Genre: Horror

Range: 14+

Price: 10.95 USD

Even if you are a monster...I'll do everything I can to support you.

In an interview I read with Blood+ anime director Junichi Fujisaki said he was pretty hands off on the creative process that went into the novelizations and manga adaptations of his original animated story (based an expansion of the animated movie "Blood: The Last Vampire").

The novelizations expand the anime story in terms of details, but stay pretty close to the anime storyline. The manga, on the other hand, only follows the bare bones structure of the anime, making for a completely new and often daring alternative telling of the sword-wielding school girl, Saya.

For full disclosure reasons it is only fair to say that I worked on the novelizations of Blood+ for Dark Horse and did consult with the editor of the Blood+ manga for consistency.

Reading the Blood+ manga as a fan is a unique experience. So often manga retellings of anime stories are just that, retellings. In an effort to cash in on a popular title the mistaken belief that fans want a bound version of their favorite anime in manga form leads to disappointment from fans and for sales. Manga and anime are different media, and the same story cannot be told the same way and elicit the same reaction. Coyote Ragtime Show is a good example of this. The exciting and action-packed anime series falls flat and confusing in the stiffled and abbreviated manga form.

So Asuka Katsura is thankfully given the freedom to go off the beaten path and creates a drastically different take on Blood+, different in style, maturity and substance.

So now at four out of five volumes in this series, where are we at? Without going too deep into the plot, the stage is set in this volume for the inevitable final battle between rival twins, Saya and Diva. How the plot unflods will either excite or infuriate the most hard-core of Blood+ fans. The anime series has a LOT of characters, and certain cuts had to be made to keep a 50 episode anime series to five TPB volumes. One disappointing loss is the dark and brooding Schiff. Renagade Diva Chevalier Carl/Charles takes their place as the Cinq Fleche super-weapon we have been anticipating. One nice thing about this volume is a fleshed out reveal of "what happened in Vietnam" during the war in detail even the anime didn't reveal. 

The first three volumes felt a little frentic, but also seemed like a series that could stand alone as a manga series. While reading this fourth volume, however, I felt thankful I knew the original story, or else I would have needed to concentrate closer or reread the first volumes to keep up.

I do really enjoy Katsura's electric style. The action scenes are impressive but sometimes a little hard to follow. This is one place where having seen the anime and read the novels helped. Also, we know Saya and Diva are twins, and for reasons I won't go into here, younger brother Riku also takes on a similar look. In the end it takes a careful eye to distinguish some of the characters. On the other hand, I can understand while fangirls swoon for the gothic and gloomy Hagi and the super-dreamy Solomon. If your fell for these guys watching the anime then you will like the slightly more mature presentation in the manga.

Despite the almost non-stop action, the significance feels to pale to anticipation of the upcoming finale. So far I have enjoyed this series mostly because the violence and sexuality only implied in the anime is presented for those that are ready. I wish this volume maintained more of the underlying theme of "family" but no doubt that will come back into play in the final volume.

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