Blood - The last vampire

Subject: Blood - The last vampire 2010-02-20, 02:36

Blood+GenreDirectorStudioLicensorNetworkEnglish networkOriginal runEpisodesAuthorPublisherEnglish publisherDemographicMagazineOriginal runVolumesAuthorPublisherEnglish publisherDemographicMagazineOriginal runVolumesAuthorPublisherEnglish publisherDemographicMagazineOriginal runVolumesAuthorIllustratorPublisherEnglish publisherDemographicImprintOriginal runVolumesAuthorIllustratorPublisherEnglish publisherDemographicImprintOriginal runVolumes[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Released[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Released[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Released

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First DVD volume of Blood+, released in Japan on December 21, 2005 by Aniplex

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TV anime

Junichi Fujisaku

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

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[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

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[[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]]Other networks:

October 8, 2005 – September 23, 2006

50 ([You must be registered and logged in to see this link.])

Manga

Asuka Katsura

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[[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]]Other publishers:

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December 26, 2005 – April 26, 2007

5 ([You must be registered and logged in to see this link.])

Manga

Blood+ Adagio

Kumiko Suekane

Kadokawa Shoten

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Beans Ace Magazine

April 26, 2006 – December 26, 2006

2 ([You must be registered and logged in to see this link.])

Manga

Blood+ Yakōjōshi

Hirotaka Kisaragi

Kadokawa Shoten

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Ciel

April 26, 2006 – ongoing

1 ([You must be registered and logged in to see this link.])

Light novel

Ryo Ikehata

Chizu Hashii

Kadokawa Shoten

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Male

Sneaker Bunko

May 1, 2006 – ongoing

4 ([You must be registered and logged in to see this link.])

Light novel

Blood+ Russian Rose

Chougatsu Karino

Takagi Ryou

Kadokawa Shoten

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Female

Beans Bunko

May 1, 2006 – September 1, 2006

List of Blood+ light novels ([You must be registered and logged in to see this link.])

Game

Blood+: Sōyoku no Battle Rondo

Sony Entertainment

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July 27, 2006

Game

Blood+: One Night Kiss

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

August 30, 2006

Game

Blood+: Final Piece

SCEI

Sony Entertainment

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September 7, 2006

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Blood+, pronounced as "Blood Plus", is an anime series produced by [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and directed by [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. The series premiered in Japan on Sony's anime [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] channel, [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], as well as on [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] networks such as [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] on October 8, 2005. The final episode aired on September 23, 2006. Blood+ is licensed for international distribution in several regions through Sony Picture's international arm, [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] (SPTI).
Blood+ was inspired by the 2000 anime film [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.];
however, there are only a few allusions and basic elements from the
film. Fujisaku has been involved with both works, including acting as
the director for Blood+ and writing the novelization of Blood: The Last Vampire.
Plot

Under the care of her adoptive family, Saya Otonashi has been living the life of an [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.],
but otherwise ordinary schoolgirl. Saya’s happy life is shattered when
she is attacked by a chiropteran, learning that she is the only one who
can defeat them.
Armed with her [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.],
Saya embarks on a journey with her family, allies, and her chevalier,
Hagi, to rid the world of chiropteran and rediscover her identity. The
course of the journey reveals the background history of the
chiropterans and Saya's very deep past, which extends into the mid-19th
century.
The series is initially set in present day (September 2005) [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] (Koza), on [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Island, near the US [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. In the course of the series, Saya visits locations across the world, fighting enemy chiropteran and searching for her origins.
Plot

Under the care of her adoptive family, Saya Otonashi has been living the life of an [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.],
but otherwise ordinary schoolgirl. Saya’s happy life is shattered when
she is attacked by a chiropteran, learning that she is the only one who
can defeat them.
Armed with her [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.],
Saya embarks on a journey with her family, allies, and her chevalier,
Hagi, to rid the world of chiropteran and rediscover her identity. The
course of the journey reveals the background history of the
chiropterans and Saya's very deep past, which extends into the mid-19th
century.
The series is initially set in present day (September 2005) [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] (Koza), on [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Island, near the US [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. In the course of the series, Saya visits locations across the world, fighting enemy chiropteran and searching for her origins.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Artificial chiropterans

The most basic form of chiropteran are created from the straight
infusion of Delta 67 into a human host. The human host quickly loses
their human intelligence and memories, transforming into a creature
resembling a horse-headed gorilla with fangs. Phase 1 chiropteran live
and act purely on instinct, hunting and killing humans, and sometimes
animals, for their blood.
Through the research efforts of Dr. Boris and Amshel, higher level,
artificial chiropteran were created from the Delta 67. These are
collectively called [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].
Unlike Phase 1 chiropteran, the Schiff have human level intelligence
and emotions, though somewhat stunted by having lived most of their
lives caged. They are aggressive due to their training and subjection
to experiments. Exposed to other ways of living after escaping the lab,
they learn to adapt.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}
The Schiff are unique among the chiropteran as they die when exposed to
direct sunlight. They also suffer from a condition called Thorn, which
slowly crystallizes their blood and kills them.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}
Diva's group uses the genetic template of Moses, the leader of the
Schiff, to create an improved and obedient version of the Schiff called
the Corpse Corps. Like the Schiff, the Corpse Corps are capable
fighters with bladed weapons. They are marketed to various national
military organizations as "chiropteran exterminators", despite being
chiropteran themselves.
Chevaliers

