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「きみがため」 (Kimi ga Tame)
“For Your Sake”
After a relatively unimpressive first showing for the next big series in the Blood franchise, Blood-C doesn’t waver from that trend and continues on in a similar manner with its second episode. The pacing is still a tad slow for my liking and reminds me of the adaptation of another CLAMP series, Kobato, which I’ve left unfinished at the halfway point with no real desire to get back to. I don’t mind the extra high school-related developments to help familiarize us with the characters, but I am wary of the additional time spent on them when this series is only slated for twelve episodes. It’s sometimes hard to give the laid-back progression the benefit of the doubt when the remaining episode count is quickly ticking away. At only two episodes in, it’s too early to start fretting over though, so here’s what I’ve taken away (and liked) so far.
Fumito of Guimauve Cafe (i.e. Marshmallow Cafe) is almost too kind of a character, so I can already picture the story taking a drastic turn at some point if something were to happen to him. The other possibility is of course Saya’s father Tadayoshi, who kind of has a bulls-eye on his back simply because he’s voiced by Fujiwara Keiji. Keiji has quite the track record for playing fatherly figures who wind up biting the dust and affecting the overall story in a big way (see Fullmetal Alchemist and Ao no Exorcist for examples). If anything happens to either of them, it’s a surefire way of causing a severe shift in the current mood of the series and in Saya herself. You can be sure I’ll be reading heavily into any potential death flags that are waved their way.
On the high school side of things, I’m somewhat enjoying Itsuki’s optimism about his feelings toward Saya. It says a lot about how clueless Saya is when Nono and Nene can be rooting for him right in front of her and she doesn’t have the slightest idea what they’re referring to. Poor Itsuki. He deserves extra credit for remaining undeterred even when Saya gave him an inadvertent blow by sharing her lunch with Shinichirou, who by the way is looking more and more like he’s aware of the existence of the Furukimono, a.k.a. “Elder Bairns (Children)” — the translation that Niconico’s simulcast is going with. There’s definitely some interesting developments going on between the characters, even though nothing appears to be particularly relevant to the main storyline about slaying demons.
So far, the only thing saving Blood-C from being a completely uneventful affair are the battles tacked onto each episode (both at the beginning and end of this one). Much like in the premiere, they still lack a sense of purpose to the overall story and come off a bit too much like a weekly occurrence, but I’m not complaining when they provide regular glimpses the other aspect of this series that will likely pick up as we go on. For the time being, it looks like we need to be a little patient with this series and give it a chance to impress us. After all, it hasn’t done anything poorly thus far; it just hasn’t shown us anything amazing… yet.
Preview
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I’m not at all familiar with the Blood universe, and not really interested this particular series, but I almost want to watch anyways, because by god those twins are one (two?) of the cutest things I’ve ever seen.
Agreed.
Is is disappointingly terrible
The twins are SO CUTE in the OP. The song itself is really good. Can’t wait for it to be relesased as an mp3.
i swear this is turning into xxxHolic with vampire plot :/
what’s next? some mysterious small talking creature is going to become her pet? pffff
The anime movie Saya in that was the last of the vampires… >.>
I wonder if she’ll see a Menos Grande soon. Oh wait…
Good to know that I’m not missing much, yet.
Clamp does need to rush the story :/ especially if it only consists of 11 or 12 episodes. it’s possible the father will be killed soon.
So far shinichirou remains as the most interesting part 😀
But knowing clmap there is a high possibility this series will have that kind of disturbing plot twist.
Blood+ is going to kick this show’s ASS. 12 Episodes? That’s not gonna develop anything! Compared to the epic Hans Zimmer/Mark Mancina scored 50 episode series, where Saya was amnesiac and had an amazing villain twin sister Diva, lots of chiropterans and vampire bodyguards! The fight scenes here show promise… but to what emotional point do they serve to the story? If all it comes down to is monster of the week, Saya is badass-blood-stained-alter ego… Meh.
