Blood+, pronounced as "Blood Plus", is an anime series produced by Production I.G and
Aniplex, formerly known as Sony Pictures Entertainment Visual Works Inc. and Sony Music Entertainment Visual Works Inc., is a Japanese anime and music production and distribution enterprise owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan and established in January 1997...
and directed by
Junichi Fujisakuis the chief game director and game writer for Production I.G's Game Production Department. He is a graduate of Production I.G's think-tank "Oshii Academy", used to train the next generation of staff for the company.-Works:...
. The series premiered in Japan on Sony's anime
satelliteSatellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an...
channel,
Animaxis a Japanese anime satellite television network, dedicated to broadcasting anime programming. A subsidiary of Japanese media conglomerate Sony, it is headquartered in in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, with its co-founders and shareholders including Sony Pictures Entertainment and the noted anime studios...
, as well as on
terrestrialTerrestrial television is a mode of television broadcasting which does not involve satellite transmission or cables — typically using radio waves through transmitting and receiving antennas or television antenna aerials...
networks such as
MBSis a broadcasting station in Osaka, Japan, affiliated with Japan Radio Network , National Radio Network , Japan News Network and TBS Network, serving in the Kansai region. MBS is also one of the major stockholders of Tokyo Broadcasting System Holdings, Inc...
,
TBS, TBS Holdings, Inc. or TBSHD, is a stockholding company in Tokyo, Japan. It is a parent company of a television network named and radio network named ....
, and RKB on October 8, 2005. The final episode aired on September 23, 2006.
Blood+ is licensed for international distribution in several regions through Sony Pictures' international arm,
Sony Pictures Television InternationalSony Pictures Television, Inc. is an American and global television production/distribution subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment. In turn, the latter is part of the Japanese conglomerate Sony.-Background:...
(SPTI).
Blood+ was inspired by the 2000 anime film
Blood: The Last VampireBlood: The Last Vampire is a 2000 anime film produced by Production I.G and SPE Visual Works and directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo. The film premiered in theaters in Japan on November 18, 2000...
; however, there are only a few allusions and basic elements from the film. Fujisaku has been involved with both works, including acting as the director for
Blood+ and writing the novelization of
Blood: The Last Vampire.
Plot
Under the care of her adoptive family, Saya Otonashi has been living the life of an anemic,
amnesiaAmnesia is a condition in which one's memory is lost. The causes of amnesia have traditionally been divided into categories. Memory appears to be stored in several parts of the limbic system of the brain, and any condition that interferes with the function of this system can cause amnesia...
c, but otherwise ordinary schoolgirl. Saya’s happy life is shattered when she is attacked by a chiropteran, learning that she is the only one who can defeat them.
Armed with her
katanaA Japanese sword, or , is one of the traditional bladed weapons of Japan. There are several types of Japanese swords, according to size, field of application and method of manufacture.-Description:...
, Saya embarks on a journey with her family, allies, and her chevalier, Hagi, to rid the world of chiropteran and rediscover her identity. The course of the journey reveals the background history of the chiropterans and Saya's very deep past, which extends into the mid-19th century.
The series is initially set in present day (September 2005) Okinawa City (Koza), on
Okinawa IslandOkinawa Island is the largest of the Okinawa Islands and the Ryukyu Islands of Japan, and is home to Naha, the capital of Okinawa Prefecture. The island has an area of...
, near the US
Kadena Air Base, is a United States Air Force base in the towns of Kadena and Chatan and the city of Okinawa, in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Kadena Air Base is the hub of U.S. airpower in the Pacific, and home to the USAF's 18th Wing and a variety of associate units.-Units:The 18th Wing is the host unit at Kadena...
. In the course of the series, Saya visits locations across the world, fighting enemy chiropteran and searching for her origins.
Characters
Saya Otonashi, the central character, is a seemingly ordinary teenage girl adopted and living with amnesia. As her memories return, her life is turned upside down. She was born in 1833, survives on the blood of others, and is destined to destroy chiropterans and her twin sister Diva. Aiding her in her quest are her adopted brothers Kai and Riku and her ever-faithful chevalier Hagi. She also is aided by David, her protector from the powerful organization Red Shield.