Chevaliers are the second highest level of chiropterans in terms of
strength and ability. They are created when a human drinks the blood of
a queen. A powerful bond exists between each chevalier and the Queen
that sired them, compelling the chevaliers to serve and protect her at
all costs.
Chevaliers have even greater speed, strength and endurance than
regular chiropterans. Though they retain the appearance in body form
and age that they had when they were transformed, chevaliers have vast
shape-shifting abilities. They can transform into unique forms
resembling regular chiropterans, either entirely or limited to specific
body parts, and can transform into the humans they have fed upon. They
heal instantly from almost any non-lethal wound, though severe wounds
will temporarily cause an increase in their need for blood. As with
regular chiropterans, chevaliers can be killed with the blood of the
opposite queen; however, the crystallization takes longer and it is
possible to prevent death by removing the crystallizing body parts. A
chevalier can also be killed by beheading or burning their whole body.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}
Queens

Queens, also called the originals, are the first chiropterans. In
any given generation, there are always two Queens, who are female [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] born from one of the last Queens, and they are naturally antagonistic with one another. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
are the current Queens of their species. They were discovered by Joel
Goldschmidt in the 19th century inside a mysterious creature found in
Iceland known as SAYA. In his experiment, he raised Saya like a
daughter, but kept Diva locked away in a tower with virtually no human
contact, or even a name.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}
All other chiropterans are born of the blood of Queens, either
through the queen's own efforts or human experimentation. Unlike all
other chiropterans, Queens appear to retain a human appearance at all
times, though they can change their human appearances somewhat. Their
blood can also crystallize and destroy any chiropteran of any level
that was created by their sister queen.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}
Queens spend only a few years awake at any given time, between decades of [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
within a cocoon. Queens have enhanced speed, strength, and endurance
that surpasses those of their chevaliers and other chiropterans. They
may also have some shape-shifting abilities, though during the series
their abilities seem to be limited to modifying to their outward human
appearance. The strength of a queen's traits are dependent on their
feeding regularly on human blood. As such, Diva, who freely feeds on
humans, can also freely use all of her abilities, while Saya, who
avoids feeding, is usually only slightly above human level strength.
When a Queen becomes pregnant with the next generation of Queens,
her blood will lose its dangerous qualities. A queen can only be
impregnated by a chevalier created by her sister queen, ensuring the
purity of the species.
Production

Produced by [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and directed by [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], Blood+ was inspired by the 2000 anime film [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]; however, there are only a few allusions and basic elements from the film.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]} Fujisaku has been involved with both works, including acting as the director for Blood+ and writing the novelization of Blood: The Last Vampire.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}
Anime

See also: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

The Blood+ anime series premiered in Japan on October 8, 2005 on [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]/[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] with a new episode airing weekly until the final episode aired September 23, 2006^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}, totaling 50 episodes. The series is directed by [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
and features original character designs by Chizu Hashii. Each season
has separate opening and ending themes from a variety of artists, with
the final episode using the season one ending theme. The series
simultaneously aired on [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], Sony's Japanese anime [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] channel, with its [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] in [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] also later airing the series.
Through Sony's international division, Blood+ was licensed for distribution in multiple regions.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]} The English [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] of the series, aired in the United States on [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]'s [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] programming block,^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]} premiering March 11, 2007 and running till March 23, 2008.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]} The English dub also aired in Australia on the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and in the Philippines on [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}
The first [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
DVDs were released in North America on March 4, 2008, with a
simultaneous release of a single five episode volume and a twenty-five
episode box set.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}
Soundtracks