Clamp is like all about beautiful skinny people… I feel like they would get along with Stephanie Meyer. Especially when they handle the writing; I don’t mind their character designing but they really need to keep their opinions away from the story because everything is so structured around the perfect its hard to find flaws in the characters. Code Geass got lucky because they weren’t in complete charge of the production beyond design and they had a great writer. xxxHolic is just annoying and as dramatically idle as its protagonist – seriously Yuko can’t even get through a fight scene without looking stylish?
There I’ve said it. Those are my opinions, I could be wrong because I haven’t seen each and every single one of their characters and I’m open to being surprised but this is what I have seen thus far.
If they are planning for more then 1 season then a laid back start to the series that introduces the characters and sets Saya in some sort of normalcy before the series takes off isn’t such a bad thing.
So far we have seen 3 different types of monsters. I’m glad there is some variety to them and not the same monster each week.
Last week I guessed the black haired boy was going to be the Haji character in this series and its looking more and more like thats what is gonna happen.
I also really like the twins as well. They are so adorable.
You know…I wouldn’t be surprised if we end up seeing the vampire twins, Kamui & Subaru from Tsubasa in this show lmao
I really don’t get why everyone these days feels the need to do comparisons on everything. Just because you’re entitled to opinion doesn’t mean you have to shout it from the damn rooftops, I guess it’s due to all these spoilt brats who get on the internet who live with their mommy and daddy who pay for everything where their opinions are like the ten commandments lol.
Either way, if you don’t like Blood-C then that’s up to you but we don’t want to hear your stupid comments on every single episode of an anime that other people are enjoying especially when you don’t actually want to say anything constructive and compare 2 episodes to the whole of Blood+!
Anyhow, if you’re watching anime to compare it to other series continuously then you are doing it wrong lol.
It is inevitable that comparisons are made.
When you buy a new car, do you not make comparisons to other cars you could be buying?
When you buy a loaf a bread, do you not make comparisons to other brands?
When you read a book, do you not automatically make comparisons to other books, novels or stories you’ve read?
People aren’t watching anime to compare it to others. It just happens because they’ve had previous experiences or knowledge about the subject matter.
And regardless of whether people like or dislike the show, they are free to express their opinions, whether you agree or not. You are free not to read the comments if they offend you so much.
I find it ironic how you mention that people shouldn’t comment if they don’t have anything constructive to say, yet you yourself have nothing constructive to say.
Anyways, back to the show.
Action sequences lack motive, meaning and direction. I find a flimsy motive of killing Old Gods or else they will kill others really empty… Also, I’m hoping there a reason behind the jarring difference between the school life and her vigilante life. So far, I don’t see much of a reason to portray her school life for such a large portion of the episode.
Feel free to bring up other arguments.
I havent said anything constructive yet cos I haven’t got round to watch the ep.
I agree with you mostly Awesome but you cannot compare 2 works of art which is what anime is. Also a comparison cannot be made when you don’t have sufficient information, hence why I mentioned the 2 vs 50 eps.
Plus, the majority of people who are doing this have opinions that are mostly just haters hating, it happened alot more in last weeks post and definitely on the 1st ep of Mawaru.
I’m not offended, I just refuse to ignore it when it’s unfair to do the comparisons.
Also with 12 episodes I’m waiting for her dad to die, the hate must flow through her XD
I find that people that watch anime seem to be getting pickier and meaner. So many folks always hating on this anime or that one. Of course they didn’t have to pay for the anime (they downloaded a subbed version of the series at 0 cost to themselves).
Its ok to discuss an anime and have differing viewpoints, thats why this site is here. To review a series and to talk about the different series. Its just that some folks seem to spew vileness out of their mouth on every series.
I get a kick out of folks that trash an anime or the manga and then also tell us they don’t watch the series or read the manga. A few weeks back some guy was trashing the Naruto manga and then said he doesn’t read the series. WTF are you doing trashing a series based on a handful of screen shots and the review by a RC member?
