Armageddon has arrived with a wave of atomic explosion’s spreading across the earth. Five hundred years later, the world is changed forever. The Methuselah, a race of vampires are waging a war for survival against the Vatican; with the human world as their battlefield. Abel Nightroad, a travelling priest attached to the Vatican, finds himself on a hijacked airship on course to destroy Rome. So the story begins…

Where the story goes, however… is another matter entirely. Anyone can be forgiven for thinking that Abel, a forever smiling simpleton, is a bumbling and clumsy fool on first meeting him, but appearances can be deceptive. Whilst duelling a vampire we quickly learn that Abel is in fact a Crusnik, neither human nor vampire but a creature that feeds on other vampires. Abel simply regards himself as the next evolutionary step on the food chain and any vampires who cross his path meet a gruesome and untimely end. This is only one of many interesting elements about this series. In this world the Vatican is a major military powerhouse. With internal power struggles, diplomatic relations on a knife edge and ulterior motives, you never really know just who is pulling the strings from behind the scenes but this is what makes Trinity Blood ever more exciting. Half the world is under Vatican control, whilst the other under darkness, ruled by the Marquis of Hungaria. Whoever controls the city of Istvan, an outpost, can shift the balance of power in their favour. It is here, where two episodes of this volume are set.

In Istvan, the Church is merely a tool for governing humans; a place where vengence can almost be described as a way of life. Abel is the only one who protests, saying that nothing is gained by revenge. But this is the same person who murders vampires, Abel’s defence being that his job is to, “Stop the killing, not continue it.” Abel’s duality is what makes this series so interesting, half the time he is a cheerful priest and the other half…well, let’s just say he walks around with a murderous glint in his eyes! Against Abel’s contradictory personality is Tres, a mechanical killing machine who also works for the Vatican. To Tres, justice is black and white, but in a time when revenge can be justified as a reason for living, this world is coloured in many shades of grey.

In summary

Visually, Trinity Blood is lush and spell binding. Anyone who has seen the epic Last Exile will see many familiar traits here: Studio Gonzo use the same style airships and aerial warfare scenes mixed in with their usual trademark character and background designs. It’s far too early to tell if this series will match, or even outdo, Last Exile but for now, this vampire saga has more than enough bite to keep viewers hooked.