Blood Blockade Battlefront

Blood Blockade Battlefront (Japanese: 血界戦線, Hepburn: Kekkai Sensen, lit. "Bloodline Battlefront") is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yasuhiro Nightow. 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.

Blood Blockade Battlefront
Manga volume 1 cover, featuring Klaus V. Reinherz
血界戦線 (Kekkai Sensen)
Genre	Action^[1] Science fiction^[1] Urban fantasy^[2]
Manga
Written by	Yasuhiro Nightow
Published by	Shueisha
English publisher	NA: Dark Horse Comics
Imprint	Jump Comics SQ.
Magazine	Jump Square (January 5–March 4, 2009) Jump SQ.19 (May 19, 2010–February 19, 2015)
Demographic	Shōnen
Original run	January 5, 2009 – February 19, 2015
Volumes	10 (List of volumes)
Further information Anime television series Directed by Rie Matsumoto Produced by Wakana Okamura Daisuke Furuya Ryōsuke Mori Naoki Amano Mai Murakami Ryū Hashimoto Toshiaki Kaneko Written by Kazunao Furuya Music by Taisei Iwasaki Studio Bones Licensed by AUS: Madman Entertainment NA: Crunchyroll SEA: Plus Media Networks Asia UK: Anime Limited Original network MBS, Tokyo MX, BS11 English network SEA: Aniplus Asia Original run April 4, 2015 – October 4, 2015 Episodes 12 + OVA (List of episodes) Manga Blood Blockade Battlefront: Back 2 Back Written by Yasuhiro Nightow Published by Shueisha Imprint Jump Comics SQ. Magazine Jump SQ.Crown (July 17, 2015–February 19, 2018) Jump SQ.Rise (April 16, 2018–April 28, 2022) Demographic Shōnen Original run July 17, 2015 – April 28, 2022 Volumes 10 (List of volumes) Anime television series Blood Blockade Battlefront & Beyond Directed by Shigehito Takayanagi Produced by Wakana Okamura Daisuke Furuya Ryōsuke Mori Yoshihiro Otsuki Fumihito Fukino Hiroshi Kamei Written by Yasuko Kamo Music by Taisei Iwasaki Studio Bones Licensed by SEA: Plus Media Networks Asia AUS/NA: Crunchyroll Original network MBS, Tokyo MX, BS11 English network SEA: Aniplus Asia Original run October 7, 2017 – December 23, 2017 Episodes 12 + OVA (List of episodes) Manga Blood Blockade Battlefront: Beat 3 Peat Written by Yasuhiro Nightow Published by Shueisha Magazine Jump SQ.Rise Demographic Shōnen Original run October 26, 2022 – present Volumes 1 (List of volumes)

Nightow first published a one-shot chapter in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Jump Square 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 10 tankōbon 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 10 tankōbon volumes. A third series, titled Blood Blockade Battlefront: Beat 3 Peat started in Jump SQ.Rise in October 2022.

A 12-episode anime 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 manga has been licensed for English language release by Dark Horse Comics, while the anime series has been licensed by Funimation. Both the manga and anime were well received by publications due to its story and characters.

Plot

Main article: List of Blood Blockade Battlefront characters

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

Main article: List of Blood Blockade Battlefront chapters

Blood Blockade Battlefront is written and illustrated by Yasuhiro Nightow. Nightow first published a one-shot chapter in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Jump Square on May 2, 2008.^[3][4] It only featured very few members of the final cast and had a much different tone, with more emphasis on it being a vampire hunting story in a contemporary city. A three-chapter series, titled Kekkai Sensen − Mafūgai Kessha (血界戦線 -魔封街結社-), was serialized in Jump Square from January 5 to March 4, 2009.^[5][6] Another one-shot chapter was published in Jump SQ.M (Jump Square Masterpiece) vol.002, released on October 23, 2009.^[7] Blood Blockade Battlefront was then serialized in the then brand new quarterly magazine Jump SQ.19, which first issue was released on May 19, 2010.^[8] The series finished with the 18th and last issue of Jump SQ.19, released on February 19, 2015.^[9] Shueisha collected its chapters in ten tankōbon volumes, released from January 4, 2010,^[10] to April 3, 2015.^[11] In 2010, the series was licensed for English release by Dark Horse Comics.^[12]

