Gomen for the lack of updates. My internet has been rather tsun lately, besides I'm slothy as ever and trying to finish off the bits of backlog I've accumulated.
But enough with that!!! Yesterday while randomly checking my less-frequented folders, I stumbled upon a Blood+ review that I have no recollection whatsoever of. o_O
Ok, ignore the fact that it's extremely long-winded and amateurish, the shock here is I can't remember ever writing it. It's like, huh? A review? Cool. Who wrote it. Mmmm...the writing style is familiar...then *splat* shit hits the fan and I realize I wrote it. Like OMG.
Now I know why anime like Kanon are possible. It is easy to scoff at the amnesia theme that anime is so fond of portraying, without realizing how real it can be.
Anyway for anyone who's interested, this is the review, though I made so many noobish mistakes and it's awfully embarassing. My writing hasn't improved either. -__-
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I remember reading a review about Blood+ once, way before I starting watching it. I can’t remember what it was exactly but I remember the word ‘hyped’. So I assumed it would be a Gundam Seed type anime- 50 eps, current-fashion animation and a lot of mixed reviews. This is my very first vampire anime (I’d never even watched Hellsing or Tsukihime) so whether Blood+ was just another cliché of its’ genre, I can’t really say. I’ll let the seasoned vampire-themed lovers voice their opinions.
Enough senseless babble. Here’s the summary, if you’re interested.
Throughout the passage of time and the shifts in backgrounds, a particular war continues to leave its mark on history, extending its influence into the modern world. There are two major groups involved in the ensuring war. The first group consists of monsters known as Chiropterans who can change their appearances into that of human beings. They are actually immortals who feed on the blood of the living. The second group is an organisation known as the "Red Shield", formed to track down these monsters and exterminate them. Otonashi Saya is a high-school girl who lives a peaceful life with her family. The only problem is, she has no recollections of her life beyond that of the past year. However, her happy life will be destroyed by an event that will lead her to her destined fate.
(taken from ANN)
Err…so basically it looks a lot like your average sword-wielding chick, with Chiropterans- aka monsters as the bad guys, and…..a couple of conspiracies. The whole plot can get quite confusing, eg I got a bit baffled at the whole Chiroptera/Chevalier thing, and how they are made. So the sisters’ (Saya and Diva) blood crystallizes each other. And chiroptera were ‘born’ of their ‘mothers’ (though I don’t see a connection.) The use of curious phrases like ‘stopped one’s time’ and ‘overcoming your blood’ kinda made me paused the show for a bit to recollect all the floating bits of information I’d gained. Plotholes were aloof, I was in the dark for some time, and had to make a few deductions on my own. That was a minus.
The rest of the story was steady, unravelling at just the right pace. I particularly liked the way they slowly let bits of Saya’s past out, till we got the full picture. From the Vietnam massacre to the blue rose to the locked room in the tower to her promise to Haji, all the puzzles fell somewhat into place as the show progressed and that is what I like, instead of having a flat plot throughout or a horizontal timeline in a series. And, there’s no lack of adrenaline-pumping omg-bet-you-didn’t-see-that-coming goodies along the way. Like what Diva did to Riku (now that revelation knocked me off my feet/computer chair). Or the whole undercover thing in Vietnam. Or the way Haji fried Amshell. Literally. ;)
The cast of characters is quite strong; we have our protagonists- Saya, Kai, Haji and Red Shield; the bad guys- at first the chiroptera, then Diva’s chevaliers, then Diva herself (the classic anime bad guy chronology- lowest ranking/weakest bad guys at the beginning all the way to the top bad guy towards the end of the series). The Sif were an interesting bunch, as well as very sad, but in the end it kinda worked out (girl’s death causes confusion, they patch it up, emo/cool bishies die peacefully, kid survives.) And..I was surprised the way Kai and Riku had such a huge amount of character development and screentime, especially Kai. I thought once George was dead, Kai and Riku would merely be the cheerleading bystanders (like Saya’s best friend Kaori) with no relevance to further plot advancement. I was wrong. Kai plays a major part post timeskip. Yes, there’s a timeskip of only one year, but Kai looked like he’d aged 5 years. Hunting chiroptera is mean business.
One thing I really have to applaud about Blood+ is the music. Not just the OPs and EDs, the background music was superb. Most high-profile animation-perfect anime make the fatal mistake of overlooking the importance of background music. No matter how touching/shockng the scene, it brings little or no effect to the viewer if there was no appropriate BGM. Yes, I’ve seen good scenes get slaughtered by totally wrong background music. Like ‘happy mood’ music when a protagonist is getting kidnapped. Or jazz/blues music during a fight scene. But that’s another story. The BGM here was spectacular. Mostly orchestral, even with an opera voice (but that was just part of the anime), it brought out the right mood at the right times. I haven’t seen(heard) such fitting music since dubs. :P And believe me, having the right music at the right times makes a world of difference. The OPs and EDs were ok, above average, but my most favourite song out of the whole lot was Kararitsugu Koto by Hajime Chitose, which was one of the best songs I’ve heard in ages, after Yasashii Yoake by Yuki Kajiura. Well that’s my opinion anyways ^^U. And if you can, go to YouTube and look for the PV of Aozora no Namida by Hitomi Takahashi (1st OP). It’s goooood. :D
Animation wise, I’d say was *thumbs up*, anyway I’d have expected no less from BONES, the studio that brought us Wolf’s Rain, Ouran High School Host Club, FullMetal Alchemist and Eureka 7 (Blood+ was animated by Prodcution I.G.!!!! Stupid, noob mistake there. Apologies to I.G. fans.) . There was no fancy CGIs (expect maybe for the eyecatchers) but all can do.
So, is it worth your bandwidth and time? (Again, to me) half the time I was ‘o_O’ and ‘huh’ and ‘what was that’ over plotholes the size of Russia (or it could be my limited knowledge of the vampire genre) but surprisingly I found myself watching it till the end, even staying up past midnight watching so I won’t be tormented by cliffhangers. There you have it. :D
Story: B+
Animation: A-
Music: A+
Overall: A-
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Complete with ANN-style rating at the end. I seriously hope I didn't send it to them. orz

I take back what I said previously about the new season of GSG. Triela still rocks, even if she got KO'ed. Hilshar's not the only one who thinks she looks great in a suit. Waiting for next release...*coughtriadcough*
Eto......yeah.