BLOOD (VOLUME 1).
July 7th 2008 01:38
Category: Graphic Novels/Comics
Originally created by Production IG & Aniplex.
Publisher: 2005 Kadokawa Shoten/2008 Chuang Yi Publishing Pte Ltd.
Production team: Asuka Katsura – story & art, Chizu Hashii – character design, Nicole Ng – cover design & layout/lettering, Louise Wong Yuke Chin – English translation.
Cost: AU $14.95.
A while back I recall watching an anime feature called Blood: The Last Vampire on SBS, it was set in Japan sometime in the seventies and its primary protagonist was a young girl who was the only person who could fight these bat like creatures that were called Chiropterans (if memory serves me correctly to borrow a line from Iron Chef). Usually these creatures hid in plain sight, masquerading as everyday ordinary humans and only shifting into their true forms when they wanted to feed. The young girl, whose name I never remembered, was a vampire and because of this very fact she was somehow eminently suited for fighting these beasties, almost as if she was their natural enemy. It was an interesting flick, one that was a lot more dark and moody than some of the anime I had seen prior to this or even later on down the track.
Thus it came to me as some surprise when I was leafing through a comic some time last year and there was a large advert about the anime series Blood, a follow up on the original feature and released by Sony Pictures on DVD format. There was also a manga based on the anime series and its this that I have been able to get my hands on and give it a perusal, the anime I haven’t managed to come across other than in various adverts in various magazines. It could be mistake of mine in assuming that this is a follow on from that original feature yet after having gone over the manga it certainly seems to have a similar premise so perhaps a more accurate statement would be to say that perhaps both this manga and the series on which it is based have been influenced by the original feature.
The drama opens in media res, fire and destruction are the first images that are presented to the reader and as you read these first opening panels you are swiftly posed with a conundrum is this a nightmare experienced by the leading protagonist or is it something else? Saya Otonashi seems like your average ordinary everyday high school girl, a member of the track and field team at her high school, she lives with her father and two brothers in a fairly normal household in a town called Koza on Okinawa, a quick gander at a travel guide to Japan didn’t reveal any community called Koza on the island so either its fictional or it wasn’t a very good guide (apologies to Lonely Planet guides).
So it would seem that Saya is fairly ordinary but she does have several unique features, an amazing appetite (she puts food away like its going out of style and never gains weight) and the fact that her memory only goes as far back as twelve months, beyond that she can’t remember a thing. Very puzzling, what is the source of this memory loss, this selective amnesia? Once you find out that she has a memory problem you then start to wonder if the opening scenes are actually a repressed memory rather than a nightmare which in turn raises questions as to just who or rather what is Saya Otonashi…
There are two plots running through this volume, that of Saya seeking to rediscover her lost memories and that involving the enigmatic Shal, a character who looks the epitome of a stereotypical vampire complete with evening dress and cape. Shal and his capable ‘assistant’ Van are in charge of an operation that involves tracking down two chiropterans or mice as Shal is won’t to refer to them. At their disposal are the US forces stationed on the island of Okinawa which seem to be fully appraised of both Shal’s identity and the situation into which they have become involved. This mouse hunt is of vital importance, if the military are unable to track them down then the consequences could literally be catastrophic, needless to say though Shal is not impressed with the efforts of the world’s largest superpower and its forces. The mice are at large and roaming their way hither thither and yon eventually homing in on…Koza.
Of course the US military and Shal are not the only organisation who know both about the Chiropterans and the truth behind Saya Otonashi’s past, mixed into this is a mysterious organisation known only as Red Shield along with the enigmatic and handsome cellist called Hagi who has been roaming the island seeking a specific individual as he plays his mournful melodies for passers by in various locales around the island and Koza itself. Not your usual run of the mill busker certainly, as for Red Shield its uncertain precisely who they’re connected to whether they’re an arm of the Japanese government, the US or an independent organisation dedicated to protecting humanity from the ravages of the Chiropterans.
