Strike the Blood Episode 9
What They Say:
The fourth progenitor is the most powerful vampire once thought to exist only in the world of legends. Yet when it appears in Japan, the government for some reason chooses an apprentice “sword shaman”, Yukina Himeragi, to observe and obliterate it. Bewildered by the disproportionate task and its specific details, Yukina arrives at the Demon District of Itogami-jima to watch Akatsuki Kojo, and a student at a private high school on Itogami-jima.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The closure of the previous arc is a rather welcome thing as it was one that just didn’t click well for me and felt like it was a long way to go for little real gain. Some of the fun in the epilogue of it all with how Akatsuki is getting caught up in the troubles that come with girls in series like this made for some good moments, especially a kiss that has him confused. While Asagi has said she’s made her interest clear through this, it’s left him quite confused and uncertain of how to proceed. To make matters worse, with Sayaka being friendly with him now, Himeragi is coming across as even more jealous and protective than usual and is just seeing threats everywhere. Which just makes everything worse for Akatsuki since he can’t understand why she’s like that.
The first half of the episode plays with all of this nicely, including a bit of an unusual aspect as we get Asagi getting Akatsuki to help her with a project of hers that involves photography and dressing up. It makes for some rather good fanservice along the way since she strips down for it in the same room as him to get into the costume, though the same kind of undressing doesn’t happen for him. It’s a way to get him to be uncomfortable around her and for her to feel him out a bit with his views on things, making it a short but fun sequence. Of course, others know what’s up to and we see how Himeragi is getting more and more concerned about the relationship between the two. Especially since Akatsuki is hiding his secret of what he is from Asagi since he believes it would be dangerous for her to know.
Beyond that, the episode just has us following Akatsuki as he deals with the girls in light and easy ways, excluding Himeragi and her heavy concerns. It’s light and nice in a way after the last couple of episodes but it also feels a lot emptier than one might expect. The last couple of minutes hints us to a bit more of what this arc will be about as there are apparently a few maulings going on lately within the city, with organs going missing and some demonic modification going on as well. This is all going on in the adult/upper levels of the city, which has a significant disconnect from the rest of the show, but we do see Vatler getting involved in it as well which shows some fun little schisms there. The setup is very, very light but at least it’s showing us where things might go.
In Summary:
With big, bad ominous tidings ahead, the series spends the bulk of the episode on lighter fare with the characters. Akatsuki dominates throughout it, though he’s a soft character overall so he doesn’t leave too much of an impression, but we see his interactions with several of the girls and the dynamic of everything. While there’s the obvious push for him and Himeragi to be a thing as it goes on based on how their relationship has been from the start, I continue to be an Asagi fan for a lot of reasons and this episode doesn’t change that, though she does mess with him in a way that’s pretty unfriendly when you get down to it. The arc is just started to become touched upon in the final minutes and it’s too early to tell whether it’ll work or not, but at least it feels a little more grounded at the moment. I liked the episode overall, but there’s still not a lot there to latch onto.
Grade: B-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Apple TV via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.