Blassreiter: The Complete Series Part 1

Germany is being plagued by Demoniacs, creatures that were once human but now possess an ability to transform into larger creatures and mesh with various technologies. These creatures want nothing more than to dispose of all humankind and are able to change others into Demoniacs through their blood. There is one organization that fights against the Demoniacs; but it seems that there may be a traitor in the group. Meanwhile out on the streets Joseph Jobson roams, fighting the enemy on his own. He too has come into contact with the diseased blood but for the time has found a way to hold the demon side at bay while still able to use the great power that comes with the transformation.

“Blassreiter” gave me a little bit of a “Karas” feel as there is a mixture of anime and CGI. The CGI portions felt a little weak. The story has a slight new feel to it as it puts a great deal of focus not only on the German locations and the aspect of the motorcycle racing world. The Demoniacs, while not fully original, are interesting in their own right. Joseph Jobson spends a good portion of part 1 of the anime off on the sidelines and it takes awhile before they put enough focus on him to realize that he is a main character not a secondary. Personally he is the only thing that I found held my interest but sadly they only give you tiny details here and there.

For a show about demon type humans able to use technology to further their strength and the battle that is taking place between them and humans with fast motorcycles, bloody encounters, and some sexual tension it was surprisingly pretty boring. The whole thing felt heavy and was easily forgettable for me. The information about what is going on is given out slowly and a great deal of emphasis is put on race relations. The cover may leave you believing that this is a dark action anime and while in part that is true there is a lot more drama and a look at social relations than I was prepared for. Perhaps if you go in expecting those things then you will get more out of the story. I have to say the ending of Part 1 was action packed and has me curious about Part 2; but I don’t think I will remember to try and seek it out as this anime falls pretty low on my list.
 

TV On DVD Images

Cover: 

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