With their end goal in sight, the Vatican and the empire rush to solidify ties between their races. The order of Rosen Kreuz seeks to unravel their painstaking progress. Abel Nightroad and Sister Esther have ventured to the heart of the empire, only to find the enemy deeply entrenched.
As they risk all to break the endless cycle of hatred and violence, eyes turn toward the dawn of a new age. Success drives the adversary to desperate measures, but the empress has a few startling revelations of her own.
Episodes Comprise
17 - The Night Lords III: The Island of Her Darling Children
18 - The Night Lords IV: The Palace of Jade
19 - The Night Lords V: A Start of Pilgrimage
20 - The Throne of Roses I: Kingdom of the North
Action, adventure, and more than a few surprises in this latest volume of Trinity Blood - including a selfless sacrifice, a long-lost sibling, and the dark truth behind a kingdom's power revealed. Should be enough to keep you interested for a while...
Audio:
Audio for this release comes in Japanese stereo and English 5.1 surround mixes. I listened to the Japanese track for this review. Trinity Blood is quite dialogue-heavy, with occasional forays into action scenes where Abel is allowed to show off his abilities. The soundtrack handles both types of scene with no problems – the available channels are used to place dialogue and effects on the soundstage, while music comes across very well. The opening and closing themes are both very good tunes and sound particularly good.
Video:
Video is presented in the show’s original 1.78:1 widescreen format, enhanced for anamorphic playback. For the most part it’s a good-looking transfer, especially given the heavy use of darker scenes, but there were occasions when backgrounds, particularly colour gradients, exhibited some blocking. It’s quite noticeable and distracting when it happens, but fortunately it’s not too widespread.
Packaging:
No packaging was provided with our review copy.
Menu:
Video is presented in the show’s original 1.78:1 widescreen format, enhanced for anamorphic playback. For the most part it’s a good-looking transfer, especially given the heavy use of darker scenes, but there were occasions when backgrounds, particularly colour gradients, exhibited some blocking. It’s quite noticeable and distracting when it happens, but fortunately it’s not too widespread.
Extras:
Just creditless versions of the opening and closing sequences on this disc.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review will contain spoilers)
She may call herself a tea-seller, but there's more to Seth than a first glance would tell you - and after Esther and Ion run into trouble in the city, it's Seth who comes to their rescue, tending to Esther's wounds and giving them a place to hide out. She's also quick to remind the pair that love between Terran and Methuselah is strictly taboo - but the more time they spend together, the more Esther and Ion begin to realise that's what they feel for each other. Ion also explains that it's the Empress that forces humans and vampires to live at peace within the New Human Empire - a situation he doesn't want to see end. But Radu and his allies are planning to kill the Empress - and Radu makes sure Ion knows of their plans.
Later, the death of Queen Bridget II of Albion without a clear heir in place threatens the kingdom's stability, and gives the Vatican a chance to increase their influence there – but the kingdom has a few skeletons buried in its closet that are about to come to light, placing the Pope directly in the line of danger…
Last volume, I was more than a little confused about how the Night Lords arc was playing out, and was hoping that this volume would do some explaining to help me out. We get another three episodes of that story arc before it's finally closed out – and they're probably the best three episodes of the series so far, as along with properly explaining what's been going on, there are enough twists, turns, surprises and touching moments that you barely get a chance to stop and take it in. It's almost as though, after 16 episodes of trying, Trinity Blood finally hits on just the right way to present itself, and the series goes from being watchable to thoroughly enjoyable.
The arc flows around a few key characters that are central to how it plays out. Most prominent are Ion and Esther, with their "forbidden" love and the obstacles that Radu places in their way, both by trying to plant seeds of doubt in Ion's mind about her, and by taking more direct actions to make sure they don't survive. There's a wonderfully touching scene in episode 19 where you realise just how much they've come to mean to each other (sadly spoiled by Abel's intervention, but nothing's perfect), and when you compare it to how the two got on when they first met you can see how far they've both come.
Next on the "people to watch" list is Seth, who goes from simple tea-seller, through part-time medical student and a number of other occupations before you finally realise who – or perhaps, what – she is. While you know from the moment she first appears that she's no normal character, it still surprised me when her true identity was revealed, and her connections to some of the other characters became clear. There are still some unanswered questions about her, but it's clear she'll be playing a key role in the series from here.
As ever, the Rozen Kreuz Orden are also worth keeping an eye on, as they become the common threat that will bring Terran and Methuselan together, however reluctantly. While there's still no clear goal that they're aiming towards – other than creating chaos – there are a few hints dropped here about how long they've been on the scene and how Abel may have tangled with them in the past. All very interesting, but this is one of those aspects of the series I wish they'd clear up sooner rather than later.
The final episode kicks off the next story arc, which looks set to look at Albion's dark secret, which is no longer content to remain a secret after the Queen's death. So far, it's another story that pits the Vatican's moderates, led by Caterina, against the more blunt "kill 'em all!" faction that would like to lay waste to anything touched by a vampire – which in this case, would include Albion. The idea has potential, but it's too early in the arc to see how it's going to play out.
In summary:
This is probably the best volume of Trinity Blood so far, and the three episodes that close out the Night Lords arc are all compulsive viewing. The series has finally produced a story that makes the most of the characters it has on offer, and that's good to see – I just hope the next arc can maintain the standard.
Toshiba 37X3030DB 37" widescreen HDTV; Sony PS3 Blu-ray player (via HDMI, upscaled to 1080p); Acoustic Solutions DS-222 5.1 speaker system.
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