Template:Series
ZERO: Black Blood is the spin-off series of Garo and continues after the events of GARO: Lament of the Dark Dragon. It is the first entry of the ZERO Series.
Story
A decade before the story, a makai family was destroyed due to the appearance of the White Horror, Ring. The family consisted of Makai Knight Kuroudo (the husband), Makai Priestess Iyu (the wife), and Yuna (their daughter). Kuroudo would perform his knightly duties along with Iyu as her magical skills aid Kuroudo in combat. One fateful night, Kuroudo fought against a group of Horrors. Facing large numbers, Iyu helped Kuroudo in combat and sang a special song that helps sooth his pains and helps him turn the tide of the fight. However, Ring took notice of Iyu and felt she was special. Yuna came out in the middle of combat, distracting Iyu long enough that she didn't realize a Horror was charging after her. By the time she noticed, the Horror's claws managed to scratch Iyu's retinas, blinding her and she fell down a ravine. Presumed to be dead, Ring took the opportunity to save Iyu and used his powers to manipulate her mind and will. Both Kuroudo and Yuna believed Iyu was dead and Kuroudo made it his mission to end Ring for his wife.
Kuroudo would later have a new priest as his partner, Cain. The two would continue the hunt Ring for another decade until the two found Ring and also spotted Iyu. In this fateful confrontation, Kuroudo was distracted by the fact his wife is apparently working with Ring and his right arm was cut off by Ring during combat. With his sword still clutched to the severed arm, Kuroudo couldn't fight back and was killed in combat. Cain survived the incident and only told Yuna that Kuroudo was killed by Ring, never telling her that Iyu was still alive. Yuna realized her current abilities was too weak and she need an edge; she convinced Cain to use her father's surviving bone (from the severed arm) and have it magically fused into her arm, granting her the ability to wield a makai knight's sword. Although she now feels she has the ability to better take on Ring, she can't summon her father's armor and she can only use the sword in its most basic form. The two would vow to take down Ring, but also realized their powers alone are too weak; with the help of the Makai Order, the Watchdogs gave orders for Cain, Yuna, and Silver Knight Zero.
Meanwhile, Ring has utilized Iyu's singing to help pacify his Horror instincts and create his own cult. With Iyu at his side, he could gain strength from her, feed less on humans, and have greater ability to use his intellect. With a small gathering of Horrors that will follow him, Ring gathered a collective of Japanese youngsters that all had personal reasons for escaping society. Some have committed crimes, murder, and others wanted to disappear. Whatever the reason may be, Ring looks for such humans and offer them a place in his so-called sanctuary, where those who agree to live under his care will have protection and care provided for them. By manipulating Iyu's mind, he was able to create barriers in large areas that would avoid makai detection and allow his cult to flourish for some time. However, all this care has a price, a monthly sacrifice.
A community leader was chosen amongst the populace to tend to all their needs, but when the time comes, he would be given a pill collection that's actually contains Horror's blood. Intermixed with regular vitamins, it is their lottery system to see who's the next chosen. When a Horror's blood makes contact with a human, they become Blood Dolce, a physical state in which the body slowly decays, but makes the person very delicious to Horrors. Ring has given this condition that one of their members would become a sacrifice for the rest of the group and because the people he collects are that desperate to avoid society, they often accept this risky offer, being culled like farm animals on a ranch when it's time. Ring would reason to the new recruits that they all have a 1 in 50 chance of being chosen to make his offer look less bleak. With the help of Iyu, Ring was able to pacify his herd of human sheep; her song calms them, revitalizes Ring, and keeps the sacrifices calm until they're completely devoured by the lesser Horrors. The Makai Order later discovered this unusual situation and asked the trio to stop Ring.
The night before meeting with Cain and Yuna, Rei actually had a run in with Ring. He was chasing down one of the sacrifices that refused to be eaten on a rooftop when Rei intervened. Their battle was short-lived as Ring's top priority was to re-capture his sacrifice and feed his fellow Horrors. The following day, while sleeping within his apartment, Rei was surprised to encounter Yuna. As both a practical joke and to test out Rei's abilities as a knight, Cain convinced Yuna to attack him in his sleep. Rei was confused at first as girls can't wield a knight's sword. After nearly defeating Yuna, Cain intervened to stop the fight and explain their true reasons for being here: the mission to stop Ring. Rei rarely likes to partner up with people and he didn't like the idea of having priest and a would-be knight tagging along with him. He was about to leave both of them until Yuna explained that Ring is unique and went into details about Ring's cult. Surprised and disgusted that humans would willingly allow Horrors to devour them for some false sense of security, the trio agreed to find and take down Ring together.
