Blood Lad

Blood Lad (ブラッドラッド, Buraddo Raddo) is a manga series created by Yuuki Kodama and serialized in Young Ace. The manga series has been licensed for distribution in English by Yen Press. Blood Lad follows Staz, a vampire from the surreal Demon World, who meets Fuyumi Yanagi, an ordinary Japanese high school girl who accidentally wanders into the Demon World through a portal. Shortly after their meeting Fuyumi is killed by a carnivorous plant and turned into a ghost, causing Staz to take responsibility and pledge to help bring her back to life.

An anime adaptation aired between July 7 and September 8, 2013 and was licensed in North America by Viz Media for streaming on their website VizAnime and home video distribution in 2014. Neon Alley also acquired the series for streaming on their web service.

Plot

Staz is a powerful vampire boss of a territory in the Demon World. Unlike his vampire ancestors, he prefers not to prey on humans, and would rather indulge in their Japanese otaku lifestyle of reading manga, watching anime, and playing video games. One day, he becomes excited when Fuyumi Yanagi, an ordinary Japanese high school girl, accidentally wanders into the Demon World through a portal. The two's first meeting is cut short by the attack of a demon who challenges his territory. When Staz goes to stop the demon, Fuyumi is killed by a carnivorous plant and turned into a ghost. Staz takes responsibility and pledges to help bring her back to life. When they take the portal, they learn that Fuyumi needs to drink Staz's blood in order to not fade away. They meet Bell, a treasure hunter who reveals that her ability to open and close the portal was stolen, and that in order to restore Fuyumi they need the Book of Resurrection.

After challenging his friend Wolf, who is the boss of Demon World West, he learns that Bell has the Book, but that Staz needs to get his big brother Braz to interpret it for him.

While Staz is away Franken Stein comes up with a substitute for Fuyumi to drink instead of Staz's blood to keep her from fading away forever. On a journey to bring Fuyumi back on to life they travel the demon world but struggle to keep Fuyumi there because she keeps fading away, and on their journey Staz ends up meeting up with the brother he hates, and the sister who hates him. Fuyumi finds out what happened to her mother when she disappeared from the human world when Fuyumi was a young child, and finds out Bell is actually her half-sister. They end up fighting a creature (Akim Papradon) Franken Stein created that tears its fallen enemies apart so as to improve itself. They set up a tournament for Akim to fight the black list, a list of criminals who were so powerful they were hidden away. Their existence was erased.

Characters

Main characters

Staz Charlie Blood (ブラッド・チャーリー・スタズ, Buraddo Chārī Sutazu)

Voiced by: Ryōta Ōsaka^[1] (Japanese); Bryce Papenbrook^[2] (English)

Staz is one of the territory bosses of Demon World East. Although he is the descendant of the noble vampire Dracula who would go to the human world to suck blood, he shows no interest in the vampire lifestyle, preferring to indulge himself in Japanese culture and media. For secondary vampire characteristics, he does not fly or have bat wings, he can eat garlic, he is not susceptible to crosses, and he heals rapidly.^{Ch. 1} He is immediately attracted to Fuyumi, but when she is killed and becomes a ghost, he makes it his mission to bring her back to life. He struggles with his feelings about her, whether it is his desire to suck her dry as a mummy or whether it could be something romantic.^{Vol. 1} In the human world, he carries a spray bottle of his spit that allows him to manipulate the memories of the humans there. He can also revive Fuyumi by giving her some of his blood.^{Ch. 3} He describes his abilities as radiating with a range of up to tens of meters.^{Ch. 6} When he was younger, his brother Braz sealed his full potential power by shooting him with a special bullet.^{Ch. 9} This was because he was unable to handle his power and would collapse in a nose bleed after using the power. He is later freed from the restriction.^{Ch. 12}

Fuyumi Yanagi (柳 冬実, Yanagi Fuyumi)

Voiced by: Iori Nomizu^[1] (Japanese); Xanthe Huynh^[2] (English)

Fuyumi is a Japanese high school girl who got lost in the Demon World after wandering into a portal that had opened in her bedroom. She is eaten by a carnivorous plant demon, and ends up a ghost / demon, leaving behind only her bones and clothes. She wears a hitaikakushi (white triangular headband) as a result. She accompanies Staz on his quest to bring her back to life. In the human world, she risks fading away so she must be replenished by Staz's blood or other methods. Prior to her adventures with Staz, she has been living with her father, but the whereabouts of her mother is unknown.^{Ch. 3} When she starts fading in the demon world, Frankie discovers she might have a hybrid of demon attributes.^{Ch. 9-10} It is later revealed that she and Bell became sisters, as her mother had merged with her doppleganger counterpart from the demon world when they met each other.^{Ch. 27}

