Line #46 Anime/MarvelAnimeBlade


1	[[quoteright:262:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Blade_Anime-262x300_4496.jpg]]
2	''Anime/MarvelAnime: ComicBook/{{Blade}}'' is the fourth and final of the Creator/{{Madhouse}} anime series based on Creator/MarvelComics characters. A "Daywalker" born with all of the strengths and none of the weaknesses of a true vampire, titular vampire-hunter Blade is out for revenge against the powerful Deacon Frost, the vampire who killed his then-pregnant mother and caused him to become half-vampire. The story follows Blade as he tracks Frost through modern day Southeast Asia, where he runs into Frost's underground society of vampires, Existence. Making both new allies and enemies along the way, Blade soon discovers a vampire plot in Vietnam that could change the world for the worse.
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4	Featuring a story written by Kenta Fukasaku, son of the late [[Film/BattleRoyale Kinji Fukasaku]], the series premiered on July 1st, 2011 in Japan. The dubbed version began airing in January of 2012, with Creator/HaroldPerrineau providing the voice for Blade.
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6	----
7	!!Tropes:
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9	* ActionGirl: For a good chunk of the series, Blade fights vampires alongside Makoto, a young woman who has dedicated her life to slaying vampires to avenge her father.
10	* AndThisIsFor: Though he never actually says those words, the message is clear enough when Blade [[spoiler: kills Deacon Frost with the help of his mother's knife and Makoto's knuckledusters.]]
11	-->'''Blade''': [[spoiler: My partner sent this for you! Take it!]]
12	* AntiVillain:
13	%%** [[spoiler: Kikyo is, as he was in his [[Anime/MarvelAnimeWolverine previous appearance]].]]
14	** [[spoiler: [[BigBad Deacon Frost]] is a TragicVillain, as he was driven to [[HeWhoFightsMonsters turn himself into a vampire]] by the death of his son and subsequent cover-up by the [[DirtyCop corrupt police force]], creating Existence to take his revenge on all vampires and the humans who work for them.]]
15	* AristocratsAreEvil: In episode 3, he's a vampire that appears to hunt humans in a similar way to a fox hunt.
16	** All of the "purebloods" (traditionalist European vampires) seem to have this trait.
17	* BadassNormal: Makoto and Noah fight vampires without being vampires themselves.
18	* BarehandedBladeBlock: In their final battle, Deacon Frost is able to block Blade's silver sword by catching the flat of the blade between his hands thanks to his SuperSpeed and SuperReflexes.
19	* BigBad: The vampire Deacon Frost, head of the organization Existence, is the ultimate vampire authority that Blade is hunting over the course of the series, and directly responsible for all of the particular obstacles that our hero faces.
20	* BigDamnHeroes: Episode 11, [[spoiler: Noah busts in to save Blade, toting a [[{{BFG}} mini-gun]] and a [[StuffBlowingUp crapton of strategically placed explosives]].]]
21	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: The finale has tinges of this. Blade finally kills Deacon Frost, but it's now to avenge two people instead of one -- his mother and [[KilledOffForReal Makoto]]. Existence may now be gone forever, but the purebloods are still out there wreaking havoc on innocents. Blade may have won the day, but he knows his job isn't over until all vampires are destroyed, so he, Noah, and Razor are off to Europe to continue their vampire hunter duties.]]
22	* BloodKnight: Kikyo, the stoic, fight-loving mutant samurai from the Wolverine anime, returns in this series, still searching for a WorthyOpponent. He'll happily cut down anyone in his way if he needs to, but what he craves more than anything are strong foes who can test his skills.
23	* BloodierAndGorier: In stark contrast to the other three series of the Marvel anime universe, which rely on BloodlessCarnage, ''Blade'' holds no such punches. Blood spills from cuts and stabs, vampires drink life's blood from human victims, and gore generally punctuates every act of physical violence, even if the vampires themselves tend to burn into ashes when slain.
24	* CallingYourAttacks: Downplayed. Blade normally fights without calling out individual techniques, but has several very distinct moves that he always verbally announces the name of whenever he prepares to use them.
25	** "Deadly Sword Technique #1: [[DoppelgangerSpin Residual/Savage]] [[NoIAmBehindYou Moon]]."
26	** "Deadly Sword Technique #2: [[DeathOfAThousandCuts Phantom]] [[SpectacularSpinning Moon]]."
27	** "[[spoiler:Deadly Sword Technique #3: Chaotic Moon.]]"
28	* TheCameo: [[spoiler: Yep, Wolverine appears in this one too, as the trail takes Blade and Makoto to [[WretchedHive Madripoor.]] It also turns out that [[AntiVillain Kikyo]] survived his duel with Wolverine, and is now working for Existence.]]
29	* CompositeCharacter:
30	** Noah Van Helsing is a character from the comics, and his relationship and first meeting with Blade have similarities to that of Abraham Whistler in the films, which in turn means he's got elements of both Jamal Afari (Blade's mentor) and "Bible" John Carik (character traits).