Yea true, I don’t have a problem with people sharing their opinions but most people these days are just overly biased and terribly stupid.
lol speaking of Kobato, I just read the last chapter of the manga! I’d say go with manga version >.<
Comparisons are always the way to go when you have earlier shows in the same universe. Apparently there was a lot of hype and good reviews on the earlier shows, so I’m not surprised about the amount of comparison – Not that all of it is sensible.
Regarding the pace of the show, I’d agree that it IS a little slow and there is reason to be wary about the pacing with these kind of episodes. Still, you never know what could be pulled. The death flag mention seems like a very good way to get the episode into a faster pace and heighten the tension as well as give the series more flavour. If anything I’m more willing to bet on the character that gives Saya a greater sense of peace.
Besides, the hinting that Shinichirou knows something seems sufficiently interesting that her friends will get involved sooner or later. For now, I think the jury is still out. No point making myself look stupid by judging whether this series will turn out awesome just by watching two episodes. 😉
I WANT MORE FIGHTING DAMMIT.
OK, minor point but – dog??? I’d have bet my car that was supposed to be a cat.
I think it looks like a cat too… Nyan :3
Catdog.
Seems to be this series is already getting a lot of negative impressions already.
As for me, I pretty much prepared myself ready for anything from watching this series being a CLAMP production, so I guess I’m one of the few people who have a liking for this series (Saya is the winner for me in this series, I always like badass female leads). I guess I just have to tolerate whatever comments comes from other viewers.
I had to pause 3 times while going through this episode and that’s not a good sign.
I have never quite appreciated Clamp’s work but I thought I might be able to swallow this one since I was a huge fan of Blood+.
Hope the next episode will be better and this version of Saya becomes a more interesting heroine. Also, am I the only one who finds the fighting scenes very unimpressive?
I thought the fighting scenes were okay even if they didn’t have that much of a point; so far the ones shown haven’t varied so much though so it could get repetitive.
Compared to Blood+ the phasing is much slower.. The first 2 episodes of Blood+ goes around most of the characters, making it a bit harder to follow but more engaging. Blood-C seems to only focus on Saya walking around singing a cute song and killing monsters, easy to follow but nothing seems to be happening..
I’m not sure if the slower phasing is good or not but nothing interesting is going on yet. Hope it picks up soon.. >_<
Lets hope so
I would die of laughter if it was 12 episodes of just this, it’d be as big of a troll as Endless Eight.
From the preview of next week’s episode they said that Saya’s family secret will be revealed. So I am assuming the plot going to be moving from now on?
nothing impressive yet but still keeping up some hope.
Okay, I’m just going to comment on both episodes because it’s easier to do so here. I’ve never previously watched any part of the blood franchise, in fact I enjoyed a few of CLAMP’s works so I decided I’d have a look. I agree that the pace is slow, and there are still many things left to be desired, but this show does have direction. I’m not sure if you’re a fan of CLAMP or not, but I believe them to be a very promising group who are able to weave complex stories into reality (in the story). It might not be as good as blood+, but this show only has what, 12 episodes? It’s not easy to fit in a lot in 12 episodes, so I know that things have to pick up quickly or it’s just a complete waste. But I have hopes, and it’s the little things that are happening that are pointing to the future of this adaption.
1. The thing with the light: The way I see it, the light is probably some kind of truth or memory that she’s grasping to, the way she holds out her hand as if to bring the cool guy back is interesting. I personally think that guy is hot, and I’ll throw a hissy fit if they don’t end up getting some good screen time together. After all, he seems like the person who will find out her secret, if he hasn’t already (“I hope it doesn’t leave a scar”).
2. In the first episode when she couldn’t let go of the sword, doesn’t it make it seem as if the sword is starting to take a hold on her. This alternate character of hers is in fact very strong, and the reason she is good at sports is probably because of her high fitness levels. Her being clumsy counteracts it, just like her two personalities. In this episode Saya kills the demon that had killed her mother, and she defeated it quite easily actually, but she struggled morein comparison to her other fights, you can see that when she crawls away after killing it and she is extremely exhausted.
