Blood-C - Episode 11

After all of the blood, guts and slaughter of recent weeks, come the end of Blood-C's previous episode Saya had to face up to something even more shocking and disturbing - Nene and Nono are still alive!

From this alone it becomes clear that all is not what it seems within Saya's world, and thus this episode focuses solely on blowing the lid on much if not all of the truth of the scenario.  In short, everything we've seen in the series to date has been a "game", an act if you prefer - the entire town in which Saya lives is little more than a set, with Saya herself as the star, her close friends as the main characters in the story, and everyone else around her as expendable extras.  While the main players have been protected from the hunger of the Elder Bairns (who are real, it seems), the extras weren't quite so lucky.

So what's the goal of this rather elaborate, Truman Show-esque set up?  For the actors in this ambitious play, it varies from money through to avoiding the consequences of criminal actions on to a genuine interest in the folklore that surrounds Saya and the Elder Bairns.  For the individual running this whole "experiment" however (and it isn't a massive surprise when we learn who is pulling the strings here), there's clearly a deeper motivation - although we learn about the reality of Saya's past as a "monster" in human form prior to her capture and insertion into this creep "game", the ultimate end goal of the experiment remains up in the air, despite Kanako's attempts to force the issue and having Saya's memory resurface by making her drink the blood of an Elder Bairn.

If nothing else, this is a decidedly ambition twist in the tale that is Blood-C, and although it requires more than a hefty slice of suspension of disbelief it actually works pretty well as a smart revelation to turn the show on its head at this late stage.  Even though this episode is almost entirely dialogue and idle chit-chat between the main players in the town's ensemble cast, it's mirthful and malicious disregard for Saya's feelings and emotions no matter what she might be casts a chilling shadow over the rest of the series thus far.  It still isn't enough to make us forgive all those interminably long coffee-drinking scenes and other nonsense, but I have to commend Blood-C for at least having the balls to finally back up its bloody, visceral elements with something altogether more surprising.  The big question now is how it plans to carry these revelations into its finale - suddenly, this feels like a series without enough time remaining to it to finish telling its story properly.