When I watched the first couple episodes of Blood+, The first thing that came to mind was “What in the [beeeeeeeep] did they do to my show?” Anyone who has seen the original Blood knows what time it is....Blood was pretty hardcore, no bones about it! So my initial reaction to seeing this new Blood+ [and Saya] amongst all this peaceful scenery and at a regular school leading this idyllic home life complete with parent and siblings was a complete and utter shock to the system indeed. But then as this amazing story unfolds, I realized that this show way better than it seemed at first. Even if the art style is kind of shoujo, do NOT let that mislead you or dissuade your from watching this series!
Art-Style
Blood +, has VERY good animation...I'd even say it was excellent! There is extensive CG work used on this tries—rather tastefully I might add—for general vehicular movement such as cars, boats, helicopters etc. CG is also used for a lot of the architectural shots and camera pans like when character is running down or thru hallways of a building. A lot of the special FX used for the action scenes were CG, most notably would have to be FX used for when the SCHIFF members fought.
I don't know what more could be required from this show! There are a lot of exotic scenes as the character travel across Europe and Asia. There is a lot of attention to the artistic details in making each locale look authentic.
This show is a fantasy show but there are some very powerful imagery being used....with countless scenes that burn their way into your mind! Personally, I loved the battle on the train in Russia and that image of the lady jumping off the train at half speed.....is was very cool in that Matrix/Trinity kind of way. There were also some pretty unforgettable battle scenes!
Sound
I actually only liked the 3rd OP and ED songs and the art sequences that go with them. So for me this gets the lowest score. The Japanese voice cast did a great job, tho! I really appreciated their work.
Story
The biggest attribute and main seller for this series is it's story! Blood+ has a very solid and compelling storyline....in fact it is so compelling that once the ball gets rolling it's pretty hard to stop...there have been many a night that I had to forgo sleep because I stayed up watching this series and then still having to go to work the next day. But it's like a good book you can't put down!
The original Blood movie, though excellent in it own right, was very incomplete and left a lot of questions unanswered. The Blood + series did a great job filling in the holes and offered an intriguing story. At first I thought giving Saya a family and a “regular” life was a mistake but now I understand how vital it was to start the series the way it did...which made the show all the more riveting as Saya and her family evolve.
I'm not going to spoil anything for anyone, but I feel I must say that if you don't like characters dying off...then you need to factor this into your decision-making whether to watch this or not. Because if you're like me then you'll be sad [also if you do not like gore....there's lots!] In the anime world it's really not so surprising to see main characters die, but somehow I was still shocked......even when trivial side characters died, I was shocked and saddened. That's proof that this is as good show and how excellent the story was being told—If you can feel something for the death of a SUPPORTING character [forget about the main characters], then you have a good story on your hands!
Character
When I think about the characters of this series, I also wind up thinking about the characters from FullMetal Alchemist. There's no real explanation why I've linked these two sets of characters except in my minds eye, I do see a lot of similarities. For starters, this isn't just a cut and dry case of Good Guys v. Bad Guys. Sure, you may start out with one team versus another team but then you see all these smaller factions and third party forces popping out of the woodwork.....and before you know it the Good Guys may not necessarily be that good and the same goes for the bad guys.
Another reason why I may have linked the Blood + characters to the FMA characters might be because of the “super-powers” element. In FMA the “bad guys” all went under the umbrella term Homunculus but each of them had their unique powers tied to their personality; with Blood+ the bad guys are called Vampires [or Chiropetra—something or other] but they each had their own unique personalities and their own brand of super powers.
One final note about these characters, is that I see a certain level of sadness with all the characters, good or bad, they seem sad even when they're smiling....I don't really know why, but is was the same with the FMA characters too.
Worth it or NOT?
Hells yeah this is worth getting!
