Anime / Blood-C

"What do you think people are made of? I'm not talking about blood or flesh. We do care about what's on the exterior, but we want to focus more on what people even now still call the "inside." You can also call it "nature." I guess you are either born this way or raised to act this way. Are people born like this or do they become like this? The answer is..."

— Opening Narration

Blood-C is a 2011 anime series that was produced and collaborated on by Studio Production I.G and CLAMP. It is the second anime based on Blood: The Last Vampire, following 2005's Blood+.

Kisaragi Saya is a High School girl born to a shrine family. By day, she's completely ordinary and enjoys hanging out with her friends. By night, she fights and kills the monsters called "Elder Bairns" who invade her town and attempt to feed on humans. But as Saya continues to fight for her life each night, she begins to notice something isn't quite right in this town...

The movie Blood-C: The Last Dark, which was out on June 2, 2012, is a sequel which continues the events of the TV series, one year later, and is set in Tokyo.

Funimation has licensed both the TV series (released in November, 2012) and film, which was released in 2013. A manga adaptation of the TV series and the movie was serialized in Shounen Ace. There's also a spin-off manga entitled Blood-C: Demonic Moonlight (Blood-C: Izayoi Kitan) which is set in 1946. In July 2015, a stage play entitled, Blood-C: The Last Mind, was released which is written by Junichi Fujisaku and is an Interquel between the TV series and movie.

There is also a live-action film released on August 27, 2017 which is entitled Asura Girl: Blood-C Another Story which features a completely new story set in the military regime of pre-World War II Japan, and follows a bloody conflict that erupts between villagers and Japan's Special Higher Police forces. It is written by Fujisaku and directed by Shutaro Oku who also directed the stage play. Another live-action film entitled Blood-Club Dolls was released on October 2018 which would also be written by Fujisaku and directed by Oku.

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Blood-C provides examples of:

• Action Dress Rip: In the last episode, Saya rips off part of her school skirt and turns it into an Eyepatch of Power after Fumito shoots her in the eye as he escapes from her.
• Action Girl: Saya as she is one of the two characters (the other being Tadayoshi) capable of fighting and defeating the Elder Bairns.
• All There in the Manual: The pasts of the main characters, along with what's the deal with the Elder Bairns is not relevealed in the series, but Tadayoshi's past life is revealed in Blood-C: Demonic Moonlight manga and how Fumito got interested in Saya is explained in Blood-C: The Last Mind stage play.
• Alternate Continuity: Blood-C has no connection to the earlier works Blood+ or Blood: The Last Vampire except in a loose way (see Broad Strokes below).
• Ancient Conspiracy: In ancient times, humans made a covenant with Elder Bairns, called Shrovetide, which allowed them to feast on humans only during a special time, and Fumito's family was one of the two clans in charge of it under an organization named Tower.
• Anguished Declaration of Love: Tokizane confesses to Saya in Episode 9. She reacts in confusion and asks what he likes about her. Turns out the whole thing was just an act.
• Ankle Drag: Happens to the Motoe twins in episode 12. Nene is dangled in the air and then repeatedly smashed into the ground, while Nono gets ripped in half.
• Anyone Can Die: Around episode 6, the show starts killing off some of the main cast but by episode 11, the main characters who have died seem to have faked their deaths. However, Fumito has them brutally killed for disobeying his order. By the end of the show, only Saya, Fumito, and Yuka are the only ones left alive.
• Asshole Victim: In the end, Tokizane, the Motoe twins and Kanako are revealed to be actors paid by Fumito to act as Saya's friends and they turn out to be selfish assholes who look down on Saya. Then, Fumito orders one of his Elder Bairns to execute them brutally. Given the way how they treat Saya after the reveal, they deserve it.
• Becoming the Mask: Itsuki comes to actually care for Saya while acting out his role as her classmate.
