''Blood-C'' (stylized as ''BLOOD-C'') is a 2011 Japanese

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

television series co-created by studio

Production I.G is a Japanese animation studio. Headquartered in Musashino, Tokyo, Production I.G was founded on December 15, 1987, by producer Mitsuhisa Ishikawa and character designer Takayuki Goto as I.G Tatsunoko, a branch studio of the animation giant Ta ...

and

manga artist A manga artist, also known as a mangaka (), is a Cartoonist, comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist before entering the indus ...

group CLAMP. It is the second anime series in the ''

Blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood is com ...

'' franchise following the 2005–2006 series ''

Blood+ ''Blood+'' (stylized as ''BLOOD+'' and pronounced "Blood Plus") is a Japanese anime television series produced by Production I.G and Aniplex and directed and written by Junichi Fujisaku. The series was broadcast on MBS and TBS fro ...

''. The original 12-episode series aired during 2011, with a sequel film, '' Blood-C: The Last Dark'' releasing in Japanese theaters the following year. The anime was subsequently adapted into two

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

, a 2011 novelization, a 2015 stage play, and three live-action films. ''Blood-C'' focuses on

Saya Kisaragi is the main protagonist of the ''Blood-C'' anime television series co-created by studio Production I.G and manga artist group CLAMP. Saya Kisaragi is first portrayed by her false life as an innocent and clumsy girl who acts as a shrine maiden ...

, an outwardly normal teenage high school girl who serves as a shrine maiden to a country town; in reality, she is a skilled swordswoman charged by her father to defeat Elder Bairns, monsters who feed on human blood. As her battles grow more desperate and more people she cares for fall victim to the Elder Bairns, Saya begins finding faults in her reality, and eventually uncovers a disturbing truth about herself, the town and her surviving friends. ''Blood-C'' was designed to share only thematic similarities with earlier ''Blood'' projects. CLAMP was brought on board to both design the characters and help create the scenario. It featured several new elements to the ''Blood'' franchise, such as being primarily set within a high school environment. The Elder Bairns were inspired by the Great Old Ones from

H. P. Lovecraft Howard Phillips Lovecraft (, ; August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American writer of Weird fiction, weird, Science fiction, science, fantasy, and horror fiction. He is best known for his creation of the Cthulhu Mythos. Born in Provi ...

Cthulhu Mythos The Cthulhu Mythos is a mythopoeia and a shared fictional universe, originating in the works of American Horror fiction, horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. The term was coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent and protégé of Lovecraft, t ...

, and modeled after traditional Japanese monsters. Its bloody violence, a stylistic choice following the series' themes, resulted in censorship in Japan and eventual

blacklisting Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list; if people are on a blacklist, then they are considere ...

in China. The series has received mixed to positive reviews from journalists.

Plot

''Blood-C'' is set in an isolated rural town on the shore of

Lake Suwa is a lake in the Kiso Mountains, in the central region of Nagano Prefecture, Japan. Geography The lake is the source of the Tenryū River. It ranks 24th in lake water surface area in Japan. The cities of Suwa and Okaya and the town of Shimos ...

Nagano Prefecture is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,007,682 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture ...