Except for the opening and ending themes, the entire musical score for Blood+ was the work of noted film score producer [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and noted composer [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]} Blood+
was the first anime project Mancina worked on, and afterwards he stated
that working on the project turned him into an anime fan.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]} All of the opening and ending themes were created at Sony Music for the project, after the production team, headed by [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], presenting the project concept and Blood+ worldview. The opening and ending themes are performed by a variety of artists, including [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].
In an interview with Production I.G staff, Omatsu noted that he felt
Sony did an excellent job of providing music fitting for each season,
as did the team of Zimmer and Mancina.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}
Four [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] soundtracks, all produced by Hans Zimmer, have been released in Japan by [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] through their [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] label. Hagi Plays J.S. Bach (ハジプレイズ J.S BACH^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}) was released on February 2, 2006. It contains six tracks comprised of selections from [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]'s [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and performed by Nobuo Furukawa (古川展生, Furukawa Nobuo^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}), who is the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] behind Hagi's playing in the series. The seventh, and final track, is a bonus remix of the music performed by Yoshihiro Hanno (半野喜弘, Hanno Yoshihiro^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}).
The soundtrack included a DVD with a special episode telling some of
Hagi's backstory and a music video with Furukawa playing the first
track, "[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]" (プレリュード^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}).^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}
The first full soundtrack, Blood+ Original Soundtrack 1, was
released on April 26, 2006. It contains fifteen instrumental tracks of
background music used during the series. The only vocal song on the CD
is the song "Diva", sung by Elin Carlson, which is the non-verbal song
the character Diva sang in several episodes of the series.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}
On September 27, 2006, Blood+ Original Soundtrack 2 was
released with an additional eighteen tracks of instrumental themes from
the series, including the background used during Saya and Diva's epic
final battle.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}
Blood+ Complete Best, released October 25, 2006, is a limited
edition compilation set containing a CD, a DVD, and an eighty-page
booklet that includes a full episode guide and some final notes from
the series production staff. The CD include the full versions of all
eight series' opening and ending theme songs, as well as last two
instrumental tracks from the first soundtrack. The DVD contains music
videos for each of the theme songs from the CD.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}
Novels

Main article: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

There are two Japanese [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] adaptations of the Blood+ series. Blood+,
written by Ryō Ikehata with illustrations by Chizu Hashii, is the four
volume official novel adaptation of the anime series, expanding upon
the events of the fifty-episode anime series and giving greater
background on the battle against chiropterans.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]} The first volume was released in Japan on May 1, 2006 by [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] under their male oriented Sneaker Bunko label. The remaining volumes released every four months until the final volume was released on May 1, 2007.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}
The second adaptation, Blood+ Russian Rose, is a two-volume series written by Karino Minazuki and illustrated by Ryō Takagi. It was released at the same time as Blood+,
with the first volume was released on May 1, 2006 and the second on
September 1, 2006. The series, published under Kadokawa's female
oriented label Beans Bunko, details Saya and Hagi's lives at the start of the 20th century and the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}
Both novel series have been licensed for release in English in North America by [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. Dark Horse released the first translated Blood+ novel on March 19, 2008.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}
Manga

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To lead up to the Blood+ anime series, three Blood+ manga series were released and published in three different manga magazines. The [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] volumes of all three series were published by [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]} Blood+, by Asuka Katsura, is a five-volume series that first premiered in [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] in July 2005. It covers the same story events as the anime series. Blood+: Adagio was written by Kumiko Suekane. It is a two-volume series that premiered in the September 2005 issue of Beans Ace Magazine and follows Saya and Hagi's experiences during the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. The third series, Blood+: Kowloon Nights, released in Japan as Blood+ Yakōjōshi, is a single tankōbon series by Hirotaka Kisaragi. It premiered in the September issue of Asuka Ciel.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]} Set in Shanghai, it follows Hagi as he searches for Saya and the complications he must deal with. Unlike the other Blood+ manga adaptations, which are both [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] works, Blood+ Yakō Jōshi is a [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] manga, particularly of the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] (or Boy's Love) genre. All three manga adaptations have been licensed for release in English in North America by [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}
Video games

Two [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] video games have been created that are based on the Blood+ series. Both games are currently only available in Japan and have not been licensed for release in any other countries.
Blood+: One Night Kiss, from [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], is an [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] that was originally released on August 30, 2006.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]} Featuring cel-shaded graphics in the same style as [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], the game is directed by the CEO of Grasshopper, [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}
Set in the fictional town of Shikishi, players spend most of the game
playing as Saya, occasionally switching to Aoyama, an original
character created for the game.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}
Blood+: Sōyoku no Battle Rondo (BLOOD+ 〜双翼のバトル輪舞曲(ロンド)〜^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}), from Sony Entertainment, is an [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] released July 27, 2006.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}
Set during the year between episodes 32 and 33, after Riku's death, the
game alternates between an "Active Demo" section where the player can
make decisions that change the story line, and full action sequences
where the player, as Saya, fights with her sword to collect chiropteran
crystals.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}
In addition to the two PS2 games, Sony Entertainment released the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] game Blood+: Final Piece (BLOOD+ 〜ファイナルピース〜^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}) on September 7, 2006. It is an [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] that utilizes animated sequences from the series as well as new footage created specifically for the game.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}
The game is set during the first season of the series, and features an
original story in which Saya, joined by three friends from school,
investigates the mystery of her father's disappearance.
Fan book

In September 2006, [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] released BLOOD + Encyclopedia,
a special issue fan book that includes interviews with the staff and
cast, an episode guide, and information on the related media — the
manga, novels, video games.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}