Blood+

A show about a girl who fights monsters... sounds kind of unoriginal, no? Well, whatever it sounds like to you, this is one helluva awesome show :D

The story is dark, sad and action-packed. I like how they present everything with a sad setting; it's not like it's just one big brawl after another; it is emotions and resolve-strengthening, it's battles which have a reason other than just being yet another battle. The story keeps complex but simple enough to follow without too much thinking "what's happening?"

The animation style in Blood+ is really cool. It's got good shading details, and the characters looks good too; they've ... got a nice variation of character designs, some detailed and some maybe not so detailed. The animation is flawless; at least no noticeable errors. The background art in this series is amazing; the sceneries and cityscapes are wonderful to look at.

The music rocks too. The OP/ED songs are great (aside the fourth OP, which was all but good), and the background music is just as it should be; moody. It sets the right mood to all the scenes, and it fits very good with the series' sad tone.

Blood+ has the best character development of any anime I've watched. I'm completely enthralled by its characters, and how they change during the course of the series. They're deep, three-dimensional characters, and their relationships with each other are fascinating. I also like how a simple death during the beginning of the series had a large effect on the characters.

What I like about Blood+ is that despite being about vampires, it focuses on almost anything but the vampire aspects of the characters, with the latter being used mainly as a MacGuffin. Therefore, you'll enjoy this series even if you do not like vampire anime, and you'll love it if you like vampire anime.

All in all, Blood+ is among the better series in the vast world that is anime, and a series you'll enjoy watching.

To 'Not Helpful' voters (and you 'Helpful' voters too): Feedback greatly appreciated =)

This anime is one of the best ones that I have ever seen before in my life. The plot somehow manages to stay incredibly strong throughout all of the 50 episodes, showcasing many different types of characters, from the most comical to the most radically serious. The animation has a very unique style, which somewhat surprised me early on, but then I realized that it simply made the show more unique.

What every viewer must realize first off is that this is NOT just an anime about vampires. The fact that the characters often require blood to survive is used as an effective plot device, ... but it is not the entire focus of the show. What this means is that it appeals to both those who love vampire animes and those who do not, creating, as a whole, an extremely balanced, well crafted anime.

The anime will be a joy for anyone who watches it. The storyline ranges from romance, to comedy, to intrigue, to detailed pseudo-history, innocence and experience, violence and peace, and then circles around again to the vague but omnipresent romance that insinuates itself, not as the main focus, but as a continuing theme throughout.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching the anime, and I invite all who read this to do the same.

Rating: 10/10

Note: If you found this review helpful (or not), leave me a PM or comment, and give me some constructive criticism!

Post-note: All scores are compared to titles I have watched personally and represent the verbal "score" of that number, with a 7 meaning " Good". It is unrelated to the 1-10 grading that a lot of people seem to solely apply, without thinking of what it means.

So. Blood+

Originally an offshoot of an earlier movie, Blood+ combines both existing elements present in anime and new ones, to create a somewhat unique shonen (yes, shonen, because that's what this is, don't be fooled by the R+ rating) ... title. The original premise, that of cute girl with big sword fighting large monsters has been done many times before, but it is the encompassing plot and character designs that make this title stand out.

The fact that that the writers obviously wanted this series to stand out compared to a lot of other drab that comes out nowadays is evident. Sharp character designs (lack of moe characters) are the norm, and the plot line aims to be as realistic as possible, including many existing locations throughout the modern world. from Japan to Russia to France, it becomes evident that the animators have at least glanced at existing sceneries before sketching the locations where the story takes place.

We can understand the actions of certain characters (if the motifs have been revealed), and often the distinction between good and evil becomes blurred, something which lacks in a lot of series nowadays, where differences are usually black and white, with not much repose in between.

Then, you may ask " Why give it a 7?".
First note that a 7 to me means " Good", it holds no numerical value. Blood+ is a good show, but it doesn't have any factors that make it stand out to the point where, maybe a year later, you think "wow, that was quite a memorable show".

It is the same factor that makes it unique, that drags it down. The score is pulled down because of the lack of realism in a show that aims to include many elements pulled straight out of the 21st century world for the sake of appearing realistic and well thought through.

There is a scene where a protagonist is being pursued. He flees into a park, filled with happy picnickers. He rests momentarily on a bench, when suddenly his pursuer appears again. He runs through the park, but to our surprise, all those picnickers have disappeared. Is the director implying that in the few seconds that the camera pans away, all those men and women decided to pack up and leave? This incident is not standalone, and quite often outsiders (to the plot) seem to act illogically, or simply disappear solely for the sake of furthering a plot line and making the actions of characters seem logical.

Another small, annoying factor is that all characters seem to be able to speak to anyone on the globe. Now honestly, I don't believe that the entire world has started speaking Japanese overnight. This can be overlooked to a certain extent however, since such reasoning seems to be prevalent in many shonen titles.

