Ask John: Will There Be More Trinity Blood?

Question:
Will there be more Trinity Blood anime because the series ended on episode twenty-four and not twenty-six, a full season?

Answer:
While most “single season” anime television series have 26 episodes, a series having only 24 or 25 episodes isn’t uncommon and doesn’t mean that the show concluded early or wasn’t a full season. In practical terms, an anime television series of roughly 24-29 episodes is usually considered “one season.” (Technically Japan’s TV broadcast year has four 13 week seasons, but generally half a year is considered one full length season for an anime TV series.)

For reference, recent anime series including Scrapped Princess, Melody of Oblivion, Kurau: Phantom Memory, Maburaho, and Honey & Clover have all had only 24 episodes and no sequel series. The Ai Yori Aoshi TV series was also 24 episodes, but it did get a sequel series.

TV shows including Berserk, Final Fantasy Unlimited, Spiral, Tactics, and Peach Girl have only 25 episodes and no sequels.

Air Master had 27 episodes. The Street Fighter II V series had 29 episodes.

Trinity Blood is a Gonzo production. It’s actually quite common for Gonzo TV series to have only 24 episodes. Gonzo’s Bakuretsu Tenshi, Basilisk, Chrno Crusade, Full Metal Panic, Gankutsuou, Kiddy Grade, Sunabozu, Gatekeepers, Peacemaker Kurogane, and Speed Grapher have all been 24 episode series. Among these 11 shows, only two have had sequels.

Typically sequel or follow-up anime series are usually announced within roughly 12 months of the end of the preceding series. Since Trinity Blood is still so relatively recent, there’s certainly still a reasonable chance that a second series will be announced. However, considering that Trinity Blood is a show that appeals to only a relatively small Japanese audience, and considering that the Trinity Blood anime wasn’t a smash hit in Japan (I don’t mean that the series was a failure in Japan; it merely succeeded as well as a show of this type can be reasonably expected to perform), I don’t expect the show to get a sequel. Typically, bleak, dark, Gothic, and sophisticated anime TV series don’t last beyond their originally scheduled production run in Japan because these shows only appeal to a small Japanese audience. Shows including Tsukihime, Kousetsu Hyaku Monogatari, Berserk, Devilman Lady, Texhnolyze, and Boogiepop Phantom, which have characteristics in common with Trinity Blood, don’t have sequel series. Although darker and macabre anime are popular among American fans, Japanese viewers generally prefer bright, cheerful, humorous and romantic anime.