BUY IT AT AMAZON: STUDIO: Sony Pictures
MSRP: $22.99
RATED: Not Rated
RUNNING TIME: 123 minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Nothing
The Pitch
A robot stalks another robot in the name of environmentalism.
The Humans
A fuckload of underpaid voice actors
The Nutshell
The Chiropterans and The Red Shield have battling for centuries. One side is full of bloodthirsty monsters, while the other is full of vampire hunters. The usual battles ensue and Asia watches, as the group tries to work through their differences. Local schoolgirl Saya becomes involved in the battle. Watch this series to see how many times she can freak out when a creature does some weird shit near her.
The Lowdown
Blood Plus
is back with its third volume of episodes. Spinning out of 2000’s Blood: The Last Vampire, we’re treated to an anemic series that fails to capitalize upon Production I.G.’s original work. This show faces the same problem that a lot of the Adult Swim anime battles against. It’s a limp wristed approach to the violent dynamic of popular Asian animation. That doesn’t mean it’s kiddie friendly.
Blood Plus just plays so fast and loose that you don’t really develop an interest in the series. There are too many Mary Sues in this tuxedo romance to really have it stand out as a horror action show. For good measure, the creative team also throws in some conspiracy theories and government intrigue to move the plot along. But to an outside looking in, the show is a fucking mess. But, so are most soap operas.
When the gang flashbacks to an adventure in Vietnam, I have to say that’s where they lost me. Bordering on the inconsistent, you could see the skeleton of a plot. Somebody did something during the War and the main cast has to discover it. But, its relation to the main plot of vampire vs. vampire barely makes any sense. You could accuse a lot of anime of the same problem. Yet, it never has felt as pronounced as it is here.
Blood Plus has been an ordeal for me. People that have spoken with me know of my disgust for the Eastern Animation world. But, I really tried to give this show a fair shot. What I was met with was a collection of generalities and 1-D characters. Fuck this shit.
The episodes featured:
via Wikipedia (the guys that helped me to make heads or tails out of this shit)
| “After the Dance” “Dansu no Ato de” (ダンスã®ã‚ã¨ã§) |
December 17, 2005 | May 27, 2007 | |
| David and Julia are making use of the opportunity provided by the annual Ball held in the boarding school to search for the mysterious container somehow connected to the events in Vietnam 30 years ago, while Saya dances with a charming stranger. Karl, who is the Phantom, attacks them later. David figures out the container holds Diva and they go after it. |
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| 12 | “Lured by the White Mist” “Shiroi Kiri ni Sasowarete” (白ã„霧ã«ã•ãã‚ã‚Œã¦) |
December 24, 2005 | June 10, 2007 |
| The Red Shield has tracked the container to a secret research farm in the Vietnamese jungle. Once they get there they are attacked by Chiropteran. |
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| 13 | “Jungle Paradise” “Janguru Paradaisu” (ジャングル・パラダイス) |
January 7, 2006 | June 17, 2007 |
| Under the mysterious influence of Diva, Saya starts to attack friends and foes alike just like 30 years ago. Kai stops Saya by yelling her name causing her to come back to herself. Solomon and Van get away with Diva while Saya fights Karl. |
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| 14 | “The Last Sunday” “Saigo no NichiyÅbi” (ã•ã„ã”ã®æ—¥æ›œæ—¥) |
January 14, 2006 | June 24, 2007 |
| The Miyagusuku family returns to Okinawa to say goodbye to their friends. | |||
| 15 | “I Want to Pursue!” “Oikaketai no!” (ãŠã„ã‹ã‘ãŸã„ã®!) |
January 21, 2006 | July 1, 2007 |
| Ever since returning from Vietnam, journalist Akihiro Okamura is getting more and more obsessed about the events happening around Saya and his father’s encounter with chiroptera near the Laos border 30 years ago. He is unable to continue his research until he gets unexpected help. |
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The
DVD
has a pretty strong transfer with a dynamic audio track. Unfortunately, Sony doesn’t feel like this disc needed any special features. Anime nerds know where to complain. In the end, you should probably rent this. I don’t think Adult Swim is that hardcore on airing anime anymore. That is unless you watch on Saturday nights around two in the morning.