is the shrine maiden of the Shinto shrine run by her father Tadayoshi, and is outwardly a friendly and clumsy high school girl. Her circle of friends include neighbor and cafe owner Fumito Nanahara; school friends Yūka Amino, identical twins Nene and Nono Motoe, class president Itsuki Tomofusa, the taciturn Shinichirō Tokizane; and Saya's schoolroom teacher Kanako Tsutsutori. While living a normal school life by day, Saya spends the night defending the village against Elder Bairns, monsters who feed on humans. Saya's skills in the " art of the sword" enable her to defeat the Elder Bairns, but those capable of speech accuse Saya and the humans of violating a covenant dubbed "Shrovetide". Saya also encounters a talking dog, which says it is here to grant someone's wish. She suffers from blanks in her memory and is pained by headaches whenever she tries to remember. Saya's battles with the Elder Bairns become increasingly desperate as they begin attacking during the day. Both Nene and Nono are killed, leaving Saya deeply hurt. Shinichirō learns of Saya's burden and offers to help, but is later killed himself. An attack on Saya's school results in everyone but Saya, Itsuki and Kanako dying. Saya later realizes that only her class was present at the school. Due to the blanks in her memory and comments from the Elder Bairns, she begins questioning her identity and mission. Kanako asks Saya to see Tadayoshi's library, which contains information on the Elder Bairns. They find that the library is a fake. Kanako confronts Saya with the living Nono, Nene and Shinichirō before forcing her to drink Elder Bairn blood. It is revealed that the town's entire population, including those close to Saya, were actors in an experiment organized by Fumito, and that Saya is actually an Elder Bairn in human form. She had sworn an oath not to kill humans and in turn hunted her own kind, but Fumito captured her and implanted her with false memories of a past "human life," with the goal of seeing whether her inner self could be altered so the oath could be broken. Whenever Saya began relapsing and remembering her past, Fumito used drugs and hypnosis to make her docile again, and all the Elder Bairns she faced were controlled by Fumito using her blood. Kanako had wanted to use Saya to prove the existence of Elder Bairns, suborning Nono, Nene, and Shinichirō to help her. Fumito, Itsuki, and Yūka confront them, with Fumito unleashing an Elder Bairn that brutally kills Nono, Nene and Shinichirō for their treachery. Saya saves Kanako from the Elder Bairn and kills it, but Kanako is then killed by Tadayoshi, revealed to be a human-Elder Bairn hybrid driven berserk by an overdose of Saya's blood Fumito gave him. Saya—now back to her true self—is forced to kill Tadayoshi, and witnesses Fumito release an artificial Elder Bairn that slaughters the town's population before Saya kills it. Fumito's soldiers attempt to shoot Saya, but Itsuki sacrifices himself to save her, as he had grown to love her. Fumito and Yūka—who participated to achieve political power with Fumito's help—escape on a helicopter. When Saya tries to stop them, Fumito shoots her. Recovering on the lakeside, Saya learns from the dog that her wish was to remain herself when in Fumito's experiment, and that she must now pursue her next wish. Saya sets off in pursuit of Fumito.

Characters

*: The

main protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a ...

—she is unrelated to any previous entry in the ''Blood'' franchise aside from her first name, chosen weapon and abilities. Outwardly, Saya is an innocent and clumsy girl who acts as the shrine maiden at her father's shrine, going out at night to hunt Elder Bairns as part of a sworn duty. In reality, she is an Elder Bairn who was abandoned and raised by humans. Due to an oath she swore, she is unable to feed on humans herself, and the experiment was designed to see if her nature could be altered. Saya is voiced by

Nana Mizuki , better known by the stage name , is a Japanese voice actress, singer, and narrator. She is represented by the agency StarCrew. Mizuki was trained as an enka singer, releasing one single under her birth name in 1993 and made her debut as a voic ...

in Japanese. Mizuki described Saya as she is portrayed in the anime as an easygoing girl who enjoys her school life and shares a strong bond with Tadayoshi. In the English dub, she is voiced by

Alexis Tipton Alexis Tipton is an American voice actress and ADR director. She has provided voices for English-language versions of anime series, films and video games. Some of her roles include Sun Seto in '' My Bride Is a Mermaid'', Musubi in '' Sekirei'' ...

. *: The owner of a cafe just opposite Saya's home, who acts as cook for Saya and her father, preparing Saya's school lunches. Fumito is revealed to the mastermind behind the entire experiment and the

main antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain. Fumito is voiced in Japanese by

Kenji Nojima is a Japanese voice actor and singer affiliated with the voice talent agency Aoni Production. His first major role in voice-over was Spark in the '' Record of Lodoss War: Chronicles of the Heroic Knight'' series. He voiced Hikaru Ichijyo in a n ...

. Nojima described Fumito's character as a mysterious, friendly and knowledgeable figure. In the English dub, he is voiced by

Robert McCollum Robert Howard McCollum is an American voice actor, television host, and producer who provides voices for a number of English-language versions of Japanese anime. Outside of voice acting, he was a host of WFAA-TV's ''Good Morning Texas'' in 2009 ...

. *: Saya's father, and the owner of the Shinto shrine where Saya acts as shrine maiden. He also supervises her role as a slayer of Elder Bairns. In truth, he is a human-Elder Bairn hybrid used by Fumito to capture and manipulate Saya due to their strong similarity. Tadayoshi is voiced in Japanese by

Keiji Fujiwara was a Japanese actor and voice actor. His best known works are voicing Shinnosuke's father Hiroshi Nohara in the long-running anime series ''Crayon Shin-chan'', Maes Hughes in ''Fullmetal Alchemist'', Holland Novak in '' Eureka Seven'', Axel ...