Diva also has her own helpers, starting with her five powerful chevaliers: Amshel, Solomon, Karl, James and Nathan. They also have their own human allies as part of the Cinq Flèches Group that they operate, including Van Argiano who helps them develop the Delta 67 substance that Cinq Flèches uses to create chiropteran.
Working against both sides are the Schiff, a group of escaped artificial chiropteran created by Diva's group. The Schiff attack both groups, believing that the blood of Saya, Diva, or one of their chevaliers will save them from a fatal and painful disease they call the Thorn.
Production
Produced by Production I.G and
Aniplex, formerly known as Sony Pictures Entertainment Visual Works Inc. and Sony Music Entertainment Visual Works Inc., is a Japanese anime and music production and distribution enterprise owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan and established in January 1997...
and directed by
Junichi Fujisakuis the chief game director and game writer for Production I.G's Game Production Department. He is a graduate of Production I.G's think-tank "Oshii Academy", used to train the next generation of staff for the company.-Works:...
,
Blood+ was inspired by the 2000 anime film
Blood: The Last VampireBlood: The Last Vampire is a 2000 anime film produced by Production I.G and SPE Visual Works and directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo. The film premiered in theaters in Japan on November 18, 2000...
; however, there are only a few allusions and basic elements from the film. Fujisaku has been involved with both works, including acting as the director for
Blood+ and writing the novelization of
Blood: The Last Vampire.
Anime
The
Blood+ anime series premiered in Japan on October 8, 2005, on
MBSis a broadcasting station in Osaka, Japan, affiliated with Japan Radio Network , National Radio Network , Japan News Network and TBS Network, serving in the Kansai region. MBS is also one of the major stockholders of Tokyo Broadcasting System Holdings, Inc...
/
TBS, TBS Holdings, Inc. or TBSHD, is a stockholding company in Tokyo, Japan. It is a parent company of a television network named and radio network named ....
with a new episode airing weekly until the final episode aired September 23, 2006, totaling 50 episodes. The series is directed by
Junichi Fujisakuis the chief game director and game writer for Production I.G's Game Production Department. He is a graduate of Production I.G's think-tank "Oshii Academy", used to train the next generation of staff for the company.-Works:...
and features original character designs by Chizu Hashii. Each season has separate opening and ending themes from a variety of artists, with the final episode using the season one ending theme. The series simultaneously aired on
Animaxis a Japanese anime satellite television network, dedicated to broadcasting anime programming. A subsidiary of Japanese media conglomerate Sony, it is headquartered in in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, with its co-founders and shareholders including Sony Pictures Entertainment and the noted anime studios...
, Sony's Japanese anime
satelliteSatellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an...
channel, with its
networksAnimax Asia is the Japanese anime TV network Animaxs English language feeds in Southeast Asia and South Asia, as well as its feeds across other regions of mainland Asia, including Hong Kong and Taiwan...
in
Southeast AsiaSoutheast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
and
South AsiaSouth Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
also later airing the series.
Through Sony's international division,
Blood+ was licensed for distribution in multiple regions. The English
dubDubbing is the post-production process of recording and replacing voices on a motion picture or television soundtrack subsequent to the original shooting. The term most commonly refers to the substitution of the voices of the actors shown on the screen by those of different performers, who may be...
of the series, aired in the United States on
Cartoon NetworkCartoon Network is an American cable television network owned by Turner Broadcasting which primarily airs animated programming. The channel was launched on October 1, 1992 after Turner purchased the animation studio Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1991...
's
Adult SwimAdult Swim is an adult-oriented Cable network that shares channel space with Cartoon Network from 9:00 pm until 6:00 am ET/PT in the United States, and broadcasts in countries such as Australia and New Zealand...
programming block, premiering March 11, 2007 and running till March 23, 2008. The English dub also aired in Australia on the
Sci Fi ChannelSci Fi Channel is an Australian subscription channel that airs science fiction, fantasy and related programs. It is available on Foxtel, Austar and Optus Television's subscription platforms. It is currently the only Sci Fi channel worldwide to keep the Saturn logo.-Shows:Sci Fi currently airs...
and in the Philippines on
Studio 23Studio 23 is a Filipino television network owned by the ABS-CBN Corporation. The network is named for its flagship station in Metro Manila, DWAC-TV, which is carried on UHF channel 23...
