Blood+

TV (50 eps)
2005 - 2006
Fall 2005
3.764 out of 5 from 25,650 votes
Rank #2,527

In world where flesh-eating monsters roam the streets, only one organization has the means to save civilization from annihilation: Red Shield, a specially-organized unit designed to fight these monsters, and the only weapon that can destroy them: Saya. Awakened from a 30-year sleep, Saya is thrust into a modern world which she has no memories of, and is troubled by a past filled only with bloodshed and sadness. With the undying love and support of her family and friends, she struggles to gain the strength to move forward and regain the pieces of her shattered memories.

my anime:

User Stats

73,968 users are tracking this. to see stats.

If you like this anime, you might like...

Reviews

ThatAnimeSnob
5.5

So some dudes made this short horror film titled Blood the Last Vampire which was instantly labeled cult. I don’t know why; it was probably the weird presentation of an otherwise simplistic premise. Some years later, some other dudes decide to make a series out of this and the result is Blood+. The tale of an apparently normal high school girl forced to take part in a sinister conspiracy that aims to make humanity food for vampire-like freaks.To make a long story short, the series has a very good concept and interesting characters but its presentation lacks the stuff that would make it great. Here are the reasons:1) Long duration / Slow pacing. The show lasts twice as it should; it is 50 episodes long yet it might as well be only 26. The reason is simple, many episodes feel like minor side quests or filler missions that in the longrun only manage to hinder the progress of the main story with characters and storylines that lack excitement and tire the viewer.2) Passive crybaby main character. Very few like such protagonists. A dynamic character would have done the same things in half the time instead of constantly doubting and holding back or crying in a corner. Although the basic motto of the series is to portrait a normal girl as she steadily becomes more decisive and active, it doesn’t change the fact that the main heroine is going around in circles. One moment she is trembling in fear, then she suddenly finds the strength to fight, then she reverts back to how she was… 20 times in a row. It gets REALLY bothersome. It is excused the first few times but when it keeps happening over and over, then it pisses you off.3) Lack of focus on secondary characters. Saya and her nemesis get all the spotlight, leaving all the rest as almost unneeded background decorations. Although it is true that a great deal of characters are fleshed out throughout the series, none of them does something overly important to affect the story. Imagine an entire secret organization of supposed elite agents who in the entirety of the series didn’t manage to beat the weakest monster, while Saya an otherwise simple-minded schoolgirl has slain a mountain of brutes. Why were they in the story then? Just to pay her traveling tickets and giving her a quest list? Nice NPCs they were… Her family ain’t better either. Her step brothers keep interacting with her and are even willing to fight for her, but eventually don’t do anything to affect the battles or the result of all this mess. Do you know how irritating it is to have epic level fighters who do nothing while the rookie squire kills the dragon?4) Boring battles. Although there is a lot of action in the anime and most problems end up being resolved through fighting, almost none of the numerous duels and spars are exiting. Saya will just use her super blood to instant-kill any monster she cuts with her sword, after a simplistic battle choreography. And if she gets injured in the progress? Big deal; she immediately heals like Wolverine. In the meantime, all the rest of the supernatural people around her will be flying and shooting and blowing stuff up, usually with zero importance to the plot. And as I said, elite agents are completely useless at beating even the weakest of foes. Where is the interest in all this?5) Huge mystery build up / disappointing revelation. For most of the show Saya will have amnesia (which is a bad trope on its own but I felt generous enough not to make a different topic about it). She will keep traveling and fighting and investigating and having flashbacks in order to remember what had happened in her past. And we are kept teased with these vague images and hints and weird stuff, making us expect an amazing revelation. And when the revelation finally comes, you go all “WTF, after all this waiting that was all of it???” Seriously, the explanation of the grand mystery behind her past is simple as frakk, yet they make you think it will be something unimaginably epic.6) Clean CGI. Although the animation is quite good and the sceneries are great to stare, the anime just doesn’t feel “dirty” enough. The textures on objects like clothing or rocks will look sparkling clean, even when they should be worn-out from weather, bloodshed, dust, mud or generally affected by their surrounds. Even the wind blowing on the characters’ faces will feel more like a fan. It is as if the entire thing was shot with a blue screen and thus feels fake. 3D effects weren’t as well developed back then, so everything feels more artificial than hand-drawn.7) Ever-present school uniform. Saya wears one most of the times, even when she is not going to school. Pander the otakus too much and you end up making it look too ridiculous to care about her personal drama.8) Red lips. Saya has them. ALL THE TIME! They stand out. She is the only one with so much RED. They are annoying…That’s pretty much all of it. The finale may also feel corny as frakk, but I am generous again and leave that alone. Corny doesn’t mean bad; just unimaginative. It is otherwise good corn quality.And now the few things I can praise:1) Gore. Buckets of blood and some deviant things here and there.2) Shadows. Good use of lighting by … not using it. Makes things pitch black and scary by being just black silhouettes with glowing red eyes.3) Soundtrack. Exceptional use of violin and musical instruments; very good in building atmosphere. Too bad most of it gets wasted on a boring plot and silly story. And the lyrics are pop shitz. What in blazes is pop doing in a semi-horror anime? … Oh, right, it has a schoolgirl in it.

See all reviews

Related anime

Related manga

Characters

See all characters

Staff

See all staff

Discussions

Custom lists

See all custom lists