is a Japanese

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series written and illustrated by

Yasuhiro Nightow is a Japanese manga artist. His major work ''Trigun'' was adapted into an anime series and film. He also designed the characters for the video game and anime series '' Gungrave'', and has been working on the manga '' Blood Blockade Battlefront' ...

. It revolves around a young photographer named Leonardo Watch, who obtains 'the All Seeing Eyes of the Gods' at the cost of his sister's eyesight. After the incident, Leonardo moves to the city of Hellsalem's Lot to join an organization known as Libra to fight several monsters as well as terrorists. Nightow first published a one-shot chapter in

Shueisha is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Shueisha is the largest publishing company in Japan. It was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The ...

's manga magazine ''

Jump Square , also written as , is a Japanese monthly manga magazine. Published by Shueisha, the magazine premiered on November 2, 2007, as a replacement for ''Monthly Shōnen Jump'', another manga anthology that Shueisha discontinued in June of that year. ...

'' in May 2008. A three-chapter series, with the subtitle ''Mafūgai Kessha'', was published in the same magazine from January to March 2009. ''Blood Blockade Battlefront'' was later serialized in '' Jump SQ.19'' from May 2010 to February 2015, when the magazine ceased publication; Shueisha collected its chapters in ten volumes. A direct sequel, titled ''Blood Blockade Battlefront: Back 2 Back'' was serialized in ''Jump SQ.Crown'' from July 2015 to January 2018, when the magazine ceased publication, and the series was transferred to ''Jump SQ.Rise'', where it ran from April 2018 to April 2022; its chapters were collected in ten volumes. A third series, titled ''Blood Blockade Battlefront: Beat 3 Peat'' started in ''Jump SQ.Rise'' in October 2022. A 12-episode

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

television series produced by Bones was broadcast from April to October 2015. A 12-episode second season was broadcast from October to December 2017. In North America, the first manga series has been licensed for English language release by

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, manga and Artist's book, art book publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon, by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, O ...

, while the anime series has been licensed by

Funimation Funimation was an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service. Launched in 2016, the service was one of the leading distributors of anime ...

(later

Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation. The service primarily distributes fi ...

). Both the manga and anime were well received by publications due to its story and characters.

Plot

''Blood Blockade Battlefront'' centers around the crime fighting organization "Libra" and their battles in Hellsalem's Lot, formerly known as

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Hellsalem's Lot was created when a portal to the "Beyond" opened, becoming a paranormal melting pot of monsters, magic and the everyday mundane life, and it is up to Libra to clear the streets of trouble and prevent the horrors of this city from spreading to the outside world.

Media

Manga

''Blood Blockade Battlefront'' is written and illustrated by

. Nightow first published a one-shot chapter in

's manga magazine ''

'' on May 2, 2008. It only featured very few members of the final cast and had a much different tone, with more emphasis on it being a

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

hunting story in a contemporary city. A three-chapter series, titled , was serialized in ''Jump Square'' from January 5 to March 4, 2009. Another one-shot chapter was published in the second volume of ''Jump SQ.M'' (''Jump Square Masterpiece'') on October 23, 2009. ''Blood Blockade Battlefront'' was then serialized in the then brand new quarterly magazine '' Jump SQ.19'' starting on May 19, 2010. The series finished with the 18th and last issue of the magazine on February 19, 2015. Shueisha collected its chapters in ten volumes, released from January 4, 2010, to April 3, 2015. In 2010, the series was licensed for English release by

. The ten volumes were released from September 14, 2011, to July 25, 2018. On January 28, 2025, Dark Horse Comics announced that it will publish the series in a 3-in-1

omnibus edition An omnibus edition or omnibus is a book containing multiple creative works by the same or, more rarely, different authors. Commonly two or more of the works have been previously published as books, but a collection of shorter works, or shorter w ...

, with the first volume set to be released on July 15 of the same year.

Sequels

A direct sequel, titled ''Blood Blockade Battlefront: Back 2 Back'', started in the first issue of '' Jump SQ.Crown'' on July 17, 2015. The magazine ceased publication on January 19, 2018, and the series continued publication in the first ever issue of '' Jump SQ.Rise'', released on April 16 of that same year. The series finished on April 28, 2022. Shueisha collected its chapters in ten volumes, released from January 4, 2016, to August 4, 2022. A third series, titled ''Blood Blockade Battlefront: Beat 3 Peat'', started in ''Jump SQ.Rise'' on October 26, 2022. The first volume was released on July 4, 2023. As of April 4, 2024, two volumes have been released.

Anime

television series adaptation was announced in May 2014. It was produced by studio Bones and directed by Rie Matsumoto. The series was broadcast for 12 episodes on

MBS MBS may refer for: People * Mohammed Ben Sulayem (born 1961), president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile * Mohammed bin Salman (born 1985), crown prince and prime minister of Saudi Arabia * Mohan Bikram Singh (born 1935), Nepales ...

from April 5 to October 4, 2015. A 25-minute

original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and special episodes of a series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the ...