.
The first Region 1 DVDs were released in North America on March 4, 2008, with a simultaneous release of a single five-episode volume and a twenty-five episode box set,
Blood+ Part One. Sony continued released individual volumes on a regular basis until the first half of the series was released. The second half was released in a second box set,
Blood+ Part Two, on October 20, 2009. As of March 2010, the first thirteen episodes are available for free streaming in the US on
CrackleCrackle is a digital network and studio, featuring commercially supported streaming video content in Flash Video format. It is owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, and its content consists primarily of Sony's library of films and television shows...
. As of April 2011, the entire series is available on
HuluHulu is a website and over-the-top subscription service offering ad-supported on-demand streaming video of TV shows, movies, webisodes and other new media, trailers, clips, and behind-the-scenes footage from NBC, Fox, ABC, and Obstacle on October 20th 2011 Nickelodeon and CBS and many other...
and
NetflixNetflix, Inc., is an American provider of on-demand internet streaming media in the United States, Canada, and Latin America and flat rate DVD-by-mail in the United States. The company was established in 1997 and is headquartered in Los Gatos, California...
.
Soundtracks
Except for the opening and ending themes, the entire musical score for
Blood+ was the work of noted film score producer
Hans ZimmerHans Florian Zimmer is a German film composer and music producer. He has composed music for over 100 films, including critically acclaimed film scores for The Lion King , Crimson Tide , The Thin Red Line , Gladiator , The Dark Knight and Inception .Zimmer spent the early part of his career in the...
and noted composer
Mark MancinaMark Alan Mancina is a U.S. composer, primarily for Hollywood soundtracks, such as his collaboration with Trevor Rabin on the soundtrack for Con Air. He arranged many of the songs behind Disney's The Lion King including the Broadway musical...
.
Blood+ was the first anime project Mancina worked on, and afterwards he stated that working on the project turned him into an anime fan. All of the opening and ending themes were created at Sony Music for the project, after the production team, headed by Yutaka Omatsu, presenting the project concept and
Blood+ worldview. The opening and ending themes are performed by a variety of artists, including
Hitomi Takahashiis a rock/pop singer from Miyagi Prefecture in Japan. After being selected as finalist in the Sony Music SD audition, which contained about 20,000 applicants, Hitomi entered the music scene in 2005 with her single "Bokutachi no Yukue"...
,
Chitose Hajimeis a singer from Japan. She is from Amami Ōshima and sings in a style particular to that region, with distinctive falsetto effects.-Early life:Chitose Hajime began learning shamisen under her mother's encouragement from a young age...
,
Hydeis a Japanese musician and singer-songwriter. He is best known as vocalist for the rock band L'Arc-en-Ciel, as well as for Vamps. While in L'Arc-en-Ciel his name is stylized as hyde, whereas in his solo work and Vamps it is stylized as HYDE....
,
Mika Nakashimais a Japanese singer, model, and actress. She has achieved five number-one albums in Japan and also embarked on an acting career, most notably in the live-action movie Nana, based on the manga of the same name.- Early life and debut :...
,
Angela Aki, born Kiyomi Angela Aki on September 15, 1977, is a Japanese pop singer-songwriter, guitarist and pianist from Itano, Tokushima, Japan.-Early life:...
,
UverworldUverworld is a Japanese rock band consisting of five members originating from Kusatsu, Shiga, Japan. Releasing six studio albums and several singles, which went on to achieve massive success, they went on to become one of the most influential rock bands in Japan to this day.-2000–2005: Beginnings...
,
JinnJinn is a 4-member Japanese rock band. They are part of SMEJ's Palm Beach record label.-History:The members of Jinn all attended the same high school, and formed the band in Tokyo in the summer of 2003. In March 2004, the band recorded a demo CD, , with 500 copies selling out quickly.After that in...
, and
KKang Yoon-sung , better known by his stage name K, is a J-pop singer from South Korea.Currently, the only contract in Japan. After the failure of his first album in South Korea in 2004, K crossed over to Japan...
. In an interview with Production I.G staff, Omatsu noted that he felt Sony did an excellent job of providing music fitting for each season, as did the team of Zimmer and Mancina.
