Very much an introduction, Volume 1 sets the stage, introducing characters and conflicts, but it looks like we'll have to wait a bit to see what Black Blood Brothers is all about.  Granted, this is only the beginning, but these four episodes posed far more questions than were answered.  Dropping the viewer into a conflict right from the start, it felt more like the middle of the series rather than the beginning.  I felt kind of lost.  Certainly patience will win out, and questions will eventually be answered, but all the hints at the past so soon out the gate felt a bit overwhelming.

Ten years after a war between vampires and humans, the re-emergence of the Kowloon Children threatens the peace between the two species.  The Kowloon Children, a different type of vampire with an infectious bite, and the reason for the previous war, are gathering their numbers and promising chaos.  A protected area where vampires and humans coexist peacefully, called the Special Zone, is threatened by the Kowloon Children, who are attempting to breach the barrier.  Since there is no outward difference between Kowloon Children and vampires, humans have been killing vampires indiscriminately, leading to understandable feelings of unrest and resentment.  Jiro Mochizuki, an old blood vampire known during the previous war as the Silver Sword, travels to the Special Zone with his young brother Kentaro.  With the help of Mimiko Katsuragi, a negotiator between humans and vampires, Jiro must sort out the mess, and will be forced to fight once again.

While the plot moves forward, setting up the current conflict, and sending the hero to what is presumably the war zone, there were many, many unexplained looks to the past.  Since the series follows a character who is called back into action ten years after the previous war, it makes sense he'd have a great deal of history, but flashbacks and characters are introduced almost with the assumption that the audience should know who these people are.  This tendency was frustrating, and took away from the action-packed opening episodes.

So far, there's plenty of action to make this series fun, but at the same time, after watching it, most of what happened just...slipped away.  I didn't always understand why folks were fighting, but between the Kowloon Children, vampire refugees, and angry humans, there was always something going on.  While always having something going on is entertaining, there was a distinct sense of too much too soon.

Jiro is cool and suave, very much the ancient, refined vampire.  There are hints to a painful past involving a lost love, and currently he is far more concerned with caring for his young brother, the other remaining member of their clan, than joining a major conflict.  Young Kentaro is very cute, chipper, and somewhat annoying.  He is, however, an interesting counterpoint to the much more collected Jiro, who plays the role of both big brother and a disciplinarian father.  Mimiko, the negotiator assigned to helping Jiro and Kentaro acclimate to the Special Zone, is kind, spunky, and a bit naive.  She's new to her job, and is determined to do well.  Jiro finds her enthusiasm amusing, Kentaro attaches himself to her almost immediately, and it's quite obvious that the three of them will form a bond as the series progresses.  

While the character designs are just dandy, I do have a problem with Jiro.  He reminds me way too much of Alucard from Hellsing.  It's the red coat, ascot, and red hat.  Only, Alucard seems to pull it off better.  That could be because he wore the outfit first, and Jiro feels like an imitation.  Had it been the other way around, I'd probably say the same thing about Alucard.  Aside from that, the series is attractive, but doesn't really stand out from other anime series.  It's slick, pretty, and smoothly animated, like a lot of other series out there.

For whatever reason, Black Blood Brothers left me cold.  It's not bad, but it's not great either.  When I returned to the series to write about it, most of the details had flown from my mind, and I had to go back to the dvd to refresh my memory.  It's not a good thing when a series doesn't leave much of an impression either way.  Renting is a good option, and the series is worth checking out.  It isn't fair to dismiss something outright, unless it's truly awful, which Black Blood Brothers certainly is not.  I'm hoping the second volume will be a little more cohesive, and really get into the meat of the story.  

Details: Runtime 100 minutes, contains episodes 1-4.  Extras include commentary for all four episodes, original TV spots, textless songs, trailers, and a reversible cover.