. Fujiwara described Tadayoshi as a stern character who hides the depths of his fatherly feelings for Saya. In the English dub, he is voiced by Bill Jenkins. *: A member of Saya's class who acts as an older sister figure, chastising Saya for being late or distracted while also caring about her. In reality, Yūka is an ally of Fumito who joins his experiment in exchange for political power in Tokyo. She is the only member of the "main cast" to survive. Yūka was voiced in Japanese by

Masumi Asano is a Japanese voice actress, singer and narrator who worked for Aoni Production, but now as of January, 2021, a Freelancer. Biography Asano was born on August 25, 1977, in Noshiro, Akita and studied at the Kokugakuin University Faculty of L ...

. Asano described Yūka's initial character as a rough and loud person with a kind heart. In the English dub, she is voiced by Martha Harms. *: The

class president A class president, also known as a class representative, is usually the leader of a student body class, and presides over its class cabinet or organization within a student council. In a grade school, class presidents are generally elected by ...

for Saya's class, he is considered the class' star and has unspoken feelings for Saya that she is oblivious to. He is also part of the experiment, but develops genuine feelings for Saya that lead to his death when he tries to defend her from Fumito's men. It is later revealed that he was a spy sent by enemies of Fumito to observe and report on the experiment. Itsuki is voiced in Japanese by

Atsushi Abe is a Japanese voice actor and narrator represented by Ken Production. Some of his major roles include Toma Kamijo in the ''A Certain Magical Index'' / ''A Certain Scientific Railgun'' series, Kukai Soma in ''Shugo Chara!'', Moritaka Mashiro i ...

. Abe described Itsuki as a distinguished figure who is overly quiet about his feelings. In the English dub, he is voiced by Chris Burnett. *: A taciturn classmate of Saya for whom she develops a crush during the course of the series. While he feigns affection for Saya, he is in revealed to be a

mercenary A mercenary is a private individual who joins an armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rather t ...

taking part in the experiment on promise of a high payment. Shinichirō is voiced in Japanese by

Tatsuhisa Suzuki is a Japanese voice actor and singer. A former lead vocalist of Oldcodex, he used his stage name Ta_2. Biography '' Shūkan Bunshun'' reported that Suzuki was engaged to Lisa in May 2019. In January 2020, they announced their marriage. On Apri ...

. Suzuki defined Shinichirō as a silent character with an air of importance surrounding him. In the English dub, he is voiced by Scott Freeman. *: A pair of identical twin girls in Saya's class, who act in a mischievous way and often speak in unison. In reality, they are former criminals who participated in the charade to have their records erased so they could find work. The pair are voiced in Japanese by

Misato Fukuen is a Japanese actress and voice actress affiliated with StarCrew. Her real name is . She has also performed activities as a singer under the name of MIRI. Filmography TV anime Original net animation Original video animation *'' To Love Ru ...

. Fukuen described the duo as the anime's "mascot characters". In the English dub, they are voiced by

Lindsay Seidel Lindsay Seidel is an American voice actress, mostly known for her work in the dubbing of various anime series in English. Some of her noteworthy roles include Nagisa Shiota in '' Assassination Classroom'' and Gabi Braun in the final season of ...

. *: Saya's homeroom teacher, a woman with a casual and sometimes joking attitude, and a liking for Saya. She is also fascinated by old stories and folklore. In reality, she is a scholar who agreed to participate in Fumito's scheme to learn about Saya and prove the Elder Bairns' existence. Kanako is voiced in Japanese by Miho Miyagawa. In the English dub she is voiced by

Lydia Mackay Lydia Marie Mackay (born 1977) is an American actress, known internationally for her work for Funimation and OkraTron 5000. She has provided voices for a number of English versions of Japanese anime films, television series and video games. Ea ...

. *: A character who converses with Saya over the course of the series, being the one responsible for granting her wish to remain herself. Its true identity is the

familiar In European folklore of the medieval and early modern periods, familiars (strictly familiar spirits, as "familiar" also meant just "close friend" or companion, and may be seen in the scientific name for dog, ''Canis familiaris'') were believed ...

Kimihiro Watanuki is a fictional character introduced in the manga ''xxxHolic'', created by the group of manga artists known as Clamp (manga artists), Clamp. Watanuki is a high school student plagued by his ability to see spirits. In order to lose such powers, Wa ...