• Big Bad: Fumito. He is the mastermind behind the "Truman Show" Plot where he puts Saya in an experiment and drugs her whenever her old memories resurfaced. In fact, this isn't the first time he did this to her. Side materials reveal that his late grandfather entrusted him to help Saya's blood dependence but Fumito's twisted love for her leads to the all the trauma he inflicted on her.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing:
  • The Motoe Twins, Tokizane, Kanako and Fumito are all in the conspiracy with Elder Bairns and have warding amulets while the rest of the town is disposable. Not to mention Fumito is who's orchestrated this in the first place.
  • As of the last episode, Yuka can be added to the list. She only participated in The Masquerade because she wanted to be a politician and doesn't seem to care when the rest of the participants are slaughtered.
• Bloodier and Gorier: In contrast to the previous installments (Blood+ and Blood: The Last Vampire), the deaths are more viseral and gory. Many characters suffered very gruesome deaths where some are eaten with their limbs torn off and their guts spilled out. The TV broadcast had to put a lot of white censor bars on the brutal deaths and blur the gory scenes.
• Blood Is the New Black:
  • Saya in the opening and in Episodes 3 and 4 has her covered from head to toe in blood.
  • Tried to be subverted by Fumito in a rare exploited example. After The Reveal, Nono and Nene hint at the possibility of the uniforms being black and red to conceal any blood stains left from one of Saya's feedings.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: Elder Bairns fall under Fumito's control if they feed them Saya's blood, which includes Tadayoshi.
• Break the Cutie: Saya in the second half where several of her close friends end up dying under her watch no matter how hard she tries to save them. In episode 11, it gets worse when these close friends turn out to be jerks who never cared for her and her entire life is a facade constructed by the very man who she trusted.
• Brains and Brawn: According to Kuroto in the film, the two families that tended the Shrovetide were like this: the Mogari were in charge of the political stuff and the Nanahara of protecting them with magic.
• Broad Strokes: The series is set in a different universe than Blood: The Last Vampire, but judging for the flashback in episode 11, where Saya is shown in her The Last Vampire uniform fighting in what appears to be an airfield while a voiceover talks about her connection to the United States Army, it is apparent that at least some of the elements and events of the original film happened here in some way. Similarly, the side-story manga Blood-C: Demonic Moonlight shows an alternate version of David and leaves open the possibility that he and Saya worked together at some point.
• The Cameo: The talking dog that befriends Saya is heavily implied to Watanuki from ×××HOLiC channeling himself through a familiar, as they share the voice actor, both from the series by Creator/CLAMP, and the dog tells he owns a shop that grants wishes.
• Casting Gag: Voice actors Keiji Fujiwara (Tadayoshi Kisaragi) and Kenji Nojima (Fumito Nanahara) previously played in Blood+. Fujiwara voiced Nathan Mahler, one of Diva's Chevalier, and hilariously enough, Tadayoshi happens to be half-human hybrid too. Nojima voiced Karman, one of the artificial chiropterans designed as super soldiers, and also hilariously enough in the movie, Fumito is also creating artificial Elder Bairns though not for military purposes.
• Characters Dropping Like Flies: The main cast decreases as Elder Bairns intensify their attacks. By the end only Saya, Fumito and Yuka are left alive.
• Chaste Hero: Saya cannot tell when someone likes her at all.
• Cliffhanger: The ending of the series left us with Saya pursuing Fumito into the city, followed by Blood-C: The Last Dark.
• Cradling Your Kill: Saya briefly hugs Tadayoshi's corpse after killing him in his Elder Bairn form.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Played with. Saya was tricked into thinking she lives in a Wake Up, Go to School & Save the World scenario, when in reality, she really is a powerful swordsman with her memories tampered with and implied to be Half-Human Hybrid as well.
• Cruel and Unusual Death:
  • Most deaths involve being torn apart in some capacity, given the fact that the Elder Bairns take on rather weird shapes and states of existence, resulting in unusually painful ways for most of the characters to die, like being impaled by a shadow or bring ripped in half.
