Blood Lad

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Alternative Titles

English: Blood Lad

Japanese: ブラッドラッド

Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 17

Chapters: 85

Status: Finished

Published: Sep 4, 2009 to Sep 3, 2016

Genres: Action, Comedy, Demons, Vampire, Supernatural, Seinen

Authors: Kodama, Yuuki (Story & Art)

Serialization: Young Ace

Statistics

Score: 7.76¹ (scored by 15893 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score. Please note that 'Not yet published' titles are excluded.

Ranked: #1884²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #131

Members: 42,957

Favorites: 1,360

7.76

Ranked #1884Popularity #131Members 42,957

MangaYoung AceKodama, Yuuki (Story & Art)

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Volumes: /17

Chapters: /85

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Synopsis

The vampire Staz is one of the most powerful district bosses in the demon world, fending off everyone who dares challenge him. But secretly, the fearsome Staz is obsessed with human culture, especially video games, manga, and everything that comes from Japan! When a Japanese girl wanders into the demon world, Staz can't wait to meet the human and learn everything he can about her world. Unfortunately, before he's able to ask her anything, the girl is killed by one of his would-be usurpers, leaving just her bare soul behind. Staz vows to help the girl restore her body and return to her former life—especially since it means taking a trip to the human world himself!

(Source: Yen Press)

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Background

Blood Lad was published in English by Yen Press in 2-in-1 omnibuses from December 11, 2012 to August 22, 2017. It has also been published in Italian by Panini Comics under the Planet Manga imprint since September 22, 2012; and in Spanish by Norma Editorial since April 2013.

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Related Manga

Side story:	Brat★Blood Lad, Blood Brat★Blood Lad
Alternative version:	Blood Lad
Adaptation:	Blood Lad: Wagahai wa Neko de wa Nai, Blood Lad

More characters
Characters

Blood, Staz Charlie

Main

Yanagi, Fuyumi

Main

Hydra, Bell

Main

Blood, Braz D.

Supporting

Wolf

Supporting

Blood, Liz T.

Supporting

Mamejirou

Supporting

Berros

Supporting

Papladon, Akimu

Supporting

Yoshida, Mimic

Supporting

More reviewsReviews

Dec 30, 2017

85 of 85 chapters read

Overall Rating: 6

comiclove (All reviews)

4 people found this review helpful

Blood Lad honestly scared me at first. Not because of its violence or supernatural trappings, but because that first volume was rough to read through. I thought I was in for a LONG ride of a read, but thankfully by volume 3 it found more solid footing and rolled with it. It's not a *great* manga (definitely not a seinen, for one thing), but it has its pros in competent pacing for a solid plot, and engaging artwork.

[Story - 7]

Our story starts off simple - in a 'demon' world where every stereotypical supernatural being exists, a human girl stumbles into the 'territory' of a vampire. She gets killed after he tries to capture her for Blood Consumption, and he resolves to revive her to get said blood. The first several volumes follow Staz (the vampire) and the series of efforts he makes to just revive the girl, but it soon turns into another Save The World From The Ancient King story.

While I was initially critical of this change, I found that it was ultimately for the better as the latter is more intriguing than the former, despite its generic beats. The former had slow pacing in the first couple of volumes, and by the time it got to the 'plot twist and switch', it was moving along swimmingly. Naturally, the themes for the title are best suited for this pacing: the Powah of friendship/family/romance, along with some toying of how one's role in the world affects said world rather than the other way around. There's a ton of ecchi mixed in with the Ha Ha That's A Reference-type of comedy, but there /is/ actual comedy sometimes.

[Art - 8]

The artwork is what actually caught my eye, and convinced me to give it a crack. As multiple people have noted before me, it's very reminiscent of a shonen that I highly enjoy/admire (Soul Eater), but I feel as though it still stands out by itself. It has a very 'minimalistic' feel: While the setting + action has enough detail that you can tell what's going on, it also feels as though these are still unfinished sketches being sent off to serialization. It works, however, since the story and characterization are fairly lightweight.

Character design is very......hit-or-miss for me. Sometimes it works really well in having a memorable feel (Wolf's modern chic look, Bell's FLCL-esque gear, Akim's stitches and scars) but other times it just looks rather generic and bland (The Blood Brothers, the Blacklisted). This is probably me being nitpicky, but having most, if not all, of your prominent women possessing huge knockers is an immature and tacky look, especially in a title that's supposed to be a seinen.

