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REVIEW: Blood Lad BD+DVD


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AnimeFan617
Collector Extraordinaire



Joined: 12 Jan 2008
Posts: 75
PostPosted: Thu Oct 02, 2014 11:21 am Reply with quote
Very well-written review as usual, Mr. Martin. Still enjoyed the series myself and am currently reading the manga after the OVA's end.
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sainta



Joined: 21 Feb 2011
Posts: 989
PostPosted: Thu Oct 02, 2014 11:27 am Reply with quote
Vivid vividly Very Happy
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Knight-Hart



Joined: 27 Mar 2014
Posts: 266
PostPosted: Thu Oct 02, 2014 1:00 pm Reply with quote
The art looks like Dangan Ronpa.
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MaxSouth



Joined: 11 Oct 2008
Posts: 1363
PostPosted: Thu Oct 02, 2014 1:31 pm Reply with quote
AnimeFan617 wrote:
Very well-written review as usual, Mr. Martin. Still enjoyed the series myself and am currently reading the manga after the OVA's end.


Off topic, but at very first I thought it was Mr.Theron since Martin as more usual first name. Kind of cool to have it visa versa.

As to the show, to me it was excellent, though not perfect or as memorable as some outstanding anime out there. The main criteria for me is that my "BS-meter" alarm did not go off twice per episode or anywhere near to that rate, I did not feel insulted by scenarists most of the time at all.
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Key
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Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18456
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Thu Oct 02, 2014 3:10 pm Reply with quote
Would point out that Martin has steadily been one of the 20 most common surnames in the U.S. for many decades. Even outside of my own family I've encountered probably 10x the number of people with it as a last name as I have those with it as a first name.
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Panzer Vor



Joined: 04 Dec 2012
Posts: 648
PostPosted: Thu Oct 02, 2014 5:12 pm Reply with quote
Knight-Hart wrote:
The art looks like Dangan Ronpa.

Incidentally, Staz = Makoto Naegi and Nagito Komaeda, Bell = Hiyoko Saionji, Dek = Kazuichi Soda, Braz = Hajime Hinata, Officer Beros = Ibuki Mioda, Franken = Nekomaru Nidai, Neyn = Akane Owari, Heads = Mondo Owada, Tobi = Teruteru Hanamura, and Akim = Hifumi Yamada. Also, going off the cast list on ANN, Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu has several bit parts, and Monokuma makes an appearance in the OVA.

Moving away from Danganronpa, Sherry Lynn? Now there's a name I haven't heard in ages. I was wondering if she was still in the VA business.
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configspace



Joined: 16 Aug 2008
Posts: 3717
PostPosted: Thu Oct 02, 2014 5:40 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
If anime series largely just serving as advertisements for their source manga is a major point of frustration for you then Blood Lad may not be a series for you. For all of its fun factor and attempts to be stylish, that's all it is for now unless an additional season or two gets animated to round out the existing story threads.

Yeah this is a major frustration for me for way too many shows. Fortunately Yen Press is publishing the ongoing manga here, which entails a different frustration with waiting for the volumes.
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levonr



Joined: 19 Nov 2003
Posts: 820
PostPosted: Thu Oct 02, 2014 7:58 pm Reply with quote
Panzer Vor wrote:
Sherry Lynn? Now there's a name I haven't heard in ages. I was wondering if she was still in the VA business.


Yeah I was surprised and delighted.

Good & fun show but like so many new short shows these days it feels like an appetizer, I want the entree.
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Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4158
PostPosted: Thu Oct 02, 2014 8:34 pm Reply with quote
Going into this show, I knew the premise wouldn't be resolved, it was basic shounen fighting elements and that it was only going to be ten episodes. But even knowing all of that did not prepare me how bad this show actually is.

Just ask yourself, halfway though any of these episodes: "does any of this matter?" The fighting, the grandstanding, the monster versus human versus monster human situation, the family relations between the main character and his two siblings?

Hydra Bell {if the name "Hydra Heads" tells you anything about this story, it's that the author never actually thought anything through...} tries to make a stand, to involve some stakes for one fight but seeing what that included, it wouldn't have happened anyway.
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Cam0



Joined: 13 Dec 2009
Posts: 4927
PostPosted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 3:30 am Reply with quote
Animegomaniac wrote:
Just ask yourself, halfway though any of these episodes: "does any of this matter?" The fighting, the grandstanding, the monster versus human versus monster human situation, the family relations between the main character and his two siblings?


