Animania

Okay, okay, still not doing well here. Hopefully on an upswing, though, now that I'm dropping out of school. I'd really love to get a copy of a current version of Dragon NaturallySpeaking, then I could dictate my entries. That would make it so much easier for my lifestyle. I have an older version, but it doesn't like Windows XP nor my southern accent. :P

Blood+ is one of those rarer anime series, which is not based on an existing manga series nor novels. Instead, the fifty-episode Blood+ anime was created first, then three manga and two light novel adaptations based on and around it created. I've been watching Blood+ on the Cartoon Network for a few months now and have really enjoyed it. Dark Horse Comics has licensed all of the manga and novel adaptations, so of course I must read them all. The first volume of the five volume primary Blood+ manga series, written by Asuka Katsura, hit the shelves in January.

The story focuses on Saya Otonashi, a seemingly typical high school girl, except she can't remember any of her life before waking up a year previously and she is plagued by nightmares of her surrounded by monsters, blood, and fire. Her life is turned upside down when a monster appears in her town and begins killing people. Then she discovers she is the only person who can kill the monsters, called Chiropterans. She also learns her adopted father, George, was really her assigned caretaker by Red Shield, an organization devoted to assisting her in killing the monsters. Confused, Saya is approached by a man named Hagi who forces her to drink his blood to help her remember. Doing so sends Saya into a rage, and she quickly slays the Chiropteran. Now Saya must decide if she will accept the fate she has been dealt, and try to learn more about her past.

A generous 208 pages, Dark Horse's release of the first volume includes four color pages in the front, and a five page preview of the main Blood+ light novel series. The art work is similar to that of the anime, though slightly harder and more angular, and the females seem to have been given larger chests. Story wise, it is quite a bit different from the anime series, which can be jarring at first. While it covers the basic events of the first two episodes of the anime, there are quite a few changes to characterizations and the over all events. The changes aren't necessarily bad, they just take a little getting used to. Saya and Hagi are similar, while Kai is more of a bad ass. I can't say I particularly like David, as he is much more of an ass than in the anime, but it works for the way the story is written. There is also a new character, Charles, which would seem to indicate that the the manga will continue to divert from the anime.

As a whole, this looks like it will be an interesting re-telling of the manga series, though I am concerned as to what it will do with only five volumes. Though Dark Horse prices its manga at a slightly higher price, the quality of the volumes does justify it some, with the color pages, a thicker cover paper than most manga series, and excellent print quality. For those who found the anime series too long, I'd certainly recommend giving this a try, and for fans of the anime series, I also think it would be a good read for an alternative view.

Volume Grade: A