  • Elder Bairns aren't safe from it either, since upon encountering Saya they're bound to suffer a horrifying death at the hands of the girl, such as being sliced in half or stabbed from the inside out.
• Cute Clumsy Girl: Saya's habit of falling on her face.
• Daddy's Girl: Saya really loves her father Tadayoshi, which makes her especially horrified when it turns out he's neither her father nor a human.
• Dangled by a Giant: A unique variant also notably featuring a non-humanoid as the giant. When an Elder Bairn attempts to eat Kanako it uses its fingers to pin her arms behind her back and carries her this way as it lowers her into its mouth while she kicks desperately. Another non-humanoid example occurs when an Elder Bairn resembling a cross between a tree frog and a jumping spider attacks Saya's school. During the attack it picks up a female student and holds her with the tips of its claws as it drops her into its mouth and devours her. What stands out in this instance is that it has its "fingertips" pinching either side of her midsection, so she dangles horizontally rather than the usual vertical position.
• Dark Reprise: The BGM playing during Saya's Heroic BSoD after Fumito escapes sounds like the song she always sings.
• Death By Genre Savvy: An unlucky student from Episode 9. After safely getting away from the monster and escaping outside, he is promptly killed by falling glass because Saya kicked the monster into the window.
• Declaration of Protection: What Saya promised her class in Episode 8. She couldn't deliver on it as all students present got killed.
• Dissonant Serenity:
  • Fumito seems perfectly calm whenever there's danger, as he's behind the Elder Bairn attacks. Most prominently seen when he's leaving the town in a car while his men are shooting down civilians and the bunny Elder Bairns killing everything else.
  • Yuka is also unfazed when she's leaving the city with Fumito. Her conversation with him while the town massacre is ongoing looked like they're talking over drinks.
• Dogged Nice Guy:
  • Itsuki is this to Saya, although this trope is subverted at first, and played straight at the end. Itsuki is nice to Saya and the film reveals that he was actually a spy sent to the fake town and that he was aligned with good all along, however, for his role as a main cast member he has to pretend to be in love with Saya. Itsuki falls in love with Saya for real, but his death prevents their relationship from going anywhere.
• "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: Nana Mizuki, Saya's voice actress also performs the ending theme.
• Downer Ending: Fumito gets away, Saya loses an eye, Itsuki and Tadayoshi die redeeming themselves, and the entire town is massacred.
• Dying Declaration of Love: Itsuki in episode 12. After he shields Saya from being gunned down by Fumito's men, Itsuki confesses that he has fallen in love with, much to Saya's confusion, because as far she knows, Itsuki seems to have fallen for Saya's cheerful persona rather than her true self.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: In the first episode, Saya says a Shinto prayer before her battle with the Elder Bairn, reinforcing the connection between her role as shrine maiden and battling the monsters, as well as the notion of her battles as a religious duty. This is omitted in all subsequent episodes.
  Ikutama, Tarutama, Tamatamarutama. Amenotokotachi no Mikoto, Kuninotokotachi no Mikoto.
• Eaten Alive: This is usually the fate of some civilians whenever an Elder Bairn shows up and grabs them but there are some cases where an Elder Bairn doesn't kill its victim first.
• Eldritch Abomination: Most of the Elder Bairns have bizarre monstrous shapes and biology, and greatly vary in size.
• Eyepatch of Power: Saya, after taking a bullet to the eye in episode 12, tears her skirt into a makeshift eyepatch.
• Eye Scream:
  • In Episode 5 Saya thrusts her hand through the Oculothorax Elder Bairn's head/eye.
  • Saya gets a bullet to the eye in episode 12, but other than eye loss is uninjured.
• Failure Hero: Saya is good at killing monsters, but anyone she intends to save or protect is doomed to be viciously slaughtered no matter what she does. Most prominently, her entire school is killed off shortly after her Declaration of Protection.
