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Description
From Dark Horse:
Set several decades after the events in the popular Blood: The Last Vampire anime film, an amnesiac Saya Otonashi lives as a seemingly normal high school student with her adoptive family in Okinawa. Horrible nightmares are the only hints at the violent life she once led, but her past is about to catch up with her and awaken the merciless warrior within.
Chiropterans--powerful shape-changing creatures who need and crave blood-threaten humanity once more, and a mysterious organization called the Red Shield needs Saya's deadly sword skills and mysterious powers to aid in the fight against these beasts. As her submerged abilities begin to reawaken and as she seeks to regain her memories, Chiropteran warriors are guided by a mysterious leader to threaten Saya and her loved ones.
Asuka Katsura's manga series successfully expands upon the original Production I.G/Aniplex feature, delivering moments of jarring violence and thrilling action in a tale that spans several centuries.
The story of Saya has always had a ton of potential, its just never been done completely well. I've seen several incarnations of Saya like: the original movie Blood: The last Vampire and it was cool but too short, the animated series Blood+ which this manga was based on had many good points too but it seriously dragged at times and finally the animated abomination that was Blood-C which was frankly awful. This manga changes Blood+ story some making it a little more positive, but I found it to be too short. They cut down the original Blood+ story which is a good thing, but I would have liked more character development. They also felt some strange need to insert comedy in the oddest places at times that I thought detracted from the scenes and what was going on. A few chapters felt rushed, but I thought the ending was relatively satisfying. The art was sometimes decent, but not always consistent. For me this is the same issue in most of the stories involving Saya, which is that its almost good or almost very good but the weaknesses always rob the stories of their potential. This manga version is a 6 to a 7 for me, no way that its a 10 which would be like something really good or fun on more than one level.
I also saw the anime, it's a very simple manga with a simple concept that is easy to follow but one has to be a fan of vampires. I disliked the cliffhanger ending I really wanted to know if that person really did die or not. And I think the concept was kinda stupid but I liked it anyways.
The Anime Blood+ was actually my first Anime ever, and it was mind-blowing ! The story, the characters, the graphism, the animation, the emotions conveyed, even the OST, everything was absolutely PERFECT ! It's still part of my top 3 now, and it definitely touched me deeply.
The manga, however... It didn't click. I think after having worshipped the Anime that much, I couldn't appreciate this "reboot"(kind of). I didn't even like the drawings to begin with... So I dropped it.
So, my conclusion is WATCH THE ANIME ! NOW !
@cecixiao78 : You, silly! ^^ Of course 'that person' didn't die! ^^ *arms kalachnikov in case anybody wants to discuss that*
I found this very easy to follow, having not watched the anime or read the light novel. The one real flaw of Blood+ though is that the main character, Saya, is probably the one unlikeable character in the entire manga. I found myself continuing to read it for all the other characters, especially the various members of the human family that had adopted her and got mixed up. However even some of the characters that were technically villains were a lot more likable and interesting mostly because Saya's attitude is that all chiropterans need to be exterminated with Hagi being the only exception. She doesn't even consider their individual merits.
The manga felt like retelling of a full length motion picture in 20 minutes time, from memory.
Some characters' fates and aspects of the story are altered, the pacing is fast, but that's not necessarily a good thing here, because you don't really get to learn much about the characters.
The anime's pacing is slow, even weird at times, but it draws you in its own pace and delivers a great story overall. The buildup of the plot up to the final, lovely conflict is its greatest strength - you get to know the characters and the impact of everything that happens is much greater. Music helps.
In the manga, everything is hastened, a good chunk of the events (from anime version) skipped and many of the scenes lose a good bit of their punch.
The manga isn't bad (gave it a 7), but the anime does the story more justice.
This one was short, but it was handled nicely. It have not watched the anime, so I can't do a comparison in that department. The art is nice, though not the best I've seen. The 1 vol. Kowloon Nights with Hagi has the best art of all the Blood + manga. The pace was brisk but easy to follow. The characters were developed enough that you got to know who they were. There was no extra "fluff" in this series that some mangaka use to extend their series. Over all it was a good read, and I would recommend it.
Just to be clear, I only saw the anime version, but I definitely recommend it. It is well-thought, with complex characters and plot lines that will keep you guessing. It's a very dark anime, for more mature audiences, but if you can deal with a little tragedy and horrific events, then you'll like it.
To me, this anime felt like an epic. After watching it through once, I felt completely satisfied. The only other time I felt like that was after seeing the end of the television show "Lost". All though it wasn't necessarily happy, everything was perfect the way it was, and that I wouldn't have changed it for anything.
One thing I loved about this anime is that it doesn't make fighting into a happy "let's improve ourselves and have fun while we're at it" sort of thing. Instead the fights gave a very realistic sense of tragedy and horror. This anime did a very good job of making you feel how you would have if you'd actually been there.
Character Development: 9.5/10 There is some great character development, especially with the main character, and her coming to accept who she is, and her best friend/adopted brother.
The best friend had perhaps some of the best character development I've ever seen. He goes from being an annoying whiny character that you really hate to someone who is dependable and really like able.
I remember reading somewhere when I was still watching the anime that he got to be a really great character, and I didn't believe because I disliked him so much and once I dislike a character, that usually doesn't ever change. But in this case, by the time the anime was over, he was one of my favorite characters.
Character Relationships: 10/10 These are very realistic. The characters have to make some very difficult decisions based on love, family, loyalty, etc., and it deals with the decisions in a very touching and realistic way. In this anime, there are no easy answers.
Plot: 9.5/10 The plot is fantastic. It's very interesting, because the main character starts out with amnesia, so you aren't really sure what's going on at first anymore than she is, and you have to unlock the secrets of her past together.
Art: 10/10 Not much to say for that. It's really beautiful.
I was going to give this an overall grade of 9.8/10, but I realized that it's pretty much perfect, for what it is, and I can't give perfection anything less than a 10.
It's faster paced than the anime, which might be pleasing to some. However I found that the ending felt a bit rushed, compared to the anime. The artwork was gorgeous, and some of the plot was changed. Some parts I didn't like, but it included more hajixsaya scenes, which is a plus. Overall, every blood+ fan should read this.
i actually enjoyed the manga more than the anime series even though the manga series kinda was way too short in the end...but the manga ending was better than the anime ending since it was not as gross or depressing
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