BLOOD-C / First Impressions / Series Introduction

OP Sequence

OP: 「spiral」 by DUSTZ
Watch the OP!: Streaming ▼

「あまつかぜ」 (Amatsukaze)
“Heavenly Wind”

Production I.G and female mangaka group CLAMP’s latest addition to the Blood franchise is here, and it uses the same concept as the variations before it in an all-new story. That concept entails a high school girl named Kisaragi Saya (Mizuki Nana), who uses the “Goshintou” katana passed down by her father’s shrine to defeat ancient vampiric demons known as “Furukimono” that prey on humans. The three key elements are all here, namely a high school girl named Saya, a katana, and vampire-like creatures. In Blood-C’s case, that appears to be the extent of the similarities, as this original series goes in a completely new direction with its cast and setting. Saya herself is naturally the most noteworthy thus far, being talented at sports due to her fitness level yet somehow a klutz at the same time. How that combination even happens is beyond me, seeing as dexterity and coordination go hand-in-hand with being good at sports, so CLAMP is really pushing the logistics behind Saya’s character. I am okay with the idea that she’s a good Samaritan who tends to space out, which heavily contrasts the demon slaying duty that she’s been entrusted with. After all, it was fairly clear in my mind that they were going for the sweet but deadly heroine image with Saya.

At the moment, it’s too early to tell what effect Saya’s contrasting personality and image will have on the progression of the story; however, I am confident that Mizuki Nana will be able to voice her in any type of situation, whether it’s cute and friendly or adrenaline-pumped crazy. Interestingly enough, there doesn’t appear to be much need for that latter, seeing as Saya is extremely calm and composed when she’s fighting. The nearly five-minute long fight at the tail end of this episode gave a pretty good indication of how whisper quiet she is in battle, making the entire scene come off as a choreographed animation demo of sorts. Incidentally, the lack of grunts and screams of anguish made her fight a lot more intense to watch, since it allowed the music and sound effects to completely drive the scene. All the while, it emphasized the other side of Saya’s character and exactly how “badass” she really is with demon blood all over her. The only problem I had with that scene was its lack of purpose. Saya’s father Tadayoshi (Fujiwara Keiji) handed her daughter the Goshintou katana and told her it’s time to fight and she went to a shallow stream and awakened a demonic statue to do just that.

On the plus side, I don’t really see the lack of purpose behind this first battle as a huge problem, since the action does a decent job of attracting viewer interest. It also served as an introduction to the Furukimono monsters that Saya will be battling — a nice follow-up to the support cast quickly introduced in the first half. In retrospect, I simply took it as the “show first, explain later” approach, which is perfectly fine assuming that the original story CLAMP’s Ookawa Nanase wrote has plenty in store later on. To that end, I fully expect Saya’s classmates, Amino Yuuka (Asano Masumi), Motoe Nono/Nene (Fukuen Misato), Tomofusa Itsuki (Abe Atsushi), and Tokizane Shinichirou (Suzuki Tatsuhisa) to have some notable roles, as well as their sexy and easygoing homeroom teacher Tsutsutori Kanako (Miyagawa Miho), and Tadayoshi’s close friend and cafe owner Nanahara Fumito (Nojima Kenji). In particular, class president Itsuki, who has an unrequited love interest in Saya, and the quiet and indifferent Shinichirou, who has a suspicious air about him. It’s probably not a coincidence in the latter’s case, so I can already picture him as a potential partner for Saya, given Blood’s tendency to feature a male character battling alongside its heroine.

Looking solely at this first showing, Blood-C’s a bit unimpressive because Shinichirou ended up being the most interesting plot-related development even when he didn’t do anything. Still, I’m optimistic about the story picking up in a substantial way in the upcoming episodes. When it comes to an original anime by Production I.G, I can’t help but have some high hopes for Blood-C, even if it wasn’t at the top of my list for new shows this season.

