Starring: Blood + Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Binding: DVD Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC Label: Sony Pictures Number of Items: 6 Region Code: 99 Release Date: March 04, 2008 Running Time: 600 minutes
Product Description: Saya Otonashi a seemingly normal high school student suffers from amnesia and she can't remember the past year of her life. One day after a man appears and gives her a katana sword her destiny begins to be revealed. Soon she finds herself fighting the latest threat to humanity Chiropteran monsters ravenous immortal creatures that can change their form disguising themselves as human beings. They feed off blood and hide themselves within the human world. An organization known as the Red Shield has been waging a private war to wipe them out and now the struggle has grown. Saya s journey for the truth has begun.Blood +: Part One episodes include:First KissMagic WordsThe Place Where It All BeganDangerous BoyBeyond the Dark ForestMy Father s HandsI Must Do ItPhantom of the SchoolRainbow for EachI Want to See YouAfter the DanceLured by the White MistJungle ParadiseThe Last SundayI Want to Pursue!Siberian ExpressDo You Remember the Promise?Moon Over EkaterinburgBroken HeartChevalierSour GrapesThe ZooThe Two ChevaliersAiry Singing VoiceThe Red ShieldSystem Requirements:Run Time: 371 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: FOREIGN/ASIAN Rating: NR UPC: 043396226531 Manufacturer No: 22653
Amazon.com: Based on the feature Blood: The Last Vampire (2000), Blood+ (2005) combines elements of the magical girl, vampire and biomedical experiments out-of-control genres. In the original film, Saya, the last true vampire, battled the bloodthirsty demons attacking an American base in Japan during the Vietnam War. This Saya has lived for more than 100 years, but remembers little of her past. The magical guardian Hagi appears and presents Saya with a special sword: she must cut herself and allow her blood to flow into channels in its blade. Only her blood can destroy the artificially created monsters known as Chiropterans. The sinister conglomerate Cinq Fleches who created the Chiropterans is pitted against the secret society the Red Shield, whose members include Hagi and Saya. Blood flows freely during the ensuing battles, escapes, and flashbacks, as Saya whines, fusses, and cowers while her friends get stomped. The filmmakers arbitrarily change the rules of the story as it stumbles along. The characters repeatedly say that only Saya can kill a Chiropteran, but near the end of the first season, the hooded figures called the Schiff appear, who hack Chiropterans to pieces with their swords. As Saya is a vampire, she needs blood to stay alive, but she never bites anybody and spent years in a human family without seeking blood (or having problems with silver and garlic). A sixth disc is devoted entirely to interviews with the filmmakers. Unrated, suitable for ages 16 and older: graphic violence, violence against women, nudity, alcohol and tobacco use, ethnic stereotypes) --Charles Solomon
Great Story As the series progress along I was hooked into it's story and couldn't put the dvd's down until finished. I was so into the story and when I got to the end of the of part one I was mad that part two is not out to find out how the story ends. Here we have a meek shy girl who's enjoying a family [adopted]life when all of a sudden she is plunged into a battle with vicious ceatures.Each episode as she takes on these creatures she is remembering some of her past life and you will be surprised when you get to the end of the first part of the series what I'm talking about.So if you love creatures, sword fighting,mystery, adventure you will enjoy having this series in your collection.
ATMOSPERIC AND FUN Blood+ is a sequel to the 2001 Anime Film, Blood: The Last Vampire. The series premiered in Japan in 2005 and then in the U.S. as part of the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim group in 2007. The opening prologue is set during the Vietnam War as a young woman goes on a maniacal killing spree, killing monsters as well as innocent civilians and soldier. Now cut ahead to Okinawa in 2005, that young woman, Saya, has been adopted by a former American Soldier, George, who runs a pub in Okinawa. Kai has two brothers, also adopted by George, Kai, the older brother and Riku, the youngest of the children.
Saya has been living with George and her brothers for the past year but has no memory of anything before that. Saya's peaceful life with her family is changed for ever when a horrific beast attacks her one evening in her high school. A mysterious man intervenes, giving Saya a sword. Saya cuts herself, allowing her blood to flow into grooves on the sword, and with a skill that she didn't realize she had, slays the beast. The monster is a Chiroptean, giant, bat-like creatures possessing great strength, speed and almost total invulnerability. They live on the blood of humans although they are not vampires in the traditional sense. The only thing that can kill the Chiropteans is Saya's blood.
It's difficult summarizing Blood+ because there numerous sub-plots and a large roster of characters. Saya's mysterious protector is her servant Haji, but she's also protected by a secret organization called "Red Shield" dedicated to destroying the Chiropteans. In the first few episodes we'll learn part of Saya's background and how she came to be adopted by George. Blood+ however, spoon feeds its mysteries. We learn something new about Saya or the other characters in nearly every episode but the show's pacing is very deliberate.
