First Impressions / Series Introduction / Snapshots

OP Sequence

OP: 「明日の記憶」 (Ashita no Kioku) by 高橋直純 (Takahashi Naozumi)
Watch the OP!: Mirror 1 Mirror 1

Summary:
The city of Hong Kong had been a battlefield with vampires running amuck. However, there was one building surrounded by a barrier that they could not penetrate through. A man named Liu, who controlled this barrier with his eyes, lowers it to allow a guy named Jirou to go out and fight the vampires. Jirou slaughtered hordes of them with his sword; with his abilities, he was able to stop bullets and even tank shells. Nothing could stand up against him until a blonde-haired woman appeared. Jirou recognized her as someone dear to him, but knew that she’s not real and yelled for her to stop. The blonde haired woman transforms into a black-haired woman who Jirou also knew – a person betrayed him some time ago. Cassa (short for Cassandra) left after a bit of fighting, but first promised that everything has just started
Fast forward several years to a freight ship in the waters near Yokohama. A blonde haired boy wakes up aboard this ship inside the storage area. He runs over to a nearby black coffin and starts calling, singing, and banging for his brother. Eventually, the coffin opens up and a hand comes out that knocks the boy’s face into the ground. Since the coffin closes again, the boy decides to go out onto the ship. When he encounters a young girl who calls herself Chang, he accidentally reveals that his name is Mochizuki Kotarou. However, Chang suddenly disappears after Kotarou takes his eyes off of her for only a second. Kotarou doesn’t notice that there is a body of one of the ship’s crew members under the nearby stairs, with a pair of distinct fang marks in his neck. The boy makes his way onto the deck of the ship, but soon realizes that it’s under attack by soldiers who are fighting vampires on the ship.
The commotion eventually causes the coffin from before to burst out of the ship’s hold and land on the deck. And no matter how much the soldiers fire at it, their bullets can’t penetrate it. The coffin opens up and out walks Jirou, who greets everyone as if it were any normal day. Kotarou runs up to him, but Jirou starts knocking Kotarou around for not letting him sleep peacefully. Jirou then turns to the soldiers and has them introduce themselves. It turns out that the soldiers are a suppression team from Company. Jirou figures out that Company refers to the Order Coffin Company, but finds it strange because this was supposed to be the organization that mediated relations between vampires and humans. A woman from the vampire group speaks up, saying that it was only on the surface. She explains that the organization actually slaughtered their brethren. As for the soldiers, they don’t want these vampires coming to their city and disturbing the order.
They eventually open fire on Jirou, but he’s still able to block all their bullets. Instead of killing the soldiers, he simply deflects the bullets back at them, jamming all their guns. While this is going on, one of the other vampires throws a grenade into a group of crates marked “DANGER,” causing the front of the freight ship to blow up. The explosion throws Kotarou off the deck and into the water, so Jirou dives after him. The soldiers end up leaving the freighter by helicopter and the vampires end up leaving it by a small boat. The female vampire from before remarks that Jirou clearly had “old blood” and thinks that he might have become an ally. Also on this small boat is Chang, who the woman had saved long ago from an illness by turning her into a vampire. Back in the ocean, the water is hurting Jirou, preventing him from saving Kotarou. Meanwhile, a girl named Mimiko gets a phone call early in the morning from a man named Jinnai who had been on that freighter.

ED Sequence

ED: 「蜃気楼」 (Shinkirou) by LOVEHOLIC
Watch the ED! Mirror 1 Mirror 2
Well, I don’t like the OP, but I love the ED – the singer for has a great voice. Incidentally, LOVEHOLIC is a Korean group.

Well, my first impressions of this show are pretty good. There were plenty of vampires, lots of action, and hints of love & betrayal. The main character Mochizuki Jirou, voiced by Sakurai Takahiro (aka. Canvas2’s Hiroki), reminds me a bit of Van of GunXSword crossed with Alucard of Hellsing. And it seems these vampires are of the traditional variety, hurt by sunlight and running water.
This being the first episode, they’re introducing a lot of the back-story with what appears to be a rather violent coexistence between vampire and human. I’m most interested in Jirou’s relationship with Cassandra and the blond-haired woman, though the female vampire saving Chang from disease by turning her into a vampire reminds me a bit of Saya saving Hagi and Riku by turning them into Chiropterans.
Unfortunately, I probably won’t be continuing to follow this series. I actually had a day off today, so I had some free time to write this up, but I likely won’t have that luxury later on.

64 Comments

  5. =o! it looks pretty good!

    I was thinking it was going to be sucky, but with your impression and screencaps it looks like it’s worth a try :D.

    He doesn’t look THAT much, the only thing that is close to him it’s because that weird “mage” hat he is wearing or whatever the hat is

    akurashy
    Reply

  9. Another Vampire series?! Well that SUCKS!

    I thought “BLACK BLOOD BROTHERS” had something to do with Afro-Americans in the Bronx, like a basketball show or something with “Black” Brothers in it. Why the hell do the Japanese think they need to make another Hellsing/Trinity Blood type show anyway?

    ~ boring

    FUNimation will pick it up for sure.

    robin
    Reply

  22. This had better NOT be another Coyote Ragtime Show. I sure learned not to judge based on the first impression on that one…

    BTW maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think the dude is anywhere as badass (literally) as Alucard.

    Rasmiel
    Reply

  29. as I watch every little anime that comes out i loved this one!!
    as I love games like resident evil and silent hill, BLOOD that has been spilled for me is like poetry 😉 (I know.. that was deep man!! ).
    PS: the animation and main caracter design ROCKS!!!
    PETITION NOW -> CASTLEVANIA ANIME NOW KONAMI!!!!ALUCARD AND RITCHER NOW IN ANIME FORM!! 😉

    tensai_otaku
    Reply

  30. He is a Vampire…I think I’ll follow up on this series I want to Know whats going on Between the black and blonde haired chicks and there relationship to Jirou that’s the Red Vampire!!!

    terelildevil
    Reply

  31. Let’s see…
    Traditional vampires, a vampire hunter and lots of action and fighting…
    Yep, it’s worth watching.
    (Only problem is that one character’s design looks slightly unoriginal, but what the heck, this series has definitely gotten my attention.)

    Yyi
    Reply

  43. The man in the coat is a vampire who I don’t think hunts vampires… Currently, Kyuuketsuki is subbing Black Blood Brothers and about the black blood thing I think it was mentioned that black blodds=vampires and red bloods=humans…

    Erika
    Reply

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