, a character from the manga series ''

xxxHolic ''xxxHolic'' (stylized as ''×××HOLiC''; pronounced "Holic") is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by the manga group Clamp. The series, which crosses over with another Clamp work, '' Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle'', r ...

''. The dog is voiced by

Jun Fukuyama is a Japanese voice actor and singer. He played Lelouch Lamperouge in '' Code Geass'', Yukio Okumura in Blue Exorcist, Koro-sensei in '' Assassination Classroom'', Ichimatsu in '' Osomatsu-san'', Yuta Togashi in '' Love, Chunibyo & Other Delu ...

in Japanese. When he was recording his dialogue for the series, Fukuyama was surprised that the very last line of the final episode was given to a dog. In the English dub, the dog is voiced by

Todd Haberkorn Todd Michael Haberkorn (born August 16, 1982) is an American voice actor and director, who has dubbed in anime, films, and video games. Some of his notable roles include Keroro from ''Sgt. Frog'', Allen Walker from '' D.Gray-man'', Death the ...

Production

''Blood-C'' was a collaborative production between

and CLAMP. Production I.G is an animation studio that had created the ''Blood'' franchise with the 2000 film '' Blood: The Last Vampire'', which was the studio's first attempt at an original in-house project. CLAMP is an all-female

group made up of writer

Nanase Ohkawa is a member of the all-female manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term i ...

and artists

Mokona is the pen name of the lead artist, colorist, and composition designer of the all-female manga-artist team Clamp. She was formerly known as ; she dropped her last name because she claimed it sounded too "immature". Clamp has had a huge impact o ...

Tsubaki Nekoi , is a member of the all-female manga-creating team Clamp. She is the co-director and her duties in the team include applying screentones and correcting manga illustrations. She was also the lead artist (a role that normally falls to Mokona) on ...

, and

Satsuki Igarashi is a member of the all-female manga-creating team Clamp. Manga career Her duties in the Clamp team are acting as Nanase Ohkawa's sounding board, the character designer of ''Chobits is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated b ...

. The main staff included both newcomers and people who had worked on previous entries in the ''Blood'' franchise. These included concept supervisor and co-writer

Junichi Fujisaku is a Japanese anime director, screenwriter and novelist that mostly known for his work on the ''Blood: The Last Vampire, Blood'' franchise and ''Ghost in the Shell: Arise'' series, produced by Production I.G. Career Junichi Fujisaku started wo ...

, one of the original creators of the ''Blood'' franchise; and director

Tsutomu Mizushima is a Japanese anime director and sound director. Career Mizushima was born in Chitose, Hokkaido and raised in Hata, Nagano (now Matsumoto, Nagano). He produced independent films in high school. When he graduated from Nagano Prefectural Matsumoto ...

, whose most notable recent work was the anime adaptation of CLAMP's manga ''

''. Background artwork was created by Hiromasa Ogura, and setting artwork was created by Kazuo Kanpei of Kusanagi. 3D CGI was handled by Tsukamoto Mori. The music was composed by

Naoki Satō is a Japanese composer. He has provided the music for several popular anime series and films, including the first five ''Pretty Cure'' series, '' X'', ''Eureka Seven'', ''Sword of the Stranger'', ''Assassination Classroom'', and '' Blood-C''. ...

, whose previous work included ''

Sword of the Stranger A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed tip ...

''. The opening theme "Spiral" was performed by

Dustz Dustz (currently stylized as DUSTZ) is a Japanese rock band fronted by French-Japanese actor Ray Fujita. Formed by Fujita and two of his classmates from the ''Lycée franco-japonais de Tokyo'', the group has gained national renown by performing t ...

, who worked hard to make the song a suitable addition to the ''Blood'' canon and incorporated both Japanese and French lyrics. The ending theme, " Junketsu Paradox", was sung by

—the voice actress for Saya—who used the anime's story as inspiration and incorporated archaic phrases for the lyrics. The production team was dubbed "Project BLOOD-C TV". When developing plans for ''Blood-C'', it was decided to shift its setting based on positive feedback from the change of setting between ''Blood: The Last Vampire'' and the franchise's first anime series ''