• Fake Memories: Most everything Saya remembers that isn't from a flashback is fake, courtesy of Fumito and his coffee.
• Fake Town: As revealed near the end the entire town where the protagonist Saya lives in is actually an experiment setup designed by the Big Bad who is trying to test if he can restore Saya's ability to feed on humans. All the inhabitants in the town, including Saya's classmates, are paid actors. One clue on this is whenever there's an Elder Bairns attack, someone would complain that they were "never warned about it".
• Faking the Dead: Tokizane, the Motoe twins, and Yuka are seemingly killed by Elder Bairns, but show up during The Reveal. Then everyone except Yuka gets Killed Off for Real.
• Fan Disservice: The Motoe twins' get panty shots during their deaths. Then there's Kanako, who not only had several panty shots, but a full breast exposure when she was killed.
• Food Chain of Evil: Saya drinks the blood of Elder Bairns, who are in turn prey on humans.
• Food Porn: The close-up shots on food that Fumito makes look very delicious. They also include blood and memory-tampering agents.
• Foreshadowing:
  • The opening has a brief shot of single streak of blood falling from the left side of Saya's obscured face to her chest. It's not just a Single Tear, it's referencing that Saya gets her left eye shot out.
  • There is more than meets the eye to Saya's town. There are little moments when civilians Saya is saving mention things like "This wasn't supposed to happen!" or "I was told differently!". Of course, there is the most obvious one where the Elder Bairns mention the 'pact' has been broken once Saya fights ones that can talk. Episodes 11 and 12 reveal the plot to be a Fake Town with all of the townspeople are actually actors and it's an experiment in brainwashing Saya. Fumito lied to everyone and by the end lets the entire town get killed except for Yuka who sides with him when he explains the real plan.
• Gaslighting: Fumito hires actors to play as Saya's friends and lets them pretend that they were killed by the Elder Bairns just to provoke an emotional response from Saya whether she could retain her new personality or not. He also drugged Saya with coffee and marshmallows whenever her old memories resurfaced. But the whole gaslighting stops after the some of the actors got fed up waiting for Fumito give them their rewards and decided to finish the job themselves by forcing Saya to drink her own blood and revealing to her that it's all a set-up.
• Giant Spider: The Elder Bairn of Episode 9 looks like a giant toad head on 8 sharp legs.
• Gorn: Most of the time series doesn't shy from showing internal organs of dead Elder Bairns and humans alike, though in TV release all is obscured by Lens Flare Censor.
• Gory Discretion Shot:
  • As the Elder Bairn of Episode 7 is cleanly bisected, his two halves turn around so that the gooey bits remain off camera.
  • Pops up in Eisode 12, as the entire left side of Saya's face after her eye gets blown off is never seen.
• Half-Human Hybrid: Tadayoshi turns out to be half-Elder Bairn, and turns into a monster when fighting.
• Hidden Depths: Despite her established klutziness, Saya is really good at sports.
• Hidden Villain: Fumito reveals himself as the Big Bad and the series being a Fake Town near the end.
• High-Pressure Blood: Whenever Saya cuts something, it's shown like a blood fountain.
• Helpless Kicking: This happens often whenever there's an Elder Bairn that can eat humans. Two prominent examples are the spider Elder Bairns who ambushes Saya's school and grabs one student who is screaming and helplessly kicking her legs until the Elder Bairns bites her and swallows her whole. Another Cerberus Elder Bairn where it grabs Nono by the ankle and Nono futilely kicks the Elder Bairns' hand until the Elder Bairns rips her in half and grabs Kanako, who flails her legs while screaming, and tries to swallow her whole until Saya kills it.
• Hot Teacher: Kanako is a teacher, and a good looking woman who's always glammed-up wearing tops that show off her cleavage, high heels, and miniskirts.
• Hunter of Monsters: Saya hunts Elder Bairns with her katana as part of her miko duties.