 

ED Sequence

ED: 「純潔パラドックス」 (Junketsu Paradox) by 水樹奈々 (Mizuki Nana)
Watch the ED!: Streaming ▼

Preview

101 Comments

  1. Something about this show bothers me. I just can’t put my finger on it. The original BLOOD series was great even though it was slow at some points. However it had me hooked the first episode. Hopefully this show gets better. Thanks for the writeup.

    klutz
    Reply

    1. mmm… I really couldn’t get into Blood+. I love Blood the Last Vampire though.(Animated not live)
      This one seem to carry a itself pretty well to me, And I like the fact that she actually know what she’s doing. I hated the whole “Loss of Memories” thing in Blood+.

      Nekore44
      Reply

      1. Stoywise, Blood+ was hard to get in because the plot was really complex. They did little verbal explanation but rather let the conflict explain things itself.

        However, Blood-C is just horrible compared to Blood+. Specially animation-wise. Here in Blood-C, they exaggerated the fighting scene. When the monster got her by her neck, instead of gripping tighter to cut her neck; it was jerked her around instead. Not to say that all those jerking did not do any deep cutting on her neck neither. And then the girl kept striking the monster and could not cut it. And all of the sudden, without even summoning her powers she could could cut the monster. Storywise the did not explain anything neither in this first episode. And i could hardly even call it introductory. Just not my cup of tea. >.>

        banzemanga
        Reply

      4. Probably you are looking at the different meaning of “exaggerated”. When i said exaggerated, i didn’t mean the supernatural powers part. I mean that they exaggerated the animation and script on the fighting counterparts. Blood+ was supernatural too but the fightings always made sense. The protagonist in Blood+ would go slaying around weaker enemies like nothing and would have a hard time killing strong enemies. And both the fighting and animation would show it nice and clearly.

        But here in Blood-C, they don’t make sense. It is not like the protagonist was able to find a weakness and then use it to its advantage. It was like she was loosing and all of the sudden she could cut the monsters without even using her powers. And then she uses her powers for a non-flashy stab on the neck which if it was the monster’s weakness in the first place; she didn’t even need to use her powers there.

        banzemanga
        Reply

      5. If you pay attention, you might notice that Saya cuts the joints(the soft parts) of the monsters arms. So it makes sense she could cut those, and not the hard claws like earlier. If you’re going to be nitpicky, you should at least pay closer attention to detail.

        fragb85
        Reply

  3. The most interesting thing I found about the episode is the interaction between Saya and her father. At the end when she returned, I felt that her father was more interested in Goshintou more than her, yet she responds like a puppy to anything that her fathers says.

    Shadiic
    Reply

    2. Ah I completely forgot about something else that really intrigued me throughout this first ep. Saya’s hair, it’s very strange as at certain angles, I sometimes have to look twice as I mistake her hair as black wings on a number of occasions. I found this more evident as she was going to fight the monster in the second half and thought it was both symbolic and fascinating

      Shadiic
      Reply

    3. It was mentioned in Tadayoshi’s character description that he’s the keeper and maintainer of the katana, so that explains why he’s so concerned about it. i.e. He has to make sure that it has the power to defeat the ancient monsters before giving it to Saya to use.

      Divine
      Reply

  4. I’ve spoiled myself last week and been dying to watch episode two. Blood+ was pretty good and having people from the previous show be on board. Hoping it lives up the hype of the previous.

    Silentcid
    Reply

  6. I love Blood +, the series was amazing form start to end. The concept of this one seems similar but I don´t know what to think. I have extremly high hopes though, I just wish the story unfold nicely; in Bood + the story between the twins was the key in my opinion so there should some fair development of what the hell she where she came from.

    haseo0408
    Reply

    2. I loved Blood+ as well as the original blood anime movie and the live action remake of it. So far I am liking this series as well. I’m a huge clamp fan with Tsubara and XXXholic so I got no problem with the character designs.

      I am just about sure this series is gonna be great and wow us as time passes. Hold on to your hats because its gonna be a wild ride.

