up going with the flow of the show and is just used for some plot devices, but her existence as a character starts and ends up at simply being annoying.

The only characters I relatively liked are the villain Cassa and Jiro’s past lover Alice. Unfortunately, Alice gets like two minutes of combined screen-time through the whole show and Cassa is never given a chance to expose her personality, since she only comes in action at the last episodes, being ghost from main character’s memories for the longest of time. I got the idea what she was trying to do in the very end, but I was never told why, heck, I don’t even know why does she do anything. I liked her only because she seems to fall into the cool archetype of laid-back villains who cause carnage for fun. Alice on the other hand seems to belong to the innocent and pure yet wise character archetype.

There are many guys in the “Zone” with various powers who appear to be important and even have long winded introductions of what kind of vampire noble they are or whatever, but never really get any screentime or function in the plot. You are told who they are and that’s it. Well, obviously the show is unfinished, so they might serve a purpose in the future light novels, but as I’m not reading them, I got annoyed by the number of useless characters.

Conclusion: It’s suitable for people above 13 years old, but whatever is your age I don’t recommend it. It has no original or interesting things to offer. It’s a hollow show lacking cool characters, interesting plot or entertaining action. You will only waste your time watching it. Heck, if you want a cool show about vampires go for the stylish Hellsing or even that bundle of broken parts sewn together Trinity Blood. Those shows don’t have much substance, but at least they have cool moments.