Here is the thing, I have to confess something about this series. I can understand some of its flaws. The characterization does leave a lot to be desired.
And yet, I find myself invested more emotionally than any other summer show aside from perhaps Penguin Drum. And it’s like that for nearly every episode. Because of that I just keep trying to describe why I’m exactly like this. But the thing just is: this show is simple, flawed, but I love every minute of it. And on top of that, unlike most of the other shows this season, it actually looks to head into an excellent conclusion. It’s been promising this from day one.
This episode, well it had it coming that some of the things happened the way they did. However, what I consider to be bad predictability is not when you can tell what is going to happen, but rather how and when it will (after all, a good story foreshadows or builds up its plot twist). The way in which the teacher broke the illusion was a gripping way to do it, especially with the use of the books. The whole scene in the cafeteria also had something really surreal about it. After all that carnage, Saya just sits happily in the cafeteria like nothing happened. It all fits into all of the other moments where she just felt… distant.
Call me a horror fan, but I again loved the fights and the atmosphere here. It’s not even the gore that gets to me the most, but rather the build-up and the constant tension, the slightly surreal setting and the brutal gore strengthen it even more for me.
And of course, I agree that simply being different does not necessarily make you good. A leap-frog getting drunk in a graveyard is different, but also terrible. However, it definitely does help!
Rating: *** (Awesome)
It really is quite amusing how each week you try to find some excuse about how this show is good. Lets just face it psgels. It’s your guilty pleasure. It’s crap but you like it for some reason you can’t seem to find.
Lets just leave it at that.
i might just be delusional or stating the obvious.. but i haven’t really seen anyone mention it (or i’m blind) … but i swear that “special” coffee that only saya likes from the shop….. i had always thought maybe it was blood. but each time they keep on showing close ups on it… and now even that one snack thing that happens to be red (and he mentions the color happens to be the same as to what it’s mixed with) … makes me think the same about that snack.
it all seems right when she always feels more “relaxed” after drinking it. and always has to start the day drinking it because it “calms” her down.
Aidan: I can acknowledge that this is a guilty pleasure. I can acknowledge that it’s flawed. What I can’t acknowledge however, is that it’s crap.
Every week I don’t try to find excuses. Instead I try to describe what I liked about each single episode. In the same way that every week you try to describe what you don’t like about it.
I doubt the ‘haters’ even watch this show any more. They gave up after the first few episodes and are still trying to convince everyone else it’s crap. Their loss. Not many animes have me eagerly awaiting the next episode – especially the wtf cliffhanger this week.
Saya is definitely acting like a “puppet” as the Elder Bairn said, but her ignorance of the situation makes her seem unwilling to act. She’s really waiting for answers just like the viewers are.
Aidan just got burned. Woot. +1 for Blood C lovers.
It seems more and more likely that Saya’s ‘father’ is also either an Elder Bairn or Vampire, since coffee-shop guy asks if he’s hungry and in the next scene has a bandage on his arm (bite marks probly) and a lame excuse. So I’m wondering how that might play out or what ‘side’ he is really on. That fact there are so many questions keeps me interested.
A+++++ post, psgels. You stole the words out of my mouth; this series does have it’s faults, but what series doesn’t this year? What I don’t get is the huge amount of hate it’s been getting just because it’s not Blood+ or an action built series for that matter. The build up of horrific atmosphere is the thing this show excels at and that’s what it’s meant to do. And unlike No.6, which was consistent but couldn’t fit in its chockfull ending into 11 episodes, it seems like Blood C is going to finish off excellently, which to me, is pretty darn important.
As for thoughts regarding this episode- I feel like I shouldn’t have, but I laughed when Tokizane died but more of the fact that I suspected something strange about him. Guess that got cleared up. And it’s DEFINITE that Fumito is serving blood and human flesh via coffee and guimauve. He’s also feeding Saya’s father, which to me is the big question here- if Saya’s father is a Bairn why on earth is he telling her to kill other Bairns? Like, I could get it that if, like Blood+, the humans were using Saya to hunt Bairns/Chiropterans down, but since it’s not like that, there has to be something else. All we have left now is to explain what the Covenant is, and Saya’s (along with the rest of the characters) place in it is.