      Karmafan
      Reply

  7. I think this is the kind of pilot episode that throws you into the thick of things. There wasn’t really much that I could make out of the Furukimono either, but it seems promising enough, though nothing that really makes me anticipate the next episode eagerly. Saya does seem like a very likeable character though.

    More about those monsters will be explained in the next episode, I hope.

    Owaranai
    Reply

  9. For some reason…animation is strange. Also, that fight scene was mind blowing. I don’t mean that in an impressed way though. I just felt everything was really bland and boring.

    kureejii
    Reply

  11. god help me, fridays are gonna busy for me, with a total of like, 4 thursday shows to watch?
    Blood-c, usagi drop, no.6 and mawaru penguidrum all look extremely promising…

    ewok40k
    Reply

  14. I was kinda hoping for a more badass Saya in this series. At least she’s not as wimpy as Blood+’s version, and she does act badass while fighting.

    I was just wishing to have the Saya from the original movie back. I know that’s asking a lot for a series to be carried by a female lead who’s is cold and mysterious.

    Tez
    Reply

  15. i like her eyes when she fought but hm i kinda got a bit disappointed but i hope it will be explained in the future ep more things which from the first ep wasn’t that clear

    ya clumsy lol

    i really don’t like the” monster” – hope will be more “good looking” in the next ep :p

    dany1908
    Reply

  16. I would understand the clumsiness as a cover to hide her actual physical prowess, but she seems clumsy at home while showing off at school. It doesn’t make any sense right now anyway. Split personality would also be a theory, but then she shouldn’t be super sporty at school.

    znail
    Reply

    1. I don’t think she’s really clumsy as far as she’s just too high-strung around her father. And I’m not sure about the split personalities, that is one theory, but I think she just acts differently according to her situation and who’s around.

      =^.^=

      Nekore44
      Reply

  18. The the first episode really got me hooked to the show already and I hope the later episodes will continue to grow with more excitement.

    Saya in my opinion is probably one of the most adorable miko I’ve seen in anime so far. Even her serious personality doesn’t ruin that image.

    minase
    Reply

    1. I have to find an HD video somewhere.. I have the need to make a Kisaragi Saya wallpaper!

      Oh and anyone knows where I could find one of those “collar chain pins” or whatever those are? Seems cool.. :p

      MrRei
      Reply

  20. Seemed to me like a dull first episode really. The first half seems so… CLAMP. Heck even the characters seem borrowed from other CLAMP works. Are those the xxxholic twins? Did Sakura’s brother just suddenly attend a school with a vampire? And what was with the dull, unnecessary 3 minute scene of Saya singing? (We get it writers, she’s voiced by Nana Mizuki!)

    The second half was a little better at least. The whole silent build-up worked, especially with the setting sun. And the fight scene was very good, so it shows some promise. I hope the next episode does better.

    fragb85
    Reply

    2. I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess that the Haji character is the black haired scary looking kid in her class. He may not have a claw for a hand but I think thats gonna be him.

      Karmafan
      Reply

    2. This is solely just based upon Saya’s glasses and that she has black hair but……………………………. her character looks like the girl version or rather sister to Watanuki’s character design

      Kelfistan
      Reply

  27. “because Shinichirou ended up being the most interesting plot-related development even when he didn’t do anything”
    Can’t help but agree wholeheartedly *grin*

    Jojothemonkey
    Reply

  30. I like how different it already is from blood+. and like Divine and the others said, im a bit perplexed at saya’s character. seems to me her traits arent mixed well.

    amado
    Reply

  32. A BABE yielding a BLADE fighting a BLOODY BATTLE without the power shouting, unnecessary panty shot, boob matrix and an annoying sidekick………. I’m so easy to pleased!

