Strike the Blood

Zach Goodier

Strike the Blood is a show much like what we’ve seen before in the supernatural genre in anime.  Supernatural creatures inhabit a man-made island in the center of the Pacific after revealing their existence to the world.  Akatusuki Kojo is a seemingly normal guy attending high school, except for the fact that he’s a vampire, and the “Fourth Progenitor” none the less (The most powerful vampire in existence).  Fearful of what it might mean to have this dangerously powerful vampire running free, Yukina Himeragi is sent to observe Kojo, and deal with him if necessary.  This supernatural action show jumps right into it with action, magic, and some good old fashioned fan-service for the 13 episodes I’ve seen thus far.

These are the main characters in the first mini-arc, others are introduced as the series progresses.

For starters, Akatusuki is a cool, laid back dude for the most part, he has a sister that he lives with, and they both attend school.  This really helps anchor the feeling that despite all of the magic, vampires, demons, and what-not, the world really hasn’t changed all the much.  The city looks just like any other city at first glance, but on closer look a lot of the city is driven by magic of some kind.  It’s an interesting setting, and it all makes sense for the characters to be there.

Floating city? Sounds like a home just waiting to sink.

Yukina, while fairly well performed and portrayed in the story, serves as the generic fan-service device in the show, with her skirt being blown up in a gust of wind almost right after we meet her.  The rest of the show has a similar feeling, with her school uniform only being shed for either partial nudity or other showy outfits.  This can be a little overdone, at times, but there is still some substance to her character, just not much beyond what you’d expect from a typical show of this genre.  She tends to be overly aggressive towards Kojo whenever he winds up in a suggestive/indecent situation, even if it wasn't his fault.  While this provides some comic relief, the dead horse is beaten just about every episode, so it does get old eventually.

Sights like this are common.  While I don't mind it, it just feels like a one-note song after a while, as fan-service usually does.

A real hook for me was the story surrounding the “Fourth Progenitor.”  This, at first, is a mysterious, ominous-sounding title that hints at some dark power.  The reality, at least thus far, hasn’t been scary in the sense of it feeling dark, but Kojo’s power is very real, he just has no means of controlling it.  The fan-service kicks back into full-swing by requiring Kojo to drink blood from different girls to awaken his powers.  This just reeks of lame-fan-service, but you can roll with it, I guess.  I’m looking forward to seeing more of the story surrounding what happened to Kojo, as it has been hinted that there was a tragic event, but details are still sketchy.

Familiars and magic provide a lot of exciting action, and show off some great animation on the part of the studio.

Other characters include Asagi Aiba, Motoki Yaze, Nagisa Akatsuki, Sayaka Kirasaka, who are more important as the series moves forward, and many of them help Kojo to awaken his familiars, the agents he summons that embody his power.  While there are several magical races, each with different abilities, much of it has been done before, but there are a few interesting surprises to be enjoyed if you stick with it.

Regulus Arm, one of Kojo's familiars.  I just called him the "Energizer Lion" until I remembered his name.

So far, this show is a decent watch.  It hasn’t really broken any new ground, but then again, coming off of Future Diary would make just about anything look mediocre.  However, this is definitely a solid series.  The concept feels a little like Dance in a Vampire Bund, but the characters don’t look or feel pre-adolescent.  In all, I would recommend at least giving this show a shot, the series is well-animated, with a feeling of fast-paced, intense action when fights erupt, and the fan-service can be considered a decent little bonus, even if it somewhat cheapens the experience, in a way.

Good:

-Interesting, mysterious male lead.

-Cool premise, with magic, familiars, and lots of action.

-Bit of mystery to carry the plot forward.

-Sweet music.

Bad:

-Fan-service, as it usually does, cheapens the experience.

-Doesn't really break any new ground in the genre in terms of concept or story.

Scully Rating: 8 out of 10