Another factor pulling down an otherwise very good show, is the seemingly low budget of Blood+. It affects many of the most dominant factors determining the success of a show, plot, animation and sound. Firstly, the plot seems to suffer because directors and producers felt it necessary to include a lot of tangents, which lead nowhere. The entire series could have been done in 3/4ths of the 50 episodes that it runs for or less. Secondly, the lack of CG animation and lanky movements at times takes away from a series that includes a lot of fight scenes. Although it does give it some sort of visual appeal, it would have been much better executed with a larger animation budget.

Sound is another factor pulling it down. Although there are some good tracks in the OST, which are nice to the ear, the repetition and overuse of them is simply irritating, especially for a longer anime like Blood+. The OP and ED are of the common staple, including well known (at least, for us anime fans) J-Rock bands such as UVERworld and Hyde. Certainly not bad, but not very original either. Voice acting isn't terribly great either, although the actors can convey different emotions, it is not entirely convincing either.

Lastly, personally I found the lack of a deeper " meaningful" plot line distasteful. Although certainly not needed, it would have brought the enjoyment factor up quite a bit. Simply following the story of the main protagonist, Saya, can be a bore at times, especially when it becomes overly melodramatic.

Pushing my criticism aside, Blood+ certainly isn't a bad series. Even with these somewhat irritating flaws, it is still much better than a lot of Shonen titles nowadays, and for anyone simply wanting some enjoyment without a too much engrossing plot, i'd certainly recommend this. However, for anyone looking for something deeper, something with, say, moralistic or idealistic principles, i'd tell you to look further, because this wouldn't be for you.

Recommended for: (more serious) Shonen fans, those looking for something different than average.

Not recommended for: Fans of moe character designs, serious Seinen fans.

I used to watch a fair amount of anime, but over the past few years, my interest in it had been gradually waning, partly because of the decreasing number of good shows being produced, and partly because of lack of time due to my heavy workload.

However, this trend was reversed when I had the good fortune of coming across Blood+. I had never heard of it before, but the premise seemed interesting enough, though not particularly original or unique. I decided to give it a shot, expecting at least a decent and entertaining show but not ... much more than that.

But what I got was much, much more I had dared to hoped for. What starts out as a fairly conventional storyline gradually unravels, revealing a vastly more complex and intricate narrative tapestry. Its deliberate pacing may be misconstrued by some as being "slow", but as the story progresses, all the puzzle pieces that are uncovered early on start to fall into place, and things that once seemed insignificant or nonsensical begin to make sense.

As for the technical merits of this show, other people have already discussed its superb animation and hauntingly evocative soundtrack, so I won't go into too much detail on them. Suffice it to say that they complement the mood of the series exceptionally well.

However, what really won me over was the exceptional character development displayed here. Without giving too much away, I can say that these characters actually felt like real, living, breathing people and not just 2-D images on the TV screen. They change and evolve as time goes by, and after a particular event occurs, don't be surprised if you find yourself regarding certain characters in a totally different light.

To make a long story short, Blood+ is one of only a handful of shows that transcends the boundaries of its genre, and one of the best animes I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing. In fact, it practically single-handedly revived my passion for anime and spurred me on to seek many other great shows, which I probably would not have bothered to watch otherwise. And that is probably the greatest compliment one can pay to any medium of entertainment.

When Blood+ came out back in 2005, it was one of the seasons most anticipated releases. The original work, Blood: The Last Vampire, screamed for a longer storyline that showed some development. And while Blood+ was to take place in a separate universe, if it managed to construct a decent story around the beautiful aesthetics of the film, then we would have had a definite winner. Sadly, Blood+ is, to put it bluntly, a bit of a mess.

Blood+ starts off decent enough. Saya, our protagonist, is revealed to be the only one capable of killing the human killing, blood sucking chiropterans. Early on, a ... bit os a standard "mysterious past" is established, although over the course of 50 episodes, it's never explained as well as it probably should have banned. Those hoping for a one woman show, like Blood: The Last Vampire, may also find it interesting that Blood+ sort of becomes a band of travelers movie with Saya's close friends, Riku and Kai, and her guardian of sort, the mysterious cello playing Hagi.

One of the biggest problems of this show is that so many of its elements are very, very conventional. Saya is an amnesia sufferer who has "forgotten" about her past as a bloody killer. The American military is interfering in the role of vampires, which would have made for a decent little conspiracy story, if predictable, if it was fully explored. We are also treated to a bevy of corny "live your life for today" speeches from the likes of Saya's friends. It's all very standard fare.

This wouldn't have been too bad, and would have been saved in part by the decently exciting action, if the series wasn't so arbitrary. New rules and twists are introduced haphazardly to the plot at seemingly unfit times. The Schiff, who are basically manufactured vampires, are tossed into the mix lazily, and their new set of rules and characters pops up and then is sort of left behind as the series progresses. This is how a lot of the second half of the show works. As Saya pursues Diva, the head honcho of the bad guys, all kinds of unexplored sub-plots are layered on; besides the aforementioned Schiff, we have some conflict between Diva's guardians (they're the bad guy equivalent of Hagi, basically), and political dealings with the American military, but they all feel terribly unimportant and underdeveloped, because the show ends up basically becoming one long, protracted chase scene, with Saya desperately trying to locate Diva and defeat her once and for all. This is extended by a relentless number of fight scenes that begin to lose their importance as we realize they are basically just delaying the final showdown.

