▪	RELEASED BY:		SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT
		▪	ASPECT RATIO:		4:3 FULL SCREEN
		▪	AUDIO:		ENGLISH AND JAPANESE DD 2.0
		▪	RUNNING TIME:		619 MIN
		▪	RATING:		NOT RATED
		▪	RELEASE DATE:		03/04/2008
		▪	REVIEW DATE:		02/17/2008
		▪	REVIEWED BY:		HOLLY ELLINGWOOD

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 Chiropterians, 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 One contains 25 explosive episodes jam-packed with mind-shattering action, horror and suspense!

REVIEW:
Set years after Blood: The Last Vampire, Saya has lost her memory and lives the life of an ordinary schoolgirl. She competes on the track team, teases her brothers, and adores her father. All that is about to change in one horrific night that opens the door to a fate drowning in crimson tears, in violence, and in blood.

Blood+ the TV series is an anime that goes far beyond the short movie to introduce a riveting action horror that stands on its own as a dramatic epic of a girl awakening to a nightmare that is all too real. When strange blood-thirsty monsters attack her and her family, Saya’s world is catapulted into chaos. An organization known as Red Shield descends to strip the reality she’s known away from her and use her as a weapon against these heinous creatures.  But how can Saya battle these Chiropterians? What gives her the speed and strength that surpasses them? What is it about her blood that can both draw them to her and destroy them?  The seeds of a mystery have been sown, and Saya must embark upon a quest to discover the answers to her present, her past, and her future.  She must learn about who – and what – she was in order to move forward, but the very same knowledge may tear her fragile sense of humanity away and cost her those she has come to hold dear.

With epic scope and dramatic emotional detail, Blood+ delivers a gripping and suspenseful tale involving monsters, vampires, and the very nature of humanity. The first season covers Saya’s awakening to her abilities, her unwilling recruitment into Red Shield, and a search for answers that will see her travel to the far reaches of the world, going to Viet Nam, Russia, and more. On her journey she is not only joined by the questionable assortment of Red Shield agents, but also Nagi, a handsome man with inhuman ability who claims utter devotion and servitude to her. If this weren’t confusing enough to Saya, who believes herself an ordinary human teenage girl, Red Shield isn’t the only group interested in her. At least two other organizations want Saya for unknown reasons, and by the end of the first season, each will make their move and shocking revelations will be uncovered. Will Saya be shattered or will she be strengthened by what she learns? With horror lurking around every bend of the street corner let alone those of her shrouded past, Saya will fight to find herself, and if she can, save her soul.

One of the fascinating dynamics in this anime is the question of Saya’s humanity. Although the movie this TV show is based on (Blood: The Last Vampire) offers its own answers, the TV series reinterprets things to offer a different take on Saya and a unique perspective on vampires. In fact the word “vampires” is rarely used in the series. Although Saya is clearly not human, her exact origins are not entirely clear. It isn’t until episode 22 through to the episode 25 finale that solid answers are given and startling, even horrifying discoveries are made about her life and the possible origins of the Chiropterians. Even as she loses her idea of being human with every battle to protect the human family that she loves, conversely it is her human family and their steadfast loyalty towards her that allow her that much needed grip on her sense of right and wrong – what she considers her humanity. Adversely, that tenuous and much needed hold for Saya is also what puts the ones she longs to protect in the greatest danger of them all.

The question of humanity is a riveting focal point to this series. You have inhuman beings striving for what they consider to be ‘human’, and humans who do monstrous things in the name of humanity but are only serving their own greed and ego. The anime asks who are the real monsters? After all, the Chiropterians are horrible creatures, but the truth about where they maybe came from and how they started to multiply on the Earth is what might be the most terrifying.  Basically who was more of a monster:  Frankenstein or the man who created him? There is an arc involving children during this first season that hits the horror, villainy and disturbing evil of it all on the head when it shows how even the most innocent can be so horrifically abused for so-called ‘higher’ purposes. It also serves as a counterpoint to what Saya is fighting against and solidifying her resolve of what to fight for. The tragic irony of this decision on her part is revealed toward the finale of the season and raises as many questions as it answers.

There are many characters in this story. David is the aloof ‘handler’ sent to take charge of Saya, Kai is the courageous, albeit at times demanding, loyal brother, Riku, the younger brother, the various agents of the different opposing factions which seem to be a diverse range of shady characters with competing agendas, and then there’s Nagi, the enigmatic protector of Saya. A personal favorite out of the episodes is when Saya begins to remember and recalls a past time with Nagi in Russia. The season ends with many questions answered, including how Nagi first came to be by her side. Still more questions remain for the second season to fulfill. 

Blood+ is a graphically violent series. Right from the opening scene it does away with any illusions of neat and pretty vampires flitting about. The anime is gritty, it is bloody, and when violence occurs, it is fast, brutal and vicious. The animation is done by Production I.G. who did Blood: The Last Vampire movie as well as the much lauded Ghost in the Shell movie and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex TV series, and Le Chevalier D’Eon. All immersing and amazing series that offer compelling intrigue, disturbing secrets, and remarkable characters put through horrific ordeals. Part of Blood
+’s staff include crew who worked on the original movie such as Director Junichi Fujisaku (he co-developed the movie and worked on Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex) and Planning Supervisor Mamoru Oshii (Blood: The Last Vampire and Ghost in the Shell movie and TV series). With such a strong animation production, the quality of Blood+ plus is outstanding. 

With Hans Zimmer (Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, The Ring, Batman Begins, the upcoming Dark Knight) behind the music, the score is beyond reproach. Soaring, dramatic, and often tense, it manages to convey the full scope of emotions that Saya’s journey contains. The action, the fighting for life, for sanity, for self, are captured in the orchestral scores throughout the anime. The original opening theme song is “Aozora No Namida” which is replaced halfway through the first season with a haunting opening by Japanese rock idol Hyde with “Season’s Call”.  The original ending “Katarisugukoto” touches on the family bond Saya hangs onto as her life is thrown into the maelstrom. The halfway point sees this change to the more sorrowful “Cry No More” by Mika Nakashima.

The English dubbing was a wonderful surprise. Sony Pictures isn’t known for its anime, now it will be. The English voice cast was so well chosen that I actually preferred it in many ways. Crispin Freeman, a longtime voice talent known among anime fans, gives one of his best performances as the enigmatic Hagi. Kari Wahlgren offers a completely believable humanity to the bewildered and increasingly tortured character of Saya, while Chris Nissley gives the standoffish David just the right injection of emotion to his otherwise soldier-like stoicism.

EXTRAS:
The entire first season of the hit action horror anime is offered simultaneously with the release of the first volume. Therefore fans have a choice of getting the first season right away with no waiting and have all 25 episodes in a 6 disc thin pack box set, or can choose to get the single volume separately that contains the first five episodes.

The box set has the following bonus features as well as certain extras exclusive to the box set.  DVD features include a series of Inside Blood+ extensive interviews with Eri Kitamura and Katsuyuki Konishi, Hiroyuki Yoshino and Hochu Otsuka, Jurota Kosugi and Takashi Nagasako, Yuko Kaida and Junichi Suwabe, and Kentaro Ito with Ami Koshimizu.  Exclusive box set extras include a 15 page manga sneak peek and an exclusive Blood+ t-shirt with Saya and the logo featured on the shirt.

IN SUMMARY:
Blood+ is a captivating series that shakes up the vampire mythos to create a gripping horror filled with graphic action, spellbinding animation, and a mesmerizing score. Blood+ is a must-see for fans of vampires, Underworld, Ghost in the Shell, and Witch Hunter Robin.