Blood+

Blood+

BLOOD+
2005 -2006 Production I.G / Aniplex MBS / TBS 50 episodes Completed
Action Horror Dark Fantasy Mystery
▹ Related Articles
Details & Synopsis
Saya Otonashi lives in Okinawa with an adoptive family, no memory of her past, and a medical condition nobody can explain to her. Then a creature attacks her school, a cellist named Hagi hands her a sword, and her body remembers exactly what to do before her mind catches up.

Blood+ took the basic image from Blood: The Last Vampire, a girl with a katana hunting Chiropterans, and turned it into a fifty-episode family tragedy that moved from Okinawa to Vietnam, Russia, France, England, and New York. It aired for a full year beginning in 2005, which gave it room to be slower than people expected. That pace is the point. Saya is not collecting monsters of the week. She is recovering a life that was taken from her in pieces, and every answer makes the family around her more complicated.

Adult Swim brought it west in 2007, where it became one of those shows people either followed every week or lost completely after missing three episodes. The opening themes changed, the locations changed, the conspiracy kept widening, and Hagi remained Hagi.

Do not confuse it with Blood-C. Same name, different wound. Blood+ is the one that takes its time.
Alt Title BLOOD+
Studio Production I.G / Aniplex
Network MBS / TBS
Aired 2005 - 2006
Episodes 50
Genre Action, Horror, Dark Fantasy, Mystery
Status Completed
Search Go to ep Filters
Arc List (6)
Okinawa Arc (7) Vietnam Arc (8) Russia Arc (4) The Zoo Arc (6) The Schiff Arc (7) USA Arc (18)
Okinawa Arc 7 eps 7 canon 📷 7
002 Magic Words Aired Oct 15, 2005 canon 📷 110 ►
Reeling from the horrific battle, Saya struggles to accept the terrifying strength she displayed. Her adoptive father, George, tries to comfort her with his life motto, "Nankurunaisa" (things will work out), just before the US military and the secret organization Red Shield descend on them.
Lore · 4 Nankurunaisa Comes Back With a Different Meaning
+3
2005 Okinawa: Saya Wakes Into a Family Instead of a Mission Red Shield & War History Blood+ Begins With a Family, Not a Mission Story & Family Guide George Gives Saya a Home Before Anyone Gives Her a Mission Blood, Family & Choice
View all 110 screencaps from this episode →
003 The Place Where It All Began Aired Oct 22, 2005 canon 📷 97 ►
George's tragic past with Red Shield is revealed. The military moves in to cover up the Chiropteran incident, forcing Saya and Haji to return to her family's ancestral tomb where her fragmented, blood-soaked memories begin to surface.
Lore · 2 The Red Shield Inherits Joel's War
+1
2005 Okinawa: Saya Wakes Into a Family Instead of a Mission Red Shield & War History
View all 97 screencaps from this episode →
004 Dangerous Boy Aired Oct 29, 2005 canon 📷 106 ►
David, an operative for Red Shield, demands that Saya embrace her destiny as the only weapon capable of killing Chiropterans. Meanwhile, George is critically wounded while trying to protect his family from another brutal monster attack.
Lore George's Death Makes the War Personal Before It Makes It Global
View all 106 screencaps from this episode →
005 Beyond the Dark Forest Aired Nov 5, 2005 canon 📷 114 ►
Desperate to save George, Saya, Kai, and Riku infiltrate a heavily guarded US military medical facility. They discover a horrifying conspiracy: the military is actively researching and creating artificial Chiropterans.
Lore · 2 Delta 67 Turns Human Bodies Into Part of the War
+1
George's Death Makes the War Personal Before It Makes It Global Story & Family Guide
View all 114 screencaps from this episode →
006 My Father's Hands Aired Nov 12, 2005 canon 📷 110 ►
In one of the most devastating episodes of the series, George begins to mutate into a Chiropteran after being injected with Delta 67. To save his soul and protect his children, he forces a heartbroken Saya to use her blood to end his life.
Lore · 4 Delta 67 Turns Human Bodies Into Part of the War
+3
The Miyagusuku Family Is Not a Fake Life Blood, Family & Choice George's Death Makes the War Personal Before It Makes It Global Story & Family Guide George Gives Saya a Home Before Anyone Gives Her a Mission Blood, Family & Choice
View all 110 screencaps from this episode →
007 I Must Do It Aired Nov 19, 2005 canon 📷 103 ►
Traumatized by George's death, Saya completely shuts down. Kai, overwhelmed by grief and anger, steals a gun and recklessly attempts to hunt down the monsters himself, forcing Saya to finally pick up her sword and accept her grim duty.
Lore · 3 Kai Refuses the Safe Version of Being Family
+2
Leaving Okinawa Is the First Victory the War Gets Story & Family Guide Kai's Heroism Is Staying Human Blood, Family & Choice
View all 103 screencaps from this episode →
Vietnam Arc 8 eps 7 canon 1 good filler 📷 8
008 Phantom of the School Aired Nov 26, 2005 canon 📷 129 ►
Red Shield traces the origin of the artificial Chiropterans to an exclusive international boarding school in Vietnam. Saya goes undercover as a student, navigating the strict social hierarchy while hunting for the elusive "Phantom."
Lore · 2 Cinq Flèches Turns Diva's Side Into a Modern System
+1
The Lycee Lets Saya Be a Schoolgirl Again, Briefly Story & Family Guide
View all 129 screencaps from this episode →
009 Rainbow for Each Aired Dec 3, 2005 canon 📷 121 ►
Saya befriends a local Vietnamese girl named Min, offering a brief glimpse of the normal life she lost. Meanwhile, Red Shield discovers that the school is a massive front for testing experimental combat drugs on the student body.
Lore The Lycee Lets Saya Be a Schoolgirl Again, Briefly
View all 121 screencaps from this episode →
010 I Want to See You Aired Dec 10, 2005 canon 📷 144 ►
A mysterious, aristocratic man named Solomon appears, showing an unsettling interest in Saya. The dark history of the Vietnam War and Saya's terrifying, berserk rampage decades ago begins to slowly unravel.
View all 144 screencaps from this episode →
011 After the Dance Aired Dec 17, 2005 canon 📷 123 ►
During the school's grand ball, the Phantom's identity is revealed, triggering a massive Chiropteran outbreak. Saya is forced into a brutal, claustrophobic battle in the school's underground storage facility to protect her new friends.