The show becomes simultaneously bogged down by the unneeded subplots, as well as too narrow-minded in how it chooses to be "mysterious" about all the characters and backgrounds. No, a show needn't spell out everything for the viewer, but we're never really given much to go on, if anything, from Saya, Hagi, and Diva and her cronies. Even as one of the antagonists essentially falls in love with Saya, it all feels very rushed and heavy-handed. While the pacing manages to keep the show watchable, it becomes so repetitive and predictable that it fails to stand out.

The ending itself is something pretty much any viewer will be able to see from a mile away (and it has to do with another weird arbitrary rule that seems to be heaped on just to attempt to make it sad). Because of this, the emotional punch it is supposed to provide is more like an emotional feather dusting.

There are some positives, the animation is good, even if it lacks the dark appeal of The Last Vampire. The various world locations we get to see manage to help keep things varied. Kai becomes an interesting character with a soft-side to go along with his rambunctious one, that we can really empathize with. The action is generally pretty exciting at first. But the show just wears out its welcome with the arbitrary introduction of new ideas and characters that are often abandoned simply to fit the plot. It makes you wonder why they were needed in the first place.

Ultimately, this all leaves Blood+ as a watchable, but simplistic and by-the-numbers vampire flick.

3/10

Blood+ is a cool vampire series that's not so cool because it went on far longer than it should.

The anime this was based off of was so much more interesting, but to appeal for fans, they made Saya younger, hotter, more man-hungry than her previous incarnation. Ah, accessibility...

Art was average. Sound was cool. I like the ED theme song where it sounds like an old lady is being strangled.

Characters were balls. The brother was freaking annoying. I hated him, ruined the damn series. However, most other people were fine.

I didn't enjoy this series so much as I enjoy getting an enema.

You ... looking for a continuation of that cool OVA thing? Then keep looking, vampire weeabos! Unless you like it or something...

Blood+ offers up an alternate take of the events from Blood: The Last Vampire featuring Saya's hunt of the Chiropteran creature threat. Being at 50 episodes of length, this gives the series plenty of time to build up on events with its plot and explore the causes that led to the Chiropteran threat being as serious as it did. It also expands on Saya's character and the mysterious organization (Red Shield) aiding her in thwarting the Chiropteran threat.

In terms of characterization, the series does enough to flesh out prominent characters that influence Saya's decisions from those who serve to allow her to retain the normalcy ... she seeks with her adoptive brothers Kai and Riku to those in Red Shield in need of her to those who remind her of her Chiropteran roots in the form of Hagi. The series does enough to have you believe that she cherishes said relationships and even those that she comes to newly establish as she learns more of her origins and the nature of the Chiropteran threat. It also does a decent job at exploring the inner conflict that Saya's character experiences as she comes to grips with her origins as a Chiroptera and determining what she desires despite being different from her adoptive human family.

In terms of the plot, Blood+ does get fairly complex as it introduces several factions with differing motivations concerning the Chiropteran threat that involve its dominance, elimination or using the threat for personal gain. The first half is focused on slowly unveiling these factions and their motivations, as well as elements to Saya's past that she finds herself having to come to terms with. The unveiling of these elements lead to some foreign locales outside of Japan such as Vietnam and New York City. The second half is where events begin to build up where some prominent characters are killed off and characters gradually change as a result of the Chiropteran. This becomes prominent in a time skip which features some of the major characters having changed in personality and personal beliefs as a result of the events that took place from earlier episodes in the series.

Blood+ does some from some major issues for me though. While enough is fleshed out with Saya and some prominent characters on her side, I felt that anything involving Diva and her Chevaliers were quite underdeveloped as we don't get much dimension or depth about their motivations with some of the Chevaliers seemingly being around just to serve as obstacles in Saya's hunt for Diva and to expand the cast. It also got in the habit of going into some sub-plots that did little to develop major elements of the series; particularly Mao and the reporter's quest to catch up with Kai, Saya and the Red Shield agents.

In terms of visual presentation, Blood+ does sport clean details with its settings and character designs with a subdued color palette that do well at painting the show's dark mood. The series does well at visually depicting a variety of different settings thanks to the different locations that Saya and others travel to from the beaches of Okinawa to the barren tropical forests of Vietnam to the vast city landscape of New York City. The designs for the Chiropterans are diverse and make for a great treat to see on the screen. However for a series seemingly hyping itself on its monster-slaughtering action, Blood+ is hit-or-miss in animation. The series does have its moments in depicting some good scenes such as some aerial battles and close combat confrontations, but I did spot some prominent shortcuts with animation which include still-shots within moving backgrounds to simulate movement and the use of blur effects to depict fast movements coming from the Chiropteran characters.

