Remember Blood: The Last Vampire? Now take those dusty memories, and make allof the characters a.) more realistic, b.) more likable, and c.) moredistinct. Hooray for alternateuniverses!
In Blood+ Saya is living the life of a normal Japanese teenager, albeit one whosuffers from amnesia. She has beenadopted (along with two young boys) by a veteran who witnessed her, er, 'uniquetalents' in Vietnambut is doing his best to allow her a normal life. However, when her memoriesstart to resurface, she is once again forced to battle the murderous andintensely grotesque chiropterans and travel the world to re-discover herorigins.
In volume three, which is already on my goodside for providing me with 5 entire episodes on one disc, we are droppeddirectly into the middle of a storyline where Saya is enrolled in a Frenchschool in an attempt to track down clues from the military lab they found inthe past. At the school ball, thePhantom makes his appearance at last, and Saya must abandon her 'normal'identity and fight!
However, even the Phantom admits that Sayahasn't fully 'woken up' yet. When she isforced to let go of this human facade, will she ever be able to return?
I won't pretend to know what's gone on beforethis point, but this entire DVD is practically designed to entice those wholike a mystery. Why is the Cinq Flechesgroup constantly moving the giant crate containing "Diva"around? Who is "Diva?" Whathorrific experiments are they doing to turn children into chiropterans? And why, after obvious experiment failures,and despite all logical observation, would ANYONE agree to create a chiropteranarmy? The mystery deepens with every episode, but we never neglect to focus onwhat the characters, or at least the adopted children of George Miyagusuku, arefeeling about their circumstances or how they feel about their future.
One of the key features I enjoy about thisseries is the focus on the Vietnam war as a setting for past memories and keylocations, something largely ignored by most series with even the most remote'historical' bend. And, as an additionaloff-the-beaten-path tactic, the main antagonist corporation is French! French with deep connections to the Vietnamwar!
I also highly approve of reinforcing characterconnections whenever possible, to avoid forgetting anyone vital or putting astory arc on hold for too long. Saya'sconnections to her brothers, and to their departed father, are the key elementthat holds Saya's humanity in place, something difficult to do when herchevalier (read: human servant) is a constant companion and even her friendsfrom Okinawa can't be trusted with her secrets.
Beautiful art style, fantastic animation,excellent music score. This series isfantastic, and a true must for any fan of the original movie. It builds on the original concept withoutactually obliterating it from the timeline, and could easily be viewed as asequel. Get out your wallets,kids. This could be an expensiveendeavor, but well worth it, and less painful than tattoos.