• I'm a Humanitarian: Elder Bairns feast on humans and try to kill and chew on any in their proximity.
• Insistent Terminology: In one episode, Saya insists to Tokizane that the creatures are not "monsters" but Elder Bairns. Fridge Brilliance kicks in once it is revealed Saya unknowingly to her is one herself.
• Karma Houdini: Fumito, at least until the movie. Yūka Amino, however, survived the series and the movie, eventually becoming Governor of Tokyo.
• Katanas Are Just Better: Saya mostly uses a katana when fighting Elder Bairns.
• Kill the Cutie: Cheerful Motoe twins are the first one to die, followed by Saya's other classmates. Subverted that not only Motoe twins were Faking the Dead, but both are The Fake Cutie and are in with the plot to brainwash Saya, making their real deaths rather karmic.
• "Everybody Dies" Ending: Everyone in Saya's class in Episodes 8 and 9, with the exception of Itsuki and Tokizane, get killed by the spider Elder Bairn or get caught in the cross-fire.
  • Everyone eventually dies except for Fumito, Yuka and Saya, as the entire town gets eaten.
• Killed Off for Real: Motoe twins turned out to be somehow Faking the Dead when they've got killed the first time. However, when they disagree with Fumito after he reveals the rest of the plan, he sets loose a hungry Elder Bairn on them.
• Killer Rabbit: Episode 12 features giant rabbit-like Elder Bairns during the finale, who can turn their limbs into pots and blender.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: As the show goes on, Saya's old memories slowly return. However, whenever she drinks Fumito's coffee and food, those memories are repressed because they were laced with her blood. After Kanako forces Saya to drink her blood, her old memories fully returned.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: In episode 11 Nene and Nono explain that Saya, Tokizane, Yuuka, Itsuki and the twins themselves are "the main characters" and the rest are just extra.
• Left Hanging: Bizarrely enough, it is never revealed who was the person Saya made her Promise to, despite it regularly brought up as an important plot point.
• Lens Flare Censor: Several times when monsters attack, the gore parts are obscured by a black flare. Replaced with blurs half the time in episode 12 for unknown reasons. Removed in the BD/DVD releases.
• Living a Double Life: There's sweet, naive, clumsy Saya, and then there's cold, red-eyed, monster-slayer Saya, depending if she's in front of a human or an Elder Bairn.The latter is the true one, while the former was artificially reinforced by Fumito.
• Love Dodecahedron: Sort of. There's a mild one with Itsuki and Tokizane having feelings for Saya, who "loves" Fumito.
• Loving a Shadow: While Itsuki is dying after being shot multiple times, he confesses his love for Saya, saying that, while his affections for her started as an act, he fell in love with her for real. Saya tragically points out that the person he loved wasn't even her real self, but Itsuki takes comfort in his belief that the personality Saya showed while being manipulated by Fumito was at least a part of her real self.
• Magic Skirt: Present, although this trope only seems to apply to Saya. During her fight scenes, even in situations where her underwear would realistically be visible, it never is. However, during episode 12, Nene and Nono's underwear is visible during their death scenes and Kanako's underwear is also shown multiple times during Saya's fight with the Elder Bairn, and when she dies.
• Meaningful Name: Kisaragi means "to cloak oneself or change form", and was chosen specifically for Saya's role. While "Saya" appears to be her real first name, the audience never learns what her real surname is, if she had one before the events of the anime.
• Miko: Saya lives as a priestess at the local shrine and defends the town from monsterous Elder Bairn.
• Missing Mom: Saya's mother fought Elder Bairns herself, and died when Saya was a child. Given that almost everything is a fake narrative made by Fumito, this one is likely as well.
• Monster of the Week: For the majority of the series Saya goes killing Elder Bairns one by one as part of her duties.
• Multi-Armed and Dangerous: The Samurai Elder Bairn in Episode 7 has an extra pair of arms on his shoulders.