For the show's soundtrack, Blood+ often makes use of piano and classical musical pieces for insert music to depict its dramatic situations which fit perfectly with the drama seen frequently throughout the show. The show's various OP and ED sequences tended to be hit-or-miss for me with how I enjoyed them and quite often being either too gentle or intense in fitting with Blood+'s mood. The only one that caught my interest was the 2nd OP from Hyde's "Season's Call" which fit well with the mood in which the series was conveying.

Overall, Blood+ was a decent supernatural action/ drama that did enough at slowly fleshing out elements to its series and exploring how the prominent characters come to grips with knowing more about the Chiropteran, especially as Saya comes to grips with her own connections to it. However, the lack of fleshing out on many prominent characters among the antagonists does make it tough to connect with them without such developments and the focus on some irrelevant sub-plots does hamper the quality of the show's plotting. Still, the series does make for a decent watch and it beats the original movie in terms of delivering a quality plot and fleshed-out characters with its supernatural action.

Blood+ was recommended to me by a friend about five months ago. After being briefed on the basic plotline by her I was less than impressed to say the least, after all, one girl fighting the forces of evil (Or in this case Chiroptera) with her band of merry men, it was an idea done many a time before (Just look at Buffy the Vampire Slayer!) Yet I decided to give it a go regardless. I was delighted to find myself proved wrong however after finishing the anime just a few weeks later. I’ve since re-watched it twice and would definitely recommend it to anyone ... with brilliant taste in anime!

The story of Blood+ is one filled with compelling fight scenes, tension and mystery right until the very final episode. One of the greatest things about this anime is that the storyline constantly has the viewer guessing what will happen next without the plotline becoming predictable. Every small detail links in perfectly with the story, resulting in a perfectly rounded off anime that will delight even those who don’t usually enjoy anime of the vampire genre.

Yet another great thing about Blood+ is the amazing cast of characters. Unlike some anime (Not mentioning any names here!) the characters actually have development, and a lot of it at that! As you progress through the show the characters will undergo some kind of hardship or test and blossom before your very eyes as a result of it, making them real easy to get attached to! The interactions between the different characters are ingenious and not always lacking in humour despite the dark tone of the anime! Not only do the characters develop themselves but develop their relationships with the other characters as well! Saya, the main character herself is interesting, adorably naive and fairly easy to relate to, which can rarely be said for the main hero/heroine of a genre such as this so I feel as though this is a real achievement!

Out of the many anime I’ve seen in my time Blood+ has one of the most unique animation styles out there! The characters are interesting to look at and well in proportion throughout the entire series. Not once did I glance at a character and think, hang on a minute! I swear he had a larger nose in that last shot! The backgrounds are beautifully laid out and detailed and the shading is done at the level of a pro! Perfection!

Even the music is perfect! The underlining score fits in well with the sad and dark tone of the anime, sometimes all it took for me to start balling like a baby at a sad scene was for this particular theme to start playing softly in the background. So yeah, the music just adds to the brilliance of this amazing anime! The OP/Ed themes were pretty much flawless as well! Okay, admittedly I preferred some more than other but everyone is entitled to their own opinion, right?

So Perhaps one of my favourite things about the show Blood+ is that despite it being an anime chock-a-bloc with deep, meaningful life lessons it never becomes too cheesy. I myself don’t seem to recall any big emotional speeches on the power of friendship, or believing in oneself which to be honest is a welcome relief! Despite the story-line having a fair amount of plot-twists and unexpected happenings the anime never becomes too complicated either, as I was soon to learn, everything happens for a reason!

So that’s that then! Now you know of the wonder that is Blood+ At least, I hope you do, this is my first review you see so I hope I’ve done the show some ruddy justice! It’s the least it deserves for keeping me entertained and on the edge of my seat for three damn weeks! So go watch it already, I promise you won’t be disappointed!

Blood+ was truly an interesting anime - it requires patience but once one starts to get accustomed with the pace and characters, it is an amazing anime.

Story wise Blood+ starts slow. It takes time to develop, to let the elements of the story, for the characters to interact naturally rather than forcing them into a swirling bog to just push the story ahead. And it starts with the basic anime form: The basic elements are put forth - Chiropteran and Saya. One can assume that with the progression of stronger foes and conflicting feelings, there is nothing more to the anime than the main character ... who is initially weak growing stronger to face all foes.

However as the story progresses one finds out that it is not so. There will be additional elements which do not appear as a new boss might when the previous one dies. They actually develop a very intricate plot. And it's approach is slow. It takes four to five episodes to let the character figure his/her own weakness and then stabilize as they would in a real world scenario. Claymore on the other hand (ignoring how its story progresses) manages to do all that in the first episode. Gantz takes up to three episodes for that.

While this progression initially feels slow in contrast to animes like Mirai Nikki or Sword Art Online it becomes a positive because unnecessary character development and huge increments in power is avoided and there is time for small plot details to be handled. The story starts taking proper shape around the tenth episode and for a fifty episode anime that isn't too slow. There are various side stories and endeavors that combine together and connect (sometimes too big a coincidence) and keep the viewer up to date with all the characters. It is also a clever way of telling parts of the story from another perspective.

