Nya, what a great review. I need to finish this anime. Life was in the way, and I couldnt finish it.. xD
I liked it this anime a lot. Great plot and characters esp the action. :)
Thanks for sharing~
The main cast as they appear in the second half of the series.
Saya of the nineteenth century.
The three longest surviving Schiff.
The sinful and relentless Queen, Diva.
Blood+ tv Review
Saya Otonashi is an ordinary high school student, but that soon changes when a chiropteran, a bat-like animal created by the main antagonist, Diva, attacks Saya. Saya then reunites with her chevalier, Hagi, and begins to fight again. Though she can fight again, she must recover her memories. Now she goes out on her journey, along with the Red Shield (an organization that is working alongside Saya), her family, and Hagi to recover her memories, and kill her sister (Diva) to rid the world of the chiropterans.
By: simplex33
Story & Characters
Audiences only remember Blood from the 2000 anime movie Blood: The Last Vampire which tried to sell the franchise as a ruthless, gut-crunching action vehicle. And it has the squirting blood and indiscriminate death to back the claim up. While Last Vampire ends up a cliffhanger, Plus is here to bring a pleasant surprise, not too shabby, but a strong and solid adventure.
Under the care of her adoptive family, Otonashi Saya is has been living under the life of amnesia, but otherwise ordinary schoolgirl. Despite the best efforts to maintain a normal life, Saya's fate is changed after being induced by a bloody kiss to become superpowered swordswoman to slaughter a breed of blood-sucking monster known as Chiropterans. Tragedy soon befalls her family; now armed with a katana and assisted by her hot-headed older brother Kai, sensitive younger brother Riku along with the handsome yet mysterious assistant Haji, Saya affiliates with the secret anti-Chiropteran organization called Red Shield, trying to defeat the beasts as she is the only being with the power to do so and searching for her origin.
Though not entirely relentless, the series moves at a brisk pace, using a slow storytelling that usually ends up giving some boring sidestories and finishes with a cliffhanger. It is not a bad thing, but with the considerable amount of released episodes and complex setting, which consists of savage duels built on deficient amnesiac memories, it's an exhausting experience. The plot is propulsive, never lingering for long in one place, yet never rushing to leave.
As a spiritual successor of Last Vampire, hints of the earlier incarnation's grim power do remain, most notably in the gory flashbacks to Vietnam War and Victorian-era France but also in several cold-blooded tragedies, and the equation of American military intervention with vampirism remains as thought-provoking as ever. Pacing may change between its four seasons, where the series' first half involves a dark, blurry mystery crowed with images of Saya traveling around, slicing monsters and searching for her past, its second basically slows down to one thing: pursuing the main source of this trail of carnage. With Saya's past laid bare, it lacks the forward momentum that characterized its first half. It's still a powerful stronghold, but not as powerful as before.
Consider the amount of its long run, there's no doubt Blood+'s cast proves to be a more conventional work than most works. Very standard stuff. It has your very standard set of characters. The central character Saya works well, when you compare her normally quiet and gluttonous schoolgirl self to the unrelenting force of nature she was once, one cannot deny that she's one of the most interesting female lead. The second half might drag Saya down from distancing herself from comrades, chasing her archenemy and keeping promise with Haji, all which lowers her characters to a weaker, more emotional image. For once, Saya considers to lead a "normal" life then rejects it after learning about her past, even though powered by Kai, who in return must accept her despite the chilling truth about his adoptive sister and ambiguous relationship with Haji. As he has grown up in the second half, the series layers Kai's character through his more responsible belief, friendship with the artificial vampires Schiff and follows his father's footstep "live for tomorrow." The Saya/Haji relationship is a compelling work of both brutality and potential exploitation, which often overshadows the seemingly anguish brotherhood of Saya/Kai/Riku. Haji's rivalry complex with Solomon is pretty petty as well.