Lore · 4 Solomon Proves Blood Is Not the End of the Choice
+3
Solomon Enters Before Saya Knows What His Family Means Story & Family Guide The Sword Never Replaces the Girl Holding It Story & Family Guide The Lycee Lets Saya Be a Schoolgirl Again, Briefly Story & Family Guide
View all 123 screencaps from this episode →
012 Lured by the White Mist Aired Dec 24, 2005 canon 📷 138 ►
Saya and Haji venture deep into the Vietnamese jungle to uncover a hidden research facility. The oppressive heat and the haunting atmosphere trigger more of Saya's suppressed, violent memories from the 1960s.
Lore · 2 1972 Vietnam: Red Shield Wakes Saya Before Her Time
+1
Vietnam Shows Saya a Past She Is Afraid to Call Hers Story & Family Guide
View all 138 screencaps from this episode →
013 Jungle Paradise Aired Jan 7, 2006 canon 📷 141 ►
Saya finally remembers her blood-drenched rampage during the Vietnam War, realizing she slaughtered both soldiers and innocents in a feral frenzy. The horrific realization nearly breaks her mind, but Haji anchors her to the present.
Lore · 2 1972 Vietnam: Red Shield Wakes Saya Before Her Time
+1
Vietnam Shows Saya a Past She Is Afraid to Call Hers Story & Family Guide
View all 141 screencaps from this episode →
014 The Last Sunday Aired Jan 14, 2006 good-filler 📷 146 ►
Before leaving Vietnam, the group takes a rare, quiet day off. Kai and Riku explore the city, while Saya grapples with her restored memories. It is a beautifully animated, melancholy breather before the war escalates.
Lore Riku Makes the Family Feel Safe Enough to Hurt
View all 146 screencaps from this episode →
015 I Want to Pursue! Aired Jan 21, 2006 canon 📷 165 ►
The group discovers that the container holding Diva, Saya's immensely powerful twin sister, is being transported to Russia. Kai realizes how powerless he is and resolves to train with Red Shield to protect his siblings.
Lore · 2 Kai Refuses the Safe Version of Being Family
+1
Kai's Heroism Is Staying Human Blood, Family & Choice
View all 165 screencaps from this episode →
Russia Arc 4 eps 4 canon 📷 4
016 Siberian Express Aired Jan 28, 2006 canon 📷 165 ►
Boarding the Trans-Siberian Railway in pursuit of Diva, the group realizes they have walked into a trap. A powerful Chiropteran attacks the moving train in the freezing cold, separating Saya from the rest of the team.
Lore Russia Turns Memory Into a Promise Between Saya and Haji
View all 165 screencaps from this episode →
017 Do You Remember the Promise? Aired Feb 4, 2006 canon 📷 163 ►
Saya and Haji must fight their way across the frozen Russian tundra. A haunting flashback reveals the sacred promise Haji made to Saya centuries ago: if she ever loses her humanity, he will be the one to kill her.
Lore · 5 The Queens Live in Waking Periods and Long Hibernations
+4
Early 20th-Century Russia: The War Hides Inside History Red Shield & War History The Promise Between Saya and Haji Is About the Person Inside the Power Blood, Family & Choice Russia Turns Memory Into a Promise Between Saya and Haji Story & Family Guide Haji's Devotion Is Presence, Not Ownership Blood, Family & Choice
View all 163 screencaps from this episode →
018 Moon Over Ekaterinburg Aired Feb 11, 2006 canon 📷 164 ►
The team regroups in Ekaterinburg. They uncover a massive, abandoned Soviet research facility where experiments on Chiropterans were conducted during the Cold War. The scale of the conspiracy grows terrifyingly large.
Lore Early 20th-Century Russia: The War Hides Inside History
View all 164 screencaps from this episode →
019 Broken Heart Aired Feb 18, 2006 canon 📷 161 ►
Saya comes face-to-face with a mutant created from Diva's blood. The intense battle forces Saya to push her physical limits, leading to a crushing realization about how vast and wealthy the organization protecting Diva truly is.
View all 161 screencaps from this episode →
The Zoo Arc 6 eps 5 canon 1 mixed 📷 6
020 Chevalier Aired Feb 25, 2006 canon 📷 163 ►
The investigation leads the team to France. Solomon introduces himself formally as one of Diva's "Chevaliers"-immortal, fiercely loyal bodyguards who possess incredible power and operate at the highest levels of human society.
Lore · 4 Diva's Five Chevaliers Do Not Function as One Mind
+3
Amshel Turns Devotion Into a Century-Long Project Chevalier Order & Oath Cinq Flèches Turns Diva's Side Into a Modern System Red Shield & War History Solomon Enters Before Saya Knows What His Family Means Story & Family Guide
View all 163 screencaps from this episode →
021 Sour Grapes Aired Mar 4, 2006 canon 📷 160 ►
In the French countryside, the group investigates a vineyard suspected of mass-producing the Delta 67 drug. The quiet rural setting contrasts sharply with the grotesque, industrialized blood-harvesting operation they discover.
Lore · 2 Delta 67 Turns Human Bodies Into Part of the War
+1
Cinq Flèches Turns Diva's Side Into a Modern System Red Shield & War History
View all 160 screencaps from this episode →
024 Airy Singing Voice Aired Mar 25, 2006 canon 📷 161 ►
Diva's haunting, hypnotic singing echoes through the ruins of the Zoo. The group is ambushed by Carl, a deeply psychotic Chevalier obsessed with killing Saya. A massive, high-stakes battle erupts across the estate.
Lore Chiropteran Regeneration Has Limits
View all 161 screencaps from this episode →
The Schiff Arc 7 eps 6 canon 1 mixed 📷 7
027 Paris, Je T'aime Aired Apr 15, 2006 canon 📷 164 ►
Saya and Haji investigate a string of gruesome murders in Paris. They cross paths with the Schiff, leading to a tense, three-way battle in the catacombs as the tragic, engineered nature of the Schiff is brought to light.
Lore · 3 Moses and Karman Carry the Same Experiment Differently
+2
The Schiff: Artificial Chiropterans Who Refuse Their Intended Role Chiropteran Genetics & Rules The Schiff Enter as a Third Side The Schiff & the Third Side
View all 164 screencaps from this episode →
029 Cursed Blood Aired Apr 29, 2006 canon 📷 159 ►
Saya discovers the horrifying truth about Riku: he was not killed by Diva, but forcefully turned into her Chevalier. The revelation shatters Kai, forcing him to grapple with the fact that his little brother is now a blood-drinking monster.
