Bad Blood

Ten years before the supernatural adventure Black Blood Brothers (2006) opens, Jiro "the Silver Blade" Mochizuki had been one of the leaders of the Holy War in Hong Kong, battling a virulent clan of mutant vampires called "the Kowloon Children." As he travels with his younger brother Kotaro to the Special Zone in Hong Kong, where regular vampires live, violence erupts. The Mochizuki brothers are joined by Mimiko Katsuragi, a "Compromiser" from the Order Coffin Corporation, which administers the Zone. Mimiko provides both comic relief and a potential love interest. Black Blood takes considerable liberties with vampire legends: humans only become vampires if they drink vampire blood or are bitten by one of the Kowloon Children; other vampire bites don't hurt them. Jiro fights with a silver samurai sword and can survive daylight. Black Blood Brothers is lighter-hearted and more entertaining than the gory vampire tales Hellsing and Trinity Blood. (Rated TV MA: violence, violence against women, profanity) --Charles Solomon