Blood Blade is a manga where Dracula resurrects into our world as a cute anime girl. It’s definitely a strange concept, but thankfully, it goes down a very different path than I expected when I first read the manga description.
Goofy and Bloody
I am very tired of the same old vampire tropes in anime and manga. We need more Hellsing, more carnage, more blood and guts flying everywhere as vampires decimate and feast on people. That’s what vampires are supposed to do. They aren’t meant to be lovey-dovey romantics; they are monsters, lords of the night, inhumane and brutal in every aspect. And Blood Blade delivers. It shows the 1900s (or somewhere during that time) world, much more advanced than the era of Vlad the Impaler, where humans developed many new ways to kill each other with technology. And since our Count is very bored, him stumbling onto a man executing a little girl with a huge claymore is the perfect change of pace.
As the story slowly unravels, Vlad finds himself (or herself?) entangled in a mess that proves to be quite exciting, for him at least.
Unusual Art and an Unusual World
The monsters look amazing, their design is absolutely stunning, and the art, as you can see, is magnificent. Very detailed, very gritty, and very edgy. Everything you need from a vampire manga with monsters and magic. One of the best things is also the fact that we can go from a bloody battle to lighthearted jokes without killing the very serious mood. I don’t mind jokes in serious manga about slaughter and carnage as long as they don’t take me out of the experience.
Blood Blade blends goofy and serious moments quite well. While the story and the world are very gritty and serious, we have moments of levity that are done tastefully.
So, what is going on in the world of Blood Blade? Well, the enemy is trying to make many human-monster hybrids known as chimeras for war purposes. And their leader is none other than the man who slew Vlad a long time ago. Interesting, isn’t it? We have the greatest knight known to man, now a terrifyingly powerful vampire, his witch maid that can shapeshift into various animals and creatures, and a golem girl whose grandfather seems to be Victor Frankenstein. What a fun little band of supernatural creatures.
Blood Blade looks like the perfect mix of old and new
This is the kind of setup that I needed. The action is very detailed and kinetic, the paneling is super fun, and the artwork gives off that Vampire Hunter D vibes mixed in with some old-school gothic comic book look, similar to Spawn or some other edgy comic from the 90s.
I can’t wait to know more about Vlad and his maid, the Frankenstein girl, and this Monster Island she mentioned. Then again, the man who killed The Impaler is mixing humans with monsters. The plot has potential, the characters are interesting, and we’ve already seen a werewolf and a dragon. Will the manga dive deep into the folklore of these monsters? Vlad was already shown as a demonic monster with absurd otherworldly power, but we didn’t get any details. Also, his rebirth from a pile of flesh gave me heavy Alucard from Hellsing vibes, and that’s enough for me to fall in love with this manga already.
When can I read Blood Blade Volume 2?
Blood Blade Volume 1 is already available, and you can read it for free on Kodansha’s website. Blood Blade Volume 2 comes out in print and e-book form on May 21, 2024. So we will wait quite a bit before getting the next batch of adventures with our monster crew, but it will definitely be well worth the wait.