''. The only elements to be retained were the first name of the main character, having a katana as her weapon, and the basic premise of her defeating monsters with that sword. The wish for the project to be distinct from earlier entries was what spurred the collaboration with CLAMP, which became a large part of the anime's marketing campaign. Fujisaku, when asked in an interview to describe his one creative ambition for the series, said that it was to fully expand and build upon the basic concept established in ''Blood: The Last Vampire''. The choice of a school setting, the first of its kind to be featured in the ''Blood'' franchise, was chosen because Mizushima wanted to portray a school life for Saya. When asked, Mizushima did not find the change from his previous comedy anime-based turnout a barrier to his work, but did feel pressure when handling a project within the ''Blood'' franchise. The scripts were written by Ohkawa and Fujisaku. While Ohkawa took charge of each episode's dialogue, Fujisaku handled fight sequences. Fujisaku pointedly avoided contributing too much to the dialogue as Ohkawa's writing had a very distinctive style, his alterations made only due to story inconsistencies. The series was composed in a way that gradually revealed the central mystery while pitting Saya against progressively stronger foes. The setting's intensely "normal" appearance was designed to make viewers feel uneasy as faults begin appearing in Saya's everyday life. According to Ohkawa, the main theme of the series was examination of the hero's role as a lonely protector of the innocent. Alongside this was the portrayal of Saya's seemingly normal life and now her role as the town's protector began intruding upon this everyday life. The final episodes were intended to evoke viewer sympathy for Saya due to the terrible ordeal she had been subjected to. The series broke from conventions of a hero-focused anime by portraying the relationships between Saya and those close to her in a very shallow way during the opening episodes. For the final few episodes, when the truth is revealed about Saya and her school life, the supporting cast were generally portrayed as "hateful" people that the viewers would wish to see die. So as to keep the series' twist ending a secret, the entire voice cast including Mizuki and Nojima—the respective voice actors of Saya and Fumito—were told nothing about the final episode's events. A different interview revealed that each cast member was only given the scripts for three episodes at any one time to preserve secrecy. The subtitle of each episode was drawn from the Japanese poetry anthology ''

Ogura Hyakunin Isshu is a classical Japanese anthology of one hundred Japanese ''waka'' by one hundred poets. ''Hyakunin isshu'' can be translated to "one hundred people, one poem ach; it can also refer to the card game of ''uta-garuta'', which uses a deck compos ...

''. The series made regular use of bloody violence, which was exaggerated to distance viewers from the show's horrific elements. Despite this, the director said the show was not deliberately focused on bloody violence. The design of the main cast was handled by CLAMP. According to Mizushima, the team wanted to portray Saya in a far more human way than her previous incarnations, ending up creating a character more human than even the true human characters. Saya's character as a long-haired, song-singing meganekko (girl in glasses) almost entirely created by CLAMP. Due to the stark differences between this version of Saya and previous versions, Fujisaku did not use her original surname "Otonashi", so viewers could clearly distinguish Saya's portrayal from previous entries. When deciding upon her strength, Mizushima decided to use

Hit-Girl Hit-Girl (Mindy McCready) is an antihero appearing in the Millarworld shared fictional universe, published by Marvel Comics under the company's imprint Icon Comics and later Image Comics, one of the titular characters of the ''Hit-Girl & Kick ...

from the movie '' Kick-Ass'' as a role model, making Saya stronger than Hit-Girl while also putting her into a high school environment. The animation character designer was

Kazuchika Kise is a Japanese director, animator, and character designer. He started working in the anime industry in 1989 with '' Patlabor: The Movie''. In 2015, he made his directorial debut with '' Ghost in the Shell: Arise''. Biography Kazuchika Kise was bo ...

, who worked on ''Blood: The Last Vampire''.

Yasuomi Umetsu is a Japanese animator, director, writer, and storyboard artist. Career Umetsu studied at the and was originally not interested in pursuing a career in the anime industry, and instead wanted to pursue a career as a manga artist. While in his 20 ...

directed and worked on the storyboard for the game's opening along with Kise. A key part of the opening was a layer of blood peeling away from Saya's naked form. While compared by many to the opening of ''

Ghost in the Shell ''Ghost in the Shell'' is a Japanese cyberpunk media franchise based on the manga series of the same name written and illustrated by Masamune Shirow. The manga, first serialized between 1989 and 1991, is set in mid-21st century Japan and tel ...

'', Umetsu said that it represented Saya's personal evolution during the course of the show. The Elder Bairns were designed by Tomohiro Shinoda. They were initially conceived by Ohkawa as Japanese versions of the

Great Old Ones Cthulhu Mythos deities are a group of fictional deities created by American author H. P. Lovecraft (1890–1937), and later expanded by others in the fictional universe known as the Cthulhu mythos. These entities are usually depicted as immens ...