So all in all it has a very complex and well thought story and yes - if I want I can sit down and find faults like "did they close the gate or not" but it is a good thing that in the entire anime such frivolous events are taken for granted. Meaning thinking about the guards changing shift is not our business.

The art style isn't that bad for its time. The backgrounds are good and at times rather beautiful in terms of vibrant colors in contrast to dull underground moments. There isn't a fixed atmosphere, one will be able to see light slice of life like moments and one will see bloody sequences. And neither feel out of place.

The character designs are mixed - Saya and Haji and Solomon (regardless of his stereotypical prince look) are drawn well - they have their physical traits that show detail in their art work. However there are a few characters (Kai for instance) that just seem like a few lines under a scruff of hair at times. It isn't that distracting but at times I feel Kai lose expressions or originality other than his hair. However this is being critical - the characters are more or less consistent with real-life proportions and we have one piece as well in which some character faces are very basic (ignoring the unrealistic proportions they at times have).

The soundtracks in Blood+ Mostly left a positive impression on me - they had a nice gist to them and they were timed well. Emotions and scenario's are well expressed through suitable sound tracks. Fighting sequences were well complimented and so were the slice of life moments - much like the art they managed both sides well.

Character development was a big positive for me in this anime. Yes, we do have the hero that at times is swayed and needs memories and friends n family to go through tough times but there is quite some work put in the development of different characters - some subtle characteristics that one notices afterwards and also traits that make them less predictable in the anime realm.

Saya - as an instance did portray the typical shounen main hero (Ichigo for example) in which they are people who preach justice all the time and are against fighting (a better example would be Yuuto from Omamori Himari) however as the story progresses she gets stronger and mentally more mature and sees the situation from a different light - something that doesn't happen in a day or so.

Kai, as much as I find his art style in the start not too good - is a good character, impulsive and daring however he isn't the guy you would always expect to go haywire due to his personality, who butts into everything for the sake of protecting everyone. Wow... that kind of reminds me of Kato in Gantz... although he was also properly crafted, a little less multi faceted as he was.

Enjoyment wise it will take the anime about ten episodes to kick in - but then the believable characters, the complex plot, all of these elements combine to give what I'd say is one of the best animes I have seen. It is well balanced - not diving into a world of needless action, nor is it slow enough to bore you.

Thank you for reading and feedback is always appreciated.

Story: Any vampire fans would appreciate the story; the ever-reusable (and reused) vampire legend gets a new spin here. From the very first episode, the main character Saya is unwittingly thrown into a fight for humanity that only she can put an end to. Accompanied by her (sexy) cellist guardian who has some link to her, she sets out to rid the world of the vampire-like chiropterans plaguing the earth. Fortunately for us, the story is quite a bit more complex than that. Very soon into the series, the story becomes deeper, with many twists revealed about Saya and her dark past.

Art: From what ... I have seen, this has a very unique art style, especially in that all the characters actually look unique. I'm referring to many other series where the characters all look ridiculously similar since they were designed by the same person. Also, the show has a decidedly dark atmosphere which is wonderfully presented in the animation. If you are a fan of much blood, also take comfort in knowing you'll find a lot here. It is in the title, after all.

Sound: Personally I'm not a fan of any of the opening or closing themes, but the soundtrack is one of my favorites from any anime. Mark Mancina composed the score for Blood+ (turning him into an anime fan in the process) and was helped by Hans Zimmer, so it's the first anime I've seen where the music was written by someone not actually Japanese. Mancina's rich score is perfect for the show. The voice actors did wonderfully as well. Noteworthy is Kari Wahlgren as Saya (though I didn't approve of using her for Diva, too, whom she rather botched) and Crispin Freeman as Haji (for some reason, the mysterious and seemingly emotionless characters suit him).

Character: Character development is great here, thanks mostly to Saya, who must grow from the timid amnesiac she begins the show as to a strong female warrior, and it is interesting to watch how this transformation really takes a toll on her personality. The other supporting characters also help contribute to the character development, to a certain extent. After my own heart, the show's creators let the audience in on the villain's side many times, allowing us to see their plans before the other characters do. Hooray for dramatic irony and moving forward of plotlines!

Enjoyment: As I mentioned earlier, vampire fans who are sick of the "same ol’, same ol’" vampire stories will love this one. Really, the only similarity between "traditional" vampires and the ones in Blood+ are that they drink blood. Speaking of blood, if you are squeamish at the sight of cartoon blood, keep away from this for obvious reasons, as it would inhibit your enjoyment of the series tremendously. Anyone else would like Blood+ since it has a good amount of action, but doesn't deviate from the main plotline, which is surprisingly complex.

Overall: Unless you don't like really violent anime, I would recommend this to anyone who likes vampires, action, drama, romance, and a good plot. And sexy cellists.

A girl on to fight against monsters, a secret organisation and powerful enemies! If you want to enjoy an anime with a dark tune, complex story and really great charakter development, Blood+ would be a good choice! But beware if you get too close to certain charakters, your heart might get broken!