    Jhacks
    Reply

  33. Why do anime characters now a days need a “reason” for their personality? they just can’t be the way they are because it’s them. So what if this Saya is geniunely nice and carefree? the author never said “okay, let’s make her a walking ball of depression” if she was like that, she’d be the female version of shinji which would cause us anime fans to hate her even more. Besides Nagisa was happy and kind but i don’t see anyone complaining about her. Also going from duns to badass in anime isn’t new it’s been done before, FMA brotherhood has Alphonse and Mei doing that.

    melissa
    Reply

  34. Actually I prefer this Saya rather than the Blood+’s one. At least this one is much more decisive, and she seems to know what she’s doing. And another plus point for not screaming pointless things during the fight!
    The shift in the personality itself isn’t disturbing (you have seen many characters like that, even sometimes in real life). What’s more annoying is that CLAMP forces her to be clumsy yet good at sports. That doesn’t make sense.
    Totally watching this, hopefully til the end. CLAMP please don’t mess with this one (I’m very CLAMP biased but sometimes their stories are getting on my nerves)!

    KGFJ
    Reply

    1. Well, sports are based not only on dexterity, but also on other characteristics like speed and strength and endurance. Someone who cant hit a ball with a baseball bat even if it is unmoving in the air can be great runner or weight-lifter. Maybe there is also something of obfuscating ditziness because someone with supernatural agility needed to fight vampire might need to suppress his natural body reactions.

      ewok40k
      Reply

  35. seems “alright” only…. could be better though i must say, was expecting code geass style characters

    would be interesting if shaft does a blood series as well in the future…. more gore than madoka?

    c2710
    Reply

  36. It felt… fine? Nothing was spectacular, I enjoyed the fight scene but I’ve never been a fan of CLAMP’s work so this is no exception. I’ll stick with it but I don’t expect anything other than ‘fine’ out of it.

    Kurofaise
    Reply

  37. I’m not too sure what to expect at this point to be sincere.
    I’m neither disappointed nor impressed, it’s a weird feeling, which seems to be shared by many others reviewers from what I’ve read.
    I believe everything will depends of the plot story, ‘something’ have to happen, because if it’s only school life + fighting a night, well, THAT would be pretty uninteresting ^^; But it’s very unlikely to happen, so I’m not really worried.

    sherry
    Reply

  40. First episode impressions:

    Story: 7 Not much to say here since this is an introductory episode, but it left me some very good impressions that this anime is something I’ll definitely be looking forward watching week-after-week.

    Animation: 8 I think the color tones used are a bit dull but it fits the overall theme of the series. Character designs is very CLAMP, character facial design in distant camera shots appears to be detailed so its a ++ for me. The environment is not very detailed but not a cause of concern right now. Doesn’t appear HD quality to me, but grainy details are observable so its a + again for the series. I like the animation of the battle in the final minutes, very well choreograph although the enemy design lacks detail, it could be better.

    Sound: 9 OP and ED themes are good but not something I’ll be listening every time I watch an episode of Blood-C. The soundtracks are however great specially in the fight scene; It composed mostly of tracks that sounds strangely familiar which I may have already heard from somewhere else, but the overall impact are great. The voice behind Saya did a very good job giving life to her character and charm (I like the scene of Saya singing, and I felt…Oh! It’s a wonderful voice), I could also recognize some very familiar voices which I’m excited to hear more as the series progresses.

    Character: 7 I’ll talk about Saya, so far I like how she transforms from a carefree individual into someone so BADASS (with that fiery-looking eyes); I’m a person with a natural inclination for female characters with strong personalities, granted she didn’t look like someone fitting that description from the outside, but after witnessing how calm she was battling her opponent, I’m convince that she has it inside her. As for the other characters, not much details are revealed so I it is something I will be looking forward next episodes.

    Enjoyment: 8 The episode did well and I felt that it did what any first episode should do —- give a good impression to its viewers that will make them look forward watching the series, obviously I have a very good enjoyment on it. Initially, I felt the character design is out of place but after quickly remembering that it is done by CLAMP, my impression quickly rebounded positively. I have watched this episode 3x already before this comment.

