Blood-C (CLAMP x Production IG)

[katsumi]

Originally Posted by Xagzan

Did anyone else wonder what one of those fisher guys meant when he said, "This isn't what they told me..."?

Sounded awfully suspicious, like they were there to lure out the monsters or to lure out Saya to fight them.

*raises hand* me too.

With episode 4 I got the feeling things start to move along plotwise (it got me to commenting again after only lurking around in the forum... ).

Then again, I was not bothered at all by the slow pacing of the previous episodes. If done right, I enjoy the slow pacing of a show...

[hanashi]

Originally Posted by Xagzan

Did anyone else wonder what one of those fisher guys meant when he said, "This isn't what they told me..."?

Sounded awfully suspicious, like they were there to lure out the monsters or to lure out Saya to fight them.

No! What minute was that? I figured they were suspicious because who goes fishing in a lake at night with nets?

[wandering-dreamer]

Originally Posted by Quarkboy

I was thinking maybe they were in town on a fishing vacation or something? Like, "the brochure didn't say anything about monsters!"

It's definitely ambiguous...

The thing is that that kind of line sounds more like something out of a comedy/horror story or a horror parody story, Blood-C just seems much more sinister than that right now.

[Xagzan]

Originally Posted by hanashi

No! What minute was that? I figured they were suspicious because who goes fishing in a lake at night with nets?

Minute, I'm not sure, but it was when they were still in the water, Saya told them to run and then one of them let the other put his arm around his shoulder to help him stand, then kind of looked back in Saya's direction.

[hanashi]

Originally Posted by Xagzan

Minute, I'm not sure, but it was when they were still in the water, Saya told them to run and then one of them let the other put his arm around his shoulder to help him stand, then kind of looked back in Saya's direction.

Thanks! The sequence starts after minute 13:30, if anyone's curious. That's what I get for trying to multitask.

After the blond one looks back, it's the monster that's in focus, not Saya, so I think you're right about them being bait. And the day after she didn't save the baker, too. It seems like someone wanted to see what she would do. Hmm, I went back and watched the scene with the police officer at Gimauvre. I thought the flatness in his voice was just bad acting, but maybe it was on the part of the cop, not the seiyuu.

[Nina.Wolken]

Originally Posted by hanashi

Just had a thought: If I remember correctly, she said 'chigau' after looking around and right after looking at her sword. I wonder if she's using a different sword? The shape of the sword that appears in the precursor to her flashbacks looks to be a little different.

She doesn't seem to quite recognize where she is when she goes back "home". She notices something is off but can't do anything else than following her habits (or is there something controlling her?). Though she gets back to her normal self when her father shows up.
And yes, it's her sword she stare at for the longest time and I agree it's different from the flashback one. Did some substituted it? If yes, why? Is it how they're controlling Saya (if anyone does, ofc)...

Was listening to Blood R today, Fumito's seiyuu was telling that when he asked the director how to voice his character, he replied him to voice Guimauve-kun "as a good guy. Make him sound like the most likeable man ever". Which, in Misato's and Tatsuhisa's opinions was veeeeery suspicious. Nobody wants to give any credit to that poor Guimauve-kun... well, me neither .

Edit: checking Nico² version now, I see that while the TV version broadcasted yesterday in Japan was censored, this one isn't. Surprising.

[hanashi]

Originally Posted by Nina.Wolken

Was listening to Blood R today, Fumito's seiyuu was telling that when he asked the director how to voice his character, he replied him to voice Guimauve-kun "as a good guy. Make him sound like the most likeable man ever". Which, in Misato's and Tatsuhisa's opinions was veeeeery suspicious. Nobody wants to give any credit to that poor Guimauve-kun... well, me neither .

Interesting! Thanks for posting that. As seasoned CLAMP viewers, we know those guys can't be trusted. I had a Tokyo Babylon moment when we first met him.

[Triple_R]

There's three things, in particular, that I liked about Episode 4 (in comparison to earlier episodes):

1. The monsters of the week are starting to talk to Saya, explicitly suggesting that there's a lot more than what meets the eye to what we're seeing so far in this anime.

2. The action to slice of life ratio was a lot better in this episode than in the first three episodes. The main action scene itself was the hardest physical test Saya faced yet, I felt, and that was good to see.

