Blood+ is an anime about vampires, more specifically chiropterans. And it is nothing like your typical vampire story (*cough* Twilight *cough*).
Story of Blood+
The story follows a young girl named Saya Otonashi, who lives a rather peaceful life with her two brothers and foster father in Okinawa. She is a normal high school girl except that she has anaemic and amnesiac. Her tranquil life is shattered when she goes to her school one night to retrieve her shoe and encounters a large bat-like blood-sucking creature – a chiropteran. She is forced to fight and kill the creature by a mysterious man (aka Haji, her chevalier). After that day her life changes completely. Saya must now journey to find out who she is while fighting the chiropterans, even if it means that she will no longer be able to live that happy warm life with her family.
Review
I rate this anime a 9/10. The series is inspired by a movie called ‘Blood the last vampire’ that released in 2000. What I like most are places where the events take place (Okinawa, Vietnam, Russia, London and New York). There are certain real life spots and buildings that have been incorporated into the anime beautifully (e.g Empire State Building in New York, the small rock island in Okinawa beach, etc).
**Spoiler Alert** Don’t read further if you want to watch the anime
The main villain is Saya’s twin sister Diva, a chiropteran. While working with an organization, the Red Shield, Saya hunts down Diva. She has various encounters through her journey in unlocking her memories of the violent and sad past and hunting down Diva. The characters have been well developed especially those of Kai Miyagusuku (Saya’s adoptive brother), Diva and Saya herself. Diva is by far one of the greatest villains I have seen. If I had to say, she has all the 7 sins in her – Gluttony (drinking blood in excess), Greed (her desire to want everything/take everything from Saya), Envy (she was envious of Saya’s happy life with humans), Lust (assault on Riku), Sloth (her periodic sleep), Pride (as a chiropteran) and Wrath (her destructive nature).
I like how the story is filled with these moments of horror, dark themes and also the mystery surrounding the characters. The anime is serious and doesn’t have much humour. There is also the subtle romance that blossoms especially between Saya, Haji, Solomon (Diva’s chevalier) and Kai.
All in all it’s a good anime to watch. The series does have a manga spin off though, I prefer the anime. Do let me know what you think about the anime.