Strike the Blood - First Impressions

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The fall of supernatural anime continues with the first episode of Strike the Blood, introducing us to the residents of Itogami Island, also known as the Demon District.

Kojou Akatsuki is a high school student who also happens to be a vampire.  He seems to be the typical shounen protagonist: too lazy to care much about school (hence his sentence to make-up exams and supplemental classes over summer break), but really a great guy underneath it all.  He tries to stay in control of his blood lust so he can stay in control and not hurt anyone (shown twice in this first episode).  I’m wondering if he causes himself to get a nosebleed during those couple of scenes, though, or if it’s supposed to be the typical nosebleed-due-to-arousal that anime characters get.  I’m sure that will be clarified later on in the anime.

The idea of the Fourth Progenitor is pretty interesting.  It’s obvious that the Fourth Progenitor is supposed to be pretty freaking strong and all that, but what exactly does it mean?  What purpose does the Fourth Progenitor serve?  Clearly, Kojou doesn’t understand what his position as Fourth Progenitor means (largely because he has no memory of even becoming what he is).  He doesn’t seem to be a “cruel, nefarious vampire,” though, as the rumors about the Fourth Progenitor have said.

I’m surprised at how easily Yukina Himeragi, a Sword Shaman under the employ of the Lion King Organization, decides to believe Kojou’s story about not remembering how he became the Fourth Progenitor.  I was expecting her to distrust him throughout the majority of the show.  It’s a nice change of pace for her to stick by his side and help him out, rather than be his enemy.

Strike the Blood seems pretty average thus far, as far as supernatural shounen anime go.  Granted, this is only the first episode, and things could obviously change as time goes on.  For now, though, the plot doesn’t really stand out as incredible or anything like that.  We’ll see if things get a bit more interesting as the series progresses.

Strike the Blood Episode 2 Preview

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