Trinity Blood is one of Gonzo’s five 2005 series. It is based on a series of novels originally by Sunao Yoshida, who died of lung blockage shortly after the anime was announced, and to whom the series is dedicated. The anime adaptation is a very trademark Gonzo series, one with strong moments but also, unfortunately, plenty of flaws. It succeeds with flying colors in the animation department, although this is expected of Gonzo, it barely passes in the character department, and fails miserably in the plot department.

If, after watching Last Exile, you thought that Gonzo animation could not possibly get any better�Ewell, you were probably right, but Trinity Blood is easily at the same level of animation quality as Exile. Gonzo has plenty of chances to show off its elite animating skills, since Trinity Blood is filled with airships, explosions, futuristic cities, and even more explosions. The character designs are passable, but not very good overall. Some characters, like Abel or Hugue, look great, but others, especially children, are simply too wide-eyed and noseless. Character outfits, though, are stunning, even when character faces are not.

Both the opening and ending songs are excellent, but the background music in Trinity Blood is very typical. The pieces that do stand out tend to be overused, such as the battle music, which is used in just about every dramatic battle in the series and thus gets boring after only a few episodes. The sound effects are fine, but they’re mainly limited to explosions. The voice acting overall is excellent; although Esther’s voice actress is really whiny and annoying, Abel’s voice is fantastic, and most of the supporting characters have talented voice actors as well. Takuya Kimura himself even holds a tiny, tiny role (one of the smallest in the series, with only a few lines of dialogue), but his presence shows that Gonzo put a lot of thought into their choices.

If anyone ever doubted that animation was not enough to make a series good, they should be shown Trinity Blood. It almost seems like Gonzo put extra effort into the animation to cover up the flaws in the character and plot departments, which are usually the most important in a series. Unfortunately, for Gonzo and for us viewers, this cover-up attempt fails through and through.

The characters are a mixed bag. The series has its share of characters who are both interesting and well-developed. The main character, Abel Nightroad, is one such, and he is the one who carries the series through its lows. Brother Petros, on the occasion that he shows up, also lights up the screen. The AX members are all fascinating, but as a whole are given far too little screentime.

Indeed, plenty of characters in Trinity Blood appear interesting but remain undeveloped through all 24 episodes. Cardinal Medici is the perfect example here. He was a character that grabbed my attention in his first scene, in the very first episode, and continued to intrigue me the more I watched. Nevertheless, his personality does not develop at all, and his reasons for acting the way he does are too left unexplored.

Finally, there are the characters that are 100% generic and, well, pretty much crap. Unfortunately, very unfortunately indeed, the other main character, Esther Blanchett, fits in this category. I was bored by her the moment she first appeared, and was skeptical when it turned out she was to become a main character. It would not have been so bad if there was any progress in her personality whatsoever, and I did have hope for her in the beginning, but for all the screentime she has, there is practically none. There are many scenes featuring her that are obviously intended to be dramatic, but are instead laughable. Esther takes a lot away from the flow of the series; my favorite episodes were generally those in which her role was subordinate.

And now we come to the plot. Though the premise holds promise, and the mystery of Abel’s past is very fascinating indeed, the idea falls flat on its face in the execution. Trinity Blood is really made up of an introductory sequence and then four or five separate stories tied together by the paper-thin plot. Some of these, such as the final story and especially the Overcount story (also, sadly, the shortest), are great, but others are boring, clich�E and filled with cheap hooks and predictable plot twists. All the stories have their moments, and all have a mix of interesting and boring characters, but in the end there’s really not much to them.

The ending is classic Gonzo: open-ended, chaotic, and extremely unsatisfying. The story clincher, while it should have been given at least two episodes, is instead given about five minutes and explains nothing. There is barely any closure; in fact, the ending feels not like the ending to the series Trinity Blood, but only like the ending to one of the stories contained within. It begs for a second season.

While I was, on the whole, disappointed with Trinity Blood, the series definitely had its strong points, though this review may make it seem like they were much fewer than they really are. Trinity Blood was a good anime �EI enjoyed it �Ebut by no means was it great. I recommend it because it really shines in its strong moments, but it also requires a lot of patience for the parts that are not so impressive. The bottom line is, it’s good, but it could have definitely been a lot better, and it’s the wasted potential that upsets me the most.