Steeped in mystery, this series is both action-based and yet entirely focused on Saya’s wavering humanity. She cannot remember her past as a fighter, and appears to be a normal, innocent, teenager, but she is beginning to suspect that even her fragile personality is not a part of the truth behind her existence. At every turn, humanity must trust Saya to be the ultimate weapon against the Chiropterans, accepting losses on their own side as part and parcel of the package, but Saya has not yet fully remembered or accepted her past, so how can she fight to the fullest extent of her abilities?
The other characters are hardly forgotten as the story progresses: Kai seems to battle his urge to throw himself into the fray to protect his sister (which really wouldn’t be helpful. She’s the fighter, he’d just be chili con carne when it was over.), Hagi does an excellent job of interacting with everyone while silently conveying that his only purpose here is Saya, and the agents display all the facets you’d expect from people who accept that the ultimate weapon they are so keen to direct could likely kill them by accident when she’s in kill-mode.
Beautifully animated, and a wonderful evocation of the tone and feel of the movie (Blood: The Last Vampire. Rent it, or better yet, go purchase it. It’s classic.), this disc contains five complete episodes of the series. The music is largely used as background, if it is used at all, but the studio is clever enough to allow Hagi to play beautiful cello music that is at once haunting, lonely, and sad, wonderful audio references to Saya’s predicament. The voice acting is superb, but the Japanese audio occasionally competes with background noise when the characters are speaking quietly.
Also, I should warn you that the animators on this series are excellent at retaining detail. Keep an eye out for those tiny visual cues and features that flesh this series out and give it that wonderfully complete feel. (Examples include: Jewelry on characters, Hagi casing his cello before an encounter, and Saya carefully slicing her thumb as she draws her sword, to allow her blood to be the weapon that slays those evil beasts.) Fantastic attention to the finer points of storytelling!
Episodes included on this disc:
16: Siberian Express
17: Do You Remember the Promise?
18: Moon Over Ekaterinburg
19: Broken Heart
20: Chevalier