Thought I'd throw my own mini-review in for Blood+ since Ashley and I just finished watching it. Like she said it has almost nothing to do with the Original "Blood: The Last Vampire" except for a few character names. The main character, Saya, is supposed to be the same protagonist from the movie, but has lost her memory and even when she begins to remember has little in common with Saya from the original Blood. So if you are looking for a true to style sequel to Blood: The Last Vampire this series will probably disappoint you.

That being said, I liked Blood+ a lot. It may not be Blood:The Last Vampire but is a very good anime on its own merit. While I would not call this anime "shoujo" it does tend to focus more on character development and emotional conflict than on action (rather unlike Blood:The Last Vampire).

****Minor Spoilers from early episodes****
It follows Saya, who has lost her memory and is living as a normal school girl in Okinawa under the care of a man named George, who adopts orphaned children. In the first few episodes she encounters the monsters known as Chiroptera and several members from an organization known as Red Shield, who fight them. It is revealed to her that her blood is the only thing that can kill these creatures, and Red Shield tries to enlist her aid in this fight.
****end of spoilers****

Anyway, the animation is top-notch for the most part. It is beautiful and fluid with the only drawback being a few episodes near the end where the animation budget seems to have gone down. The quality is pushed back up by the end of the series however, and the dip in quality is not nearly as obvious as some series such as Evangelion or FLCL.

The music is also quite good. I personally did not like the second or third opening, but loved the first, and felt that the background music was well done and enhanced the series.

My one real gripe with the series was the tendancy to suddenly kill off characters. They do kill many major characters. A few times this was done to great dramatic effect, but other times it was clear that they were just tying up loose ends (particularly near the end of the series). Also, without spoiling anything there is one episode in which a child is treated rather unkindly, and in ways which may offend some viewers.

I thoroughly enjoyed this series and would recommend it to anyone in the mood for a "heavy" shoujo or "light" action anime, or just someone looking for the next great thing.

My Rating: 8/10