If you are looking for a fun and happy anime series, don't watch it. As I said before the anime is rather dark and as the name says bloody. There are some scenes that can be considered cruel (not only in a physical way).

And one more warning, before the praise: If you're expecting tons ... of action filled scenes, there will be some, but not as many as you might expect. Don't watch it if you get easily bored if there is no fight every five minutes.

Very short summary: Saya needs to fight vampirelike creatures called Chiropteran, only she can kill. At her side are her friends, that support her and whom she wishes to protect. Her enemies on the other hand wish to create a world filled with Chiropterans and try to persuade Saya, that she should support them.

Of course there is as usual a good side and a bad side. However Sayas enemies are not all pictured pure evil. There is no absolute black and white sight. Neither is Saya pictured as a flawless heroine. At some point you might even find yourself to be a little repelled.
There are many episodes that follow a rather slow tune and can look like filler episodes at first glance. I still enjoyed them, because they showed how the characters changed as a response to all the traumatic things happening to them. It makes them all the more believable and helped me to get attached to them.

I watched Blood+ two times now. The first time I was much younger than now. The second time I found myself beeing drawn to different characters than the first time. So this might be a sign that there is someone to like for younger and older people ;)

And last but not least, soundtrack and art are amazing! It fits the scenes very well and manages greatly to draw you in!

I hope this was helpful to you! Enjoy watching!

Blood+. It has been a while since I saw it but now, after all this time, I feel I can really reflect on it. It's your typical vampire story with a twist. The beginning was extremely interesting, but after a while, it just got kinda boring, and in the end, I felt as if I had wasted a lot of my time. It could have ended a lot earlier instead of making it 50 episodes.

The emphasis is more on the characters than the action, and all the fights are pretty much the same. Nothing that would really amaze me. This would have been alright if ... it weren't for the fact that most of the characters were just annoying. I really couldn't stand Kai, especially considering how his relationship with Mao turned out. Saya was still unlikeable even after she seemed to have matured after the one year time skip. I really didn't enjoy Blood+. It had an interesting story, but it was brought down by poor execution and direction.

I wasn't expecting this to be so great (mostly because I had never heard of this anime when it was recommended to me), but after watching the first episode, I was hooked. The characters are all lovable, even the villains, and the way the story slowly reveals itself just makes you keep wanting more. I kept finding myself watching episode after episode into the wee hours in the morning, telling myself I'd just watch one more, but watching another after that and another after that. And the ending? Many things happened that I didn't expect, I was left pleasantly surprised. I was very happy with ... the ending, and the entire anime overall. I highly recommend this anime, as long as you don't mind some (a lot of) animated blood.

Way back in October I talked about the anime, Blood-C. In that review I briefly touched on my feelings towards its predecessor, Blood+. Well, apparently that snippet caused some curiosity and I got a request to review it. Blood+ was inspired by a film, Blood: The last Vampire. Now, I can't really tell you what I thought of that film since I've never seen it. This anime, from Production I.G, the same company that produced the film by the way, was my introduction to the series. Now, it has been a while since I watched this, so, because I care about giving you all the ... most informed opinion possible, I'm going to re-watch the entire thing for review purposes. Let's take a look at Blood+.

The story is pretty basic. There's a girl named Saya who gets attacked by a blood drinking monster. She's rescued by a mysterious stranger named Haji who gives her a sword and feeds her his blood. This causes something to awaken within her that she doesn't understand. The first half of the story follows Saya's quest to learn about her power and her past. The second half is about her previously forgotten mission. Sorry for being vague but, as usual, I'm trying to refrain from spoiling anything. One thing I do like about Blood+ is the pacing. It gives you enough time to acclimate to the characters and circumstances while keeping things moving at a good pace. There's very little that feels superfluous or like it drags. That being said, there are some unnecessary flashbacks that really only serve to go over information you already know or that they've already given you huge hints about. To be fair, most of the flashbacks are used to hint at information they haven't revealed yet and may, arguably, work but there are some that do act to the detriment of the series since you already know what happened or have a really good idea from the not so subtle hints they like to drop. One major issue I have with the story is at the very end. I won't go into details but there's a complete deus ex moment. They try to justify it through exposition after it happens but it really doesn't work since it comes out of nowhere. Which is odd coming from a series that likes to repeat important plot points and give lots of hints before they happen.

My major issues with Blood+ come from the characters. I've mentioned this before, but Saya annoys me. She spends virtually the entire series being mopey and depressed even when her immediate circumstances are pretty happy. She's even kind of mopey before her circumstances start to get tragic. Admittedly, she does go through a lot of pain and heartache but it doesn't make for an interesting protagonist when she's perpetually gloomy. It might work in a twelve or thirteen episode anime, but it gets really grating when you have to deal with it for fifty episodes. The antagonists aren't any better. Most of them have really lazy motivations like just being jerks or being complete nutters. There is one antagonistic character who moves beyond that but he's typical in a different way. I don't want to spoil anything, but let's say he's a chivalrous gentleman. The main antagonist is the worst. She starts out fine with a backstory that gives her the potential to be a sympathetic character, but then she gets one of those turning irredeemably evil scenes. They try to pull away from that towards the end and make her sympathetic, but it doesn't work since the method they use is really stupid and she's already pole vaulted over the point of no return. Frankly, trying to make her sympathetic after that is pretty gross. I'd tell you what she does, but it would be a huge spoiler. Some of the supporting cast are interesting, particularly Kai, but most of them just lack depth.

