BLOOD+ #1

By: Adrianne Hess
Date: Wednesday, March 05, 2008

High school student Saya Otonashi lives in Okinawa with her adoptive family which consists of her father George and two brothers, Kai and Riku. Thin and cute, she constantly receives harmless teasing from her brothers about her voracious appetite. Even so, all members of the family genuinely enjoy each other’s company which is clear in every scene with them. Saya also endures some jealousy from fellow student Mao Jahana, aka “Kai Groupie” about living with Kai, the school’s resident bad-ass. Mao asks Saya to play the lead in the school play entitled “Amnesiac” since as she tells Saya, she would be perfect for the role since she is an amnesiac herself.

      Saya, unable to recall anything prior to the previous year, is starting to show signs of remembering. She experiences violent nightmares and when she hears music from a cellist playing in the park, she believes that she has seen and heard him before. While very happy in her adoptive family, Saya struggles with her situation when she cries to her brothers that everyone thinks she is weird; for her amnesia and for living with males who are not blood relatives. Both Kai and Riku assure her that they are a family no matter what anyone says which consoles Saya. What Saya does not know is that her adoptive father, George, is actually under assignment to take care of her by a secretive group known as the Red Shield. When informed that he must turn her over, he is visibly upset as it is clear he has grown very fond of Saya and his non-traditional family. George is aware of the reason for Saya’s amnesia and of the Red Shield’s plans for her. Born with the ability to slay Chiropterans, Saya must remember her fighting abilities to protect the earth from these blood-sucking monsters. 

      Volume 1 of Blood+ introduces the inevitable future love triangle between Saya, Hagi the mysterious cellist and her adoptive brother Kai. Kai struggles with his love for Saya as his sister and the obvious physical attraction he has for her. Saya, who gets red-faced at Kai’s protective nature towards her, is also obviously attracted to him. Hagi, the cellist is clearly a link to Saya’s past, one that may intimately involve him. Future volumes will hopefully delve deeper into this twisted love triangle, one that will certainly bring more heartache than pleasure.

      Blood+ was inspired by Blood: The Last Vampire, a Japanese anime film released in 2000, which takes place in Japan right before the Vietnam War. The film tells Saya’s story and how she ends up in Okinawa 30 years later. Blood: The Last Vampire was produced by animation studio Production I.G and Sony’s anime production company, Aniplex. Manga Entertainment distributed the movie in North America. 

      Blood+ is also an anime series first released in 2005 while the manga adaptation was only recently released in February 2008.