The character development is among the very best I've ever seen in any Anime. You get to know all of the characters and their personalities and it's hard not to develop an attachment to them. Saya is not a gung-ho stereotypical heroine. At times she's so reluctant to fight that it's frustrating. Even when friends and family are in peril she has difficulty early on coming to grips with what she is and her abilities. And just WHAT is Saya? I'll not play spoiler and that's one of the mysteries that takes a while to be fully revealed. Her reluctance to fight however does allow other characters such as Haji and Red Shield's Mr. David to shine with their own skills.
Blood+ has a different look than traditional Anime. Combining traditional cell animation with CGI, it has a darker and grittier tone but also a fluidity that cell animation lacks. At times it gives the look an almost dream-like quality. The Chiropteans are often cloaked in shadows with just their blood-red eyes visible. This is a bloody, often brutal series that pulls no punches.
You'll note that I listed the cast with the American voice actors. This is because I watched the English audio as opposed to the Japanese audio. I realize that this is sacrilege to Anime purists but when you're watching a DVD for the purpose to review it, and take notes, it's difficult to try and follow sub-titles as well. The American voice actors are all extremely experience and have numerous Anime credits.
The boxed set includes the first 25 episodes of the series on five discs with the sixth disc featuring bonus material included extensive interviews. The set also includes a Manga sampler booklet and an exclusive Blood+ T-shirt.
I can't claim to be an Anime fanatic or expert but Blood+ drew me into its world unlike any other series and it's one of the best I've seen.
Different, Interesting, Good This anime was good - not quite as dark, artistic or intense as Blood the Last Vampire - but still good. The story and set up are interesting and the characters are fine.
The English dub isn't terrible, but it has it's moments. The subtitles are a let down. I hope that another edition will be released with complete subtitles rather than dubtitles.
My cup o' Blood so far. I have to admit my hopes weren't very high coming into this series. For the simple fact Blood the Last Vampire didn't appeal to me at all. In fact, I almost put this series off altogether. But I'm grateful for taking the plunge. Blood+ so far is living up to the hype. I don't find it that spectacular for a few reasons. But those reasons will stay with me because they will result in spoilers.
Blood+ begins with the main character Saya suffering from amnesia. Several events coupled with key characters begin to appear and turn her happy life into a living nightmare. Saya is forced to combat creatures that live off of human blood. Supporting her is a man that appears to be her servant with some pretty good fighting skills. And an organization that hunts these creatures down.
So far Blood+ is the best vampire anime I've seen. Surpassing immortal garbage such as Vampire Princess Miyu by leaps and bounds. Blood+ at one point to me seems as though it's going to borrow from Miyu. And it's going to take a turn towards being very repetitive with mindless action scenes. But this clearly goes out the window when the series start to take the time to develop the characters personality, play on Saya's human side, and tell a good story. The battles only happen when necessary. There is no murder for murders sake up to this point. The enemies even have a bit of personality.
Something that I really like about this anime is that it never loses it's serious and mature tone. Of course there's a couple of characters that aren't very serious. But the comedy isn't overplayed. Think Hellsing Ultimate with the over exaggerated comedy scenes(big, happy and sad faces with the over sized tear drop). That kind of crap just doesn't fit with certain anime titles and it just loses all credability as being serious. Thankfully this series doesn't suffer from that.
The action scenes are pretty brutal with lots of blood. Decapitations and bullets in the eye type of deal. But it's not Hellsing type action though. Don't come into it expecting that.
To me the animation is excellent. Far better than the movie. It's very fluid, well detailed, and very consistent frame by frame. The character designs are done very well. And you don't get the usual eyebrows on top of hair deal. The soundtrack is done very well and the opening and ending credits play a couple of good songs.
The series is shaping up pretty well and some questions are answered by the end. The ending definitly leaves you wanting more. At least that's how I feel. People seem to be harping about the language. Well, I don't care about the language. As long as it's in english I'm happy. This boxset contains the first 25 episodes on 6 DVD's in thin pack cases. Each case has 2 disk. Plus it comes with a black t-shirt and a Dark Horse Manga. Disk 6 contains all the extras, previews and interviews. If you saw Blood the Last Vampire and liked it(or hated it). Then there's a good chance you'll like this.
Excellent release with one major glaring flaw I've been looking forward to this release for a very, very long time, and it's almost everything I wanted. The packaging is good, the video and audio quality is good, and the show, of course, is excellent.
However, Sony, for some reason I can't begin to understand, did not give an English subtitle track for the Japanese audio. They instead have basically captions for the English dub track, which is close in meaning - but only close. If I wanted the English-dub dialogue I would be watching the English dub, but since I'm watching the Japanese audio I want a translation of what they're saying.
Based on this I'm very uncertain if I'll bother to buy part two of the series. I almost wish I could return this set, because the discrepancy between what I'm hearing and what I'm reading is VERY distracting.
If you're going to watch the English dub, by all means, buy this set. But if you want to watch with Japanese audio, I would really recommend avoiding it.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Not Available Comics
Tony's Online Tips
Trevor