    Overall First episode rating: 8 or Very good first episode impression

    Ghostalker
    Reply

  42. I really disliked Saya as a character. She’s clumsy and cute and good natured and everyone loves her BUT WAIT she’s a cold hearted demon killer exclamation point!!

    reminbee
    Reply

  43. What is the point of this series, when we already have a 52 episodes Blood series? I’d understand if this turns out to be a sequel and this aspect is totally undersold, but so far it doesn’t look like that. Did we really need an alternate series so few years after the last one?

    magnuskn
    Reply

    1. Yes.

      The series might go off in a totally different direction and in essence be a new series and be good (after all CLAMP is involved). Its certaainely alot better then yet another fan service filled harem show where the main boy has girls throwing themselves at him and he is too dense/innocent to notice and in the end picks no one (I like those too sometimes).

      Karmafan
      Reply

    3. You realize that Blood+ is an alternate series to Blood: The Last Vampire right? You could argue about its necessity, but in the end, they’re all just supernatural action flicks.

      fragb85
      Reply

  44. It looks exciting at first glance but my gut feeling seems to go with ‘disappointing’ on this adaptation..I LOVED Blood+ though. I disagree on Saya,the premise is realistic that besides being sickly,she was just a sweet ordinary girl until she found out the truth and who she was.
    Anyways,it’s too early to still decide on Blood-C for the most part.

    Azumi
    Reply

  45. All the folks whining after 1 22 minute episode that its not doing this and its not doing that or her hair is too long or she trips and whatever….

    Action series like this often take more then 22 minutes to get moving. After you have watched 2-3 episodes if you still don’t like it then whine then or go watch something else that meets your expectations for free anime you downloaded without having to pay for it.

    Karmafan
    Reply

  46. Well I was dying for a sequel to Blood+ right after it ended and hoped one would come out….but I guess a whole new plot might be better. I mean theres not much to elaborate more on Blood+ anyway, but a OVA/movie would have been nice.

    Lets see what Blood C has to offer. I didnt get into Blood+ Until I saw eps 40 until i marathoned it. So Im gonna be patient with this one. Actually just keep it in store and marathon it after a few eps I think.

    This a 26 ep or 50 ep series?

    unknown2
    Reply

  48. i just want haji. lol no seriously, when i watch blood+ i watched it for haji. lol
    no i really enjoy it. Blood+ was not a fluffy romantic story it wasn’t portrayed to be a highschool action but a more gothic and serious action. let’s say seinen vs shonen. . .a bit more on the mature and emo side compare to the usual highschool slash vampire theme. not sure what i am trying to get at but blood C falls in the latter.

    paj
    Reply

  50. I cant be the only one enchanted by saya devilish looks at the end of the OP sequence, can’t wait until saya get into that… yum nana mizuki devilish voice.

    Otherwise, kinda bland ep 1, but then again i’d rather have better overall series rather than good ep 1 and shitty other episodes

    joachim
    Reply

  53. One word: trainwreck.

    Blood+ was…complex. It was all about quite realistic reactions of characters and quite realistic portrayal of supernatural world. Saya was one of more realistic protagonists in her actions and quite deep one. Nothing was explained in words and viewers had to see and get it all.

    BloodC so far…unlikeable clutzy watanuki-like saya, overexaggerated fantasy genre and flashy fighting. Not my cup of tea.

    UnknownVoice
    Reply

    1. Yeah because comparing 52 episodes of Blood+ is totally comparable to 1 episode of Blood-C. I should probably point out the Blood+ didn’t have a very impressive first episode either.

      fragb85
      Reply

      2. That’s bull. Both first episodes portrayed dull idealistic lives for the protagonists, dull uninteresting school mates who were mostly unimportant and a mood whiplash fight scene. Heck I’d just put C slightly higher for having a better fight scene, but not by much. Neither first episodes showed any depth or complexity.

        fragb85
        Reply

      3. If you think things like fight scenes matter in Blood+ then you are sorely missing the point of that show. That show was never about flashy fight scenes or action. It was basically just that a very realistic approach to horror and fantasy genre with very fitting and realistic and NORMAL reactions to the events as well as exploration of Saya’s character through visuals, metaphors and allusions, instead of wording it all out.