Four CD soundtracks, all produced by Hans Zimmer, have been released in Japan by Sony Music Japan through their
Aniplex, formerly known as Sony Pictures Entertainment Visual Works Inc. and Sony Music Entertainment Visual Works Inc., is a Japanese anime and music production and distribution enterprise owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan and established in January 1997...
label. was released on February 2, 2006. It contains six tracks: selections from
Johann Sebastian BachJohann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
's
Cello Suite No. 5 in C minor (BWV 1011)The Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello by Johann Sebastian Bach are some of the most performed and recognizable solo compositions ever written for cello...
performed by , who is the cellist behind Hagi's playing in the series. The seventh, and final track, is a bonus remix of the music performed by . The soundtrack included a DVD with a special episode telling some of Hagi's backstory and a music video with Furukawa playing the first track, .
The first full soundtrack,
Blood+ Original Soundtrack 1, was released on April 26, 2006. It contains fourteen instrumental tracks of background music used during the series and one vocal song "Diva", sung by Elin Carlson, which is the song the character Diva sang in several episodes of the series. On September 27, 2006,
Blood+ Original Soundtrack 2 was released with an additional eighteen tracks of instrumental themes from the series.
Blood+ Complete Best, released October 25, 2006, is a limited edition compilation set containing a CD, a DVD, and an eighty-page booklet that includes a full episode guide and some final notes from the series production staff. The CD include the full versions of all eight series' opening and ending theme songs, as well as last two instrumental tracks from the first soundtrack. The DVD contains music videos for each of the theme songs from the CD.
Novels
There are two Japanese
light novelA is a style of Japanese novel primarily targeting junior high and high school students . The term "light novel" is a wasei-eigo, or a Japanese term formed from words in the English language. Light novels are often called or for short...
adaptations of the
Blood+ series.
Blood+, written by Ryō Ikehata with illustrations by Chizu Hashii, is the four volume official novel adaptation of the anime series, expanding upon the events of the fifty-episode anime series and giving greater background on the battle against chiropterans. The first volume was released in Japan on May 1, 2006 by
Kadokawa Shotenis a well-known Japanese publishing company based in Tokyo, Japan. Kadokawa has published both manga novels and magazines, such as Newtype magazine...
under their male oriented
Sneaker Bunko label. The remaining volumes released every four months until the final volume was released on May 1, 2007.
The second adaptation,
Blood+ Russian Rose, is a two-volume series written by Karino Minazuki and illustrated by Ryō Takagi. It was released at the same time as
Blood+, with the first volume was released on May 1, 2006 and the second on September 1, 2006. The series, published under Kadokawa's female oriented label
Beans Bunko, details Saya and Hagi's lives at the start of the 20th century and the Russian Revolution.
Both novel series have been licensed for release in English in North America by
Dark Horse ComicsDark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
. Dark Horse released the first translated
Blood+ novel on March 19, 2008.
Manga
To lead up to the
Blood+ anime series, three
Blood+ manga series were released and published in three different manga magazines. The
tankōbon, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
volumes of all three series were published by
Kadokawa Shotenis a well-known Japanese publishing company based in Tokyo, Japan. Kadokawa has published both manga novels and magazines, such as Newtype magazine...
.
Blood+, by Asuka Katsura, is a five-volume series that first premiered in
Monthly Shōnen Aceis a monthly shōnen manga magazine in Japan published by Kadokawa Shoten, started in 1994. Unlike the big shōnen weeklies with circulation figures in the millions, Ace is aimed at a less mainstream audience, and has a particular emphasis on anime tie-ins...
in July 2005. It covers the same story events as the anime series.