3. Saya is starting to show a believable degree of psychological wear and tear. Yes, she's still singing that daily happy song of her's, but I get the sense that it's not arising out of her as easily as it once did (this is partially due to how she wasn't smiling much when she sang it in this episode). In the first three episodes, my feeling was that Saya sincerely sang those lyrics and was just bubbling with good vibes and optimism and hence couldn't help but sing about it. In this episode, however, the sense I took away from Saya's singing is that she's hoping that the song convinces her that everything is still honky dory. In other words, she's singing to convince herself, not to simply express authentic joy.


Here's my theory - and it's just a theory:

Spoiler for Pure speculations:

Saya is a vampire, that somehow has been caught by the Japanese government, or some sort of shady secret organization.

This government/organization is using Saya in a great experiment. The goal is to discover a method of domesticating vampires, to safely integrate them into human society, and perhaps channel them against other enemies of humanity.

These elder bairns are enemies of humanity, and feed on humans, just like vampires do. Perhaps "the covenant" refers to a covenant that the elder bairns made with the vampires about how they wouldn't fight over humans, their mutual prey. Basically, whichever being caught the human(s) in the area first would feast on them, while the late-comer would need to find his or her prey elsewhere.

Some of the people in this town are 'in on' the experiment - those include, at the very least, the teacher, the guy running the cafe, and Saya's 'dad'. It's possible that one or more of them actually hate vampires, and are merely pretending to love Saya (in spite of that hate) in order to make the experiment work. This might be what ominous voice-over guy is referring to.

Other people in the town likely think it's just a normal town, and their parents simply moved there none the wiser to what's really going on. The town is tightly controlled, and designed to placate Saya as much as possible, to make her very happy during daylight but an efficient warrior at night.

The marshmellows that Saya are given to eat include blood in them (hence why they are pink, and not white). Potentially her coffee does as well. This is to satisfy her vampiric thirst for blood, and to keep her docile. It's also why these marshmellows - these guimauve - have such a strong effect on Saya.

Anyway, just some speculations there.

I have to say that I'm enjoying Blood-C a lot. It has a lot of different elements that each appeal to me individually, and I think that CLAMP/Production IG are now starting to really bring them together well.

My only criticism is that this episode probably should have been Episode 3 and Episode 3 probably should have been Episode 2. This is because I'm a big believer in the "three episode rule" - that it's important for an anime to win over viewers no later than Episode 3. If your anime is about making big plot twists, and/or hiding dark secrets, then you need to make that pretty clear no later than Episode 3 (see Madoka Magica for a very recent example of this).

I fear that Blood-C might have lost some viewers that would love what Blood-C eventually becomes because the first three episodes were too thorough in presenting the facsimile world that Saya is likely living in - it didn't only fool Saya, it fooled many viewers too.

[Fran~]

The explanation is very simple... this anime ends with a movie.


D*mn Clamp.... why do you need to put Mokona in every work!!!!
I hate that thing!

[mechalord]

Who's the narrator, by the way. The guy who keeps on commenting about human nature, who is he? Is it Fumito or Itsuki?


Her flashback is the opening scene of the first episode of Blood+, where Saya is going berserk in some village in Asia.

That flashback alone just gives it away. The Bairne also tells her she's under control and if she doesn't stop getting in their way, they'll start hunting her. She's a Vampiress that is being used by humans.

And the fishermen were drawn there as bait. One of them mentions that they weren't informed that things were going to be that way.


As for the guimauves, these are candies she has just recently been introduced to. She alleges to be a long time customer but just recently heard of them. Even though the restaurant is named after the marshmallow, the owner has only recently begun making them.

Her food could be spiked but I wonder about that. There is evidence that it could be. She's either shared her lunch or somewhat skipped it since she's started talking to Shinichiro and she's had a flashback and lapses in her memory. But then again, the series begins with her meditating and waiting for a vision. Her father is telling her that she's supposed to be going through something just like her mother.

And the homeroom teachers kind of shocks Saya when she basically recites the opening line to that song she sings everyday.



She's either a Vampiress brainwashed to serve mankind or a half-vampire raised to fight for mankind that is monitored by the government.

Her father never leaves home, it appears. It makes me wonder if he's a Vampire himself. He could definitely pull off the Dracula look. Maybe Kanako is Saya's mother. Her father probably decides to side with humans and helps his daughter to become a weapon for humans in order to keep her safe. She's moved to a secure town. Her mother is a scientist, helps monitor her. Fumito keeps her Vampire instincts suppressed or confused.