The art in this is really strong. The characters are well designed with the only major issue being that their eyes frequently go crossed for no reason. The backgrounds are well constructed and the action scenes have a good level of intensity while being well constructed. Although the amount of blood that breaks the laws of physics to gush out of wounds can be pretty ridiculous. Oh and, like Black Lagoon, there's a character in this who inexplicably never removes his sunglasses even when it's dark. I can kind of understand it in this case since they aren't good at drawing eyes, but that just makes you wonder why they only do it with one character.

The voice acting is pretty good. The biggest issue is that most of the characters don't have a lot of emotional range so the seiyu tend to use the same general tone for most of the anime. They still do well though. Particularly Yoshino Hiroyuki and Saito Chiwa since they do get to demonstrate quite a bit of emotional range. The music varies. Some of it is kind of bland and some of it is really good. To give some examples, the music they use for victorious moments is excellent and the music they use for suspenseful scenes is overdone. It sounds more suitable for action scenes than suspense.

The yuri factor is a 3/10. Saya and Kaori's relationship seems to go beyond friendship, but their relationship is only really explored in the first few episodes. They do get to interact a few times after that but there's not a lot of it. It would probably earn a higher rating if Kaori had a bigger role, but she doesn't.

Now we move to the final rating. There are some interesting ideas here, the story is good, albeit flawed and the art is really well done. On the downside the characters aren't very well done, most of them are just lackluster, Saya is kind of obnoxious and the story does end rather weakly. My final rating is going to be a 6/10. It's decent enough but it's not anything special.

When I saw about 15 episodes of Blood+, a friend asked me how was it. I said it was boring and dull, with some nice fighting scenes once in a while. After another 10-15 episodes, another friend asked me for my opinion on Blood+. I said it was one of the best anime series I saw this year. How do I feel after finishing the whole 50 chapters? Lets start from the beginning.

Blood+ revolves around a story of a "young" girl who is the only person on the planet able to fight vampire-like monsters, called Chiropterans, and wants to find out about her troubled ... past. But my biggest "wow" is not going to the plot (which sounds a little familiar to all of us). I have two big "wows," actually. One is for graphics and one is for sound. Beautifully pictured landscapes across the world, pleasant characters and intense, realistic fight scenes will give your eyes a definite present. And what better way to complete this piece of art than adding an elegant soundtrack (Haji playing J.S. Bach on his cello is now in my top 10 anime moments ever) which polishes the sophistication and intelligence of this series. These are the things that keep you loyal to Blood+ and gives you a feeling that it is not an ordinary story.

Of course, we have to be fair and talk a little about the downside of this series. Firstly, even if the story sounds kind of old, it is actually very complicated at times. You have to follow the conspiracies behind politics, the stories of Saya and other main characters, understand the importance of some individuals who don't really look important and so on. At one point I have to confess, I was tired of listening to story lines about Red Shield and Cinq Fleches organizations and all the problems they had when I just knew it was all about Saya, she is the one who can end this and she should be the main point of discussion. Therefore, prepare yourself for long conversations that could sometimes seem meaningless and if you are an "action guy/girl" you could be a bit disappointed.

So, what is my final judgment? Well, I said to myself earlier in the series that the ending will probably decide the true quality of Blood+. However, although it wasn't as predictable as I thought it would be, I can't say that it left me unsatisfied. Actually, for some reason, I felt that I respect this anime series even more than I did in the beginning (especially after I saw the movie that this series evolved from, yuck). Do I recommend Blood+? Absolutely. There will be at least few moments when you will adore the characters and enjoy the story that we sometimes fantasize of being a part of.


P.S. IF YOU DID NOT WATCHED BLOOD+ YET, DO NOT READ THIS!
A part of me is still screaming for an ending where Saya falls asleep at the last moment of the fight against Diva, leaving the world domination to the Chiropterans. Then waking up 30 years from that fight, reuniting with Haji and trying to clean up the twisted future from these monsters. Now, tell me, it is not your ideal ending! And what a sequel it would be! The studios should definitely let the fans of anime create endings sometimes.

This is probably my favorite anime of all time. There was a nice blend of humor mixed in with plenty of supernatural drama and action. The story only gets better as the anime goes on, and the characters are all entrancing. It is not your normal vampire anime, but has a very unique view and intriguing plot that is believable. The only problem may be the English version of the anime. I find the voice actors completely off par with the Japanese voice actors, though I feel this way about most : ) The music is also ... amazing, with some great j-rock songs and an amazing song sung by the character Diva. I would highly recommend this to anyone who likes darker, more serious anime with just enough humor that the drama is not overbearing.