[Character - 5]

Characterization is where I found the manga to be slacking the most, unfortunately. There are actual character arcs and dynamics here, but it just feels really......inferior compared to what could have been.

For starters, let's go with our protagonist, Staz. From the get-go, he's portrayed as a perpetually-lazy and selfish lord, but of course gradually matures into a much more responsible person. This isn't bad, per say, but considering how many times the idea of him being an 'anti-hero' is discussed in the title, it's rather disappointing. He definitely falls into the trap of suddenly becoming a Noble Hero, when his initial characterization + those discussions suggest otherwise. It would have been genuinely interesting to see Staz still indulge in his 'lesser' ideals and morals while on his quest to revive the girl and save his world.

Another character whose writing I found frustrating was the 'leading woman', Fuyumi. The 'leading woman' is marked as such because she's so severely underwritten that it almost got me to drop the title three times throughout the journey. While I didn't mind it in the first few volumes (but note that she's incredibly ditzy and objectified), having her stay essentially the same at the LAST FUCKING CHAPTER is ridiculous. This is made even more excruciating to read when her main arc of development is realizing that she loves Staz (big shock), and literally.....nothing else. That's her entire arc. I'm not kidding.

Other characters, while fun to read about, also feel really underused. Wolf, for example, doesn't have a huge arc outside of suddenly developing another power; Bell also has a similar arc to Fuyumi, along with the added bonus of Making Friends; and so on/so forth. This is frustrating because they ARE fun to read, especially with their group dynamics, but yet they're so much less than they could have been.

[Enjoyment/Overall - 6]

As I said at the beginning, this isn't a great manga by any means. It's definitely not meant to be in the same magazine as Erased and Bungou Stray Dogs, but makes a fun and light read nonetheless. I'd recommend this to anyone who just wants a title that's 'easy' on the mind in terms of characterization and story, but is packing a lot in action and ecchi. Otherwise, skip it over - there are better titles like this one out there.

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Aug 27, 2018

85 of 85 chapters read

Overall Rating: 8

LaughingCoffinx (All reviews)

1 people found this review helpful

Story: 7
The story is good. There are some plots that i though Yuuki Kodama could of focused on. For example, at the beginning it explains that there are bosses who control different regions & fight to keep control. After a few resolutions about it. Its not exerted further & moves on to different plots. Some of those plots are used the same way so its kind of a wasted potential. But other than that its reasonably good.
Art: 8
The art is very good. Not as detailed but it has a read more

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Nov 29, 2018

85 of 85 chapters read

Overall Rating: 5

Omnimaniac (All reviews)

0 people found this review helpful

This manga had enormous potential and was actually very enjoyable up until the last fights when it just turned bad. It's a classic example of manga that completely fail to write a good ending and in the end you'll be left disappointed that the story ended the way it did.

The story is very straightforward and enjoyable enough, but it also feels a bit too rushed in terms of pacing. It's pretty much straight to the point which is both a strength and a weakness. However as already stated the ending is mediocre at best and I think I would have liked the series a read more

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Dec 17, 2018

85 of 85 chapters read

Overall Rating: 7

hexashadow13 (All reviews)

0 people found this review helpful

tl;dr: A pretty standard shounen with mostly decent quality but a number of issues.

This manga is pretty standard Shounen. The protagonist, Staz, is interesting, in that he starts out incredibly self-centered and someone that even acknowledges themselves as a villain, but becomes a hero by the end. Through all that, he's pretty dense but also somewhat sly, which makes him interesting over his entire character arc. The heroine, Fuyumi, didn't really get much development or an arc at all, rather she just seemed to be herself going with the flow with what was happening. Ultimately, she was the major impetus for character change in Staz, so to that end read more

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	Poll: Blood Lad Chapter 85 Discussion kamijoan - Jan 12, 2017	20 replies	by Stark700 »» Sep 25, 2018 9:53 PM
	Did the manga get a satisfying end? TheExile285 - Feb 17, 2017	5 replies	by bastek66 »» Apr 16, 2018 2:39 PM

Blood Lad

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