Blood+ (Blood Plus) - Anime Review - Anime Jinsei

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Blood+ (Blood Plus) - Anime Review

Monster ripping, blood-drinking, and sword slashing: These are three things that describe the anime, Blood+


From the same production studio (Production I.G)  that shaped Ghost in The Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Blood: The Last Vampire comes an anime that will spill your guts out and will take you aback even from the very first scene that you’ll be watching.

Saya of Blood+

The year is 2005. Saya Otonashi looks like the typical high school girl living peacefully with her family and goes on with her daily life and spends time with her friends. In reality, she has no recollection of what her past life was a year before.


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Saya Otonashi and Hagi of Blood+

Upon her fateful meeting with the mysterious cellist Hagi (Haji), Saya slowly realizes what her forgotten life was. The chance of meeting was never by accident as Hagi (Haji) appears before her once more shattering her happy life into shards and awakening her true potential. 

Amidst her own confusion, she balances her life between family and being the “chosen one”.

Chiropterans were believed to be immortal monsters that can change their appearance to human and prey on their blood. The Red Shield is an organization fighting the said abominations and so the battle between the two factions advances to a more massive intensity. 

Related: Vampiric References in Anime

Dragged into a sinister war of blood, Saya was engulfed back into her own dark destiny.

the first meeting of hagi and saya of blood+

Things become complicated and even more twisted as she crosses paths with Diva, a woman adorned in white who is her exact splitting image.

For the sake of protecting everyone she cares about, Saya fights, even if she reverts back to the “devil” she once was. Can she regain her lost memory and discover her true identity? 


Blood+ really lives up to its title: Blood to the extreme. The title raging with red tones does not entirely mean that the anime is very bloody as the title implies. It may sound gruesome but the graphic violence and gore tones were not as explicit as a torso being completely sliced off from someone’s body. 

The majority of the other episodes show only slight brutality and bloody scenes that everyone would occasionally expect it to be.

via GIPHY

The story progresses slowly but surely with some episodes having minimal or even no sword fights at all. Some episodes even lack in action. Each episode shares a softer side of what the story has to offer especially with Saya’s moments with her adopted family. 

Related: Revenants: Top 5 Vampire Anime Shows (that don’t suck!)

But these heartwarming moments are just the undertone of a far more brutal and angst-full series. Fans might get a little sidetracked, but just wait and you’ll see more of those as the story picks up its pace.

Most of the main characters have well-developed roles up until the latter part of the series. This blends well with the overall depth of the entire series together with the vague mysticism of what the Red Shield Organization and Chiropterans really are.

Saya and Hagi of Blood+

The sounds were done quite well ranging from pleasing, soft melodies to bloodcurdling music and sound effects. It was to be expected as the sounds were done by music directors, Marc Macina (Twister, Con Air, and Speed) and Hans Zimmer (Batman Begins, The Last Samurai, Gladiator and Thin Red Line).

If you like how Ghost In The Shell looks like, then Blood+ will not disappoint you. Visual graphics were crisp and nicely done. Its animation gives a sense of fluidity on their movement highlighting the striking sword-slashing scenes. 

The characters were adequately designed and simply complement the intricate battle scenes together with the setting. Blood+ shifts from the usual Japanese locations, to Vietnam, London, and finally to the skyscrapers of New York where the final episodes take place.

Hagi in a city backdrop of Blood+

So many vampire-themed anime like Trinity Blood, Karin, Hellsing Ultimate and Black Blood Brothers have emerged, and this series doesn’t delineate from the bloody notion. It retains its own unique plot and originality as others have theirs.

I bet you'll enjoy this series even if you do not like vampire anime, and you'll love it if you like vampire anime. Blood+ has 50 episodes and runs about 24 minutes per episode. 

Weaving a mystifying and enigmatic plot to an intricate display of animated violence with the right sounds brings about the best in a bloodfest series such as this.


Mini Character Review


Hagi (Haji)

Revealed to be Saya's Chevalier, he acts like Saya's personal bodyguard protecting her at every extent possible. To conceal its true form, his hand is wrapped in a white bandage and he is immortal to some degree even though he gets stabbed. 

He carries a large cello case which sometimes seems to contain more than just your average cello. 

Voice Actor: Katsuyuki Konishi - Agatsuma Soubi (Loveless), Amidamaru (Shaman King), Louei (Rune Soldier), Agito Makishima (Guyver TV) and Kenta Usui (Karin).

saya and hagi

Saya Otonashi

She has no recollection of her past and lives peacefully with her surrogate family until she meets Hagi. She works hand in hand later in the series with the Red Shield Organization to defeat the Chiropterans and find out who or what her true identity is. 

It is also revealed later on what mystery masks the mysterious woman named Diva and her relationship with Saya. She uses a cryptic sword that requires her blood fro it to function at its full potential.

Voice Actor: Eri Kitamura - Seira (Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pichi), Amuria (Simoun), Tatiana Wisla (Last Exile), and Anna (Le Chevalier D'Eon).

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