Hydrabell (ハイドラベル, Haidora Beru)

Voiced by: Sarah Emi Bridcutt (Japanese); Kira Buckland^[2] (English)

Hydrabell, or Bell for short, is a treasure hunter who is able to travel across dimensions and between the human and demon world using the Black Curtain. She initially appears with a large backpack with scrolls on its pockets. Her goal is to catch the magic thief who stole her ability to put away the Black Curtain that brought Fuyumi into the demon world, and then make that thief her lover-boy.^{Ch. 4} She can teleport people away using a picture frame as the portal, and can spy on people by finger framing like a photographer.^{Ch. 4} Although she determines that Staz is not the magic thief, she grows attracted to Staz,^{Ch. 8-9} and secretly plans to win his affections.^{Ch. 24-25} She suspects that the body that Franken used to create Akim had belonged to the magic thief as he had used teleportation magic extensively.^{Ch. 17} The Volume 4 extra shows her corresponding with VIPs such as Bill Gates.^{Vol. 4 extra}. It is later revealed that her mother had met her doppleganger counterpart on Earth and merged, making her and Fuyumi sisters.^{Ch. 27}

Wolf (ウルフ, Urufu)

Voiced by: Takuma Terashima^[1] (Japanese); Ben Diskin^[2] (English)

He is the hybrid lycanthrope who controls most of Demon World West. He is Staz's friend and rival, having known each other since Staz ran away from Acropolis. Staz says that Wolf uses his magic to strengthen his own body so he can excel in beating up on an opponent.^{Ch. 6} He is of noble blood and was supposed to live in Acropolis, but admitted that he was abandoned because he is not a pure-blooded werewolf. According to himself, he is "a mix of lycanthrope and nobody".^{Ch. 8} He can assume his fully-transformed form for about three minutes, although if not done right, he only partially transforms.^{Ch. 14}

Supporting characters

Demon World East

Dek (デク, Deku)

Voiced by: Taichi Yones (Japanese); Kyle Hebert^[2] (English)

Staz's right-hand man. He is often the one leading the gang when outside and patrolling whenever Staz is busy with his Japanese media.^{Ch. 1, Vol. 1 extra}

Saty (サティ, Sati)

Saty is the manager of the Third Eye Cafe in the demon world. She and Mamejirou have clairvoyant powers thanks to their third eyes. She does not speak, relying on Mamejirou to communicate her thoughts. She is able to stop Staz and Mamejirou from fighting with an intimidating stare.^{Ch. 2, Vol. 2 extra}

Mamejirou (豆次郎, Mamejirō)

Voiced by: Chiwa Saitō^[1] (Japanese); Cristina Vee^[2] (English)

A three-eyed talking demon animal who works at the Third Eye Cafe along with his partner Saty. He is very talkative. He and Saty have clairvoyant powers.^{Ch. 2} He appears regularly inside the jacket covers for the Japanese graphic novel publications.

Mimic Yoshida (ミミック吉田, Mimikku Yoshida, alt. Yoshida the Mimic)

Voiced by: Kazutomi Yamamoto^[1] (Japanese); Jason Baker^[2] (English)

Yoshida is a doppelganger who joins Staz's gang, serving as Staz's double whenever he is away.^{Ch. 2, 3}

Demon World West

Kiji (キジ)

Voiced by: Shūsaku Shirakawa

Wolf's underlng. He has light hair and wears a black turtleneck.^{Ch. 8}

Tobi (トビ)

Voiced by: Kenji Roa

Wolf's underlng. He wears a knit cap and has dark hair.^{Ch. 8}

Franken Stein (フランケン・シュタイン, Furanken Shutain)

Voiced by: Tetsu Inada (Japanese); Patrick Seitz^[2] (English)

A scientist within the Demon World, named after the scientist who had stitched body parts of humans together, and whom he calls his ancestor.^{Ch. 12} He is an expert on demon physiology and conducts experiments on demons. He is interested in experimenting on Fuyumi,^{Vol. 2} He had worked on an experiment to create a supreme body based on stitching together the body parts of demons; the result was Papradon Akim.^{Ch. 12}

