Blood+ - 9/10 - Well, after 2 years my long Odyssey of trying to get through this 50-episode show finally concludes, thanks to being able to multitask watching this while playing Resonance of Fate. To this day, I still can't fathom Sony's decision to release this show in 2 $80+ sets with a 2-year window between releases. Anyway, overall I really liked this show, and it's probably the only anime I've seen since Fullmetal Alchemist (with the exception of the recent Evangelion 1.11) that really reminded me of the kind of shows that got me into anime in the first place (Cowboy Bebop, Escaflowne, Robotech, Gundam 8th MS Team, etc.). It's certainly the only Production I.G. show I can stand so far. Blood+ is also one of the very few series I've seen where I feel the 50-episode length was justified without having to rely on fanservice and padding, instead focusing squarely on good character development and a plot that surprised me at times with the directions it would go. I really only have two big complaints: first, there's a pointless and irritating plot development that comes out of nowhere in the final 8 or so episodes that not only severely detracts from what was otherwise a very character-driven plot, but insults me as an American (seriously, the Japanese need to get over WWII). The other complaint is that although I like Sony's English dub, it suffers from very obvious budget problems: Simply put, this is a massive story with a suitably-massive number of characters, but the dub cast by comparison is very small. This means that you frequently have minor and less-major characters doubling up with the same actors, leading to scenes where it's quite common for an actor to be talking to himself...talking to himself...talking to himself in barely differentiated voices (Crispin Freeman is a repeat offender here with one of the most hilariously-bad French accents I've ever heard).
On minor complaints, there's also a plot arc with a minor character that spends a great deal of time going exactly nowhere, with 2 characters basically shadowing the main group for well over half the series. The show's also extremely heavy on the jargon, so if you aren't paying attention it can be easy to get lost. Finally, the first half of the show seems to be where this show makes or breaks it with people: if you're expecting an action show like the original Blood: the Last Vampire (a movie I despise), look somewhere else. There is action, but it's mostly a lot of talking and character development (though nowhere near the levels of endless vocal white noise you get in something like Ghost in the Shell).
On a sidenote, Marc Manchina's orchestral core for this series is fantastic and fits the animation perfectly.
Topic: Rate the last TV show you've seen (Read 1192895 times)