On a welcoming treat, the supporting characters offer some interesting stories, explaining the nature of their works bit
by bit. A dedicated reporter follows the trail of carnage, wanting to seek out the truth is a dumb cliche but his own
course of journey with reluctant assistant, Kai's passionate girlfriend who wants to pursue her dream man only to
realizes her love will never be returned and decides to patch up the complicated relationship between Saya and Kai, is a
plus. David's long-time dedication to the Red Shield distances his personal happiness, only to regains it much
later, of course after through some painful yet emotional struggles. Amshel, though being the ruthless old man he is, he
never trails off his true intention any researcher would dream of. Saya's arch-nemesis, the mysterious girl known
only as Diva is a nasty piece of work, tends to destroy things when bored and often torments others, but she only
desires the happy life her nemesis had; towards the end of her own tale, she becomes one of the strongest villains.
Violence and emotion make fine flowing, a potent mix of lightly hinted but fascinating potential characterization.
Rating:
Art
Not to disparage its gut-splitting violence. There are only a few series that do violence as well as Blood+. Filled with fatalities, bloodbaths and amputations; even the smallest wound can cover the whole view red, this really pushes over the top. Its design is simply stunning, handsome drawn characters and nasty-looking monsters clash in athletic displays of killing prowess where speed and smarts are as important as strength.
Unlike a few long series, Blood+'s visual remains sharp and vigorously animated. Being an thriller adventure it is,
Blood+ fits to set in various world-map locations: full scale massacres in exotic jungle ruined from Vietnam War, sword
fights in the Siberian Express, confrontations on the fog-shrouded streets of London, aerial battles in the dark skies
of New York. It's a rare find to see a bloody vampire fiction set in both old mythical Europe to the modern world
to be so cleanly wed, and never with the visceral, emotional success seen here.
Rating:
Sound
Blood+ has produced a strong, solid acting. Given how crucial character ultimately proves, that's not only important but reasonably impressive. The roles are handled with professional, led by newly debuted seiyuu Kitamura Eri who plays Saya, completed Blood+'s production with an excellent performance. From Saya's easygoing high school days to her wrath to battle the voices always match the mood and the faces of the characters.
Another good side is the music. The default audio track is composed with fabulously overwrought gothic score which
really brings the action intense score to booming life. And while not unfamiliar, Blood+ is given with eight different
songs, the wealth of the OP pieces, while blazing, the other EDs capture the meaning and feel of the original dialogues
well.
Rating:
Presentation
From the creative concept, artwork and animation, to the soundtrack, there are a few could match Blood+. The problem with Blood+ certainly isn't entirely flawless. Indeed, it has its own problems. Considered a spiritual successor of Last Vampire, it's a tale of 50 lavishly episodes, all of which tells a very complex serial storyline, often entirely out of chronological order. It's a dark, haunting, slow, sometimes very confusing and intensely violent tale, one with a high barrier of entry, requiring your undivided attention.
However, if you are looking for deeper insight into the story of Last Vampire, a
more complete story, or an alternate interpretation on the subject matter, then patiently watching this series of 50
episodes is definitely worthwhile. If there were a matter in a 50-episode anime series, then Blood+ would be a
miraculous masterpiece. ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Story: 9
Characters: 8
Art: 8
Animation: 10
Voice: 10
Music: 9
Overall: 9
Good:
+Excellent concepts, clever storytelling devices and unique characters make story satisfying.
+Beautifully rendered, intense and highly entertaining.
+Strong music score and voice actings.
Bad:
+Almost too punishingly difficult, brutal, slow and cryptic to tolerate.
+Not very rewarding in the end.
Rating:
Final Verdict
8.8333 (very good)
Reviewed by Weskalia, Aug 12, 2011
Comments
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mbeckley Aug 12, 2011
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CyanideBlizzard Retired Moderator Aug 12, 2011
I had the pleasure of viewing Blood : The Last Vampire back when I was first really starting to get into anime and I found it to be a guilty pleasure. Nothing truly exceptional, but I enjoyed it for what it was. When I heard that they were making a TV series off of it, I was extremely excited and couldn't wait to see how it played out.