Demon World Acropolis

Braz D. Blood (ブラッド・D・ブラッズ, Buraddo Dī Burazzu)

Voiced by: Ryōhei Kimura^[1] (Japanese); Johnny Yong Bosch^[2] (English)

Staz and Liz's older brother. He is the one who wrote the book of resurrection that Staz and the others believe can bring Fuyumi back to life. When they were younger, he conducted experiments on Staz to unlock his true potential. He later sealed Staz's powers away with a magic bullet that he shot into Staz's heart.^{Ch. 9} While his intentions are always under suspicion from Staz, his motive is to dethrone Wolf Daddy's reign as King of Acropolis,^{Ch. 25} since Wolf Daddy had killed his father.^{Ch. 29} He orchestrates the creation of Papradon Akim and has Staz test his strength on him. One of his abilities is to manipulate blood.^{Ch. 27}

Liz T. Blood (ブラッド・T・リズ, Buraddo Tī Rizu)

Voiced by: Yūka Nanri^[1]

Liz is Braz and Staz's younger sister. She has a great respect for her eldest brother Braz and a deep disdain for her older brother Staz. This is partly because Staz ran away from home and partly because Braz would spend all his time on Staz. She is the jailer of Acropolis and has the power to judge and imprison demons in her own personal dungeon known as Liz's Toy Box.^{Vol. 2} She takes a liking to Fuyumi after finding that Fuyumi isn't afraid of her or seeking to win her favor.^{Ch. 19}

Beros (べロス)

Voiced by: Masumi Asano^[3] (Japanese); Julie Ann Taylor^[2] (English)

Beros is the peacekeeper of the Acropolis Police.^{Ch. 20} She is in the form of a girl wearing a visor cap, a black top and uneven-length shorts for uniform, and she has a tail whose end is a snake head. She uses a collar called an Underdog Choker which restricts the wearer from using magic.^{Ch. 21} Outside of police activities, Beros is part of a music band.^{Vol. 6 extra}

Wolf Daddy (ウルフダディ, Urufu Dadi)

Voiced by: Norio Wakamoto^[4] (Japanese); Richard Epcar^[2] (English)

King of the Demon World Acropolis.^{Ch. 20, 25} He is Wolf's biological father and killer of the Blood siblings' father Richarz, the previous king.^{Ch. 29} However, it appears their father told him to kill him as the two and Heads Hydra appear to be close friends.

Goyle (ゴイル, Goiru)

Voiced by: Daisuke Kishio^[5] (Japanese); Ben Pronsky^[2] (English)

Captain in the Acropolis. He wears glasses and has a barbed tail.^{Ch. 25} He works with computers.^{Ch. 26, Vol. 6 extra} He uses anger to summon and to power up his demon pet creature named Angry Spear.^{Ch. 26, 36} He also has a power called Cool Decision, which lets him freeze his opponent if they touch his head.^{Ch. 29, 37}

Richarz

The father of the Blood siblings. He had lost the throne when he was killed by Wolf Daddy who crushed his heart, but ten years later, he is brought back to life by Braz using Akim's heart.^{Ch. 34, 38}

Dimensional Highway

The Dimensional Highway is one of the seven wonders of the demon world. It is described as a labyrinth of countless doors.^{Ch. 21}

Knell (ネル, Neru)

Voiced by: Yūki Kaji^[6] (Japanese); Erik Scott Kimerer^[2] (English)

Knell is a transporter and takes on jobs to transport goods to different locations.^{Ch. 21} He is the younger brother of Bell, and fellow spatial magic user.^{Ch. 21-22} He was born after Neyn had fused so her demon powers are not as strong as Bell's.^{Ch. 28}

Neyn (ネイン, Nein)

Voiced by: Kotono Mitsuishi^[7] (Japanese); Wendee Lee^[2] (English)

Bell and Knell's mother. She has dark hair,^{Ch. 21} but originally had light hair when Bell was a child.^{Ch. 27} Fourteen years ago, when she met her doppleganger counterpart in the human world, who happened to be Fuyumi's mother, she fused with her and became one person (she has heterochromia). She had since agreed to live in the demon world with Heads.^{Ch. 24, 27} She and Braz are e-mail friends.^{Ch. 25}

Heads (ヘッズ, Hezzu)

Voiced by: Keiji Fujiwara^[8] (Japanese); Keith Silverstein^[2] (English)