Blood+: Adagio was written by Kumiko Suekane. It is a two-volume series that premiered in the September 2005 issue of
Beans Ace Magazine and follows Saya and Hagi's experiences during the Russian Revolution. The third series,
Blood+: Kowloon Nights, released in Japan as
Blood+ Yakōjōshi, is a single tankōbon series by Hirotaka Kisaragi. It premiered in the September issue of
Asuka Ciel. Set in Shanghai, it follows Hagi as he searches for Saya and the complications he must deal with. Unlike the other
Blood+ manga adaptations, which are both
shōnenThe term refers to manga marketed to a male audience aged roughly 10 and up. The Kanji characters literally mean "few" and "year", respectively, where the characters generally mean "comic"...
works,
Blood+ Yakō Jōshi is a
shōjoThe term refers to manga marketed to a female audience roughly between the ages of 10-18. The name romanizes the Japanese 少女 , literally: "little female". Shōjo manga covers many subjects in a variety of narrative and graphic styles, from historical drama to science fiction — often with a strong...
manga, particularly of the
shōnen-ai (or Boy's Love) genre. All three manga adaptations have been licensed for release in English in North America by
Dark Horse ComicsDark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
.
Video games
Two
Sony, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
PlayStation 2The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
video games have been created that are based on the
Blood+ series. Both games are currently only available in Japan and have not been licensed for release in any other countries.
Blood+: One Night Kiss, from
Namco Bandai Gamesis an arcade, mobile and home video game developer and publisher based in Japan which is the product of a merger between the video game development divisions of Bandai and Namco. Namco Bandai Games is a wholly owned subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings and specializes in production and sales of...
and
Grasshopper ManufactureGrasshopper Manufacture, Inc. is a Japanese video game development house founded on March 30, 1998 in Suginami, Japan. Grasshopper gained mainstream attention in 2005 for the Nintendo GameCube and PlayStation 2 game Killer7...
, is an
Action-adventure gameAn action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
that was originally released on August 30, 2006. Featuring cel-shaded graphics in the same style as
Killer7is an action-adventure video game for the Nintendo GameCube and PlayStation 2. It was developed by Grasshopper Manufacture and published by Capcom. The game was written and directed by Goichi Suda, also known by the nickname Suda51, and produced by Hiroyuki Kobayashi...
, the game is directed by the CEO of Grasshopper,
Goichi Suda, is the CEO of Grasshopper Manufacture. The "51" in his nickname, Suda51, is a pun on his given name. In Japanese, "Go" means 5 and "ichi" means 1. His works include Moonlight Syndrome, The Silver Case, Flower, Sun and Rain, Michigan, killer7, the No More Heroes series, and most recently, Shadows...
. Set in the fictional town of Shikishi, players spend most of the game playing as Saya, occasionally switching to Aoyama, an original character created for the game.
, from Sony Entertainment, is an
adventure gameAn adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
released July 27, 2006. Set during the year between episodes 32 and 33, after Riku's death, the game alternates between an "Active Demo" section where the player can make decisions that change the story line, and full action sequences where the player, as Saya, fights with her sword to collect chiropteran crystals.
In addition to the two PS2 games, Sony Entertainment released the
PSPThe is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
game on September 7, 2006. It is an
adventureAn adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
role-playing game that utilizes animated sequences from the series as well as new footage created specifically for the game. The game is set during the first season of the series, and features an original story in which Saya, joined by three friends from school, investigates the mystery of her father's disappearance.
Fan book
In September 2006, Newtype Magazine released
BLOOD + Encyclopedia, a special issue fan book that includes interviews with the staff and cast, an episode guide, and information on the related media — the manga, novels, video games.
Reception
When
Blood+ first aired in Japan, it was shown in TBS/MBS's 6 p.m. Sunday timeslot, which has mostly been used to air anime since 1993. After
Blood+ began airing, the ratings for that time slot began dropping. The drop in viewership became more pronounced after
NHKNHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
's baseball anime
MajorMajor is a sports manga series by Takuya Mitsuda. It has been serialized in Shōnen Sunday and has been collected in 78 tankōbon volumes...
premiered on a competing channel in the time slot.
Carl Kimlinger of
Anime News Network gave the series an overall score of B stating
The plot is propulsive, never lingering for long in one place, yet never rushing to leave.
In December 2005,
Blood+ was one of several anime series selected as being a "recommended as an excellent work" at the 9th annual Japanese Media Arts Festival. The series was ranked number 41 on
TV Asahi, also known as EX and , is a Japanese television network headquartered in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The company writes its name in lower-case letters, tv asahi, in its logo and public-image materials. The company also owns All-Nippon News Network....
's list of top 100 favorite anime series for 2006.
External links