I’m also really proud of how this show is managing to slowly complete all the blanks in the puzzle but at a pace where you don’t really realize it until the very end. I feel like nearly everything has been answered- not necessarily thrown onto a dinner plate and served, but definitely hinted- and now it’s time for the main chunk. With two (I think?) episodes to go, I feel like next week they will confirm everything, leaving a nice long episode for the finale. And then there’s even the movie!
I may be the minority, but I won’t deny that Blood C has been my favorite show this summer, with Mawaru Penguindrum coming up to a close second. It’s going to be a great two weeks to see this show finish off.
I don’t think it’s crap, the concept behind this show is solid and I guess one can see it now as the real story is (finally) told.
“This episode, well it had it coming that some of the things happened the way they did. However, what I consider to be bad predictability is not when you can tell what is going to happen, but rather how and when it will (after all, a good story foreshadows or builds up its plot twist).”
Sure, it wasn’t predictable in that sense but what bugged me about the storytelling in this show the whole time was how I felt like I had to wait for it. The story didn’t really lead me through the plot as it rather dragged behind me while I hoped it would someday catch up to me and tell me what I currently want to know and not just reveal what I asked a few episodes ago. Like that I found the building-up far too slow to really get me to sympathise with Saya since it’s obvious now that it’s her perspective that counts here. And in my opinion it’s mainly because of this bad storytelling that I don’t like this show.
The death of Tokizane was really… weird, it seemed so ridiculously unimportant in retrospective because of the way the episode handled it afterwards (Saya is even singing happily again the next day) but I guess with the twist at the end one should question every death up to this point.
Only people who have watched good anime can tell that Blood C is good. The music, the art, the fighting concept, the emotions…everything leads up to the climax. Not all anime have to have characters that rock, not all anime have to have characters that are immortal all the time. And for the matter this show is the best show I’ve seen all Summer.
I’m waiting something like this next week:
“Come play with us, Saya!
Come play with us!
Forever
and
EVER!”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8f_HaRxRbA
And this is the best anime from this temp, right after Steins;Gate and Mawaru.
This anime never fails to produce various emotions out of me. The monster of the week was really creepy and made me jump when it first appeared. Tokizane’s entrance was so abrupt/tacked on that I can only watch bemusedly as he died. Nothing is sacred on this show. I almost burst laughing when Saya, the next morning began her day singing her happy song, that female teacher(forgot her name), I can only imagine what she thinks when she sees Saya being so cheerful, just after almost all of her classmate died just a day or so ago. I can imagine her going on hysteric and confronting Saya about her very appropriate behavior.
@Asura: It was the worst, most disturbing part of the episode. When I saw that, I thougt, “WTF??? He was your friend, almost boyfriend, almost the last one left!!!! AND YOU SING???” No monster, mogu-mogu Nene or fight is so scary as her serenity after losing almost everybody she knew!
That was the time that I notice it’s a Horror history, not an Action one.
I am so glad I gave this show a second chance. After the first three episodes I wanted to scratch my eyeballs out it was so tedious! But it’s only after that I got the point of the show. And now, I cannot wait for the conclusion (is there still 1 or 2 episodes left)? It’s quite obvious that Saya is one the monsters and they keep feeding her with blood and flesh (or coffee and guimauves). The humans probably manipulated her and trained her so they could defend themselves against other monsters. My only question mark, the teacher! I’m wondering if she’s a monster trying to destroy the humans or just an outsider who got fascinated by the rumors she heard and decided to come investigate. I want to know 😀
The thing about blood-c is that it isn’t bad as it is; it’s bad simply because it’s too damn short. The story thus far and the build-up have been pretty strong and well paced- had it been a 24 episode show, that is. Up to the point that this show is at, it’s giving me “halfway” feelings- you know the feeling you get in a longer series when it just about hits the halfway mark, right before the “revelation” phase where the main villain + main objective is revealed and the hero gains his/her resolve. And the “revelation” phase will (or should) in good time, lead to the resolution stage, which is the ending.
The buildup in Blood C has been fairly strong- but in the end that it all it is, build up. And now at the end of the build up the producers intend to wrap everything up- “revelation” and “resolution”- in two episodes. That’s not the way to do things. I don’t care how strong your build up is, if your “revelation” and “resolution” are rushed- which they will inevitably be due to the shortness of the show, you are effectively messing up two of the major elements of any good action anime story.