31	** Blade himself is a composite of the movie version (black trench coat, silver katana and the majority of his weaponry) and his comic book version (primarily in backstory, being born and raised in England).
32	* ConservationOfNinjutsu: Makoto tears her way through a [[{{Mook}} nightclub full of vampires]] with nothing but silver spiked knuckledusters. Faced alone, however, [[BigBad Deacon Frost]] is able to effortlessly toss Blade around.
33	* CoolOldGuy: Noah Van Helsing and Tanba Yagyu, both teachers of Blade, are older men who are still very capable fighters, being capable of hunting and slaying vampires despite being human.
34	* DarkerAndEdgier: This is the darkest of the four Marvel anime, even more so than its precursor ''Wolverine''. Aside from being BloodierAndGorier, it explicitly deals with topics such as human trafficking, murder, revenge and the death of children.
35	* DeathByOriginStory:
36	** Naturally, Blade's mother, as it was well-established in the comics that she had Blade and then was killed. The story is told via flashbacks in the first episode.
37	** Episode four reveals [[spoiler:Blade's mother later came back as a vampire herself, whereupon she killed her former friends, Blade's foster mothers, only to then be slain by Blade himself as his first kill.
38	** [[spoiler:Deacon Frost's backstory revolves around the fact he had a son who was killed by vampires, which galvanized him to become a vampire himself and found Existence.]]
39	* DirtyCop: Several corrupt cops who take bribes from Existence to cover up their slavery, murders and other criminal acts appear in the second episode.
40	* DisposableSexWorker: Eric's mother, Tara [[spoiler: and her friends, killed by Tara herself]]. Later [[InvokedTrope invoked]] by Deacon Frost to make Blade angry.
41	* DyingAsYourself:
42	** [[spoiler: When 10 year old Blade stabbed his vampire mother, she had a brief moment of lucidity where her humanity came back to her before she died. The same thing happened again when Blade killed his vampirized sword master, who had also been turned by Deacon Frost.]]
43	** [[spoiler: Makoto gets this pre-emptively. After being bitten by Deacon Frost, she begs Blade to kill her so she can die while she's still human.]]
44	* FinishingMove: The man who taught Blade [[spoiler: and Kikyo]] how to use a sword taught him a few techniques for finishing a battle.
45	** [[FlashStep Residual/Savage Moon]]: To the villain, it looks like Blade freezes for a second with his sword in hand. When they go for the kill, the [[ExpendableClone clone]] will act as if struck and then disappear. [[NoIAmBehindYou He cuts them in half from behind before they have a chance to react.]]
46	** [[DeathOfAThousandCuts Phantom Moon]]: Blade [[SpectacularSpinning whirls around]], and the villain is sliced to pieces as they are slashed from many angles at once.
47	** [[spoiler: [[HomingProjectile Chaotic Moon]]: The victim sees Blade unleashing a deadly miasma which homes in on them. When it hits, the illusion falls away with Blade's sword piercing them where they were struck]].
48	* FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire: Stan, a ShellShockedVeteran of the Vietnam War, and the last survivor of a unit of vampire soldiers. By far the most moral vampire in the series, he stays away from people and steals blood packs from neighboring towns so he doesn't have to prey on them. [[spoiler: Naturally, this makes him TooCoolToLive.]]
49	* HeWhoFightsMonsters:
50	** Invoked by Blade, who fears a more literal version of this trope as opposed to worrying about the morality of his existence as a vampire hunter. Being a {{dhampyr}}, Blade constantly has to struggle with the same hemovoric appetites as a normal vampire, and so he fears that one day, he may lose this battle of wills and become a blood-sucking predator no different to his quarry. His hope is that he will be destroyed before he can lose that battle, but he's determined to take as many true vampires out before it happens.
51	** [[spoiler: To get revenge for his son, who was murdered by a vampire, Deacon Frost turned himself into a vampire and created Existence in order to be able to destroy the Purebloods, [[YouAreWhatYouHate becoming the very thing he hates]].]]
52	* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Carol, young Eric's foster-mother, as well as the other prostitutes he lived with. His biological mother too, before she became a vampire's victim.
53	* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Jaral wants to become a vampire because he thinks that being human isn't good enough in a world full of vampires and mutants.
54	* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler: Makoto after she is bitten by Deacon Frost. She asks Blade to MercyKill her before she can turn into a vampire. Notable for being the only time (excluding flashbacks) that Blade cries in the series.]]
55	* KickChick: Makoto's fighting style, complete with silver-tipped CombatStilettos.
56	* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: For the most part, vampirism is treated as a virus that people can be infected with, and Existence is trying to use advanced science to create a perfect bloodline. At the same time, one of their weaknesses is WhiteMagic and purebloods can use animals as familiars, suggesting that they are still at least partly supernatural in nature.
57	* MouthOfSauron: Lucius Isaac is one for the Vampire Council.
58	* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Blade.
59	* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Despite Blade being from England like in the comics, Creator/HaroldPerrineau doesn't try an English accent. Nor Noah Bentley (who voices the young Eric) or Nayo Wallace (who voices Blade's mother, Tara) or any of the actresses who voiced Tara's friends do for that matter.
