TRINITY BLOOD (VOLUME 2)
August 18th 2011 23:04
Category: Manga
Publisher: Chuang Yi
Original Story by: Sunao Yoshida
Original character design by: Thores Shibamoto
Artwork by: Kiyo Kyujyo
English Translation: Low Sin Lu
Cover Design: We Swee Pheng
Layout & Lettering: We Swee Pheng
Cost: AU$14.95
In the 31st Century all that is old is effectively new, where the Church once dominated most of Europe it does so now under the aegis of defending humanity against the creatures of the night. This time though such claims are not just base upon primal fears there is a very real basis to such claims as to the east of the lands under the protection of the Vatican lies the Methuselah Empire; a nation dominated by vampires. Yes that’s right folks vampires, those who dwell in the night and feast upon the blood of humans. So the world is effectively divided between the creatures of darkness and the sanctity of the Holy Catholic Church – in essence there isn’t much that has changed in the world with a duality in the political landscape dominating things as it has done so many times before in the recent and distant past.
But why is this unlikely trio heading towards the Vatican’s capital? For the two priests it’s a case of returning back to their base and making their reports on affairs in Hungaria to Cardinal Caterina Sforza. It was the good cardinal who heads the Vatican’s foreign affairs department that the two were initially sent to Hungaria and its capital city Istvan to ascertain just what Marquis Gyula Ka’dar was up to and why. Sister Esther on the other hand though is seeking answers as to why her world has suddenly become far more complex than what it was originally. She questions why the world is the way it is, why there are vampires and just exactly who is the somewhat bumbling but pure hearted father Abel Nightroad.
Of course as mentioned earlier such an undertaking is not to happen with the ease and smoothness of today’s travel to locales distant and exotic. No as the three are ensconced in their train carriage heading towards the Holy City dark deeds are already afoot. It seems that the mysterious forces that were backing the Marquis of Hungaria are not impressed with the agents and is looking to extract a little piece of vengeance; particularly on Father Abel Nightroad. Dietrich the former friend and accomplice of Sister Esther has put into action a nefarious scheme involving a former associate of the deceased marquis.
Things go downhill from this point onwards and the trio find themselves tossed from one calamitous situation to the next until at last they find succour and salvation in the form of a Vatican airship; the Iron Lady II piloted by the able Sister Kate, Cardinal Sforza’s aide de camp. Reading this was an enjoyable experience I like the characters and the action as well as this interesting post Armageddon world but despite all that I did feel that there was something lacking, something missing overall. At first I could place my finger on what it was but then I realised just what it was – character development, there’s no real character development in terms of the actual aims or goals of the three characters.
Perhaps it’s a bit much of me to expect such development just after the second volume but I felt that there were far too many new characters coming into the story and not really enough attention given to the actual background of the key protagonists. In essence it was almost like these three were only there and in a particular situation so that precisely a new character could appear to help move events along; namely the Professor, Father Leon and Sister Kate. Thus the audience learns little of why things are the way they are and nothing or next to nothing at all about the main protagonists. Now apparently this manga series is actually based upon a series of novels with the same title and same characters – I haven’t managed to read those but perhaps a reading of these works may give the audience a fuller experience of the overall story. But you shouldn’t have to read another work in order to make sense of a particular manga series so Trinity Blood Volume 2 has its moments but it is a flawed work. According to Wikipedia there is a whole massive background behind this series but at the moment it’s not really showing…maybe in future volumes perhaps? Trinity Blood is thus an acquired taste…
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