All in all these various elements are skilfully woven into a great opening onto what promises to be an interesting saga. Miss Asuka Katsura has done fantastically well with this work and I look forward to reading further instalments of the saga, hopefully I also be able to track down the anime as well, fingers crossed. The action in this tale unfolds with a relentless breakneck pace, unravelling the enigma that is Saya and building on the suspense as Shal and his lackeys get closer and closer to their eventual goal. And just like any good suspense novel or series this first volume leaves the reader with a cliff-hanger ending that while bringing closure to the action that has already unfolded also opens up a whole new can of worms as the saga continues.
This manga is definitely worth getting your hands on and having a read; the other interesting aspect is its deviation away from the whole traditional vampire genre, as it seems that in Blood vampires are capable of moving around in the daylight with little or no significant harm unlike the blood suckers of classical lore. No doubt there is an explanation for this one which will be revealed as the saga progresses.
Publisher: 2005 Kadokawa Shoten/2008 Chuang Yi Publishing Pte Ltd.
Production team: Asuka Katsura – story & art, Chizu Hashii – character design, Nicole Ng – cover design & layout/lettering, Louise Wong Yuke Chin – English translation.
Cost: AU $14.95.
A while back I recall watching an anime feature called Blood: The Last Vampire on SBS, it was set in Japan sometime in the seventies and its primary protagonist was a young girl who was the only person who could fight these bat like creatures that were called Chiropterans (if memory serves me correctly to borrow a line from Iron Chef). Usually these creatures hid in plain sight, masquerading as everyday ordinary humans and only shifting into their true forms when they wanted to feed. The young girl, whose name I never remembered, was a vampire and because of this very fact she was somehow eminently suited for fighting these beasties, almost as if she was their natural enemy. It was an interesting flick, one that was a lot more dark and moody than some of the anime I had seen prior to this or even later on down the track.
So it would seem that Saya is fairly ordinary but she does have several unique features, an amazing appetite (she puts food away like its going out of style and never gains weight) and the fact that her memory only goes as far back as twelve months, beyond that she can’t remember a thing. Very puzzling, what is the source of this memory loss, this selective amnesia? Once you find out that she has a memory problem you then start to wonder if the opening scenes are actually a repressed memory rather than a nightmare which in turn raises questions as to just who or rather what is Saya Otonashi…
There are two plots running through this volume, that of Saya seeking to rediscover her lost memories and that involving the enigmatic Shal, a character who looks the epitome of a stereotypical vampire complete with evening dress and cape. Shal and his capable ‘assistant’ Van are in charge of an operation that involves tracking down two chiropterans or mice as Shal is won’t to refer to them. At their disposal are the US forces stationed on the island of Okinawa which seem to be fully appraised of both Shal’s identity and the situation into which they have become involved. This mouse hunt is of vital importance, if the military are unable to track them down then the consequences could literally be catastrophic, needless to say though Shal is not impressed with the efforts of the world’s largest superpower and its forces. The mice are at large and roaming their way hither thither and yon eventually homing in on…Koza.
Of course the US military and Shal are not the only organisation who know both about the Chiropterans and the truth behind Saya Otonashi’s past, mixed into this is a mysterious organisation known only as Red Shield along with the enigmatic and handsome cellist called Hagi who has been roaming the island seeking a specific individual as he plays his mournful melodies for passers by in various locales around the island and Koza itself. Not your usual run of the mill busker certainly, as for Red Shield its uncertain precisely who they’re connected to whether they’re an arm of the Japanese government, the US or an independent organisation dedicated to protecting humanity from the ravages of the Chiropterans.
All in all these various elements are skilfully woven into a great opening onto what promises to be an interesting saga. Miss Asuka Katsura has done fantastically well with this work and I look forward to reading further instalments of the saga, hopefully I also be able to track down the anime as well, fingers crossed. The action in this tale unfolds with a relentless breakneck pace, unravelling the enigma that is Saya and building on the suspense as Shal and his lackeys get closer and closer to their eventual goal. And just like any good suspense novel or series this first volume leaves the reader with a cliff-hanger ending that while bringing closure to the action that has already unfolded also opens up a whole new can of worms as the saga continues.
This manga is definitely worth getting your hands on and having a read; the other interesting aspect is its deviation away from the whole traditional vampire genre, as it seems that in Blood vampires are capable of moving around in the daylight with little or no significant harm unlike the blood suckers of classical lore. No doubt there is an explanation for this one which will be revealed as the saga progresses.
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