60	* OneWingedAngel: Frost goes this route before his final fight with Blade, mutating into a larger, more muscular form with bony protrusions sticking out his forearms, which enable him to parry Blade's sword slashes.
61	* OurVampiresAreDifferent. And how.
62	** They all have the same set of weaknesses (sunlight and silver), but range from the typical human vampires to a variety of sub-species seemingly based on folktale monsters from Southeast Asian countries. And while they aren't harmed by holy symbols, they are vulnerable to various forms of WhiteMagic.
63	** And, as it turns out, the mythological sub-species [[spoiler: were genetically engineered by Existence, mainly to give Blade more dangerous adversaries, making this a partially InvokedTrope]].
64	* OutlivingOnesOffspring: The reason why [[spoiler:Frost]] is the way he is? Because of his son Edgar's death.
65	* PeopleFarms:
66	** The plot of the second episode is centered around one. Existence filled it with young women and kept them alive in [[PeopleJars water-filled jars]] to harvest their blood.
67	** Another one of these is seen in the finale, and it's ''huge''.
68	* PowerFist: How Makoto fights.
69	* ProfessionalKiller: Kikyo is an assassin for hire, and while he has some honor and standards, he tends to get hired by people who don't.
70	* RedRightHand: Deacon Frost has four fangs, marking him as different even from other vampires. [[spoiler: It is later revealed that this is because his vampirism was artificially induced.]]
71	* RedShirtArmy: Frost's {{mook}}-level soldiers. They even have red uniforms.
72	* TheRival: Kikyo is this to Blade, who really isn't interested in said "rivalry."
73	* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Makoto after her father turned vampire was killed by Blade. Blade for what happened to his mother.
74	* RockBeatsLaser: Played with. The Purebloods attack Existence's base on horseback, with plate armor and broadswords, plowing through the RedShirtArmy with ease. Frost's genetically-engineered monsters give them quite a bit more of a fight.
75	* TheQuisling: The humans working for Existence. Especially Jaral, who doesn't have any particular loyalty to Existence, but is selling them weapons in exchange for the promise of becoming a vampire, which he believes will give him the power to take over Madripoor.
76	* ScareEmStraight: Blade's reputation with the monsters.
77	* SequelHook: The post-credits scene has Blade uncovering a new Vampire plot in London.
78	* ShipperOnDeck: [[spoiler: Wolverine]] ships Makoto and Blade.
79	* ShownTheirWork: The anime uses quite a few rarely-seen breeds of mythological vampires as villains, including the Manananggal, a Filipino "vampire" that hunts by separating its entrail-dangling upper torso from its lower torso and sprouting batlike wings to fly through the night.
80	* TankTopTomboy: For some reason, Makoto thinks that the best outfit to run around the world fighting vampires in is a midriff-baring ensemble.
81	%%* TeamPet: Razor
82	* TeachHimAnger: Deacon Frost's intent is to drive Blade into a rage in order to draw out the full power of a Daywalker.
83	* ThemeNaming: All of Blade's special attacks are named after the moon in some way.
84	* TheyCallHimSword: Blade, where he gets his "known" name, although his given name is Eric Brooks.
85	* {{Tsundere}}: Makoto [[spoiler: especially when Wolverine starts pairing her up with Blade]].
86	* TooDumbToLive: Sorry Makoto, but your father was a real dumbass for thinking "charge in and [[ATeamFiring shoot all of your bullets]]" was going to work on [[BigBad Deacon]] [[SuperSpeed Frost]] of all people.
87	* TruerToTheText: While it does take some cues from the movies, many aspects are truer to the comics than the films, including Blade being English -- even if Creator/HaroldPerrineau, Noah Bentley (who voices the young Eric), and Nayo Wallace (who voices Blade's mother) don't even remotely speak with English accents -- and Deacon Frost being a white-haired older man.
88	* VampireHunter: Well, duh.
89	* WeAreEverywhere: A DirtyCop (specifically the police chief of the Osaka PD with a few uniform and plainclothed officers) working for Existence basically says this to Blade and honest cop Sakomizu. [[spoiler: When Sakomizu's partner pulls this again, threatening Mizu's family if he continues to dig any deeper, it earns the SmugSnake an elbow to the face.]]
90	* WeirdMoon: The moon is always abnormally large and bright red whenever it appears in this series.
91	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
92	** Detective Sakomizu is never seen or heard from again after the second episode.
93	** We never see [[spoiler: what happens to the Vampire Council after the final battle. The last we see is their leader grimly observing Deacon Frost won, but we never actually see if the Council is destroyed or not. Given the post credits scene showing Blade finding a new vampire plot, the Council presumably survived]].
94	* YouKilledMyFather: [[spoiler: Deacon Frost kills Makoto's father, but after he turns into a vampire that is destroyed by Blade, she shouts this at Blade in her grief.]]

Context Anime / MarvelAnimeBlade