Heads Hydra is Neyn's husband and Bell and Knell's father. Initially appearing as a flying multi-headed serpent, he assumes a human shape where he typically wears a "I ♥ Neyn" t-shirt and pajamas that he had during their honeymoon.^{Ch. 28}

Other characters

Yanagi

Voiced by: Eiichiro Tokumoto (Japanese); Matt Mercer (English)

Fuyumi's father.^{Ch. 3} He was aware of the Demon World's existence following his wife's fusion with Neyn and decided to give up being with her to Heads Hydra to instead raise Fuyumi on his own.^{Ch. 28} He has a Demon World counterpart who works as a butler to the Hydra family.^{Ch. 27}

Papradon Akim (パップラドン・アキム, Papladon Akimu)

Voiced by: Kōji Yusa^[1] (Japanese); Lucien Dodge^[2] (English)

He is a monstrosity created by Franken Stein stitched up by the body parts of demons. In order to obtain stronger parts for his body, he escaped from Franken's lab via spatial magic and began hunting and killing demons with exceptional magical properties in order to harvest their limbs.^{Ch. 12} Akim's true form is that of a phantom and he uses magic to manipulate the separate body parts which make up his physical form.^{Ch. 14} Akim's entire creation was orchestrated by Braz, who anonymously delivered a demon corpse to Franken to serve as the central container for Akim.^{Ch. 17, 20} The corpse was later revealed to be a spy from Wolf Daddy named Pantomime.^{Ch. 25} Akim's heart is placed in a new vessel that turns out to be Braz's father Richarz, but Akim is unable to control the body and only serves as a power source to keep the heart beating.^{Ch. 34}

Team Fearless

A group of assassins sent by Neyn to hunt down Staz. Although they have never actually killed a vampire before, they hope that this would elevate their standing at the Acropolis. They consist of: Shamkid "the leader" who can transform into a cat and can foretell a person's actions after having a piece of their hair; Sam "the veteran" who sports a ponytail and an eyepatch, and wields a katana; Jasmine "the looks"who is dressed as a jiangshi, speaks Chinese, and wields a claw weapon; Roy "the brain" who wears a striped shirt, handles navigation for their team airship, and whose special ability includes falling asleep to enable a "chat room" that allows the team to communicate with each other telepathically; and Rando "the brawn" a mummy who was able to capture Fuyumi inside his body.^{Vol. 7}

Katy

Wolf's mother and Wolf Daddy's estranged wife. She lives on Earth where she is a school teacher. Although Wolf Daddy covets her powers, Katy says her time on Earth has diminished them so she is willing to teach Wolf how to use his powers so she doesn't have to return to the demon world.^{Ch. 35}

Media

Manga

The manga was written and drawn by Yuuki Kodama and serialized in Young Ace since September 4, 2009.^[9] The series was later licensed for distribution in English by Yen Press,^[10] and released as an omnibus edition where each volume contains two of the Japanese volumes of the series, except for the final omnibus edition (volume 8) which contains the final three manga volumes.

Volumes

Bloody Brat

Anime

The anime is produced by Brain's Base and directed by Shigeyuki Miya, with series composition by Takeshi Konuta, character designs by Kenji Fujisaki, art direction by Masaki Mayuzumi and Toshiyuki Sakae and sound direction by Satoki Iida.^[40] The 10 episode series began airing on July 7, 2013 on tvk and were later aired on Tokyo MX, Sun TV and BS11. The series has been licensed in North America by Viz Media for streaming on their online service Viz Anime, which was revealed at Anime Expo 2013 along with streaming by Neon Alley and home video release in 2014.^[41] The opening theme is "ViViD" by May'n whilst the ending theme is "Bloody Holic" by Yuuka Nanri.

Reception

The manga had sold over 1.8 million copies as of March 2015.^[42] Spick Mich from Spickmich reviewed the German version of Blood Lad, stating that the manga's art style occasionally reminded him of Soul Eater and that fans of action and horror would like the series.^[43] Bamboo Dong from Anime News Network praised the anime adaptation, finding its humor appealing as well as the portrayal of the main character Staz.^[44]

Works cited

• Template:Tnakt "Ch." and "Vol." are shortened forms for chapter and volume, and refers to the Blood Lad manga

References

External links

• Anime official website (archive) (in Japanese)
• Blood Lad at Kadokawa Shoten (in Japanese)
• Blood Lad (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia

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