With their end goal in sight, the Vatican and the Empire rush to solidify ties between their races. The Order of Rosen Kreuz seeks to unravel their painstaking progress. Abel Nightroad and Sister Esther have ventured to the heart of the Empire, only to find the enemy deeply entrenched. As they risk all to break the endless cycle of hatred and violence, eyes turn toward the dawn of a new age. Success drives the adversary to desperate measures, but the Empress has a few startling revelations of her own...

Based on a series of novels by the late Sunao Yoshida, which were subsequently transformed into manga adaptations, the neo-Gothic sci-fi adventure Trinity Blood is a 24-episode anime series recounting an epic battle between good and evil as bloodsucking vampires fight tooth and claw against emissaries of the Church with the earth as the prize.

Volume Five contains episodes 17 to 20:

The Night Lords: Part III - The Island Of Her Darling Children: After being badly wounded by one of the Puppet Master's assassins in the previous episode, Esther is recovering from her injuries. Meanwhile Ion encounters Radu, who tells him a secret about Esther - a secret that brings into question her motives.

The Night Lords: Part IV - The Palace Of Jade: Radu's trap is complete as Ion and Esther are captured and brought before the Empress as traitors. Ion tries to warn the Empress, but his cries fall on deaf ears and Ion and Esther are thrown in a cell. Radu visits them and reveals his true identity before shooting Ion, knowing that the bloodlust will cause him to lose control of his actions and his inner demon will force him to feed on Esther.

The Night Lords: Part V - A Start of Pilgrimage: Ion begs Esther to kill him before he loses control and quenches his bloodlust. Esther offers to share her blood to keep Ion alive, but he'd better make a quick decision... if he accepts Esther's offer then he'll need to do it before the monster inside takes over and drains Esther dry. As Ion makes his decision Abel and Asta come to the rescue. Later Abel confronts Radu, who seems to have a secret power he's being hiding from the world. As Abel transforms, ready to strike Radu down, Radu unleashes his power, which transforms Abel back into his usual weak self.

The Throne of Roses: Part I: Kingdom of the North: The Queen of Albion lays dying on her deathbed. Albion is a proud society which does not like foreign influences entering into its culture. The Queen's only successor, her son, died years ago and the only other two possible individuals with a right to the throne are foreigners. Once the Queen dies the Vatican takes an interest. Sister Esther and the Pope visit Albion and discover that the great city is hiding a deadly secret.

Extras are of the usual variety. All we get are Textless Opening and Closing Titles and a couple of trailers.

An added bonus for fans of the series is the fact that MVM has slashed the RRP of these discs from £19.99 to £15.99. Now what more incentive do you need to add this fantastic collection to your library?

9

Nick Smithson