Japanese anime meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer in Blood-C. A young high school girl, seemingly ordinary, must keep the town she lives in safe from ancient monsters that feast off of human flesh. This series was actually an anime series first and also has origins in the Blood: The Last Vampire, which is where you see our main character Saya. Blood-C is more of a spin off series. If you are not familiar with the series than volume 3 is probably not the best place to start, actually if you don’t have previous knowledge on the series then it becomes extremely hard to follow the story line. It can be confusing and at times just all over the place. However, if you’ve been a long time follower of Saya than you should definitely read this one, a vital story line is revealed.

You enter volume 3 right away with some action; the ancient monsters munching on train passengers for an afternoon snack but to their dismay Saya and her Katana are a deadly combination. Panels of gore and fight scenes move fluidly on the pages but come to halt when the reader is transported hours from the unraveling situation. It appears that throughout this story Saya is almost as confused as I was reading it. She is clinging to her old memories and becoming lost in reality. Flashbacks of suppressed memories expose more about this mysterious Saya and her connection to the ancient ones.

Volume 3 takes on a pretty crazy plot twist. Was Saya becoming a lethal hunter all a set up? Who really is Nono and Nene? Will Fumito’s experiment be exposed? Stay tuned for the chaos that will ensue in Blood-C.

What caught my eye in first place were the illustrations. I really liked the creative take on these capricious monsters; they look like they just ooze filth and malice. I loved the cover art featuring Saya, just overall the illustrations were well done.

Score: 3/5

Artist/Writer: Ranmaru Kotone Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Price: $12.99 Release Date: 2/19/14