Official Synopsis:
Based on the groundbreaking anime Blood: The Last Vampire, Blood+ is the epic story of Saya Otonashi, a teenage amnesiac who must regain her memory if she's to destroy the Chiropterans, a vicious horde of blood drinking shape shifters that have plagued Japan for centuries. Featuring a cutting edge blend of CG and hand drawn animation set to an astonishing musical score produced by Academy Award winner Hans Zimmer (The Lion King,1994), Blood+: Part 1 contains 25 explosive episodes jam packed with mind shattering action, horror and suspense!

Our Take:
Over the years, I’ve tried and tried to get into anime, but with few exceptions I find that the genre does very little for me. In most cases (especially in recent years), the visual style and animation have been very impressive, but the story and characters leave me cold. I’d like to say that it’s a different story with Blood+, but I’d be lying.

To be fair, Blood+ is one of the better anime projects I’ve seen in quite some time. It’s a loose continuation of the 2000 short film Blood: The Last Vampire, which at the time was groundbreaking in its animation style. Blood+ is, not surprisingly, still at the cutting edge of animation. In fact, it’s downright amazing to look at. I’ve never seen such a stylized use of slow motion and shifting focus in an animated film, and Blood+’s combination of traditional and computer-generated animation is truly startling to watch.

Overall, though, the story and characters have that odd disconnect that I find in most anime films. The characters that inhabit the movie never quite seem to become living, breathing people (or vampires). You might say that that’s impossible in an animated film, but I think most fans of Disney and Pixar films would argue that with you. Not that I’m trying to compare Blood+ to Disney or Pixar, as they’re worlds apart (not too many demons being sliced open with a sword in Toy Story), but the characterization is certainly a factor.

Blood+ comes to DVD in two different versions. Blood+: Volume One includes the first five episodes of this 50-part series and no extra features. Blood+: Part One is a huge box set including the first 25 episodes, a Manga sampler, and a very cool T-shirt. There are also some nice extra features:

Inside Blood+ – Over an hour’s worth of interviews with the Japanese voice talent and crew members.

It takes a little while for Blood+ to really get going, but once it does, it is worth watching. It’s really meant to be an epic saga (although every episode does end on a major cliffhanger), so you have to stick with it to really appreciate the full nature of the story. While I wasn’t overwhelmed by the show, I can certainly see its appeal and it is one of the better animes I’ve seen in some time.

Overall Picture:
Movie: B-
DVD: B+

- Mike Spring
Editor