(OVA) titled "King of the Restaurant of Kings" was bundled with the official ''Blood Blockade Battlefront'' guidebook, released on June 3, 2016. A second season was announced in December 2016. Titled , the series was broadcast on MBS from October 8 to December 24, 2017. A 24-minute original animation DVD (OAD) was bundled with the fifth volume of the ''Blood Blockade Battlefront Back 2 Back'' manga, released on July 4, 2018.

licensed the series for streaming on its official website. Following

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

's acquisition of

, the series was moved to the platform. The series was licensed by

Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, stylized as MADMAN, is an Australian film and television production, distribution, entertainment, and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising ...

and AnimeLab for an English release in Australia and New Zealand.

Music

The music for the series was composed by . The original soundtrack album for the series was released on July 15, 2015. The original soundtrack album for ''Blood Blockade Battlefront & Beyond'' was released on December 13, 2017.

Bump of Chicken is a Japanese alternative rock group from Sakura, Chiba. The band members are Motoo Fujiwara (Vocalist, vocals, Rhythm guitar, rhythm), Hiroaki Masukawa (guitar), Yoshifumi Naoi (Bass guitar, bass) and Hideo Masu (Drum kit, drums). Since their c ...

performed the first opening theme, "", while Unison Square Garden performed the ending theme . For ''Blood Blockade Battlefront & Beyond'', Unison Square Garden performed the opening theme "", while Daoko and Yasuyuki Okamura (credited as Daoko × Yasuyuki Okamura) performed the ending theme .

Stage play

In the sixth volume of ''Blood Blockade Battle Front Back 2 Back'', it was revealed that a live action stage play inspired by the manga was being produced. It ran at The Galaxy Theatre in Tokyo from November 2–10, 2019, and at Umeda Arts Theater Dramacity from November 14–17 of that same year. Daisuke Nishida directed and wrote the play.

Reception

The manga series of ''Blood Blockade Battlefront'' received generally good critical response. Brigid Alverson from MTV Geek criticized the artwork for being hard to follow and stated "it boils down to a matter of taste. Blood Blockade Battleground is a good choice for readers who like a lot of action and don't mind being dropped into the middle of the story, without a lot of setup." On the other hand, The Fandom Post's John Rose praised the artwork more specifically the monsters' designs. He highly recommended it to ''

Trigun is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yasuhiro Nightow. It was first serialized in Tokuma Shoten's manga magazine ''Monthly Shōnen Captain'' from March 1995 to December 1996, until the magazine ceased its publication; ...

''s readers as well as superhero comic reader, sci-fi hero and ''

Futurama ''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company and later revived by Comedy Central, and then Hulu. The series follows Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1 ...

'' fans. Several of the volumes have also appeared in rankings for bestselling manga. The anime adaptation of the series has received generally positive reviews. Jacob Hope Chapman from

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and ot ...

praised the cast and studio Bones' work. Additionally, he liked the consistency in quality and commented "The contiguous threads laced through these episodic adventures are beginning to converge fast, and while I can't see the full picture yet, I know Rie Matsumoto is building the anime-original material of Leo's romance into something special. The animation continues to be jaw-dropping. The music continues to be soul-warming. There's never enough time in one writeup to talk about everything that makes the episode so damn good. Blood Blockade Battlefront continues to be The Very Best." Jarius Taylor from the Fandom Post called it "both ridiculously cool and ridiculously weird" and praised the cast like Chapman. In a later review he said "It’s still not entirely clear what this show is going for yet but for now it’s a good ride and I have more than enough faith in the people behind it to believe the destination will be worthwhile." Rachael Verret, a writer from The Mary Sue, gave the series a perfect score having pointed out its "energy and joviality" seen through the cast and the ending sequences which reminded her of another series, ''

Baccano! is a Japanese light novel series written by Ryohgo Narita and illustrated by Katsumi Enami. The series, told from multiple Narrative mode, points of view, is mostly set within a fictional United States across time most notably the Prohib ...

''. Similarly, Chapman wrote an article titled "Three Reasons Why Blood Blockade Battlefront is the Best Show of the Spring" commenting "It's the coolest, cutest, and cleverest anime I've seen in a long time, easily the best new show of the Spring 2015." The first DVD of the series sold 4,784 units during its debut. Meanwhile, the first Blu-ray sold 12,171 units in its first week of release. For the '' Newtype'' preliminary awards for 2015, the series was sixth in the category "Sound" while fourth in the category "Theme Song" for "Sugar Song to Bitter Step." In the category "Best Mascot", Sonic ranked first. In another poll by the Japanese magazine ''Entermix'', the series was voted as the second most popular one.

Notes

References

External links

* * * * {{Bones (studio) Action anime and manga Anime and manga set in New York City Anime and manga about werewolves Anime series based on manga Bones (studio) Comics set in New York City Crunchyroll anime Dark Horse Comics titles Funimation Mainichi Broadcasting System original programming Manga adapted into television series Post-apocalyptic anime and manga Shōnen manga Shueisha franchises Shueisha manga Toho Animation Urban fantasy anime and manga Vampires in anime and manga