, figures from the

created by

, but this was changed. While some elements remained from the initial concept, the final Elder Bairns' physical forms as faced by Saya were inspired by yokai from Japanese folklore at Mizushima's insistence—this design choice was decided upon after storyboarding finished for the fight against the first episode's Elder Bairn, which was modeled after a Jizo statue. This initial concept was expanded upon by Mizushima, Ohkawa and Fujisaku. The disguised form of the Elder Bairn from the fifth episode was based on train carriages from the

Kamikōchi Line The is a railway line operated by the Japanese private railway operator Alpico Kōtsū in the western suburbs of Matsumoto, Nagano, Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture. The line connects with , the transportation gateway to Kamikōchi and the Hida Mo ...

in Nagano Prefecture that Mizushima had enjoyed traveling on as a boy. The Elder Bairn from the ninth episode was intended for the second episode, but the staff felt it was too strong to appear so early, so it was shifted to a later episode. All the Elder Bairns were designed to give the impression of a "vivid, flesh-and-blood texture".

Broadcast

''Blood-C'' was first announced in March 2011, with its core staff and its approximate air date in July. The series began broadcasting on July 7, 2011. While scheduled for June 7, its late night slot meant that the first episode's actual broadcast was on July 8. In celebration of the anime's release, an autographed copy of the first episode's script was offered in a competition through the anime's official website. A special web radio series featuring actors from the show also began broadcast in July alongside the series. Dubbed "''Blood-R''", it ran for eleven episodes. It first began broadcasting on

MBS TV JOOY-DTV (channel 4), branded as or (formerly known as from 1959 to 2011), is a Japanese television station serving as the Kansai region key station of the Japan News Network, owned-and-operated by a subsidiary of MBS Media Holdings with ...

on July 7 and

Tokyo Broadcasting System Television JORX-DTV (channel 6), branded as , is the flagship station of the Japan News Network in the Kantō region. It is owned-and-operated by , a subsidiary of TBS Holdings. TBS Television is one of the "five private broadcasters based in Tokyo." ...

on July 8. Several episodes were repeated during the original broadcast in a three-day successive broadcast in August. Its twelve-episode run ended on September 30, 2011. During the original broadcast, scenes where Saya's friends or other humans characters were killed by the Elder Bairns—the process of which invariably involved extensive blood and gore—were censored with areas of light and darkness. The deaths of Elder Bairns and mild erotic elements during a bathing scene with Saya were left uncensored. During its original run, it was broadcast simultaneously in North America, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa through the Western branch of

Niconico , known before 2012 as , is a Japanese video sharing service based in Tokyo, Japan. "Niconico" or "nikoniko" is the Japanese sound symbolism, Japanese ideophone for smiling. As of 2021, Niconico is the 34th most-visited website in Japan, accordi ...

. In addition to this, the series broadcast on

Chubu-Nippon Broadcasting is a regional radio and television service serving Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It is majorly owned by the ''Chunichi Shimbun''. Its radio service is affiliated with the Japan Radio Network (JRN) and its television service affiliated ...

from July 13, and Kumamoto Asahi Broadcasting RRK station from July 31. ''Blood-C'' would later debut on Wowow in 2013: Episodes 1 to 10 were broadcast back to back on September 22, while the final two episodes broadcast on September 29. In 2015, Niconico's Japanese channel ran a marathon broadcast of all twelve episodes starting from June 28. ''Blood-C'' was one of three anime cited—alongside ''

Highschool of the Dead ''Highschool of the Dead'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese manga series written by Daisuke Satō and illustrated by Shōji Satō. It was serialized in Fujimi Shobo's '' Monthly Dragon Age'' between the September 2006 and May 2013 issues, ...

'' and ''

Terror in Resonance , also known as ''Terror in Tokyo'', is a Japanese anime television series produced by MAPPA. The anime was created and directed by Shinichirō Watanabe, with character designs by Kazuto Nakazawa and music by Yoko Kanno. It was broadcast for ...

''—in a warning given by the

Chinese Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture (MOC) was a ministry of the government of the People's Republic of China which was dissolved on 19 March 2018. The responsibilities of the MOC, which were assumed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, encompassed cultu ...

to video streaming sites due to the series high violence. ''Blood-C'' was later put on a

blacklist Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list; if people are on a blacklist, then they are considere ...

by the Ministry of Culture alongside 37 other anime and manga series in 2015, prohibiting its physical and online distribution in mainland China.