Basically, if what the Blood-C guys are trying to do is done badly, it turns into a blo0dy train wreck (no pun intended). Smooth “exposition,” scrunched-up, smashed ending. Done well, you simply get something that’s “short but sweet” – note short, which also implies “lacking.” “Lacking” as in leaving many loose ends untied, underdeveloped villains and side characters, etc.- but an ending which hits a sweet spot nonetheless.
And “short but sweet” is never the same as “amazing.” Blood C may end up “decent” or even “good,” but it will never be “brilliant, amazing or potential classic material.”
So I’m gonna call it and say that at the most I would give this show an 85/100 if it does really well for itself at the end- but only in the event that it actually does really well- as things stand, I wouldn’t go higher than a 77/100. Others are entitled to thing differently, and from the number of stars psgels has been giving it, I’m inclined to think he will rate it very highly- but let all who read this mark the words of my prophecy- Blood C will ultimately be a forgettable series that languishes in the shadow of its predecessor- garnering little nostalgia of its own, kind of like Deus Ex: Invisible War which wasn’t an awful game by any means (It even got decent review scores), but was bad enough in comparison to the original that today, many fans of the original simply pretend that it doesn’t exist. It may be that the situation surrounding Blood C may not be as severe as that which plagues Deus Ex: Invisible War, but it will almost certainly be analogous. Fans of the original may not outright deny the existence of this show, but they will not attach the same nostalgia they have for the original Blood: The Last Vampire movie and Blood + to Blood-C. It’ll be remembered as one of the weaker chapters in the history of an epic franchise. Again, good in comparison to the rest of the crappy generic stuff, but far off in quality enough from the franchise standards that it’s predecessors have set that many will regard it as “lacking.”
It’s like paying for a Ferrari but having the makers of the car skimp on quality and put in a Corvette engine instead. A Corvette isn’t a terrible car by any means, and is much better than all those crap Hyundais and Hondas out there for sure- but you’re still disappointed because you expected a real Ferrari. By selling you a car with a Corvette engine in it, Ferrari has offended the standards that it has set for itself as a brand. The Ferrari with a corvette engine may still be a good car, but it still isn’t a freaking Ferrari.
Same thing with Blood-C. The Blood franchise has set high standards for itself with it’s previous anime installments. And Blood-C, while not bad at all by any stretch of the imagination, simply does not measure up to these standards- and therefore remains a disappointment.
And let’s look an example from the same franchise. Remember that live-action Blood movie from a few years back? I almost never hear anyone talk about it anymore- when the blood franchise is referred to 95% of the time people are talking about the original anime movie, or Blood +. The movie (which was awful) is very much forgotten. Now Blood-C is NOT nearly as bad as the movie, but it still does NOT measure up to the high standards that the original anime movie and Blood + have set for the franchise. In years to come I guarantee you that people will mainly continue to refer to Blood: The Last Vampire and Blood+ when talking about the Blood franchise. The movie will remain mostly forgotten, while Blood-C will become one of those “Oh yeah, there was that one show!” kind of things- they might acknowledge its existence, but little else- fans will not hold for it the same nostalgia that they hold for Blood: The Last Vampire and Blood +.
All in all, I’m just disappointed because it’s clear to me that this show could have been amazing if it were longer…
ZOMG!!! This is my fav anime of all time!!! In the next episode Saya skirt will be lift up and her left breast fondled!!! This is a GREAT! reward to a long time CLAMP fans like ME and MY FRIENDS!!!!
…even my worst enemy deserves better than this shit.
The story is good now as we reached its culmination. This show starts from episode 7 or 8 so thats a stupidity. However, the enigma in the end and my liking for the blood series has kept me on so far.
I had a feeling about (spoiler) those twins and I thought that they had died but that shadow demon came out from one of them and I think that the teacher can be also a furukimono and the cafe owner did not seen to show suspicion on her too easy for comfort (spoiler ended)
well, the ending of the series is good
This is a good series. I’ve been constantly entertained and i’m starting to think its the best of the season.
But wouldn’t it be great if this was the halfway point? If there was a reveal and then saya is taken to the real world to start the actual plot. Ahh, I think I really just want more.