Blood-C - Episode 10

Seeing almost your entire class slaughtered followed by an ill-timed confession of love from one of your few remaining classmates is probably the dictionary definition of a bad day, but it isn't over yet for Saya as we hit Blood-C's tenth episode.

As Saya continues to struggle with the question of who (or perhaps even what) she really is, so any such train or thought is interrupted by the appearance of yet another Elder Bairn, one that can probably be best described as an offshoot from the never-released game, Bayonetta: Whee!  I'm Just A Floaty Head and Spine.  Said monster spares to time in teasing Saya while it monologues about hunger, the broken convenant and so on, only pausing to quickly munch on a returning Tokizane to push the show's body count a little higher.  Eventually (of course) Saya defeats her latest opponent, but it does little to assuage the questions currently milling in her head.

After passing out once again, everything seems to return to relative normality once more, as we have to endure another session of coffee drinking and marshmallow eating set against the uneasy feeling that all is far from well; a feeling only further amplified by the fact that even Saya's father is currently nowhere to be seen.  When Saya's teacher Kisaragi visits the cafe and implores Saya to take a look at the books locked away within the shrine, we know that something big is about to be revealed, and come the end of the episode it seems as if we might finally be at the doorstep of blowing the lid on the strange goings-on we've witnessed throughout the series.

Much like last week's instalment, this episode of Blood-C is another hit-and-miss affair that seems comfortable and accomplished and delivering its action scenes yet clumsy and bumbling when it comes to the more mundane stuff of plot and character development - a little like Saya's everyday clumsiness compared to her prowess in the heat of battle, you could say.  After a slick first half to the episode this time around, it felt a little as if this instalment was playing for time as it plied us with coffee until it was an opportune moment to deliver its closing revelations - revelations which admittedly bring us tantalisingly closer to finding out what's going on within the series, which continues to be a point of fascination regardless of the show's habit of misfiring on a regular basis.  The fact that I'm still interested in Blood-C's story beneath the surface proves that it isn't a complete write-off, but hopefully now it can put down the marshmallow on concentrate on the important stuff for its final instalments.