Can you imagine yourself dying? Well, death is something we're bound to experience at the end of our lives. It's the thing we can't really prevent because it's already bound to happen. However, since most of us wanted to at least lengthen our lives, we do things to ensure we can still live, so last weekend my supposed to be binge-watch Friday was postponed because I need to sleep really early. I have a laboratory test scheduled for Saturday morning, so I really need to have enough sleep. It's the preparation for my monthly check-up for lupus, so I can't really ignore it because, after all, I still want to live (really?).
However, after the laboratory tests, I was again bombarded with a lot of school stuff I needed to do. I thought my torment would end last week, but it turns out it will extend for a while. It's been almost a week without watching a full anime episode, so at Sunday night I got desperate and finally tried watching the episodes of an anime series. I didn't finish all of its episodes that night, but I finished it on Monday morning. So enough with my mini rant, let's dive down to the story of the girl who died.
She met her untimely death when she stumbled upon him. But she wasn't ready to die yet, and he wasn't ready to lose her either. They together will travel all across the peculiar and perilous world of demons because he's sure determined to bring her back to life. Nothing can stop him from doing that, for after all, he's not only a mere dweller of demon world, but also a boss and a vampire—a Blood Lad.
About the Anime
Blood Lad is a seinen anime that premiered in the summer of 2013. This aired from July 8, 2013 to September 9, 2013. This anime series was licensed under VIZ Media and was animated by Brain's Base. Its genres are action, comedy, and fantasy, while its themes are delinquent, mythology, and vampire. All in all, it has 10 episodes and an OVA that's like a continuation to the last episode. This anime series was based on the completed manga written and illustrated by Yuuki Kodama.
Ruling the eastern district of the demon realm, Staz Charlie Blood was quite living the life he wanted. Due to his vampire nature, he is known to other creatures there as a bloodthirsty and ferocious monster that will never give his enemy any mercy. Part of that is quite true, but he's not that merciless and bloodthirsty at all. Contrary to his cold-looking face, he's really an overenthusiastic otaku. He's highly fascinated with anything that's from the human world, and his room is enough evidence to prove that he's really like that. Most of the time he spent his days lazing around—playing games, watching anime, and reading a lot of manga.
However, one day his underling reported something to him, and to his fascination, it's a human. He immediately got excited; however, just when he's feeling a weird feeling towards that human, his territory was attacked by some demon who wanted to take over his territory. Since he was the boss, he was forced to face the challenger. But just as he was descending towards the battleground, one of the carnivorous plants from the challenger slipped inside his room. This carnivorous plant ate the human girl, digesting her wholely, leaving only the bones to be recovered. The girl immediately turned into a ghost, but Staz doesn't want it to end that way.
He wanted her to be alive again, and he's determined to do it even if it means going to human world, doing some ridiculous task, fighting his old friend and new foes, and ultimately facing the person he didn't want to see again. He'll do everything to bring her back, but can he really bring her back? Or will she stick to being a ghost forever? Their ill-fated journey starts as they leave his territory, both of them hoping that they'll find a way to bring her back into her human nature.
This series is another attempt to make a classic tale relatable and enjoyable for otaku's consumption; however, for me it falls short on the execution. The plot and premise were promising because, honestly, I really like anime with a vampire theme in it. I was expecting its plot to have depth because the stories of the vampire I watched mostly had depth in them, but it turns out that it became a shallow, classic tale-inspired anime. Its supposed to be strength, which is the unusual vampire MC whose an otaku became the annoying part of the plot. His otaku side became the repetitive comedy. At first it was fine, but as soon as they used it to liven up its bland dialogues, it became more and more repetitive to the point that it became depressing to watch.
I like comedy, but unfortunately they overused it, and because of those unnecessary gags in some of those supposed to be serious scenes, the plot became somewhat unsteady. I mean, is the MC really serious about getting her back, or was he just doing it for fun? The gags were funny, but they surely killed the drama because they had placed them haphazardly. And also, there's the fan service again! It's been a long time since I watched an anime with a lot of fan service. I'm not really fond of them, so as much as possible while I'm watching this series, I just tried to overlook them. It's just a ten-episode anime, so the fan services there couldn't be the awfully many, right?
Anyway, I don't quite get why it's seinen anime—I mean, is seinen supposed to be marketed to young men? From the excessive fanservice to its comedic gags, this anime literally screams shonen. Unlike the action seinen anime that I've watched before, this one is basically the most unserious one. I somehow expected that it would have bloody fight scenes, but somehow those bloody scenes didn't feel moving or gripping. I think the excessive comedy that it had overshadowed the seriousness of the plot. Also, I thought there would be significant character improvement for the MC, but it turns out the supporting characters have more interesting improvement than what he had achieved at the end. His character was definitely underdeveloped, and I think a nice end would have saved it, but unfortunately it didn't have either, so yeah—that's really a letdown for me.
As for its art style, the first time I saw Staz, I immediately remembered Shinra from Fire Force. They're both black-haired with shark teeth and crimson eyes, so while watching this anime, it made me reminisce the time I enjoyed watching Fire Force. Their art style wasn't that great; however, what attracted me is its lively and comic colors. The animation was also decent and fluid. I somehow didn't expect that the demon realm would be portrayed that way because I thought it would be portrayed in a more grim manner. I thought they would set an eerie mood by using a darker color palette, but to my astonishment, it was portrayed exactly the opposite way. Nevertheless, its art style really fits well with the comedy and fantasy genres it has.
Although it isn't that memorable, its soundtrack was fine. The opening song did well in setting up the mood. Its catchy beat did well in starting the episode in a high mood. On the other hand, its ending song is quite bland for me. I know that most of the anime ending songs are pretty laid-back, and I even liked some of them more than their opening song. However, its ending song didn't appeal to me because it was evident that it's highlighting the romance between MC and his female lead. It kinda doesn't coincide with its genre because it sounds like it's from a shoujo anime. Anyways, the VAs did a good job in portraying their characters, especially the one who voices the MC. He really did well in portraying the MC's arrogant, cold, and even goofy nature.
Overall, my personal rating for this anime 7/10. This anime wasn't really a great one, but it's something that you'll enjoy if you're into comedy. It's something you shouldn't take seriously because most of it seems like a comedic gag despite its seemingly serious premise. Its MC were really unlike—more like a weird take on a vampire character. Although it mostly portrays the scenes in a comedic way, I can't still deny that there are scenes that emanate seriousness (and they're mostly the ones where the MC is not present, lol). It wasn't focused only on bringing the MC's female lead back to life; it also explored the backstory of not only the MC's but also the other supporting characters'. Despite all of its flaws, it's a funny take on what's supposed to be a modern vampire. So if you're up for a peculiar portrayal of the tale of a vampire and human, then you should really try watching Blood Lad.
Before I end this review, I gladly share with you its trailer, so—
Have you seen this anime before? Or is this your first time encountering it? If you're interested, please do share your comments. That's all for now, minna-san! I hoped you enjoyed reading my review.
Arigatou and tanoshinde ne~
The pictures that didn't have source were screenshots from the anime while the last picture was edited in Canva.
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