After the opening, we see Saya taking on a creature that looks like one of the chiropteran (spelling) from the previous Blood entries. She appears to be holding her own and certainly didn't get her ass handed to her like she did in episode one. This can mean one of two things. Saya has either gotten stronger or there are creatures out there more powerful than the chiropteran. It could be a combination thereof. In any case the beginning of the episode is good until a certain voice comes in 15 seconds into the thing. The same narrator in the first episode going on and on about blood. Except this time he's going on about how humans understand each other. I've never been so annoyed by a "dark narrator" since that guy in Kamen Rider OOO. You know, the CEO who makes speeches about human greed and what it does. Anyway once the narrator gives his two cents Saya D-Mobs the monster she was fighting and the episode begins proper.
In the next scene Saya is leaving her home and she sings a song about her dad. Fuumito, the cafe owner who lives down the road from her house invites her in for complimentary breakfast as he does every morning. The two talk and we learn that Saya really loves her daddy. Not in an incestuous way like you see in a lot of anime, but she really is daddy's little girl who loves her father more than anything. Seeing this sort of relationship without any baggage is like a breath of fresh air. This type of thing is going to make it especially painful when her dad gets killed because really, we've all seen anime before and we all know it's going to happen.
Saya sees that weird ass dog from episode one and tries to pet it. This action takes about 30 seconds and eventually the creature gets tired, thinks "She isn't going to pet me if she's this hesitant so I'm leaving." Not to bash Blood-C because I can't get enough of this anime (I love you Saya!!!) but it seems to me the cat-dog was giving me a hint. You know it's never a good sign when one of the characters leave an episode of anime. This shit is going to be boring.
So Saya is late to class because she was distracted by the cat-dog. We're formally introduced to class representative Itsuki Tomofusa who has a big crush on Saya. Only issue is she's too dizzy to see it. Teacher walks in, followed shortly by Tokizane the mysterious loner student. The episode was actually going quite well at this point but something occurred to me. When Saya was having lunch with her classmates I had to face an impasse. I saw the twins, the love interest, the tough best friend, and then the dark loner and I asked myself..., "What the hell is this?" Is CLAMP recycling character types?
You might be wondering what the hell is he, ZERO PHOENIX talking about. I've been rolling with CLAMP for 15 years so it's only natural that if the character types are repeating themselves then I would see it. Saya is Sakura (Cardcaptor Sakura version), Fuumito the cafe owner is another character from Cardcaptor Sakura, an older male whom Sakura had a crush on. It seems to me that Saya has a small crush on Fuumito. The dark loner guy is Lee Syaroan (Cardcaptor Sakura version), and the twins in
Saya's class are like the twins in xxxHolic only without the freaky hairstyles.
Now you might ask, what's the big deal? Well one of the things I like about CLAMP's worlds is that most of them are connected. Many of CLAMP's titles take place in the same universe, not only that but hitsuzen plays a major role in CLAMP's creations so it's no unusual for characters or incarnations of characters to crossover and overlap. It's actually damn great. Issue here however is that Blood is not a CLAMP creation. Along those lines Blood-C is a "collaboration." CLAMP cannot, with respect to earlier creations, cannot immigrate Blood into their universe of crossovers. And if they are just reusing character types then, well, I think it's time to switch things up.
Class rep., Itsuki drops another hint that he likes Saya at lunch time, Saya's pals also drop hints, Saya remains unaware and instead runs over to the dark loner Tokizane. Saya offers Tokizane lunch, he refuses (because he's the cliche badass loner), she persists, he asks her why is she so persistent and Saya delivers the line that stopped the whole episode. "Being hungry makes you sad." I fell out my chair. I haven't heard dialogue that bad since Resident Evil i.e., "Jill you are the master of unlocking." After I got off the floor I closed my laptop and thought, "Did she actually say that?" So by this time you're at the 15 minute mark and literally nothing has happened. Saya returns home to her daddy who tells her about the big baddie Elder Bairn. It certainly refers to a species but it could also be a name given to the head baddie who killed Saya's mom. Saya resolves to protect her father, her friends, and slay Elder Bairn.
This scene while short, is filled with suspense and you get the feeling that wow, I wish she was back at school just kicking back with her friends. After Saya makes a vow to her father we turn to blazing violins and I had to say, "This is getting serious." Then Saya ran into, wait for it, a giant plant. And again I asked, "What the hell is this?" Violins stop, Saya stands with her blade ready, the clouds pass by, the moon glimmers and the battle begins. Hot Japanese babe with a sword taking on a plant that has tentacles instead of vines. Saya is holding her own and totally owning Little Shop of Horrors until the plant smacks her into a tree and rams Saya with such force the tree is also broken off at the trunk and the two fall into a cave. Saya swims out of the lake that's in the cave without knowing the plant is hanging from the ceiling.
Just when the plant is about to have the most delicious snack you ever saw (Saya) she stabs the plant in the mouth. NOT with her sword. She actually broke off a chunk of stalagmite from the cave floor and stabbed the creature in the mouth. DAMN that's gangster! While the plant is writhing in pain she just totally owns it with her sword. She goes apeshit on the plant with such ferocity that they don't even show the remainder of the kill on screen. This is a plant mind you and Saya cuts this thing so many times that the cave is painted in the monsters blood. Yeah I think you pissed her off.