Blood-C ~ the last dark

Saya is back, but this time she isn’t singing about the laundry.

I finally got a chance to watch Blood-C ~ the last dark, and it was well worth it. I enjoyed the Blood-C television series, and had been looking forward to the movie after that crazy ending. The movie served as an excellent capstone to the Blood-C mini-franchise (a new interpretation of the Blood world by the creative force that is CLAMP). My intention here isn’t to summarize the plot, or give theories or even criticisms. Instead I just want to point out a few things that I really enjoyed about the movie. No spoilers are included.

For those wondering if they should watch the TV series first, or if they need to watch the first two Blood offerings first: The Blood-C material stands on its own; there is no need to have seen the first two Blood productions (one a movie, one a TV series) to understand or enjoy Blood-C. That having been said, I think you would get a bit more out of the Blood-C movie if you have seen the Blood-C TV series first. The TV series sets up the revenge story that plays out in the movie. The TV series and the movie are very different in tone, however.

Blood-C 12 (final) ~ warning: spoilers

In this censored image, a giant monster eats a human like a corn on the cob.

Blood-C was an extraordinary show. I will provide my overall thoughts in a separate spoiler-free post, but here I intend to comment on the series finale, which means this post is loaded with spoilers! Don’t read this post if you haven’t watched the series yet.

Blood-C 11 ~ your blood is precious

Saya is forced to face some very harsh truths.

Warning: Episode 11 of Blood-C is a payoff episode. This means you should not read this post without first watching earlier episodes as it contains major spoilers for the entire season.

Blood-C 10 ~ you eat as well

Saya drinks a lot of coffee.

Blood-C continues to march towards its conclusion. In episode 10 the presence of a conspiracy becomes inescapable, and yet Saya still hasn’t found have the answers to the many questions that have been raised.

Blood-C 9 ~ dare to know

Saya weeps for those she could not save.

In episode 9 of Blood-C, the carnage continues, and Saya seems to have a breakthrough. More conspiracy theories below.

Blood-C 4 ~ peaceful unchanging days

After another night on the town, Saya returns home covered in blood. Same as it ever was.

All kidding aside, this is the episode of Blood-C in which things started really changing. In the previous three episodes we have been shown a relatively unchanging, but shizophrenic story. During the day everything is peaceful and happy, especially Saya, who seems like an archetypal schoolgirl, skipping and singing to herself on the way to school. Alright she was a little too happy and carefree, and the show made note of that in several ways. Then by night, the tranquil village became the feeding ground of dangerous monsters called Elder Bairn, and Saya became a hunter, chasing them down, and killing them mercilessly with a sword. In episode 4, this unstable balance starts visibly collapsing.

Blood-C ~ 3 episode taste test

The setting: a remote village in Japan.

Blood-C isn’t one of the shows that I was most eagerly looking forward to this season. It does, however, have an interesting pedigree, so I have watched the first three episodes to see how it turned out. Short answer: I am intrigued, but still unsure where this one is going. As the title of this post suggests, this review was written after watching episodes 1 through 3.