The trio managed to find the cult's most recent location, an abandoned theme park. The barrier warded off all forms of detection and also kept people away from entering their private world without a magical talisman to gain entry or exit. Because of Cain's magical skills, he was able to help the group gain entry. Once they got in, they realized the cult had moved on and Ring and hoard had stayed behind to trap and attempt to kill the trio. Rei was unsuccessful in battle as Ring proved to be very formidable in his human form. Things would get difficult when Iyu arrived and shocked everyone that a priestess would side with a Horror. The Horror's left and the trio survived their first major battle with Ring.
Later on, the trio managed to find a feather that belonged to Ring. They used the feather as a means to find Ring and discovered he's currently located at an abandoned area of an airport. Rei realized Yuna would have issues facing Iyu in combat and felt her resolve isn't strong enough to kill her own mother. Rei challenged Yuna to duel him to show her resolve, but she failed and Rei left her alone with Cain as he resolves to take down Ring alone. Cain and Yuna shortly decided to join the fight regardless to help Rei.
At the airport, Ring fought Rei on a one-on-one melee sword fight. Overly confident of his abilities, Ring never once asked for help and egotistically believes he'll win the fight (because of Iyu's help). However, he didn't know Cain and Yuna also arrived. Ring constantly challenged Rei's desire to protect humanity, especially to the low-lives that he gathered himself. However, Rei still believes all lives are precious and worth saving despite their poor sense of ethical morality. To prove a point, Ring told his herd that Rei intends to destroy what they built together and that whoever helps kill the knight will not have to worry about being culled as sacrificial candidates. Motivated by their greed, the herd attacked Rei and he did his best to fend them off without causing serious harm. Believing Rei will be ironically killed by the very humanity he had sworn to protect, Ring watched with enjoyment until he heard Iyu sing.
Whenever Iyu sang, the soothing and healing properties of the song was focused on Ring. However, Iyu encountered her daughter once again. Yuna couldn't kill her mother, but both mother and daughter sang the song together to show they still love each other. With the song's powers redirected at Yuna, Ring couldn't control his Horror impulses anymore and had a strong desire to feed. Iyu wished to atone for helping Ring for nearly a decade by allowing Ring to devour her as the trio watched in horror. With Iyu out of the equation, Ring can't control his Horror nature and his hold over the cult has been broken. Zero summons forth Ginga and with the help of Cain and Yuna, Zero slays Ring and ended his cult. Even though defeated, his spirit was still present and angry as he felt he had the perfect solution to break the unending war between the light and dark; Rei simply makes it clear he'll always look after humanity, an answer Ring couldn't accept and he vanished.
With Ring gone, both Cain and Yuna found closure as both felt they have atoned for Kuroudo's death. Happier than ever, the duo now start their lives anew, no longer chained by their past. Rei never formally bid the two farewell as he returned to his favorite bar, Lupo, to hang with the master barkeeper. The story continues with Rei's new missing to protect the Dragon Egg the events of Dragon Blood.
Cast & Characters
- Ray Fujita as Rei Suzumura/ZERO the Silver Fanged Knight
- Riria/Chiari Komori (young) as Yuna
- Naoki Takeshi as Kain
- Karia Nomoto as Iyu
- Guadalcanal Taka as Bakura
- Thane Camus as Ring
- Shogen as Kuroudo
- Zuimaro Awashima as Katou
- Yuki Sera as Satoshi Wanda
- Mayo Onuki as Natsumi Suemori
- Hassei Takano as Kousuke Nakaima
- Satomi Hiraguri as Ura
- Asaki Kuwahara as Sare
- Miori Yoshida as Era
- Saki Hagiyama as Shire
- Yasuyuki Hirano as Man Horror (A)
- Kondou Tatsuya as Man Horror (B)
- Nordi as Woman Horror (A)
- Ai Tsuchiya as Woman Horror (B)
- Takuya Matsuda as Man Horror (C)
- Masaya Mimura as Man Horror (D)
- Daisuke Honda as Customer (A)
- Shaq as Customer (B)
- Ayako Hino as Woman
- Ai Orikasa (Voice) as Silva and Customer (C)
- Rintarō Nishi (voice) as Priest
Articles & References
TBA
Notes & Trivia
TBA
External Links
ZERO: Black Blood Official Site (Japanese)
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