• Mythology Gag:
  • The opening features a scene of a naked Saya holding herself out as flakes of blood dissipate from her skin into the air, similar to a scene in the third opening of Blood+.
  • Fumito resembles Solomon and Ms. Tsutsutori resembles Julia from Blood+ in both physical demeanor and personality.
  • Both Saya Kisaragi and Saya Otonashi resemble each other in Godiva Hair shot.
  • Saya's mother supposedly fought Elder Bairns herself and died when Saya was a child, like mothers of previous Sayas.
• Nice Guy: This is mainly the reason for Saya "loving" Fumito, for being kind, making delicious food, and listening to her when she's not feeling well. He turns out to be Bitch in Sheep's Clothing who's manipulating her memories and The Sociopath.
• Nothing Exciting Ever Happens Here: Some citizens complain about their boring lives, but they don't get to see the Elder Bairns like Saya. Which leads to Be Careful What You Wish For, as the monsters start attacking people in broad daylight. This becomes Foreshadowing, as all citizens are paid actors with limited information on Saya and Elder Bairns.
• Noodle Incident: In Episode 11, it's implied that The Motoe twins have a history of being arrested before coming to town, but their backstory isn't elaborated. It's implied to be for pimping out other girls when one of them suggests that they should get more school uniforms for "the girls" to wear, but that this time they'd have to be more careful.
• Noodle People: CLAMP's signature artstyle doesn't stand out too much, but the length of limbs for humans is still about three times longer the size of the torso.
• Not Quite Saved Enough: In the final episode, Kanako is very nearly eaten alive by the Elder Bairn that killed Nene, Nono and Tokizane, but Saya — who's been watching all of this in horror — suddenly snaps and beats the crap out of the monster to save her teacher. Kanako then runs like a bat out of hell for the temple and begs Tadayoshi for help. Tadayoshi responds by taking a huge bite out of her neck, nearly decapitating her.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Everyone except Saya turned out to be conspirators or paid actors and are in the plot to slowly brainwash her.
• Oh, Crap!: The Motoe Twins and Kanako in episode 12, when the nearby Elder Bairn kills Tokizane, and Fumito informs them that talismans protecting them from it are fake. And he sics it on them as well.
• Older Than They Look: Yuka is not actually a schoolgirl and is well into her twenties. Other Saya classmates may be older as well, as they are paid actors and Motoe twins even have a criminal record.
• Our Vampires Are Different: Elder Bairns substitute Chiropterans from other continuities, however they are flesh-eating Eldritch Abominations who can look like just about anything, including a train. Half-Human Hybrids like Saya and Tadayoshi are closer to traditional vampires.
• Plot Armor: Exploited by Fumito, who gives a warding talismans to a few actors most close to Saya, telling them that Elder Bairns would ignore them as long as they wear it. Turns out Elder Bairns instead answer to Fumito directly and everyone except Yuka get killed off for not getting along with the plan.
• Pushed at the Monster: Nono elbows her own sister Nene in the face, when an Elder Bairn is set loose and gives chase after them. It does little good as Nene still gets quickly caught herself and suffers an even more gruesome death than Nono.
• Rain of Blood: Near the end of episode 6, after Saya defeats the Elder Bairn of the week.
• Red Shirt: The entire town besides the main cast is specifically designated as expendable by Fumito. Later he extends it to everyone except Yuka when they become no longer needed.
• Redemption Equals Death: Itsuki, who's been following Fumito's Fake Town plan, goes down protecting Saya, and admits that he was actually beginning to care for her.
• Revenge: Saya swears vengeance towards Fumito, continuing to Blood-C: The Last Dark.
• Retcon: The TV broadcast◊ of episode 3 showed Saya, having a Slasher Smile when she plunged her sword on the marshmallow train Elder Bairn which gives a notion that she seemed to enjoy killing them. The BD version◊ changed it where she just frowned and looked serious while killing the Elder Bairns. It’s possible that the one in the TV broadcast is just a mistake in the animator’s part.