Lore · 4 Saya's Blood Kills Diva's Line, and Diva's Blood Kills Saya's
+3
The Alliance With Saya Is Earned, Not Automatic The Schiff & the Third Side Saya's Blood Does Not Save Irene The Schiff & the Third Side The Schiff: Artificial Chiropterans Who Refuse Their Intended Role Chiropteran Genetics & Rules
View all 159 screencaps from this episode →
031 Breaking Shield Aired May 13, 2006 canon 📷 165 ►
Diva and her Chevaliers launch a catastrophic, full-scale assault on the Red Shield headquarters ship. In the ensuing slaughter, the ship sinks, and Saya is forced to enter her 30-year hibernation early to survive.
Lore The Fall of Red Shield Headquarters Breaks the Organization Without Ending It
View all 165 screencaps from this episode →
USA Arc 18 eps 17 canon 1 good filler 📷 18
034 World Where We Exist Aired Jun 3, 2006 canon 📷 164 ►
Saya, slowly regaining her sanity, reunites with Kai. They ally with the remnants of the Schiff, realizing they must travel to the United States, where Diva has partnered with a massive pharmaceutical corporation to distribute her blood globally.
Lore · 3 Saya Returns More Distant, Not Less Human
+2
The Alliance With Saya Is Earned, Not Automatic The Schiff & the Third Side The One-Year Gap Changes Everyone Except the Reason They Keep Going Story & Family Guide
View all 164 screencaps from this episode →
036 Mismatched Feelings Aired Jun 17, 2006 canon 📷 113 ►
Solomon's defection causes massive friction within the group. Haji's quiet jealousy and unwavering loyalty are tested as Solomon attempts to whisk Saya away from the endless cycle of war.
Lore · 3 Amshel Turns Devotion Into a Century-Long Project
+2
Red Shield and Cinq Flèches Are Opposite Answers to the Same Time Problem Red Shield & War History Cinq Flèches Turns Diva's Side Into a Modern System Red Shield & War History
View all 113 screencaps from this episode →
037 To the Point of Madness Aired Jun 24, 2006 canon 📷 164 ►
Diva's Chevaliers begin to turn on each other. Carl, completely consumed by his obsessive hatred for Saya, launches a suicidal, collateral-damage-heavy assault in the middle of a crowded city.
Lore · 2 Corpse Corps Proves the Experiment Never Needed the Schiff to Survive
+1
Saya Returns More Distant, Not Less Human Story & Family Guide
View all 164 screencaps from this episode →
038 The Showdown Island Aired Jul 1, 2006 canon 📷 165 ►
Carl forces a final, bloody confrontation with Saya on an abandoned island. The brutal duel pushes Saya to her absolute limits, ending with Haji and Saya executing a perfect, lethal combination.
Lore Chiropteran Regeneration Has Limits
View all 165 screencaps from this episode →
039 Magic Words, Once More Aired Jul 8, 2006 good-filler 📷 165 ►
A deeply emotional breather episode. With the final battle looming, the Red Shield team throws a small, makeshift party to celebrate Thanksgiving. It is a heartbreaking reminder of the normal life they are all fighting to reclaim.
Lore · 4 Nankurunaisa Comes Back With a Different Meaning
+3
The Sword Never Replaces the Girl Holding It Story & Family Guide Saya Returns More Distant, Not Less Human Story & Family Guide Haji's Devotion Is Presence, Not Ownership Blood, Family & Choice
View all 165 screencaps from this episode →
041 The Place Where I Belong Aired Jul 22, 2006 canon 📷 162 ►
The horrifying scale of Diva's plan is revealed: she intends to use a globally broadcasted concert to trigger the Delta 67 drug in millions of people, turning a massive portion of humanity into Chiropterans instantly.
Lore · 3 Delta 67 Turns the Old War Into a Mass-Casualty Plan
+2
Diva's Voice Turns the Private War Into a Global Threat Story & Family Guide Diva's Voice Becomes a Biological Trigger at the End Chiropteran Genetics & Rules
View all 162 screencaps from this episode →
042 Soprano of Miracles Aired Jul 29, 2006 canon 📷 164 ►
Saya and Haji infiltrate Diva's concert in a desperate bid to stop the broadcast. Solomon sacrifices his immortal life to protect Saya from a fatal blow, dying with a smile on his face.
View all 164 screencaps from this episode →
043 Confused Heart Aired Aug 5, 2006 canon 📷 164 ►
The broadcast begins, and chaos erupts globally as people begin mutating. Saya violently forces her way through Diva's remaining defenses, her blood boiling with centuries of hatred and grief.
View all 164 screencaps from this episode →
044 Into the Light Aired Aug 12, 2006 canon 📷 162 ►
The Schiff make their final stand, sacrificing the last of their decaying bodies to hold off the military and clear a path for Saya. Moses and Karman find peace in the sunlight as they turn to ash.
Lore · 4 The Schiff End as People, Not Failed Weapons
+3
Pregnancy Changes the Rule Saya Expects in the Final Duel Chiropteran Genetics & Rules The Next Generation Arrives as Another Pair of Twins Chiropteran Genetics & Rules Diva Keeps Reaching Toward the Family She Was Never Given Blood, Family & Choice
View all 162 screencaps from this episode →
045 Turn the Palm of Your Hand Toward the Sun Aired Aug 19, 2006 canon 📷 221 ►
Amshel, Diva's eldest and most manipulative Chevalier, confronts Haji. The two engage in a massive, monstrous battle in the skies above the city, fighting for the fate of their respective queens.
Lore · 3 The Schiff End as People, Not Failed Weapons
+2
Myth: A Chevalier Is Just a Queen's Superpowered Bodyguard Chevalier Order & Oath Amshel Turns Devotion Into a Century-Long Project Chevalier Order & Oath
View all 221 screencaps from this episode →
047 Beyond All Blood Aired Sep 2, 2006 canon 📷 168 ►
In a shocking twist, Diva is revealed to be pregnant. The Queens' duel reaches its bloody conclusion as their blood mixes, crystalizing Diva's body and ending her centuries-long reign of terror.
Lore · 2 Solomon Chooses Saya Even When the Choice Costs Him Everything
+1
Solomon Proves Blood Is Not the End of the Choice Chevalier Order & Oath
View all 168 screencaps from this episode →
ⓘ Legend
canon Episode adapts events from the source manga.
mixed Adapts source material but adds anime-original scenes.
good-filler Anime-original episode generally well-received by fans.
filler Anime-original episode not based on the source manga.
📷 Number of user-uploaded screencaps available for this episode.
SO

