Blood+, Volume One: First Kiss

by Ryo Ikehata

In the first US novelization of Blood+ we find Saya Otonoshi, a high shcool student, suffering from amneisa. Saya can't remember anything from her life beyond the last year. Living with a foster family outside a military base in Okinawa, Japan, Saya's attempts to live a normal life are shattered when a Chiropteran, a horrific vampire-like monster, attacks her.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1593078986
• ISBN13: 9781593078980
• Release Date: April 2008
• Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
• Length: 354 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.2" x 7.3"

Customer Reviews

If you love Blood Plus, you'll LOVE this book!

If you are like me, and cant get enough of this awesome series, then by all means, don't hesitate to get this book! It is basically the first 14 episodes (right up until they depart for Russia) in novel form with relatively few differences. There is a lot of added detail, especially in the way of getting into the characters heads and explaining things, including Haji's much debated ethnicity. I really liked the writing style, it was delightfully informal, very enjoyable, using some rather creative metaphors and similes, and often explains cultural aspects of the story that may not have been apparent to westerners. The translation is very good, not awkwardly worded, and very few times did I get the impression that something was lost in translation, as I often felt with the dub of the anime. The book even pokes fun at some of the cornier aspects of the anime. The only omission I can really think of is that, if I recall correctly, it skips Saya's fieldtrip to Hanoi, but the important bits of that were relegated to other parts of the story. The bottom line is, if you love Blood Plus, you'll love this book!

Loved It!

Unlike the manga, I recommend this novel. It is worth the read. It takes you right into the anime and you can feel the characters being potrayed as you read along. There was some grammatical errors but besides that a good read. If you liked the anime series than you will enjoy this book. I cannot get enough of Blood+!

Excellent Novelization

Unlike with the manga, the first Blood+ novel series, which spans four volumes total, is a fairly straight novelization of the anime events. First Kiss covers the events in the first fourteen episodes of the series, including the initial introduction of most of the main characters on Saya's side, the concept of Chiropterans, and goes from Okinawa through the the first trip to Vietnam. All of the novels are divided into two "books", which each book divided into two parts and each part into varying numbers of chapters. While the series follows the events o the anime pretty much point for point, it adds more descriptions and more in-depth views of the characters thoughts and reactions to events. David, in particularly, comes across more sympathetically here than he did in the first parts of the anime, and Riku seems less bland. The writing is very well done, flowing well with descriptives that not only helped me remember the scenes from the anime, but visual them with greater depth. I also got a better feel for the individual characters and their motivations. Dark Horse's translation of the work is good, with only a few one or two minor typos. Like most companies releasing light novels, Dark Horses released the work in the typical manga size, though they did choose to keep the full color front pieces. All in all, this was an excellent read and I highly recommend it.

Expanding on the TV series...

The idea is to expand on the Blood+ TV series. Which is great, I can't get enough vampire stuff. Good vampire stuff. But be warned, the first part is the beginning of the TV series so don't read this book till you have watched at least the first two DVDs of the show. Otherwise it may spoil it for you. A text novel, not a manga or graphic novel, but it does have illustrations and a nice section showing all the characters. Dark Horse did a great job with Blood+, no complaints.