Blood + Review

An amnesiac Saya Otonashi lives as a seemingly normal high school student with her adoptive family in Okinawa. Horrible nightmares are the only hints at the violent life she once led, but her past is about to catch up with her and awaken the merciless warrior within. 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. 

Originally an offshoot of an earlier movie, Blood+ combines both existing elements present in anime and new ones, to create a somewhat unique shounen (yes, shounen, 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.

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.

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.

The anime will be a joy for anyone who watches it. The story line 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. 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.