Saya Otonashi

Protagonist

The first time you meet her she is oversleeping, late for school, bad at sports, and completely ordinary. That is not an accident. Saya is built from the ground up as a real girl first and everything else second. She trips. She gets flustered. She loves her brothers with a straightforward warmth the show never once treats as weakness. And then she picks up a sword and something ancient wakes up behind her eyes and the show asks you to hold both of those things at the same time, permanently, for fifty episodes.

That tension is the whole series. Saya is an amnesiac high school student who is also one of the oldest and most dangerous creatures alive, and Blood+ refuses to let either version cancel the other out. She is gentle and she is devastating and she is completely, entirely a girl in a way the writing never undercuts, even when she is at her most terrifying. The femininity is not a costume she puts on between fights. It is who she is. The power does not contradict it.

Fifty episodes with Saya and you will understand why people who watched this show in 2006 never quite got over her.
+49 LORE
The Miyagusuku Family Is Not a Fake Life Blood, Family & Choice George Gives Saya a Home Before Anyone Gives Her a Mission Blood, Family & Choice Kai's Heroism Is Staying Human Blood, Family & Choice Riku Makes the Family Feel Safe Enough to Hurt Blood, Family & Choice Haji's Devotion Is Presence, Not Ownership Blood, Family & Choice The Promise Between Saya and Haji Is About the Person Inside the Power Blood, Family & Choice The Finale Lets Haji Ask Saya to Live Instead Blood, Family & Choice Saya and Diva Begin With the Same Blood and Different Childhoods Blood, Family & Choice Diva Is a Tragedy Without Becoming an Excuse Blood, Family & Choice Diva Keeps Reaching Toward the Family She Was Never Given Blood, Family & Choice The Twins at the End Are Given the Childhood Diva Was Denied Blood, Family & Choice Myth: Blood+ Says Blood Determines Who You Become Blood, Family & Choice How a Human Becomes a Chevalier Chevalier Order & Oath Haji: Saya's First Chevalier, and the Choice He Keeps Making Chevalier Order & Oath Solomon Proves Blood Is Not the End of the Choice Chevalier Order & Oath Riku Becomes Saya's Second Chevalier Chevalier Order & Oath Saya and Diva: The Two Queens Chiropteran Genetics & Rules Saya's Blood Kills Diva's Line, and Diva's Blood Kills Saya's Chiropteran Genetics & Rules The Queens Live in Waking Periods and Long Hibernations Chiropteran Genetics & Rules Pregnancy Changes the Rule Saya Expects in the Final Duel Chiropteran Genetics & Rules The Next Generation Arrives as Another Pair of Twins Chiropteran Genetics & Rules The Zoo Raises Saya and Diva as Opposite Experiments Red Shield & War History 1883: Saya Opens the Tower and the Zoo Burns Red Shield & War History Joel's Diary Is the War's Institutional Memory Red Shield & War History Red Shield and Cinq Flèches Are Opposite Answers to the Same Time Problem Red Shield & War History 1972 Vietnam: Red Shield Wakes Saya Before Her Time Red Shield & War History 2005 Okinawa: Saya Wakes Into a Family Instead of a Mission Red Shield & War History The Fall of Red Shield Headquarters Breaks the Organization Without Ending It Red Shield & War History Blood+ Begins With a Family, Not a Mission Story & Family Guide The Sword Never Replaces the Girl Holding It Story & Family Guide George's Death Makes the War Personal Before It Makes It Global Story & Family Guide Kai Refuses the Safe Version of Being Family Story & Family Guide Leaving Okinawa Is the First Victory the War Gets Story & Family Guide The Lycee Lets Saya Be a Schoolgirl Again, Briefly Story & Family Guide Vietnam Shows Saya a Past She Is Afraid to Call Hers Story & Family Guide Solomon Enters Before Saya Knows What His Family Means Story & Family Guide Russia Turns Memory Into a Promise Between Saya and Haji Story & Family Guide Returning to the Zoo Shows Saya the Childhood Behind the War Story & Family Guide Riku Becomes Saya's Chevalier Because She Refuses to Let Him Die Story & Family Guide Diva's Attack on Riku Is Meant to Destroy More Than One Person Story & Family Guide The One-Year Gap Changes Everyone Except the Reason They Keep Going Story & Family Guide Saya Returns More Distant, Not Less Human Story & Family Guide Solomon Chooses Saya Even When the Choice Costs Him Everything Story & Family Guide Diva's Death Does Not Solve Saya's Final Problem Story & Family Guide Kai's Final Answer Is Family, Not Extermination Story & Family Guide Nankurunaisa Comes Back With a Different Meaning Story & Family Guide The Schiff Enter as a Third Side The Schiff & the Third Side Saya's Blood Does Not Save Irene The Schiff & the Third Side The Alliance With Saya Is Earned, Not Automatic The Schiff & the Third Side