• Rewatch Bonus: There is a lot of foreshadowing going on in the series, though it isn't clear until the end that the whole plot is a Fake Town and there was an agreement between The Tower and Elder Bairns to use a lot of actors as Red Shirts. People appear to be aware of the Elder Bairns before they are killed, who in turn know a lot about Saya.
• Screaming Warrior: Saya in episode 12 ends up screaming in anger and frustration as she chases down Fumito who flees the town via helicopter.
• Scenery Censor: Played with when the dog appears during the Furo Scene while Saya is taking her bath.
• School Uniforms are the New Black: Pretty much the only thing seen on any of the teenagers are black and red school uniforms, except for Saya's occasional miko clothes. She even wears her school uniform when she's out hunting Elder Bairns. It's an intentional design choice by Fumito, to not distract her too much in case she or others gets covered in blood.
• Secret Identity: In episode 11 it's revealed that all the "actors" in the experiment are using fake names, and it's implied that only Fumito was using his real name the entire time. Kanako even lampshades that no one would realistically expect to find so many obscure names in one town. We never learn what their real names were, however.
• Shout-Out:
  • The series itself can be considered a Whole-Plot Reference to Haruki Murakami's novel Kafka on the Shore, specifically of the Nakata arc and the shocking scene of Johnnie Walker's death. Featuring: A rather dense protagonist with supernatural abilities; An antagonist that puts them in an experiment to test if they will change or stay the same; Said experiment being formulated exactly in terms of "a reward for the winner and a punishment for the loser"; The protagonist's unusual background being related to the U.S. military in Japan; Exposition given cryptically by the antagonist to the protagonist in a dimly lit study; A character that speaks telepathically through a dog; Blood and gore as a motif and/or delivered by the main character.
  • The first death and thus Cerebus Syndrome is a Death by decapitation through a monster's maw.
  • The Monster of the Week in Episode 7 looks a lot like Tadakatsu Honda from Sengoku Basara, of which Production I.G did the anime adaption for.
• Small Town Boredom: Nene and Nono, who wish that they could do more normal high-school things. Which makes sense are they are paid actors there only to keep an eye on Saya.
• Strictly Formula: Episodes 1 through 5 followed a predictable pattern. Sing on the way to school, play with the puppy, eat and chat with friends, and kill the Monster of the Week. After Episode 6 this mostly goes out the window.
• Strong as They Need to Be: Saya seems to only gain the strength to kill the Monster of the Week after they've managed to slaughter everyone she tries to protect. It's implied to be intentional with the combination of Fumito's drugged coffee and her classmates being expendable.
• Supreme Chef: Fumito, who owns a coffee shop that Saya often visits, also makes delicious marshmallows. Which are marshmallows because they include blood and Saya isn't entirely human.
• Tempting Fate: In Episode 8, one of the students in Saya's class remarks that the monster seems to be a large and slow, and tries to escape, seconds before it went super speed on them and killing them.
• Theme Twin Naming: The twins Nene and Nono Motoe.
• Tomato in the Mirror: Saya turns out to be an Elder Bairn in human form, though it's also coming from the Bitch in Sheep's Clothing and everyone Saya knew are paid actors in a Fake Town.
• Too Dumb to Live:
  • Fumito reveals to everyone he's actually in control of Elder Bairns with one right beside him and the experiment is reaching its conclusion, then pulls We Can Rule Together on Saya's fake classmates. Yuka accepts, while Motoe twins, Shinichiro, and Kanako get offended that the deal wasn't what they were initially told. Guess who dies shortly.
  • The rest of villagers when Saya tells them to run away while she deals with the Elder Bairns, they just stay on one spot near the battle field and get killed. They may have been told by Fumito that it's less dangerous than they think, but getting in the cross-fire it's entirely on them. Not to mention Fumito didn't intend to leave anyone alive when he's done to begin with.
