Anime: Blood Lad

There exists an alternate world full of demons which one can reach through magical portals. A somewhat air-headed human girl named Fuyumi accidentally travels though such a portal and is soon captured by demons. Luckily Staz, the head of the demons, is a carefree vampire who wants to break away from his clan's past and has no intentions of harming Fuyumi. Unfortunately, he's not terribly attentive and Fuyumi is soon gobbled up by a giant flower-monster. Greatly attracted to something unknown about Fuyumi, Staz vows to restore Fuyumi's ghost to her former body, which is now a frowning pile of bones.

Blood Lad is a light-hearted action/comedy with a fair dosage of ecchi. An extremely short and ultimately incomplete work, this is a good watch as a shonen piece. There is not enough depth or complexity to warrant the seinen tag nor is there enough character progress to warrant a romance tag. If you're looking for some bloody quick action (of the fighting/magic sort) by all means give this a try. If not, I'd wait to see if there is a sequel before jumping in. As it is, there are too many unanswered questions for this to be a fulfilling watch.

Animation:
Blood Lad seems to be going for a cool shonen look. The coloring is quite saturated (except for the vampires' pale skin) and lots of characters have rather funky clothing. Backgrounds are rather simplistic and detailing is only average at best. Character styling is definitely unique with a lot of interesting designs and twists on established monster stereotypes, my favorite being Yukiotoko, a snowman who is cold from his own existence. In certain short sequences characters are drawn with different hair colors, a stylistic choice I guess. What kind of irritated me was the fact that the protagonist Staz was drawn with such a lack of emotional range. He is either calm and collected or grinning and collected. While a laid back protagonist is fine, having some emotional range would do a lot to engage the viewers.

There's plenty of action in this show with a range of physical and magical battles. There are quite a few non-traditional attacks that differentiate this from your typical show but nothing that will knock you off your feet either. Expect a fair amount of blood and carnage though, with this being a pretty light-hearted show, nothing is really gruesome in an Elfen Lied sense. There is a fair amount of ecchi in this show ranging from finger licking to bouncing body parts and skimpy clothing.

Sound:
Blood Lad opens with a rock based OP fit for the amount of action in the show. I don't really like the melody and don't particularly care for the singer's voice. The ED is a slightly slower rock piece with a much better singer and melody. The "cool" theme is further reflected in the BGM, which has a percussion-heavy tune with electronic, guitar, and brass-based instruments that gives the series a unique feel.

The VA cast is relatively young and new but does a fair job at bringing some life to the characters. I think Emi Bridcut did a great job as Hydra Bell, who has by far the most depth out of all the characters.

Story:
This is a fairly light-hearted show though there are some pretty late plot twists/revelations. The show has quite a few subplots running alongside the main plotline of trying to revive Fuyumi. Annoyingly, these subplots are developed a lot more than the core goal. In fact, once Staz decides to revive Fuyumi, he seems to be doing everything but that (i.e. getting endlessly sidetracked). Thus, while we learn a lot about Staz's family and the demon realm, we still don't have a good grasp of how Fuyumi can be a human again.

As explained above, expect meandering arcs about various subplots, many of which have their own rising action and climax. While the story progression is fair, there are still way too many unanswered questions at the end of the show. The final conclusion is more of a teaser than a conclusion, which obviously begs for a second season. The caveat is that the events of this show are the type that a viewer soon forgets (think the gap between White Album and White Album Second Season). Thus, I recommend waiting for a second offering for a more complete viewing.

Character:
While the show has a lot of interesting and unique personalities, I felt there was a lack of actual development. Hydra Bell is probably the only character that shows any growth and development through the piece. Staz starts as a lazy but powerful vampire and ends the same. Fuyumi starts as a clueless living girl and ends up as a clueless ghost. Wolfboy starts as an underdog fighter and remains such at the end. While you get fair exposition on important characters, we'll have to wait till the second season for any real development.

Value:
If you walked into this series based on a potentially intriguing relationship between Staz and Fuyumi forget it. Drop this and move on or this show will leave you with an agonizing, unfulfilled feeling. Otherwise, add this to your watchlist and wait for a second season or this show will leave you with an agonizing, incomplete feeling. Blood Lad is a unique but incomplete work; a concept that, due to such a partial execution, really doesn't hold its own.