Home media

The series'

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

releases were handled in Japan by

Aniplex Aniplex, Inc. (株式会社アニプレックス, ''Kabushiki-gaisha Anipurekkusu'') is a Japanese entertainment company and a subsidiary of Sony, Sony Group Corporation, founded in September 1995 by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. The company fo ...

. The series released in six volumes between September 28, 2011, and February 22, 2012. The series' English dub and North American licensing was handled by

Funimation Funimation was an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service. Launched in 2016, the service was one of the leading distributors of anime ...

. A box set containing the whole series released for Blu-ray and DVD on January 22, 2013. In Australia, the series was licensed by

Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, stylized as MADMAN, is an Australian film and television production, distribution, entertainment, and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising ...

, releasing as a box set for DVD and Blu-ray on April 17, 2013. In Europe, the series was distributed by

Anchor Bay Entertainment The revived Anchor Bay Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company owned by Umbrelic Entertainment co-founders Thomas Zambeck and Brian Katz. Anchor Bay Entertainment markets and releases "new release genre ...

through

Manga Entertainment Manga Entertainment was a producer, licensee, and distributor of anime in the United States and the United Kingdom. Originally founded in the UK in 1991, the UK branch became Funimation UK and Ireland in 2021, also currently known as Crunchyr ...

. It released as a box set on DVD and Blu-ray on June 10, 2013.

Related media

Films

''Blood-C: The Last Dark'' (2012)

A theatrical anime film was announced shortly after the anime series, acting as a conclusion to the story of ''Blood-C''. Titled '' Blood-C: The Last Dark'', it released in Japanese theaters on June 2, 2012.

''Asura Girl: Blood-C Another Story'' (2017)

A live-action prequel film titled ''Asura Girl: Blood-C Another Story'', was announced in January 2017. The film was directed by

Shutaro Oku is a Japanese film and stage director. Biography Shutaro Oku was born in 1975 in Tokyo, Japan. From 2000 to 2009, Oku directed many theatrical films, notably ''The Labor Cop'', ''Japanese Naked Tribe'', ''Aka-sen'', ''Cain's Descendant'', and ...

and written by

. Kentarō Nakao is the music composer, while Sennosuke Okumura produced the film. It was released in Japanese theaters on August 26, 2017. The movie is set on a village near Tokyo in a Pre-World War II era, where bloody conflict between the villagers and Japan's Special Higher Police forces erupts. The film focuses on Ran, who was introduced in ''The Last Mind'' stage play.

''Blood-Club Dolls'' (2018, 2020)

A second live-action movie, ''Blood-Club Dolls 1'' was announced in February 2018. Oku returned as a director and co-wrote the screenplay with Fujisaku. Kōsuke Nishimoto is the music composer, and Okumura returned as a producer. The film was released in Japanese theaters on October 13, 2018. A third live-action movie and a sequel, ''Blood-Club Dolls 2'' was announced in December 2019, along with the returning staff and casts. The film was released in Japanese theaters on July 11, 2020. The two films focuses on Soēn, Fumito's henchman that was also introduced in ''The Last Mind'' stage play, and takes place before the events of ''The Last Dark'' film.

Stage play

''Blood-C: The Last Mind'' (2015)

A stage play titled ''Blood-C: The Last Mind'' was produced by Nega Design Works, being staged at the Setagaya Public Theater between July 2 to July 5, 2015. The stage play was directed by

, who also created stage plays based on ''

Persona A persona (plural personae or personas) is a strategic mask of identity in public, the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional Character (arts), character. It is also considered "an intermediary ...

'' series, and written by

, who co-wrote the scripts for 12-episode TV anime and the feature film. Set between the events of ''Blood-C'' and ''The Last Dark'', it expands upon Fumito's backstory. Several actors from the play reprised their perspective roles for the live-action movies, mainly Kanon Miyahara as Saya Kisaragi, and Keisuke Minami as Fumito Nanahara.

Print

Novelization

A novelization of the series was released on October 4, 2011, and novelization of the feature film on June 2, 2012, written by

and published by

Kadokawa Shoten , formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing based in Tokyo, Japan. It became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation on October 1, 2013. Kadokawa publishes manga, light novels, manga anthology magazines ...

