Black Blood Brothers (Halloween 1)

Genre: Drama
Age Appropriate: Pre-teen/Teen
Emotional Response: Interesting
Notable Features: vampires, "seperate but equal" society, loyalty issues, swords
Language: English
Length: 1 season, 12 episodes
verall Recommendation: Good

"Cassa..." - Jiro

Black Blood Brothers refers to Jiro and Kotaro Mochizuki. The brothers are both vampires, although Kotaro is too young to be susceptible to the typical vampire weaknesses: sunlight, water, garlic..etc. Jiro, the older brother, is very protective of Kotaro. The series follows them into the "Special Zone," an island off of the main city that is home to the complicated vampire society. After an incident on a boat, and attempted killing, and a terrible fight with seemlingly crazy vampires, Jiro and Kotaro make it to the Special Zone with their helpful guide, Mimiko. Mimiko works for the OCC, an organization meant to help humans - now called Red Bloods - and vampires - Black Bloods - live together peacefully. Mimiko herself is called a Compromiser, one of the lighter side of the organization meant to work with humans and vampires in a helpful way. After the first episode with the boat incident the Suppression Team in introduces as a trigger happy bunch meant to take down hostile vampires; most especially killing off Kowloon children.

The Kowloon children are the main villains of the series. They are a contagious bunch that seem to be like zombies with vampire strength and uncontrolled violence. An old friend of Jiro, the mastermind behind it all, Cassa (Cassandra) is working to take over the world! Well, at least the Special Zone, as she hopes to find out some undisclosed secret about the mysterious, non-existent 11th Yard. Somehow, Cassa, Jiro and a pretty girl Alice are the center of the conflict. The series often has flashbacks of Jiro and Alice, and/or Cassa. It's not until the very last episode that all becomes clear.

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 I actually like Black Blood Brothers, although I admit part of it is probably my personal partiality to vampires. However, with all of the anime I've been watching, it's been dropped down further on my list of good ones to watch. It has some interesting points, but it's not edge-of-your-seat fantastic, or messed up, or hilarious. This is why I've rated is as "Good." It is good, but I wouldn't have wanted to wait each week to see a new episode.

The drama between Jiro and Casa, and company, is very soap opera. There are a few twists and turns, but not exactly mind-boggling. The best part of the show is Kotaro and his precociousness. He's adorable, and funny. Mimiko is pretty naive, but in a good way. She sees the good in everyone, but isn't willing to just ignore the bad - except when it comes to Jiro, of course. ;) Personally, I'd watch it just for Kotaro. He certainly has an interesting appeal, and in the end the series wouldn't make any sense without him.

I gave it a Pre-teen/Teen rating because while there is a little bit of adult here or there, there are no boobs, boob jokes, grotesque scenes or profanities. There is one or two scenes that are sexy, but they may or may not go over someone's head. I'd check it out first, if I were considering showing it to someone under a certain age, I suppose. The sexiness is very on par to contemporary sexy vampire stuff.

So, I would recommend it for us vampire freaks as a little bit of fun. It's not bad to watch if you're bored.  Side note: The end theme is actually really pretty. I frequently listened all the way through.


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Keep Watching: Rosario + Vampire  (Halloween 2)