HA

Haji

Supporting

Saya's chevalier. Follows her everywhere and says very little. Plays cello, which the show uses as a visual language for everything their relationship is and is not allowed to be. The restraint between Haji and Saya is one of the more genuinely affecting things Blood+ does. He does not demand. He does not explain himself. He is simply there, completely, in the way that some devotion expresses itself as presence rather than declaration. His history with Saya runs longer than her amnesia goes and the show parcels that history out deliberately. What he gave up and what it cost him lands exactly when the series needs it to.
+17 LORE
Haji's Devotion Is Presence, Not Ownership Blood, Family & Choice The Promise Between Saya and Haji Is About the Person Inside the Power Blood, Family & Choice The Finale Lets Haji Ask Saya to Live Instead Blood, Family & Choice How a Human Becomes a Chevalier Chevalier Order & Oath The Chevalier Bond Does Not Erase Free Will Chevalier Order & Oath Chevaliers Outlive Ordinary Human Lifespans Chevalier Order & Oath Haji: Saya's First Chevalier, and the Choice He Keeps Making Chevalier Order & Oath Myth: A Chevalier Is Just a Queen's Superpowered Bodyguard Chevalier Order & Oath The Queens Live in Waking Periods and Long Hibernations Chiropteran Genetics & Rules The Zoo Raises Saya and Diva as Opposite Experiments Red Shield & War History 1883: Saya Opens the Tower and the Zoo Burns Red Shield & War History 1972 Vietnam: Red Shield Wakes Saya Before Her Time Red Shield & War History The Lycee Lets Saya Be a Schoolgirl Again, Briefly Story & Family Guide Vietnam Shows Saya a Past She Is Afraid to Call Hers Story & Family Guide Russia Turns Memory Into a Promise Between Saya and Haji Story & Family Guide Returning to the Zoo Shows Saya the Childhood Behind the War Story & Family Guide Saya Returns More Distant, Not Less Human Story & Family Guide
KM

Kai Miyagusuku

Supporting

Saya's older adoptive brother and the show's argument that ordinary humans belong in this story. Not awakened, not a soldier, not carrying any bloodline or destiny. Just a teenager who loves his sister and refuses to accept the version of events where he sits at home and waits. Kai is the emotional anchor Blood+ needs precisely because he has nothing special. No powers. No ancient purpose. He is there because he chose to be there and the show treats that choice with complete seriousness.
+18 LORE
The Miyagusuku Family Is Not a Fake Life Blood, Family & Choice Kai's Heroism Is Staying Human Blood, Family & Choice Riku Makes the Family Feel Safe Enough to Hurt Blood, Family & Choice The Twins at the End Are Given the Childhood Diva Was Denied Blood, Family & Choice Myth: Blood+ Says Blood Determines Who You Become Blood, Family & Choice Riku Becomes Saya's Second Chevalier Chevalier Order & Oath The Next Generation Arrives as Another Pair of Twins Chiropteran Genetics & Rules 2005 Okinawa: Saya Wakes Into a Family Instead of a Mission Red Shield & War History The Fall of Red Shield Headquarters Breaks the Organization Without Ending It Red Shield & War History Blood+ Begins With a Family, Not a Mission Story & Family Guide Kai Refuses the Safe Version of Being Family Story & Family Guide Leaving Okinawa Is the First Victory the War Gets Story & Family Guide Riku Becomes Saya's Chevalier Because She Refuses to Let Him Die Story & Family Guide Diva's Attack on Riku Is Meant to Destroy More Than One Person Story & Family Guide The One-Year Gap Changes Everyone Except the Reason They Keep Going Story & Family Guide Saya Returns More Distant, Not Less Human Story & Family Guide Kai's Final Answer Is Family, Not Extermination Story & Family Guide Nankurunaisa Comes Back With a Different Meaning Story & Family Guide
RM

Riku Miyagusuku

SPOILER!