Manga

A manga adaptation of ''Blood-C'' was announced alongside the anime. Adapted by

Ranmaru Kotone, it debuted in the June issue of ''

Monthly Shōnen Ace is a monthly '' shōnen'' manga magazine in Japan published by Kadokawa Shoten, started in 1994. Unlike the big ''shōnen'' weeklies with circulation figures in the millions, ''Ace'' is aimed at a less mainstream audience, and has a particular em ...

'' on May 26. The manga ended in August 2012, having run for over a year. The manga was released in four volumes between July 26, 2011, and November 21, 2012, by Kadokawa Shoten. The manga covered the events of the 12-episode anime series and ''The Last Dark'' film. The manga was licensed for the West by

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, manga and Artist's book, art book publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon, by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, O ...

. Its four volumes released between March 6, 2013, and December 30, 2015. A second spin-off manga series titled ''Blood-C: Demonic Moonlight'' began serialization in the debut issue of

Newtype Ace is a monthly magazine originating from Japan covering anime and, to a lesser extent, manga, voice actors, science fiction, , and video games. It was launched by publishing company Kadokawa Shoten on March 8, 1985, and has since been released in ...

in September 2011. It was written and illustrated by Ryo Haduki, with

as a story consultant. Set in post-war Japan in 1946, the story of ''Demonic Moonlight'' acts as a prequel to ''Blood-C''. The manga focuses on David, who works alongside a mysterious swordless swordsman named Kagekiri on a mysterious cases of humans being killed by Elder Bairns, Fumito's family and Saya's origin. The manga ended in May 2012. It was released in two volumes on December 17, 2011, and May 23, 2012. As with the series' manga adaptation, Dark Horse Comics licensed the manga for Western publication. The two volumes released on May 18 and August 3, 2016.

=Volumes

''Blood-C''

''Blood-C: Demonic Moonlight''

Reception

During its opening week, the first DVD/Blu-ray volume failed to reach a high position in the charts against many anime and live-action releases, selling only 727 copies according to

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...

. In contrast, at its release in the United Kingdom, the Complete Series release reached #4 in the anime charts. At the Reaper Award awards show, ''Blood-C'' was awarded the 2013 for "Best Animation". Richard Eisenbeis of

Kotaku ''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier. History ...

praised the character and Elder Bairn designs, and also enjoyed the questions the anime posed about where ''Blood-C'' fit in both the overall ''Blood'' franchise and the works of CLAMP. He was more mixed about the odd juxtaposition of innocent school life with the high violence of Elder Bairn encounters. He was also unsure about the ending, saying it tidied up the series' mysteries but required watching the movie to understand the story. He ended his review by calling ''Blood-C'' "a beautifully drawn show with excellent action and a legitimately compelling mystery". Bradley Meek, writing for THEM Anime, gave the series 3/5 stars. He praised the way the series maintained its horror-based atmosphere in between the action sequences. He greatly enjoyed the horror and action aspects, but felt that the character-driven segments in early episodes threatened to drag down the whole experience due to mundane content and poor characters. Talking about the anime's second half, he said that it drastically altered the pace and content to the point that viewers might be put off with its conscious bending of the rules of handling characters and viewers alike—Meek was ultimately angry at the series' brutal ending, but it also left him eager to see its movie conclusion.

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and ot ...

's Carlo Santos gave the subtitled version a score of "B−" and the dubbed version as score of "C+". He found the darker elements hidden so well in early episodes that it made the series boring to watch, and that the ending would divide opinion due to its drastic alteration of how events in the series played out and its discussion of both horror tropes and the standard elements of the ''Blood'' franchise. The action scenes came in for regular praise for their choreography and many monster designs, but the school life segments were seen as boring and overly slender character designs. Santos unreservedly praised the music's quality and recurring melodies despite calling the opening and ending themes "typical angst-ridden rock numbers". He called the English dub "understated (but not emotionless)", finding that it reinforced the overall atmosphere and only suffered due to the original writing.

Notes

References

External links

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Production I.G website
* * {{Monthly Shōnen Ace 2011 manga Action anime and manga Aniplex Blood: The Last Vampire Fiction about cannibalism Censored television series Dark fantasy anime and manga Experimental medical treatments in fiction Fiction about amnesia Funimation Horror anime and manga Kadokawa Shoten manga Lovecraftian horror Production I.G Shōnen manga Television censorship in China Television censorship in Japan Thriller anime and manga Animated television series about vampires Vampires in anime and manga Yōkai in anime and manga Works banned in China Works by Clamp (manga artists) Mainichi Broadcasting System original programming TBS Television (Japan) original programming