I guess I used up all of my rage last week, because I wasn't mad at this episode at all. What a way to end a show. So the majority of the episode was ridiculous as usual, revealing that Fumito set all of this up because... I'm really not sure exactly. He talked about getting the power of the Shrovetide, which was the "covenant" the Elder Bairns kept bringing up, but it seemed like he did it more for some social experiment kick, to see if there was a human within the monster, if you will. Well, whatever the reason, Fumito is the one behind everything, from setting up the town and hiring actors to using Saya's blood to control the Elder Bairns and her "father." It turns out that Tadayoshi is actually the only legit vampire in this show (in the sense that he's part human yet drinks human blood). Ignoring the monster fights for a moment, Saya's fight against her "father" is actually the only thing that got close to a final showdown in this episode, since Fumito takes off before she can do any damage to him. Everyone else in the "cast" is killed off with the exception of Yuuka, the town gets destroyed by monsters, Saya gets shot, and then the show ends with her heading towards the city after gaining a Big Boss eyepatch. That's right; this entire thing was a setup for the movie, so there isn't a conclusion. And yet I can't hate this episode, even with the unintentional hilarity (most of which I make fun of below in the Bonus Screencaps section). Two scenes actually managed to tug at my heartstrings a little, and both of them were character deaths. The first one was with Saya's "father," who admits to genuinely caring about her because they were so similar. This was probably the only point in the show where not developing a character actually worked in its favor; up until this point, I just assumed that he was in on the conspiracy with Fumito, and it never crossed my mind that he was being manipulated. This scene also has the most emotion that we get from the "real" Saya, since I think that we can safely assume that she's been alone for a long time. The other scene was with Itsuki, although that had more to do with the fact that he admits to genuinely liking her. Otherwise, the scene was more than a little ridiculous, since he was shot about fifteen times and was still talking. As for the general gore and monster fights this episode, I was cringing most of the time, which was a change from previous episodes where I found it hard to take seriously since everything was so over the top. Even though I didn't exactly feel bad for most of the "main cast" that died, it was still hard to watch, even with the censors. Basically, even with the ridiculousness, this episode managed to get some things right, and as a lead-in to the movie, it worked really well. Too bad the majority of the series is so bad that it hardly makes it worth getting to this point. Bonus Screenshots Monster: "It's okay, I'll just hang out back here until your conversation is over." /obligatory link "We have to save killing me for the movie! :D" QUALITY. It's not a CLAMP series until someone loses an eye. NO WAY Blood-C Censor Corner Final Edition Final Thoughts: Those of you who have been following my posts know that I've given this show more than one chance to redeem itself, and probably more chances than it really deserved. I really wanted it to succeed and prove the haters wrong. I was one of the people who, after the first episode, said to give it more of a chance, since it looked like it could become something more. In the end, it looks like that "something more" is going to be in the movie, since the entire show is just a setup for what I assume will be the movie premise of tracking down and killing Fumito. A common complaint is that twelve episodes is too short; here, twelve episodes is far too much. The majority of the "suspense" buildup could've been cut without sacrificing the story, what little of it there is. And of course, CLAMP is all over this, pulling it into their crazy crossover universe with Wakainu and the old eye-loss standby. Yet despite how mad and frustrated this series made me, despite the bad writing, horribly developed characters and even worse pacing, I'm far more interested in the movie now than I was a week ago, when I wanted nothing more to do with this mess. I really think that this series would've worked better as a pair of movies rather than a TV show and then a movie, since the general two to three hour format of a movie would've cut down on the meaningless bits that made this a frustrating show to watch. I can't help but wonder what this show would've been like if we had started where this episode ends, and how much suspense would've been built up around Saya's reasons for following Fumito. But that's beyond the point. This is a severely flawed series, and not one that I'd recommend to anyone but gore-fiends, but the last episode surprisingly left an impact on me. If you decide to check it out just to see what all the hype and rage is about, you've been warned. I don't blame you if you turn back, but perhaps you'll also find something in it that keeps you watching. Images from NicoNico.com.
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