This is the first time I downloaded a BT from you guys. I was looking for trailers to Blood+ when I found a link to this site at fansub.tv so I thought to myself 'To hell with the trailers I'm watching the first episode!'
How does this relate to Blood The Last Vampire? Well, as I've seen the feature anime (OVA) and read the manga, I already know the whole storyline. Blood+ on the other hand seem to have a different take on the franchise, considering that Mamoru Oshii's original concept was about a vampire hunter girl that fights her own kind, nothing more nothing less. It was planned as a multi platform franchise spawning animes, mangas, novels, and video games. Each author of the franchise were given free reign over the source material so saying that one is more the canon story than the other is pointless, except probably for the novel written by Mamoru Oshii himself (haven't read that one though).
Since the title has changed, it's safe to say that the story doesn't revolve around The Last Vampire anymore. Those who read the manga would know who The Last Vampire is and her relation to Saya and Maya. But notice that Hagi's arm is very similar to Maya's arm at the end of the manga so they might use some story concept from the manga, particularly regarding clones.
This series also has a different atmosphere compared to the dark and violent air of the feature anime. Blood+ is bright (thanks to cg coloring) and has a girly feel to it, not surprising since the staff researched alot on shoujo mangas while developing the script. I read that from this interview here.
http://www.productionig.com/contents/works_sp/20_/s08_/000223.html#cFor those who don't know what a shoujo anime is like, just look at Sailor Moon and notice the parallelism: The heroine has surpressed memories of her past and is destined to fight evil, occasionally aided by a mysterious good-looking man who is somehow linked to her past (in Sailor Moon that would be Tuxedo Mask) all the while living a 'normal' life with friends and family.
Suggesting that Blood The Last Vampire preceeds this series is debatable. Even though the opening of the first episode shows some scenes of Vietnam, notice that Saya is wearing what looks to be a hospital gown (check the tied knot on her back). Also in Blood The Last Vampire, Saya carries an ordinary katana (in the manga she broke it and got another one which at the end also broke) whereas in Blood+ what she's using is not a katana per se but rather some special sword that feeds on blood. If the events of the feature anime is used then they'd probably remake and rewrite it than referencing it.
To sum it up, it's too early to state the connection to the other franchise but I'm thinking that they're remaking the whole story and cut it's ties from The Last Vampire arc. And the photograph of the vampire family in 1892? I read that in episode #2 they changed it to only show Hagi and Saya.
Just a thought: usually the OP of any anime series would show all the main characters including the villain. So, who is the main villain? Hagi or Vin? I mean she can't be fighting chiropterans for 52 episodes straight! That would be too boring!
Anyways, thanks for the fansub. I really appreciated it. Great video quality and the subtitles are great too, especially the footnotes. I also like how you guys try to match the text fonts. It's these attention to detail that make the fansub look professionally made. Keep up the good work!
I'm anxiously looking forward to the next episode.
i_to