[Fran~]

Kanako said to Saya that she loved him, that was quite a shock. Besides, when Saya asked her about if she was always a teacher, she said "no,", before that she was like a scientist or something, but now she was a teacher because she was after something...

At this point everything is quite suspicious, an empty town, Saya has school mates, but you don't see people at the streets.

Fumito reminds me Urahara, i bet he knows everything.

[LKK]

Originally Posted by mechalord

Her father never leaves home, it appears.

Her father leaves home far enough to eat at the cafe. Admittedly that's not too far, but it is off of the shrine's property.

[RX-78GP04G Gerbera]

A bit late, but I can say that I find daytime Saya adorable and nighttime Saya damn sexy, lol.

Usually clumsy characters like Saya's daytime self are pretty over-exaggerated, with the girl tripping and falling pretty much every other scene, and usually over nothing, so it can get a bit old and annoying pretty fast, but Saya's tripping is pretty rare overall in comparison, so she still remains adorable to me. The density also isn't as in-your-face as others, who are dense about TONS of various (ridiculous) things. Being a bit dense about someone liking you isn't too bad (not right now anyway) given her probable upbringing and all.

At least it's nowhere near as bad as a certain Kampfer named Senou Natsuru... << >>


Anyway, despite the slower pace, I've enjoyed the series so far. Admittingly, I haven't seen much of the previous Blood animes, but I really don't mind the differences.

[ahelo]

Well this is infinitely better than the first three episodes. It still isn't the caliber I hopeit would be. . . but it's getting there at least. Now if only the characters weren't so CLAMP copy paste.

[Kismet-chan]

Originally Posted by ahelo

Well this is infinitely better than the first three episodes. It still isn't the caliber I hopeit would be. . . but it's getting there at least. Now if only the characters weren't so CLAMP copy paste.

*Raises hand* I agree with this. I liked the episode, I like where it seems to possibly be heading, and I love Saya. But most of the side characters are so ugh... I think I want to strangle the twins every time I see their faces. The next episode is probably going to make me want to punch the screen.

[Fran~]

Originally Posted by ahelo

Now if only the characters weren't so CLAMP copy paste.

Then it wouldn't be CLAMP. When you watch or read any work by Clamp, you know what you can expect. Same goes for Gainax, KyoAni, etc...

[Nina.Wolken]

^Being a fan of the studio, I don't have any problem with Clamp style. I actually love Saya character design. But like ahelo, I can't bear the twins. Not that they aren't cute, but they bear way too much similarities with xxxHolics Moro and Maru :/.
Having twins in the cast is ok, but do they have to always talk in synchronicity? Do they really to have the quasi same name?

At this point, I ready to hear they are magical entities who only exist inside the village.

[Kanon]

Episode 4 was definitely an improvement over the previous three. The reverse School/Killing time ratio is no stranger to it.

Originally Posted by King Lycan

Spoiler for Episode 4:

Maybe Saya's mom died because she "Honored the covenant". Or maybe her mom saw these "Elder Bairn" as not her enemy ?

Or maybe her mother never existed in the first place. Her father (who is most likely not her father at all) is lying to her. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he turned out to be the main villain of the series (it's either him or Guimauve-kun).

Originally Posted by mechalord

Who's the narrator, by the way. The guy who keeps on commenting about human nature, who is he? Is it Fumito or Itsuki?


Her flashback is the opening scene of the first episode of Blood+, where Saya is going berserk in some village in Asia.

The narrator is Fumito.

The flashback looked it was from Blood The last Vampire to me (Saya had the same hairstyle and the same school uniform in it), not Blood +, unless you're talking about a flashback I missed. This might actually be a sequel to the original OVA.

[Ziziphus]

Originally Posted by Kanon

The flashback looked it was from Blood The last Vampire to me (Saya had the same hairstyle and the same school uniform in it), not Blood +, unless you're talking about a flashback I missed. This might actually be a sequel to the original OVA.

Yeah, the flashback definitely looked like a scene from Blood TLV. If this really turns out to be a sequel to that movie then maybe her dad is the current "David". As for Saya though, that would be some serious personality modification if she is supposed to be the same Saya from the movie.

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by Kanon

The flashback looked it was from Blood The last Vampire to me (Saya had the same hairstyle and the same school uniform in it), not Blood +, unless you're talking about a flashback I missed. This might actually be a sequel to the original OVA.

I seriously hope this isn't the case. After all, the BloodTLV continuity ends with Kamiyama Kenji's manga, and it's a very fitting end to this continuity.