The Blood + series, now out on DVD, skips the extraneous and satisfies an audience thirsty for diverse characters and entertaining plot twists.
It all began with a simple kiss that would to lead to so much more. For Saya, it would be the reawakening of a dormant side of herself. On that fateful night, it started the latest chapter of an epic struggle that began over a century ago.
The original Blood: The Last Vampire movie was a short, but unique experiment that blended traditional cel animation with realistic CGI. The film centered on a young female vampire named Saya, who slays blood-sucking monsters called Chiropterans in an Okinawan military base with her signature sword. James Cameron lavished praise after seeing the film, declaring: "Digital imaging has entered a new era. The world will come to consider this work as the standard of top quality in digital animation." The film also featured dual-language scripting (with 70% of the dialogue in English) to establish authenticity as Saya conferred with American officials in the Okinawan base. The short film was well received, giving way to a lengthier and more developed spiritual successor, in the form of a 50-episode anime series. Blood + takes a more by-the-book approach, dropping the eye-catching visuals and dark character designs for a more conventional anime style. Although both feature a sword-wielding heroine named Saya and Chiropeterans, there is no plot continuity between the two.
The series begins with grainy footage of a bloody skirmish during the Vietnam War. A blood-soaked girl armed with a katana mercilessly eviscerates everyone in her path, including defenseless women and children. Fast forward to the present: Saya Otonashi, a seemingly ordinary teenager, wakes up wondering why she's been having such dark, vivid dreams. Having no recollection of her life beyond the past year, Saya's only memories involve her time with her loving surrogate family, a former American soldier and his adopted sons Kai and Riku. On that fateful day, she would be attacked by a Chiropteran and saved by a handsome, enigmatic man named Haji who claims to be her faithful servant. He offers Saya a sword and urges her to finish the fight. He then cuts his hand, drips his blood over Saya's face, and gives her a bloody kiss. The bloodthirsty girl from her dream has taken control of Saya. She cuts her finger to lace the sword with her blood, the one fatal weakness for all Chiropterans, and easily destroys it. Saya eventually regains her senses and realizes that she has to continue fighting the Chiropterans. Alongside Haji, Kai, and Riku, Saya goes on to join Red Shield, an international organization devoted to the destruction of the Chiropteran. Over the course of her journey, she begins to unravel the mysteries of her past as she faces adversity from Chiropterans and other mysterious factions.
Thematically, Blood +'s history has parallels to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise. Both shows began as cult films that turned into full-blown series. They feature unassuming teenage girls fated to slay supernatural beasts, backed by a loyal cadre of friends. They both even have vampiric love interests. More encouragingly, both shows invert the damsel-in-distress cliché into a damsel-that-kicks-everyone's-ass motif.
Since Blood + originated as a TV production, as opposed to an adaptation of an ongoing manga serial, the show moves at a pace of its own making. The problem with anime adaptations of an ongoing manga serial is that animators and writers have to pad out the series with non-canonical material to ensure the anime won't catch up with the manga. Often times, this extraneous material is terrible. With a set ending, Blood + moves forward at a more deliberate pace. The serious nature of Blood + distinguishes itself further from the anime shows it shares the late night cable circuit with. This is reflected in the show's sedated approach to character design: no obnoxiously boisterous orange-clad ninjas or angsty spikey-haired heroes wielding impossibly huge swords. No silly gags, quasi mascots, or super deformed gesticulations here.
The show lives up to its namesake with copious amounts of violence. Saya is a lean, mean, blood-letting machine that dispatches her opponents with increasing ease. Many of the episodes are resolved with a climatic battle, though there is a generous amount of screen time devoted to story. The plot itself is rather by-the-book and formulaic, with all the twists and clichés you'd expect from a drama: flashbacks, amnesia, mysterious handsome men, betrayals, evil twins, and romance. As if addressing the criticism leveled at the Blood: The Last Vampire film, there's a great emphasis placed on character development and interaction. The main characters wear their hearts on their sleeve and tend to get overly emotive at times. Saya, Kai, and Riku often reminisce about their fallen father and preach about the importance of family without fail. The principle characters, particularly Kai and Saya, develop in meaningful ways over the course of the series. This marks the main distinction between Blood +'s Saya and Blood: The Last Vampire's Saya; the former is much more expressive, sympathetic character. The show also boasts a well-sketched, diverse cast that balances out the conventional plotting.
After having interviewed the show's American casting director, two of the writers, and a pair of voice actors from the US adaption for the last issue, I did something I almost never do: I chose the English audio option on the DVD. Twenty-five episodes later, I wasn't disappointed, as the dub cast did a very respectable job. At times, though, the story can get a little confusing, as each story arc introduces a slew of new (and often times temporary) characters. It's unfortunate there weren't enough voice actors to cover them all, so you'll get used to hearing the some of the voice actors do triple or even quadruple duty in the series. It can be a bit disconcerting at times, especially when you associate a voice to a particular character, but it's nothing deal breaking. Especially when veteran voice actors such as Crispin Freeman (Hellsing), Steven Jay Blum (Cowboy Bebop), David Wittenberg (.hack) lend their considerable talents to the show. Freeman's faux accent for a certain French character is delightfully embellished.
Aside from the introduction and ending songs, provided by the current pop sensations like Hyde (of L'Arc-en-Ciel fame) and Mika Nakashima (NANA herself), the show's score was produced by Hans Zammer and composed by Mark Mancina. They had previously collaborated together for The Lion King, but don't expect any bouncy dance numbers here. Instead, the two composers crafted a heroic, feature quality soundtrack that punctuates all the dramatic moments.
A minor quibble purists may have with the DVD is its exclusive use of dubtitles. Dubtitles are created when the original Japanese script translation is reworded to create more natural-flowing dialogue to help the voice actors sync their lines to match their characters' lip movements. Blood +'s American translation is the only available subtitle option available on the DVD, as opposed to also having a literal translation of the original Japanese script. This leaves a slight discrepancy if you listen to the Japanese audio track and turn on the subtitles. Fortunately, I was assured by the show's American writers that very little was changed out of respect to the original material.
Overall, although the first half of Blood + starts off a little slow, the show becomes very entertaining and engaging in its best moments. It makes up for its lack of originality with outstanding production values, strong cast of characters, and a twist laden plot that'll keep you thirsty for more Blood +.