• Town with a Dark Secret: It increasingly seems like everyone is in on some sort of plot with the Elder Bairns. Then, it turns out everyone other than Saya (who's memories have been tampered with) and Fumito (the leader of The Tower and the organizer of the plot) are hired actors who's only purpose is to keep an eye on Saya, and unbeknownst to them, to be killed in front of her.
• Throw the Sheath Away: Saya drops her sword's sheath away before every fight. She's shown to have to collect it up after each fight though.
• "Truman Show" Plot: As revealed in the final episode, everything is an experiment set up by Fumito where he tests if Saya can go back to her true personality with her ability to feed on humans returning.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Saya always eats Fumito's Guimauve (marshmallows) and drinks coffee. Both are mixed with blood of the Elder Bairns.
• Trash the Set: In the series end, asides from the villagers getting massacred by the bunny Elder Bairns, the whole Fake Town gets destroyed.
• Unorthodox Sheathing: Saya in the opening sequence does the sheathing by holding up her sword and having the sheath land perfectly in place.
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Nobody comments when Saya brings her katana to school in Episode 6. Which is because they are in a conspiracy plot and know she's a monster hunter allegedly capable of protecting their lives.
• Unwitting Pawn: Saya had her memories erased by Fumito with Chronic Hero Syndrome implanted and placed near where Elder Bairns reside, to see if she'd break her promise between her and Elder Bairns, while the Tower made another promise and designated their actors as food. This also extends to the rest of so-called villagers and Saya's classmates who don't realize they are meant to be killed.
• Vapor Wear: When the multi-armed Samurai Elder Bairn from Episode 7 cuts up the back of Saya's uniform, no bra is seen.
• Wham Episode:
  • Episode 6 throws the series into Anyone Can Die territory with the deaths of the Motoe twins and Saya failing to save people she's protecting for the first time.
  • Episodes 8 and 9 together throw another shocker, where Saya's entire class was slaughtered, sans Tokizane and Itsuki, with Tokizane dying the following episode.
  • Episodes 10 and 11 reveals the biggest one yet. Saya is revealed to be in the middle of a Fake Town experiment the whole time. All of her so-called 'classmates' and townsfolk are revealed to be actors who were all paid to play along with a social-experiment on a drugged and amnesiac Saya. Kanako, Tokizane, and the Motoe twins, turned out to be alive, only to reveal the truth to Saya now because they've grown impatient with reaching the end of their contract and really wanting to collect their pay right now and leave, all while not giving a damn about Saya's utter shock. Then Fumito reveals himself to be Evil All Along and behind the whole thing, and proceeds to order the Elder Bairns against the actors beside Yuka who's sided with him when he gave a chance.
• We Will Meet Again: By the end of the last episode, Fumito knows that Saya will come after him which is basically the premise for the movie.
• Wham Line: Two in Episode 10 in quick succession:
  Kanako: That's fine, but... How long will you play at this stupid game?
  Nene and Nono: It's all fake!
• What Could Have Been: In-universe example. If not for the interference of Kanako, Tokizane and the Motoe twins there would have been a part of the experiment where Itsuki would fake his death too, as he points out to the former four that the experiment wasn't supposed to end just yet, because his "character" was still alive.
• What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Throughout the series, the deaths of the Elder Bairns, however gruesome, are generally uncensored. At one point, an Elder Bairn is cut down the middle and you can see its brains split in two. However, the deaths of humans are almost always censored in TV version.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness:
  • Tokizane, the Motoe twins, Kanako, and the entire town in Episode 12 are killed by Elder Bairns controlled by Fumito. Itsuki is also killed by Fumito's hand after he betrays him for Saya's sake. Yuka gets to live, though, as she sides with Fumito even when he reveals he never intended to pay anyone.
  Fumito: Actors who refuse to play their parts should leave the stage.

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