Supporting

The younger brother. Warm, uncomplicated, the quiet emotional center of the Miyagusuku family. Riku's arc in Blood+ is the show at its most deliberately painful. What the series does with him is not accidental and it is not casual. He is used to draw the sharpest possible line about what this conflict costs at the most personal scale, and Blood+ does not soften it or look away from what it has done. His presence in the early episodes matters specifically because of where it goes.
+10 LORE
The Miyagusuku Family Is Not a Fake Life Blood, Family & Choice Riku Makes the Family Feel Safe Enough to Hurt Blood, Family & Choice Diva Keeps Reaching Toward the Family She Was Never Given Blood, Family & Choice How a Human Becomes a Chevalier Chevalier Order & Oath Riku Becomes Saya's Second Chevalier Chevalier Order & Oath 2005 Okinawa: Saya Wakes Into a Family Instead of a Mission Red Shield & War History Blood+ Begins With a Family, Not a Mission Story & Family Guide Leaving Okinawa Is the First Victory the War Gets Story & Family Guide Riku Becomes Saya's Chevalier Because She Refuses to Let Him Die Story & Family Guide Diva's Attack on Riku Is Meant to Destroy More Than One Person Story & Family Guide
GM

George Miyagusuku

Supporting

The father. Adoptive, former military, the man who built the family Saya woke up inside of. George is the show's opening argument that found family is real and worth everything. He does not have long. What he represents to all three of his children runs through the rest of the series as a weight the show keeps returning to long after he is gone. Blood+ earns its emotional stakes in the first handful of episodes and George is the reason.
+7 LORE
The Miyagusuku Family Is Not a Fake Life Blood, Family & Choice George Gives Saya a Home Before Anyone Gives Her a Mission Blood, Family & Choice The Red Shield Inherits Joel's War Red Shield & War History 2005 Okinawa: Saya Wakes Into a Family Instead of a Mission Red Shield & War History Blood+ Begins With a Family, Not a Mission Story & Family Guide George's Death Makes the War Personal Before It Makes It Global Story & Family Guide Nankurunaisa Comes Back With a Different Meaning Story & Family Guide
DA

David

Supporting

Red Shield operative. The man who shows up and explains what Saya is and what she is needed for. Controlled, professional, carrying things he does not discuss. David is the procedural spine Blood+ needs to keep its conspiracy architecture coherent across fifty episodes. His relationship with Julia and with Lewis gives him texture that the straight handler role does not always earn. He is reliable in the specific way that quietly dependable characters are reliable, and the show knows when to use that.
+5 LORE
The Red Shield Inherits Joel's War Red Shield & War History Joel's Diary Is the War's Institutional Memory Red Shield & War History Red Shield and Cinq Flèches Are Opposite Answers to the Same Time Problem Red Shield & War History The Fall of Red Shield Headquarters Breaks the Organization Without Ending It Red Shield & War History The One-Year Gap Changes Everyone Except the Reason They Keep Going Story & Family Guide
JS

Julia Silverstein

Supporting

Red Shield's medical researcher. The person who actually understands chiroptera biology, what Saya's blood does, and why the science behind any of it works. Julia is Blood+'s most underrated character. Precise, smart, operating consistently in situations she did not sign up for. Her dynamic with David is handled with more subtlety than the show gets credit for. She is the one keeping the clinical reality of what Red Shield is doing from becoming pure mythology, and that grounding matters.
+3 LORE
Diva's Voice Becomes a Biological Trigger at the End Chiropteran Genetics & Rules Pregnancy Changes the Rule Saya Expects in the Final Duel Chiropteran Genetics & Rules The Red Shield Inherits Joel's War Red Shield & War History
DI

Diva

Antagonist

Saya's twin. The other queen. Where Saya was raised with a family, with love, with George and two brothers and a life that was genuinely hers, Diva was locked in a tower and treated as a specimen. She sings. Her voice is a weapon. She kills with the cheerful, uncomplicated affect of a child who was never taught that other people are real.

Diva is what Saya might have become without any of the things that made Saya who she is, and Blood+ is honest about that without using it as an excuse. The tragedy of Diva is that she was made into what she is. The horror of Diva is that what she is operates without limits or remorse. White where Saya is dark. Childlike where Saya is grounded. The show's most devastating argument is that the distance between them was never biology. It was one family and the presence or absence of it.
+23 LORE
1883: Saya Opens the Tower and the Zoo Burns Red Shield & War History Saya and Diva Begin With the Same Blood and Different Childhoods Blood, Family & Choice Diva Is a Tragedy Without Becoming an Excuse Blood, Family & Choice Diva Keeps Reaching Toward the Family She Was Never Given Blood, Family & Choice The Twins at the End Are Given the Childhood Diva Was Denied Blood, Family & Choice Myth: Blood+ Says Blood Determines Who You Become Blood, Family & Choice Diva's Five Chevaliers Do Not Function as One Mind Chevalier Order & Oath Solomon Proves Blood Is Not the End of the Choice Chevalier Order & Oath Amshel Turns Devotion Into a Century-Long Project Chevalier Order & Oath Saya and Diva: The Two Queens Chiropteran Genetics & Rules Saya's Blood Kills Diva's Line, and Diva's Blood Kills Saya's Chiropteran Genetics & Rules The Queens Live in Waking Periods and Long Hibernations Chiropteran Genetics & Rules Diva's Voice Becomes a Biological Trigger at the End Chiropteran Genetics & Rules Pregnancy Changes the Rule Saya Expects in the Final Duel Chiropteran Genetics & Rules The Next Generation Arrives as Another Pair of Twins Chiropteran Genetics & Rules The Zoo Raises Saya and Diva as Opposite Experiments Red Shield & War History Cinq Flèches Turns Diva's Side Into a Modern System Red Shield & War History Red Shield and Cinq Flèches Are Opposite Answers to the Same Time Problem Red Shield & War History Returning to the Zoo Shows Saya the Childhood Behind the War Story & Family Guide Diva's Attack on Riku Is Meant to Destroy More Than One Person Story & Family Guide Solomon Chooses Saya Even When the Choice Costs Him Everything Story & Family Guide Diva's Voice Turns the Private War Into a Global Threat Story & Family Guide Diva's Death Does Not Solve Saya's Final Problem Story & Family Guide
SG