        First Blood+ episode was basically REAL LIFE.a real school a real idyllic life, a real sense of danger.
        First episode of BloodC is overly stylized school, schoolmates that would not even exist in real world, an unrealistic klutz main character, random japanese monsters and story-like foreshadowings.

        So yeah, Blood+ first episode was miles better than this.

        UnknownVoice
        Reply

      4. Real life? Blood+ doesn’t portray it any better than Blood-C. All the stereotypes and cliches were all present in the first episode. Also Blood has always been billed as an action horror series so stop trying to pretend that the action wasn’t an integral part of the show.

        And again you’re basically comparing the entire scope of a series to a single episode. Your just being incredibly short-sighted.

        fragb85
        Reply

  54. I thought it was okay… To be honest though, I never seem to like any of CLAMP’s anime adaptations. No idea why either, because I read a lot of their manga counterparts and actually enjoy reading them. I know this is an anime original, but CLAMP is involved, so it still has the same feel. Nonetheless, I’ll give this series a couple more episodes to see if I still like it.

    argus88
    Reply

  56. Watched this today as well as a few of the others from this season, i’m looking forward to seeing some more of Saya! <3

    Why have I got a feeling her dad is going to die again? She can never get a break.

    I'm secretly hoping that it connects to Blood+ somehow but I highly doubt that'll happen.

    Kurisu Vi Britannia
    Reply

  57. Hmm…

    So far this seems to be to Blood+ as Blood+ is to Blood the Last Vampire…

    The only thing that’s keeping me going through this is the fact that this is only the first episode (and I find you need to watch slightly more than 1/6th of an anime series before you can judge if it’s any good (going by the rule of just past the fourth episode of a twenty-four ep series)), and that I didn’t think much of Blood+ to begin with, but ended up loving it, also I am highly suspicious of the light heartedness.

    My suspicion is that all of this Saya’s memories of a normal life are a lie, her happy-go-lucky personality the product of brainwashing, and that guy isn’t her father, he’s her handler. It’s the little things like how his eyebrow twitches when she mentions her visions, the little flashback things and the fact that her hand doesn’t want to let go of the sword…

    Of course it’s also possible that the creepy puppy will start talking and this will degenerate into a standard magical girl anime, but more bloody than average…

    I’m not going to entirely disbelieve that this could be a sequel, but given they changed the title suffix it’s highly unlikely.

    I’m somewhat put off by the Furukimono monsters from this episode and the preview… Saya’s antagonists have always been chiroptera and these don’t seem to be chiroptera in name or form… (which begs the question: what is Saya?) I’m expecting all the mystical stuff to be bunk in series, as the franchise has always leaned heavily toward the Sci-Fi end of the Sci-Fi/Fantasy spectrum.

    Wolfen
    Reply

  60. Alot of other fans out there are saying girls who are like this version of Saya are “mary sues” or “purity sues” which I think is utter bull. Girls in real life are not some badass action heronies. But I guess “cheerfull, kind, and caring” female main characters are getting soooooo boring and dull now right. because more anime girls should be like Riza Hawkeye or Major Kusanagi: a tough-as-nails no nosense type of girl who doesn’t take anything from anyone. Well to me the strong female character has become dull and boring because this type of character implies that the only way a female character in anime can be likable is if she goes rambo on something or yells 24/7. Whatever happened to girls like Shiori Misaka or Kotome Ichinose; girls who are strong emotionally instead of physically. So what if some anime girls are clumsy, dense, and weak in combat; that doesn’t mean that they are bad characters personality wise.

    melissa
    Reply

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