Not long ago, I got done watching an anime on YouTube that FUNimation put out. It is a kind of unofficial sequel to that well-animated but plot-dull film Blood: The Last Vampire. It was beautiful to look at, but boring as can be. They made a series that is a kind of extension of it call Blood C. A 12-episode event that is kind boring. But I was bored and tired and lacking in things to do. So I watched it. To be honest, the series is actually rather aimless up until the very last episode. There is an INSANE bit of exposition-dumping that happens when the evil villain is explaining his evil plot to the heroine who is very much powerless to stop him. I’ll give the guy credit, he didn’t just monologue when he figures the hero can’t stop him. He made sure that she would not be able to get into his way. And to his credit as well, he succeeds.
No joke, the series goes out with him shooting her in the face and flying away on a helicopter. But before that, there is a scene that should go down in anime history for being one the most pointlessly-violence sequences ever. It’s kind of hard to look away. It’s both insanely grotesque and absolutely nuts. For no reason. See, it all boiled down to something. I guess this is a spoiler, so if the series actually means something to you, go watch it. I doubt most of you know what it is, but still.
The villain had an entire secluded island used to stage a kind of Truman Show for the girl whose power he was trying to siphon off while he worked on a method to control the monsters that she was fighting. All of the people on the island were actors that he was paying. The girl’s family, her classmates, and he was even taking on the role of her brother in order to feed her a material that would give her enough power to be able to fight the monsters. All of this was done in order to perfect his plan to make a method of creating monsters that he can control and even turn his own people into. It worked. His method was completed. Now the question was – what to do about the people on the island? They knew why they were there, and more than a few were a legitimate threat to this guy if the truth ever got enough. So, a secluded island, and he has monsters that are virtually-unstoppable that he can control. What to do? What do you think he did?
First, he unleashes monsters to clean house with the students at the school that the girl who was his mark attended. Then he rounds up all the people that are a threat to him. Instead of giving them all a huge paycheck, he has his monsters rip them to pieces and eat them too. Finally, since the girl herself is now a threat, he unleashes a monsters that, even if it doesn’t kill her, will stall her long enough for him to get clear. Which just leaves the rest of town. In the most gruesome scene that I’ve seen in a long town, the monsters go to work killing and eating people. But that isn’t really the thing that gets my attention. This falls into a larger issue that I have.
During this, the evil villain and the one actor that he kept alive, along with their security force, are driving out through the carnage. They even turn the wipers on when blood and guts start collecting on the windshields of their cars. Which leads me to thinking about something – why is it that in all fictional evil corporations, there doesn’t seem to be anyone with even a shred of empathy? I mean, look at what happened with Umbrella in Resident Evil. They create a zombie virus that can infect and destroy people, test it on real people, mutate countless people into monsters, and not one person was like, “so…should we maybe not do this?” It was the same thing in Blood C. They are just driving through carnage where you have scenes like one of the monsters chopping a person up by turning their hand into a giant butcher knife. He’s cutting a person up like they’re a carrot, and nobody says a word.
Where do evil corporations get people who are that loyal? It always takes me out of the moment when I see some evil genius who has a TON of people just working for them, not one of whom ever seems to second-guess the morality of what they’re doing. I would have loved to have seen in some of the other cars in that evil guy’s motorcade driving through psycho genocide being like, “Bob, I’m just putting this out there, but this is kind of fucked up. Just sayin’.” My immersion always breaks when I get to see these instances. Hell, at least with Syndrome in The Incredibles, it’s understood that a lot of what they do is contracting work making weapons for people. At least they can claim that their work serves a purpose. But with a company that just brutally massacres everyone, how does not one person question it? I mean, you’d think it would get around the office that the boss is a psychopath who will butcher an entire island full of people to keep their secrets.
I don’t know. Let me know you all’s thoughts in the Comments.
Until next time, a quote,
“Being a henchman is like getting a terminal illness. All you can do is figure out your best option.” – Michael Swain
Peace out,
Maverick
Lucien Maverick's Den 