Solomon Goldsmith

SPOILER!

Antagonist

One of Diva's chevaliers and the one the show complicates most deliberately. Elegant, composed, and genuinely in love with Saya in a way that puts him increasingly at odds with what he was made to be. Solomon's arc is Blood+'s most direct question about whether something created in service of one purpose can choose a different one. The answer the series gives is not clean and not comfortable and it is better for both of those things. He is not a villain who becomes a hero. He is something harder to categorize than that.
+7 LORE
Myth: Blood+ Says Blood Determines Who You Become Blood, Family & Choice The Chevalier Bond Does Not Erase Free Will Chevalier Order & Oath Diva's Five Chevaliers Do Not Function as One Mind Chevalier Order & Oath Solomon Proves Blood Is Not the End of the Choice Chevalier Order & Oath Myth: A Chevalier Is Just a Queen's Superpowered Bodyguard Chevalier Order & Oath Solomon Enters Before Saya Knows What His Family Means Story & Family Guide Solomon Chooses Saya Even When the Choice Costs Him Everything Story & Family Guide
AG

Amshel Goldsmith

Antagonist

The oldest of Diva's chevaliers and the actual architect of everything the show's conspiracy amounts to. Where Solomon represents the possibility of breaking free from Diva's orbit, Amshel represents total devotion to it. Cold, controlled, fanatical in the specific way that absolute ideological commitment produces. He is the practical villain of Blood+, the one making the decisions that the other chevaliers carry out, and the show is not interested in softening him. He is what he is completely.
+8 LORE
Cinq Flèches Turns Diva's Side Into a Modern System Red Shield & War History Chevaliers Outlive Ordinary Human Lifespans Chevalier Order & Oath Diva's Five Chevaliers Do Not Function as One Mind Chevalier Order & Oath Amshel Turns Devotion Into a Century-Long Project Chevalier Order & Oath Myth: A Chevalier Is Just a Queen's Superpowered Bodyguard Chevalier Order & Oath Diva's Voice Becomes a Biological Trigger at the End Chiropteran Genetics & Rules Red Shield and Cinq Flèches Are Opposite Answers to the Same Time Problem Red Shield & War History Diva's Voice Turns the Private War Into a Global Threat Story & Family Guide
NM

Nathan Mahler

Antagonist

Diva's chevalier and the one the show is most deliberately cagey about. Theatrical, flamboyant, operating with an agenda that Blood+ keeps slightly out of focus for longer than it does with the others. Nathan is harder to read than anyone else in the cast and the series uses that opacity with purpose. Every scene he is in carries a specific quality of not quite knowing where he stands or what he actually wants. That ambiguity is the point. Pay attention to it.
+3 LORE
The Chevalier Bond Does Not Erase Free Will Chevalier Order & Oath Diva's Five Chevaliers Do Not Function as One Mind Chevalier Order & Oath Myth: A Chevalier Is Just a Queen's Superpowered Bodyguard Chevalier Order & Oath
LE

Lewis

Supporting

David's partner in Red Shield. Warm, dependable, the human face of the operation in a way David is not built to be. Lewis handles the weight of what Red Shield does without becoming grim about it, which is harder than it looks in a show this dark. His friendship with David is one of Blood+'s more quietly drawn relationships, the kind that does not announce itself but is obviously load-bearing. The show is better for having him in it.
+2 LORE
The Red Shield Inherits Joel's War Red Shield & War History The Fall of Red Shield Headquarters Breaks the Organization Without Ending It Red Shield & War History
MO

Moses

Supporting

Former soldier. One of the Delta 67 chiroptera, turned against his will during a military experiment that had no intention of asking permission. Travels with Karman and a young girl named Irene. Moses represents a third category Blood+ needs and uses well: not Saya's side, not Diva's side, just a person trying to exist inside a war he did not choose and did not consent to being made for. His arc is quiet and the show does not oversell it. That restraint is what makes it land.
+8 LORE
The Schiff: Artificial Chiropterans Who Refuse Their Intended Role Chiropteran Genetics & Rules The Schiff Enter as a Third Side The Schiff & the Third Side They Were Built as Soldiers and Escaped as People The Schiff & the Third Side The Thorn Makes Every Schiff Decision Urgent The Schiff & the Third Side Saya's Blood Does Not Save Irene The Schiff & the Third Side Moses and Karman Carry the Same Experiment Differently The Schiff & the Third Side The Alliance With Saya Is Earned, Not Automatic The Schiff & the Third Side The Schiff End as People, Not Failed Weapons The Schiff & the Third Side
KA