3. Her dad might be a death flag, I don’t know. It may be slow paced now, but it will probably speed up soon.
4. The fight scene’s are intense, and their is a great deal of blood once the girl kills it. We may not know much about the direction of this, but it seems more like the monsters are just appearing, not being summoned just to be killed. It also seems that each monster is unique, since the latter monster she fights in this episode was that one that apparently killed her deceased mother.
Look, I know it may not live up to blood+, but I think this anime has a lot of potential. Did any of you notice that the narrator at the stat has a similar voice to Fumito? Just saying…
I’m Guessing (WARNING Huge Spoilers)… Show Spoiler ▼
Karamafan to go along with your guess… Show Spoiler ▼
Admittingly, I didn’t see the previous Blood series’, so I can’t make any comparisons to them, though in some ways, I’m glad for that as it let’s me be more unbiased towards C.
Considering I don’t really know much, I’m glad we got to know the characters right at the start rather than getting into the story, then suddenly halting the story (or at least really slowing it down) just to suddenly have a filler episode or 2 for others so we can get to know them more. This way, it’s all mostly out of the way and we’ll only really get back around to them if events more directly concern them, outside of misc scenes.
Also helps that I find Saya to be so adorable during the day (all shy and blushing like she was), yet so sexy at night, lol.
LoL I m gonna snap if Li Syaoran and the others suddenly pop up in this world….
I am starting to think Shinichirou is a vampire of sort.
I hope it’s not gonna be a “monster of the week” anime. I just watch this for Nana Mizuki!
God that song of hers is starting to piss me off big time. Is it just me or do the Japanese songs almost never rhyme? And what’s with the ridiculously long hands of Fumito-san? I could swear that sometimes he looks like ET, or a praying mantis. I’m not really digging this yet, but I’ll still give it a chance and see how next couple of episodes unfold
What do you mean rhyme… as in the chorus or what?
I think that Saya’s little stroll-on-the-road song is a bit too overdone in this episode. And I agree with Divine; we have yet to see anything amazing come out of this show.
I am just happy to see one of my fave anime heroines cast in another world… compaaring + to C is like comparing apples to oranges… and twins are obviously too fun to miss!
I agree, I loved the original Blood+. I’m enjoying this series and the twins are so cute.
I really think they had two concepts and just clashed them together. The battleparts and the happy-happy slice of live parts just dont want to fit. I would love to see just the slice of live part. The battle part seems until now not necessary. Especially because the twins are not in 🙁
Why! WHY! Why does this show have to be set in a little town in the middle of nowhere, so small that it only has a single cafe and a single bakery!? Could the setting get any blander than this?
Sure they say they feed on men. I would dearly like to see that for myself. Just once. That’s all it would take. Also an overarching plot would be nice.
not every show this season had to Madoka or Hanasaku in order to be enjoyable. Why can’t we anime fans be satisfided with female characters? if a female character is too abusive, agressive, or loud-mouth we complain but if that same charater is geniunely nice, helpful, and caring we still complain. i know constructive critisicim is needed but there’s a difference between that and bashing on a show. Besides cliched anime premises and character archtypes are like eating your favorite ice cream flavor; no matter how many times you’ve had it, it will still taste great.
I find it strange that they have a summary for the movie coming out next year: Blood-c the movie, and not the tv series. It might work as a prequel to the series, and the main character is again Saya, but back in the 60’s or something, I just read the plot for the movie somewhere. It makes me wonder if in fact there will be some kind of thing where Saya will be reborn every so-and-so, but I guess we’ll find out. The movie comes out in 2012 some time after the series finishes.
Episode 3 is out subbed now and all I can say is HOLY SHIT!
i know right? that was freaky… especially when the bloodied shoe just rolled out of the train
http://apricotcomplex.com/archives/51723410.html check out the bottom photo