First Impression: Sengoku Night Blood

Synopsis

Set in a world where different groups have broken war in the aftermath of the powerful figure known as Himehiko. From werewolves to vampires, this is the situation that the protagonist finds herself summoned into. With a strange power involving her blood, this is the story of her survival in a world in chaos while searching for a way home.

The Good

There is a pretty clever plot that was established in just one episode and the fact that it was able to push in as much exposition as it did without being too heavy-handed over things. The general design of the work is pretty much what is expected for more modern anime and ti does well in the little details of the costumes and the distinguishing characteristics of the characters. With how many characters that have been introduced, it is clear that there will be variety of stories to be explored at least.

As for the main character, she may not stand out all that much but she does have at least some potential to be somewhat interesting, which is considered quite a lot in comparison to many other heroines who ended up in a similar situation to her. Add to the fact that she does have a motivation outside of surviving and something for herself to pursue and we actually have a layer to a heroine character in shoujo historical work.

The Bad

Just from the first few minutes of the episode alone, there are already a number of the usual shoujo and possible reverse harem tropes making itself known. From the modern girl who ends up in a different world, seeming as plain as can be only to have some sort of special power to the first person she encounters being a clear main love interest, there are just too many points to the episode that would make a long time shoujo and reverse harem fan facepalm and just from the main character alone.

On the note of characters, there are just way too many of them. In just a span of minutes, the viewer is introduced to not 3, not 5 but nearly 10 or more characters. Even “Brothers Conflict” didn’t dump as many characters and that series had 13 potential love interest, in one season. With the general flow of the episode, the introduction of the world mechanics and characters, the episode just seems to be pushing things a little too hard.

Conclusion

There is some potential to be found with the series with the hint of layers to that was presented with the main character. There is also creativity to be noted on the different characters introduced but at the same time there were way too many characters shown for just one episode, especially if they are going to be characters of focus for the series. With the way that the episode has set itself up, is a bit of a mess, but then, there may just be a chance to fix things in the following episodes… hopefully.

Rating: 5/10