Karman

Supporting

Moses's companion and the sharper edge of the two. Where Moses carries the Delta 67 experience with a kind of exhausted dignity, Karman carries it with anger, which is the more honest response and the show knows it. They are inseparable in the way that people become inseparable when they have survived something together that nobody else will ever fully understand. Blood+ uses them to make the world feel larger than the war between the two queens, and that matters for the fifty episodes it takes to get to the end.
+8 LORE
The Schiff: Artificial Chiropterans Who Refuse Their Intended Role Chiropteran Genetics & Rules The Schiff Enter as a Third Side The Schiff & the Third Side They Were Built as Soldiers and Escaped as People The Schiff & the Third Side The Thorn Makes Every Schiff Decision Urgent The Schiff & the Third Side Saya's Blood Does Not Save Irene The Schiff & the Third Side Moses and Karman Carry the Same Experiment Differently The Schiff & the Third Side The Alliance With Saya Is Earned, Not Automatic The Schiff & the Third Side The Schiff End as People, Not Failed Weapons The Schiff & the Third Side
← All lore

Chiropteran Genetics & Rules

The Progenitor Queens

Saya and Diva: The Two Queens

Twin girls from two cocoons · the center of two opposing bloodlines
Saya and Diva are twin Chiropteran Queens born in 1833 from two cocoons discovered inside a Chiropteran mummy.

Their blood creates Chevaliers, their lineages determine the series' lethal blood incompatibility, and their conflict drives the century-spanning war.
Why it matters
Blood+ does not need every Chiropteran to have a detailed taxonomy. The important biological divide is lineage: which Queen a creature ultimately comes from.
Diva Saya Otonashi

Saya's Blood Kills Diva's Line, and Diva's Blood Kills Saya's

Opposing Queen blood · crystallization
Blood from one Queen is lethal to the opposing Queen's bloodline. When enough of it enters the body, crystallization spreads through the target until the body breaks apart.

Saya therefore turns her own sword into a delivery system by feeding her blood into its groove before fighting.
Why it matters
The katana is important because Saya knows how to use it. Her blood is what makes it uniquely dangerous to Diva's side.
Saya Otonashi Diva

The Queens Live in Waking Periods and Long Hibernations

A few active years followed by roughly thirty years of sleep

Saya and Diva do not remain continuously awake across their long lives. Their active periods are followed by hibernations lasting roughly thirty years.

That rhythm lets the same conflict reappear inside different moments of human history while ordinary generations pass around them.
What changed
Saya's amnesia makes the modern awakening different. She does not return carrying a clean century of memory. Other people have to tell her what her own life used to mean.
Saya Otonashi Diva Haji

Diva's Voice Becomes a Biological Trigger at the End

SPOILER!
Diva's singing is more than an identifying trait. Cinq Flèches research turns the voice into part of the Synchronicity effect used to activate Delta 67 in exposed populations.
Why it matters
The final plan combines something intensely personal to Diva with industrial-scale research. Her voice becomes the bridge between one individual Queen and a global transformation event.
Diva Amshel Goldsmith Julia Silverstein

Pregnancy Changes the Rule Saya Expects in the Final Duel

SPOILER!
Saya enters the final confrontation expecting the old blood rule to work in both directions.

Diva's pregnancy has changed her blood enough that Saya does not crystallize when struck by Diva's blood, while Saya's blood remains lethal to Diva.
Why it matters
The last battle is resolved by a biological change tied directly to the next generation, not by Saya suddenly becoming immune through willpower.
Saya Otonashi Diva Julia Silverstein

The Next Generation Arrives as Another Pair of Twins

SPOILER!
Diva leaves behind twin daughters carried in cocoons.
What changed
The Queen line continues, but the circumstances do not have to. Kai's decision to raise the children makes the future different before their biology ever gets a chance to decide it.
Diva Kai Miyagusuku Saya Otonashi

Mutated & Artificial Sub-Species

Delta 67 Turns Human Bodies Into Part of the War

Artificial Chiropteran research · military and mass-casualty applications

Delta 67 is an artificial agent developed through research tied to Diva's blood and used to induce Chiropteran transformation in humans.

Early in the story it appears through military experimentation. By the final campaign, the same research has become part of a much larger plan in which Diva's singing can trigger the transformation of exposed populations through the Synchronicity effect.
Why it matters
The war stops being only two ancient sisters hunting one another. Human institutions learn how to manufacture the disaster.

The Schiff: Artificial Chiropterans Who Refuse Their Intended Role

SPOILER!

Escaped experimental soldiers · sunlight · the Thorn

The Schiff are sentient artificial Chiropterans created as experimental soldiers. They escape rather than accept the purpose they were made for.

They are powerful, but their bodies come with brutal limits: sunlight is dangerous and the progressive condition they call the Thorn eventually crystallizes and destroys them.
Why it matters
The Schiff make the world larger than Saya versus Diva. They are people produced by the same war who do not naturally belong to either Queen.
Moses Karman

Chiropteran Regeneration Has Limits

Human-scale wounds are not enough · lineage blood changes the equation

Chiropterans can recover from injuries that would immediately kill an ordinary human, which is why conventional weapons often function as delay rather than a guaranteed finish.

Blood+ avoids giving one universal hit-point rule for every type of Chiropteran. The reliable exception is the bloodline weakness: opposing Queen blood can produce the crystallization ordinary regeneration cannot overcome.
Why it matters
The series' combat rules make Saya necessary without pretending every Chiropteran body works identically.
Related Articles
General · Aug 10, 2026
AnimeHistory Lore Is Starting to Connect to Itself