A direct sequel, titled Blood Blockade Battlefront: Back 2 Back, started in the first issue of Jump SQ.Crown on July 17, 2015.^[13] The magazine ceased publication on January 19, 2018,^[14][15] and the series continued publication in the first ever issue of Jump SQ.Rise, released on April 16, 2018.^[16] The series finished on April 28, 2022.^[17][18] Shueisha collected its chapters in ten tankōbon volumes, released from January 4, 2016,^[19] to August 4, 2022.^[20]

A third series, titled Blood Blockade Battlefront: Beat 3 Peat, started in Jump SQ.Rise on October 26, 2022.^[18][21][22]

Anime

See also: List of Blood Blockade Battlefront episodes

The manga was adapted into an anime television series produced by studio Bones and directed by Rie Matsumoto as first announced in May 2014.^[23][24] Funimation licensed the series to stream on its official website.^[25] Following Sony's acquisition of Crunchyroll, the series was moved to Crunchyroll.^[26] The anime adaptation premiered on April 4, 2015. The series was licensed by Madman Entertainment and AnimeLab for an English release.^[27][28] The final episode was originally scheduled for broadcast on July 4,^[29] but was delayed further due to exceeding the length of its normal 30 minute timeslot.^[30] It was eventually scheduled for October 4, 2015.^[31] A 25-minute original video animation titled "King of the Restaurant of Kings" was bundled with the official Blood Blockade Battlefront guidebook that was released on June 3, 2016.^[32]

A second season was announced in December 2016.^[33] It was broadcast from October 7, 2017 to December 24, 2017,^[34] running for 12 episodes.^[35] A 24-minute original animation DVD was bundled with the fifth volume of the Blood Blockade Battlefront Back 2 Back manga which was released on July 4, 2018, with Shigehito Takayanagi and Bones returning from the second season of the anime series to direct and animate the OAD, respectively.^[36]

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.^[37] 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.^[38]

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."^[39] On the other hand, The Fandom Post's John Rose praised the artwork more specifically the monsters' designs. He highly recommended it to Trigun's readers as well as superhero comic reader, sci-fi hero and Futurama fans.^[40] Several of the volumes have also appeared in rankings for bestselling manga.^[41][42]

The anime adaptation of the series has received generally positive reviews. Jacob Hope Chapman from Anime News Network praised the cast and studio Bones' work.^[43] 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."^[44] Jarius Taylor from the Fandom Post called it "both ridiculously cool and ridiculously weird" and praised the cast like Chapman.^[45] 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."^[46] 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!.^[47] 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."^[48]

The first DVD of the series sold 4,784 units during its debut.^[49] Meanwhile, the first Blu-ray sold 12,171 units in its first week of release.^[50] 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.^[51] In another poll by the Japanese magazine Entermix, the series was voted as the second most popular one.^[52]