Oh boy. No matter how hard I tried to get into Blood+, i just couldn't. I found Saya to be a boring character after awhile and while I enjoy some moments in the show, I was overall completely dulled to the series itself. While the characters were enjoyable, others just annoyed the heck out of me and as a result I just could not get into this series. I tried a second time watching it with similar results and finally just gave up on liking Blood+. To me, it's sort of like Durarara, I can see why it's so popular, but I don't find it nearly as enjoyable.
Ironically enough, I've found Blood-C to be actually much more enjoyable in both story and character aspect, and yet the series isn't as concentrated as Blood+ was.
I might have to give it another try sometime down the road.
Great job, Weskalia!
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angelxxuan Banned Member Aug 12, 2011
excellent review. a review I agree with :D I've seen blood+, I've seen blood the last vampire, live action as well as the anime movie, not to mention the blood franchise is still rolling on. and I agree with cb viewpoint of -c as well, it seems + went for a more drama and romance feel to it, -c is going in another direction entirely (as of right now). but that's the diversity of another company getting something. but over all, you did justice to where justice belongs :) however I liked the ending to blood+, but I tend to like those endings and I had very little trouble following the show, the time jumps were slow or didn't happen at all.
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MisaSasekage Moderator Aug 12, 2011
I liked a lot of the music used, and yeah at ceratin points the pacing was a bit messed up, and it did jump around a lot so that annoyed me. Saya in the beginning just irritated me, but once she got a bit more serious she was alright. The ending was as you said very unrewarding though. I also prefer -C.^^ Great review Weskalia!
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raku-amatsu Restricted Member Aug 13, 2011
Great review I do agree with your points, I would say blood + biggest flaw was the jumping around with the episode pace but part from that a great anime, I personally hated the anime movie and live action but everyone is different currently watching Blood C and enjoying it as much as I did with blood+, though they are slightly different from each other
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maryshee Aug 13, 2011
Another great review! It's like you can read my mind and say what I couldn't say. lol :) But I agree with the good and bad points. I almost fell on the cliff after watching the last episode.. (still wondering what will happen next) T_T.
Quote: +Excellent concepts, clever storytelling devices and unique characters make story satisfying.
Totally!
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hitsu-chan Aug 13, 2011
oooh, nice review! thx a bunch! :)
this anime is creepy... but I kinda like it -
SolemnSerpent Aug 13, 2011
I always shy away from anime when the word 'vampire' is mentioned (I blame glitter and sparkles + sunlight), however, with such a good rating, I'll certainly consider this. And with the line, '...where the series' first half involves a dark, blurry mystery crowed with images of Saya traveling around, slicing monsters and searching for her past...' + good plot and characters? -that sounds like magic to my ears. I remember checking out the manga a while back and how much I enjoyed it, so this definitely goes on my 'to watch' list.
And they have the series instant, on Netflix; epic win.
Fantastic work on this review; as always I enjoy your descriptiveness and thoughtful wording, as well as your ability to make me want to watch more anime.
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Knightmaiden Aug 14, 2011
An amazing review. I love animes in where they always metioned vampires plus romance. Althhough Blood + has the ending i'm not proud of. But the rest is like heaven. it gives me the thrill and excitement that i must watch each no matter what. Fanctastic with the details and descriptions. keep up the good work. :)
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evelluchia Aug 16, 2011
i think you really done well thanks for sharing im going to watch this now hehe XD
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SnickerdoodleNinja Retired Moderator Aug 17, 2011
Ok, I just have to get one thing off my chest from something you mentioned in the story section: what's with those reporters in anime that always cover leads they shouldn't? In my experience, it never ends well. You would think they would have learned by now. :) I haven't seen Blood + so I can't say for certain, but I can't see how that character can avoid tragedy. Then again, I'm always looking to be proved wrong.
Now that my rambling is done, on the review itself: Great job! You were extremely descriptive, giving enough information to give a feel for the series without spoiling anything. Not sure if I could handle the violence (but then again, I'm not very squemish, so who knows?), but your review was wonderful. I'm excited for your next review! :)
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