The story is now treading really dangerous territory. I don’t really know how high the death count climbed in this single episode, as the more important fact is that two recurring characters bit the dust. Are Nene and Nono done for the entire series? Somehow, I really doubt that. Why? Doggie’s telling Saya to wake up.
Oh dear. So have we been watching “just a dream?” It was one thing when we thought Saya merely existed in a simulation a la The Truman Show. Even if a simulation is fake, there are still consequences in such a world. Saya’s just far too useless for a simulation though. It’s not that she can’t kill the monsters and some magical shounen has to swoop in and save the day. Thank god we don’t have that… yet. Instead, however, it’s almost as if Saya is allowing people to die.
Take Nene’s death, for instance. Saya grabs Nene and leads the frightened girl to where her sword is stored. Saya doesn’t tell her friend to hide somewhere; she just allows Nene to stand in the doorway. In the meantime, Saya grabs her sword and lollygags — this is no time to talk to your sword! But she does and Nene gets her head bitten right off.
I guess you could argue that Nene was meant to die and her death was a little contrived as a result. People dying due to Saya’s uselessness, however, happens throughout the series. So many innocent bystanders die only because Saya gawks at the situation until the plot designates her to take action. These deaths must not be important, then. It would be one thing if Saya tried and still failed. We could understand her anguish and impotency.
Saya doesn’t try, however. So the subtext here is that these victims are merely cannon fodder, which includes Nene and Nono. Not only that, Saya now has to “wake up.” Did we just watch six episodes of dream-time where nothing really mattered? Not only was a good two-thirds of the episodes dull and boring — I don’t care if the banality was purposeful because these episodes were still a chore to watch –, they’re also going to be meaningless? What was the point of that?
Saya strikes a pose as random people die.
This story isn’t shaping up to be like Inception where the dreamworlds the characters find themselves in are just as “real” as the real world. After all, death in the dreamworld still meant death in real life. People just die willy-nilly in Blood-C, however, so there’s a sense that Saya’s entire world has no value. So nothing she does here is of any consequence. In that case, why are we even watching, then?
“It really happened.”
Saya says or thinks this right after she wakes up the day following her battle with the Tonka centipede thingamajig. So some scratches on her knees confirms that it wasn’t a dream? I’m more concerned by the fact that she fainted in her shrine maiden clothing and woke up in pajamas. Not only that, whoever dressed her didn’t even bother to button her shirt up fully, showing off Saya’s ample cleavage.
Everything else
• The animation is great as usual. The monsters disappoint as usual. I complained about the toy-looking centipede last time I blogged about Blood-C. The shadow monster isn’t goofy looking, but a black blob? C’mon, isn’t that a bit of a cop-out?
• Oh, this will inspire some unsavory fanwork:
• Unlike some of my griping peers, I guess I don’t mind the censoring too much here. We get the gist of it — people die and they die gruesomely. In some anime, the censoring gets to the point where you can’t even understand what’s happening on screen.
You’re not really losing anything narrative-wise in Blood-C, however. I already know that girl is being impaled in the screenshot above. I don’t really need to see the gory details. So, y’know, the censorship doesn’t bother me in this particular case. Sometimes, the censorship is just pointless, however:
The guy’s death isn’t censored until he’s nearly swallowed up. Why even bother, then?
Moe Sucks 
I don’t think that everything is a dream, I think that Saya had her memories wiped out by her “father” and/or Fumito. The father has some kind of hypnotic power, while Fumito’s coffee is probably drugged. That’s why the doggie is telling her to “wake up”.
The problem with everything being real is that Saya sucks and can’t save anyone. The problem with everything being a dream is, well, everything’s a dream.
The subs aren’t accurate. 気づくmeans to notice, not to wake up.
Shrug. If her world’s real, then Saya’s the worst heroine in recent memory.
For the Blood franchise she’s an improvement, at least. Blood+ Saya had to constantly be saved by some guy who fights with a cello case. Still not good, but… better.
Blood-C’s story kinda sucks , although I always watch the last 6 minutes of each episode for cool actions and nothing else.
Yeah, it has the best action scenes at the moment. Of course, it doesn’t exactly have stiff competition (coughsacredshitcough).
If it’s really a dream… well, that feels like quite the copout. Maybe it’d have some importance later on, but it still feels unnecessary.
I just don’t see the obsession with lens flare censorship this season. A less eye catching way to do so would be lovely.
In the past, they would have just covered it with black splotches. I dunno, I don’t see much qualitative difference.
Eh I think everyone dies around Saya because they have the survival instincts of deer caught in headlights. I mean yeah she’s sort of incompetent but mostly when she tells them to run they either:
A. stand there
B. Run 20 feet away and cower
To quote Kabitzin:
When Nene’s screaming “LET ME GO!” and I’m just smacking my head. I mean it’s one thing to panic but she doesn’t give a shit whether Saya is eaten in that moment. I just don’t find that realistic with the character Nene we “know” so far.
If we want to go with the Truman show relation maybe Nene breaks character in that moment. It’s the moment Truman’s buddy looks at the camera and is like “He’s gone.”
If a shadow thing was going around impaling people, I think most of us would act like a deer in headlights. On the other hand, Saya’s supposed to be a veteran warrior. She also claims she’ll protect people… or something. Anyway, long story short, she sucks.
its not that bad i just hope they hurry up and finish the season