Very good story! Once I got started, I could hardly stop.
It is interesting to see the change the main character goes through, and it is a very interesting relationship she had to people around her.

At first, the story may seem confusing, but of course it all comes together as you get more and more into the story. You don't know more than Saya, which makes it easy to get as frustarated as her, making you want to find out which again makes you hang on to it.

I wasn't too impressed with the artwork, but it can be nice not to always look at the shiny, ... wild colored hair and eyes.
As it isn't really a comical anime, it does contain comedy, but none of the well-known extreme anime drawings with chibi figures. This makes the story more "serious", and is certainly a plus!
The art isn't too detailed though, and it's nothing spectacular, but definitely NOT bad! Depends on preferance.

The soundtrack is good, and it's impressing how different the tracks are made, though it's based on the same three or four melodies. Very well composed.

The characters are very deep, and you can sort of predict how they will react to different situations as yo get to know them. Tthe chracters are also very different, and all in all well made.

It has a good length - doesn't get boring or drawn out. Once you finish the anime, it makes you sad because you really want it to continue!
It also has an open ending, making YOU the boss of what is going to happen in the future, which is very nice.

I can ONLY recommend this anime; both if you're a guy or a girl, into romance or action - it really has it all. An anime I couldn't get my eyes off once I got started!

The plot had great potential but for many reasons the anime just couldn't keep me hooked for more than a few episodes.

Never had I encountered such awkward voice acting. Equally awkward was the music throughout-lackluster, dry, and often inserted at the wrong moments.

And the characters frustrated me(this is just a personal pet peeve.) They were dimensionless, although I can't say much about the main character, Saya, since I never finished the series.

The biggest con for me is that the anime is incredibly SLOW. Again, this is just me, but I like my anime to have unrealistic timelines that doesn't bore me into multitasking while ... watching an episode.

Disclaimer: I realize that I have not seen all the episodes so my opinion is partial, but an important criteria when judging a show, to me, is that it captures the viewers into anticipating the next episode. The above was what I got from the first few (5 or 6) episodes.

Verdict: good plot, terrible delivery. 2/10

You might think Blood + is just another anime where a girl slashes away at monsters or vampires (which it does also have alot of if your into that) if you haven't watched it, but it is way more than that.

Story: 9
The plot is about a young girl who is adopted into a family with other adobpted children whom she really gets close to. This young girl whose name is Saya is no ordinary girl because she is the only person in the world who can fight against Chiropterans, which are monsters that feed on blood of living humans and can look like humans ... when they want.
There are alot of twists and turn which make the story really good

Art : 10
The animation was really good for its time and Charcters looked really good. The fighting scenes are really animated well especially when Saya fights with her sword or when her servant Haji fights.

Sound: 10
The sound goes well with the show. the music most of the time fits the scene well. It has a nice dark tone to it.

Charcters: 10
Whats kool about blood + is that they have great protagnists and atagonists. The bad guys really get good character development and so Does Saya and her freinds.

Enjoyment: 9
I really enjoyed the series more than I thought I would. I watched 12 episodes on adult swim network long time ago and never came back to it I kept putting it off thinking it probally won't be that good of a series but I was wrong it easily became one the better anime series I have watched in a long time. There are some boring episodes thrown in everyone once in a while so thats why i gave it a 9.

Overall : 10
If you see my anime list you can see i give really good scores usally 10s to alot of the series I have watched. Basically if enjoyed the series it is going to get a 9 or 10 from me. Blood + is something that every anime fan can enjoy because it has alot of drama and alot action to keep your attention.

An excellent anime that holds a captivating and suspenseful story plot. Blood+ is definitely a must watch anime and one that should be re-watched over and over. It is one anime that has supernatural features, slight parts of romance, and even some historical event correlation intertwined in this fictional world that has the inhabitants called chiropterans; bat-like creatures that feast on human blood. I, myself am not one who favors all gore and blood soaked scenes, but the story in Blood+ really captivates me. The bloody fight scenes all connect to the main plot and is not one excessive blood fest. Plus, this anime is ... one of those shows that gets you "hooked" and makes you think strategically and use problem-solving to sort of determine what is what and how things work.

Now getting to the characters, they are wonderfully drawn and thought out, each with their own obvious personality. Even with the side-characters, they all equally stand out and none are really overshadowed. It isn't one of those animes that add filler characters to let the story drag on and what not. Once characters are drawn in Blood+, they are kept and have their own scene time throughout the whole thing (meaning Saya is not the center of all the attention).

One downfall to the characters are their character development. Most of the time, they hold rare emotional view points and don't develop quite as fast. When watching, one usually feels a part of the anime (if it's a really good one), but the characters perceived by myself are somewhat 2-D and impersonal. Other than that, this anime is of course a great one that should be on everyone's watched/will watch list and even though I am not even finished with it yet, I am most definitely impressed with high standards and cannot believe how I missed watching such an excellent anime.