Blood-C - Episode 7

Saya's friends were dropping like flies in last week's Blood-C, as both Nene and Nono found themselves falling victim to the Elder Bairns - unsurprisingly, these developments have a troublesome effect on Saya's psyche as she questions her ability to protect those who are close to her.

There are, however, deeper questions than this being posed of Saya in this episode - exactly who did she make the promise to protect everybody and defeat the Elder Bairns to, and moreover what ends did she go to in an attempt to ensure this wish comes true?  It's at this point that we introduce our little dog friend to proceedings - last week we learned that he could speak, and this week we learn a little more about the reason for his presence, that being a rather odd tale about him running a shop that grants wishes and explaining his presence around Saya as part of ensuring that a particular wish is fulfilled.

As the episode progresses, so Saya's life and memories seem to be called ever more strongly into question - her teacher's strange behaviour continues to arouse suspicion, while a violent encounter with another Elder Bairn proffers more than a passing suggestion that Saya isn't who she thinks that she is at all.  So who, or what, is Saya?  Who knows, but it certainly seems that we're moving closer to the truth by the episode.

Having been genuinely impressed by the previous episode of Blood-C as it seemed to get almost everything right, this week's instalment felt a little wobbly again - its action scenes at the end of the episode felt horribly clumsy and clunky in terms of their animation (a shame given that this has tended to be one of the show's strong points at times), and the periods of exposition and building upon the core tenets of the story weren't exactly hugely compelling either, even if that's largely because it's hard to take a cute, talking dog seriously.  My interest in Saya's past and the truth behind it still interests  me and there are aspects of the show I continue to enjoy, but I can't help feeling that certain elements of this particular episode could have been handled a little better.