References

1. Komatsu, Mikikazu (March 5, 2019). "Yasuhiro Nightow's Blood Blockade Battlefront Manga Gets Stage Play Adaptation This Fall". Crunchyroll. from the original on October 16, 2020. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
2. Espiritu, Emmanuelle (September 5, 2017). "'Blood Blockade Battlefront & Beyond' Air Date, Spoilers: Origins of the All Seeing Eyes to Be Revealed in Sophomore Season". The Christian Post. from the original on April 21, 2019. Retrieved April 21, 2019.
3. Loo, Egan (March 28, 2008). "Trigun's Nightow to Draw 1-Shot in Jump Square Mag". Anime News Network. from the original on September 18, 2020. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
4. . manganohi.jp (in Japanese). May 2, 2008. Archived from the original on May 11, 2008. Retrieved April 14, 2022. 【ジャンプスクエア】ジャンプSQ．6月号、 5月2日発売!! […] 〔特別読みきり！〕内藤泰弘 『血界戦線』科学万能の現代に、闇にまぎれてうごめく異能の者達。"牙狩り"クラウスは、彼らの魔手から人々を救うために戦い続ける――。制作秘話インタビューも掲載!!
5. Nightow, Yasuhiro (January 5, 2009). . Electric Flier – Yasuhiro Nightow official website (in Japanese). Archived from the original on January 23, 2009. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
6. Loo, Egan (February 2, 2009). "Trigun's Nightow to End Kekkai Sensen Manga". Anime News Network. from the original on February 13, 2019. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
7. 内藤泰弘「血界戦線」1巻発売決定。ジャンプSQ.M2号には新作. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. October 23, 2009. from the original on April 21, 2021. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
8. SQ.19本日創刊！古屋兎丸新連載や河下水希読み切り掲載. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. May 19, 2010. from the original on June 13, 2021. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
9. ジャンプSQ19が本日発売号で刊行終了、7月にスクエアの新増刊. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. February 19, 2015. from the original on June 21, 2020. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
10. 血界戦線 1 (in Japanese). Shueisha. from the original on October 7, 2011. Retrieved May 3, 2015.
11. 血界戦線 10 (in Japanese). Shueisha. from the original on April 30, 2015. Retrieved May 3, 2015.
12. Ciolek, Todd (October 8, 2010). "Dark Horse Panel - New York Anime Festival 2010". Anime News Network. from the original on January 21, 2022. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
13. Ressler, Karen (July 3, 2015). "D. Gray-Man Manga Relaunches in New Jump Square Crown Magazine". Anime News Network. from the original on July 21, 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
14. Pineda, Rafael Antonio (January 18, 2018). "Jump SQ. Crown Manga Magazine Ends, Jump SQ. RISE Magazine Launches in April". Anime News Network. from the original on May 6, 2019. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
15. ジャンプSQ.CROWNが本日発売号で刊行終了、4月に新増刊SQ.RISE誕生. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. January 19, 2018. from the original on July 6, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
16. ジャンプSQ.新増刊・RISE発売！小畑健、加藤和恵が互いの作品描くポスターも. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. April 16, 2018. from the original on October 7, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
17. Hodgkins, Crystalyn (January 30, 2022). "Blood Blockade Battlefront Back 2 Back Manga Ends in Next Chapter". Anime News Network. from the original on January 30, 2022. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
18. 「血界戦線 Back 2 Back」完結！シリーズまとめての無料公開も実施中. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. April 28, 2022. from the original on April 28, 2022. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
19. 血界戦線 Back 2 Back 1 (in Japanese). Shueisha. from the original on August 4, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
20. 血界戦線 Back 2 Back 10 -災蠱競売篇／屍- [Blood Blockade Battlefront Back 2 Back 10 -Disaster Auction / Corpse-] (in Japanese). Shueisha. from the original on August 3, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2022. The conclusion of the Disaster Auction Arc
21. Pineda, Rafael (April 29, 2022). "Blood Blockade Battlefront Back 2 Back Manga Gets Continuation in Fall". Anime News Network. from the original on April 29, 2022. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
22. 内藤泰弘「血界戦線」サードシーズン「Beat 3 Peat」、SQ.RISEで開幕. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. October 26, 2022. from the original on October 26, 2022. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
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34. (in Japanese). Otakomu. Archived from the original on February 19, 2019. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
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42. "Japanese Comic Ranking, December 3–9". Anime News Network. December 12, 2012. from the original on November 4, 2015. Retrieved December 13, 2012.
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External links

• Blood Blockade Battlefront: Back 2 Back official website at Jump SQ. (in Japanese)
• Blood Blockade Battlefront official anime website (in Japanese)
• Blood Blockade Battlefront & Beyond official website (in Japanese)
• Blood Blockade Battlefront (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia