It’s almost hard to believe this series has been going on for nearly a year now. It will take some time to get used to not watching an episode of “Blood+” every week. There weren’t a whole lot of surprises packed into the finale. Of course there were a couple of exceptions; one of them being Amshel’s sudden appearance to try and take out Saya and Hagi. Also, Nathan showing up as a reporter in the epilogue didn’t make much sense to me either. Speaking of the epilogue, I’m glad they devoted so much time to it. We got to see how most of the characters were doing back in Okinawa. Normally I would have been kind of disappointed to see Saya’s hair trimmed to her original style. In this case however, I thought it was a good choice because of the meaning that comes with it. Under the circumstances, this was probably the happiest ending they could have pulled off. Making use of the first ending song for this episode was a nice touch. It was really fitting for the finale. The final minute or so was extremely well done in my opinion. It’s just too bad the series is over. お休みなさい、小夜

Being a Production I.G. project, my standards for this series had been high from the beginning. Having to maintain an above average quality for 50 episodes is no easy task. Luckily my faith in Production I.G. was not misplaced. “Blood+” has been a great series from start to finish. Over the course of 50 episodes we were able to witness a lot of character development for the main characters, a quality that I find to be important for any series. The art may not have been at the level of some of Production I.G.’s projects like “Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex”, but I felt it was stil very well done the series’ length. Music was never one of the series’ strong points. There are some memorable tracks, but not as many as I would have hoped. Overall though, “Blood+” has been profoundly entertaining. I definately think most people should give this series a chance since there’s something worthwhile in it for nearly everyone.

I had set really high expectations for many aspects of this episode and it easily surpassed them all. The only issue I had with this episode was how easily Amshel was defeated by Hagi. As cool as their fight looked, Amshel seemed too weak for how strong he had been portrayed ever since we learned about his identity. That may also apply to Diva, but I personally felt there was a logical explanation for her stalemate with Saya. The reasoning also explains why Saya was fine after being impaled by Diva. I could have completely interpreted the whole thing incorrectly if they do come up with another reason in the final episode. Nathan was a unique character from the first moment he was introduced in the series. I thought it was quite interesting to see him not engage in any form of combat in the entire series. He followed his own desires from beginning to end. The episode ends at a really good moment that makes us want to watch more. The latest ending song really does seem to give a lot away, including the fate of Diva’s two daughters. Even though it won’t exactly be surprising to see Saya spare their lives, I’m still extremely anxious to watch the finale.

Pretty much all Hell broke loose in this episode. The Red Shield weren’t able to stop the live broadcast of Diva’s performance. We get to briefly see the unfortunate consequence of them not being able to stop her. For the second to last episode I was actually expecting a little more excitement. It was by no means a bad episode; I enjoyed watching it. It’s just that I was hoping for more content considering how late in the series we are. This means that they will need to defeat Amshel and Nathan in two episodes. Of course, Nathan may not end up dead by the end of the series since he seems to be the most mysterious of the bunch. All I can say is the next two episodes should be good.

Things are slowly heading towards the climax of the entire series. Saya is running out of time since her deep sleep period is almost here. If she doesn’t kill Diva this time then it will be too late to save the world. I thought the scene where Solomon officially became Saya’s chevalier was cool, but it was sort of ruined by the fact that he ended up dying at the end of the episode. At least this time James is gone for good as well. I do wonder how Saya and the others will even take on Diva, let alone Nathan and Amshel. It was only due to luck that they were able to beat James. Unless Hagi has something left up his sleeve things look pretty bleak. Saya appears far too weak compared to Diva. With only three episodes left I have no clue how Saya and her allies could win with the way they are currently. Since this is a Production I.G. project I have faith that they will be able to pull off something good.

The Red Shield finally figured out Diva’s, or rather Amshel’s plan. Many of the questions we still had were answered in this episode. We see that Diva has already given birth to her two children. If the latest ending song is of any indication, we may have an idea of what the finale will be like. Solomon attempted to take Diva’s head, but of course he was no match for her. It’s obvious that she won’t be taken down quite so easiliy. We also get to hear from Saya just what she asked Hagi to promise her when everything is all over. It shouldn’t surprise anyone what the promise was since it was really the only foreseeable option considering the circumstances. Nevertheless I really liked that scene. I felt the dialogue for that scene was well written. I am pretty confident that I won’t be disappointed with the remaining episodes.

The episodes lately have been pretty exciting. I was hoping this episode would carry on with that trend, but unfortunately it didn’t. Although I thought it still had its moments, it just wasn’t on the same level as the previous few episodes. It was pretty evident that Carmen was going to die soon, but I never expected Moses to die the way he did. I don’t think it really makes any sense when you take a look at their situation from the beginning. The other thing that kind of bugged me in this episode was the way nearby buildings were drawn. You couldn’t see any sort of depth when you could clearly see windows and whatnot on the buildings. I expected more from Production I.G. to say the least. Hopefully the next episode will make up for the problems in this one.

Although it was only a short scene, we get to see when Carl received Diva’s blood. I think Diva looked better back then than any other time we’ve seen her. It’s hard to imagine she went from her old appearance to a questionable Riku look-a-like. We learn from Amshel that Carl was never anything more than an experiment. I can’t say I feel sorry for Carl because of how crazy he seemed. I don’t think he has ever appeared to be sane for more than a minute. The remaining Sifu showed up to help out of nowhere. I guess they’re covertly following Saya around since they have the same goal. Without a doubt, the coolest part of this episode was when Saya finished off Carl by stabbing him along with herself. The scene pretty much builds up to allow you to expect something like that, but it still looked awesome regardless.

Lewis brought up an interesting question when he wondered what the motive was behind Diva’s opera. I can’t say that I am absolutely sure there is an agenda behind her singing career. Since Diva does whatever she wants, her Chevaliers may just simply be fulfilling her wishes. I didn’t think Julia would react so calmly when she noticed David, or rather David E. Hamilton, was in the lab. Julia gave us some information that finally answers why Riku had been able to hear the song from the very beginning. Even with this new information many of the questions related to it remain unanswered. This is the first time we get to see James in combat. He is definately much stronger than Carl. Nathan was able to stop James without much convincing, so I can only assume James may actually fear him. Saya is going to have to become much stronger than she is right now if she can’t even fight evenly against James.

So it turns out I was mistaken on a few things. I thought Diva just ended up with a horrible hair cut, but apparently she took Riku’s face as well. Diva’s motive turned out to be something different as well. The events from two episodes ago made me think Diva wanted a child. At least now we know how Diva can change her appearance. Thanks to the Sifu we find out the identity of the newly created soldiers. Joel is thinking of reestablishing the Red Shield. As nice as that sounds I really don’t know how much help they will be after everything we’ve seen thus far. The remaining three Sifu infiltrated the museum towards the end of the episode. It was pretty evident that Saya was going to end up helping them, but I still thought it was a cool scene nevertheless.

Saya and Hagi have returned once again. As soon as she spoke her first line of dialogue we can tell that she has changed. The atmosphere around her is definately darker. She shows no joy in seeing Kai again. Something must have happened in the one year she has been missing. Besides a seemingly different personality, her sense of style has changed too. Personally, I think she looks more awesome now. Her new hair style and outfit suit her really well. On the other hand, we see Diva that has cut her hair short and completely butchered her look. Diva really has become a diva now though. With her personality I should have seen something like this coming. Hopefully we’ll see Diva wear something that doesn’t make her look so ridiculous in the next episode.