Maybe not, but plot isn't the strength of this anime. This anime requires that you do not look at the big picture and instead just enjoy what you get every episode.
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MarshalBanana



Joined: 31 Aug 2014
Posts: 5511
PostPosted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 4:22 am Reply with quote
That is a lot of Bs
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Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4158
PostPosted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 8:05 am Reply with quote
Cam0 wrote:

Maybe not, but plot isn't the strength of this anime. This anime requires that you do not look at the big picture and instead just enjoy what you get every episode.


So the strengths of this show, whatever they may be, have nothing to do with the premise:

Slacker vampire accidently kills human, hilarity ensues.

That's something you develop, you don't ignore it. It's why I watched it in the first place but this story is like ADHD applied to a writing process; It's not even a matter of throwing every idea against a wall and seeing what sticks as the author doesn't stick with any idea long enough to see what works.

That complaint's not even getting into the show as an adaptation; These are professionals working with a ten episode outline and they didn't care to make anything out of it? They could have made a story out of it rather than "Hey look, a fight! Look, another fight! Look, boobs! These are things you can only find in Blood Lad!!"

Caught between the apathy of the creators to their work and the author's inability to focus, the show can only manage to be a feeble commercial for the manga. That didn't work on me as it made me lose interest in checking it out as it only illustrates how shallow the author is. {An example: Vampires are usually portrayed as being very strong to really strong though vaguely so there's no need for an "unleash your true potential!" aspect to being a vampire because it just raises questions like "How strong was he to begin with?" or "If he's fighting other vampires then couldn't come down to ability?" and the biggest "Why does this remind me of Hellsing, only worse somehow?"}

Vampire wins, the end.

This was my worst show of 2013 for its sheer disappointment and wasted potential and I still stand by it.
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Wrangler



Joined: 11 Nov 2007
Posts: 1346
PostPosted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 11:43 am Reply with quote
Too short of a series. All I'm saying.
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jr240483



Joined: 24 Dec 2005
Posts: 4456
Location: New York City,New York,USA
PostPosted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 12:10 pm Reply with quote
Levon_r wrote:
Panzer Vor wrote:
Sherry Lynn? Now there's a name I haven't heard in ages. I was wondering if she was still in the VA business.


Yeah I was surprised and delighted.

Good & fun show but like so many new short shows these days it feels like an appetizer, I want the entree.


was more surprised than anyone that she was in this series considering that a majority of the old cast from the tenchi muyo ovas have either retired and moved on from voice acting and only came back cause funi put out a crapload of money to dub the ryo-oki ovas. the same can be the same for el hazard VA too.

hopefully she will stick around for a while cause eventually funi will call on her when they eventually license tenchi muyo ai.

configspace wrote:
Quote:
If anime series largely just serving as advertisements for their source manga is a major point of frustration for you then Blood Lad may not be a series for you. For all of its fun factor and attempts to be stylish, that's all it is for now unless an additional season or two gets animated to round out the existing story threads.

Yeah this is a major frustration for me for way too many shows. Fortunately Yen Press is publishing the ongoing manga here, which entails a different frustration with waiting for the volumes.


unfortunately that have been the case for some series ( Soul Eater , Blue Excorist, Vampire Knight , Shijō Saikyō no Deshi Kenichi , Claymore , Deadman Wonderland )where they end just like that even though the manga is still continuing. Luckily AOT wont suffer the same curse if nothing drastic happens.

Hopefully there will be a continuation of some sorts cause the ending was literately screaming for a second season whether its a TV or OVA series, but considering how nitpicky these committees are, the chances for blood lad getting one is slim to none at best.
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MaxSouth



Joined: 11 Oct 2008
Posts: 1363
PostPosted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 5:47 pm Reply with quote
Key wrote:
Would point out that Martin has steadily been one of the 20 most common surnames in the U.S. for many decades. Even outside of my own family I've encountered probably 10x the number of people with it as a last name as I have those with it as a first name.


I meant relative to the first name. I never hear about people called Theron as their first name (not in my experience), Martin is definitely more popular as a first name; however popular it is as a surname is another story). Anyway, I thought it was kind of cool.
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