Hello, Nitsuj here and welcome to the side blogs the blogs between the blogs. For this side blog I’m going to be taking a look at the OVAs of Strike the Blood. Strike the Blood was a series I was really rooting for. I really did want this series to be a big hit but unfortunately came up short. The stories were generic, the characters uninteresting, and instead of exploring the world or its characters, they just kept going from arc to arc with nothing really changing and nothing new being added into the mix. With the OVAs coming out you would think they be used to explore the characters and help establish the world they’re in as well as build up the relationships the characters have but instead they decided to view the OVAs as a second season and continue forward with the story ignoring the complaints they got from the first season. Let’s strike while the blood is still juicy and take a look at the Strike the Blood OVAs.
Kingdom of the Valkyria
In the first two sets of OVAs the kingdom of Aldegyr is signing a peace treaty with the Lost Warlord’s Dominion and they’re doing it on the island for neutral ground (and because everything has to revolve around Kojou). This of course means La Folia is coming back to the island and she runs into Kojou after running away from her father who wants her to start doing marriage interviews. She of course says no and says she wants to marry Kojou much to the father’s dismay (the mother is of course okay with it. I think she wants in on the action as well. She looks like a cougar. Add her along with Kanon and Kojou will have some fun time with the goddesses of Aldegyr). Kojou, Yukina, and all their friends get invited to a party hosted by the Aldegyr royal family where Sayaka is there for bodyguard duty and the king is ready to kill Kojou because he sees all the women Kojou has sunk his teeth into (don’t hate the MC, hate the author). The party gets attacked by terrorists and for the first time ever Kojou actually takes action and defends people. He rescues a maid who we find out later is named Trine and she’s working with the terrorist group called Free Terrorist (I’m guessing because they don’t charge people) and uses some spell on Kojou which brings him under her control. With Kojou under her control he becomes a lot cooler and forward with the ladies (can we leave him like this? This is what he should have been like from the beginning). Yukina goes to Kojou’s room to keep an eye on him where he tries to make a woman out of her (something she seems okay with happening) but La Folia comes in and wants to make this a threesome (alright, La Folia just went up on the rankings). Before we can get to the naughty play, Kojou knocks her out and Trine knocks out Yukina taking the two young ladies as hostages and keeping Kojou as her servant. Yukina and La Folia wake up on a ship where Yukina gets NTR’d and forced to see her man become the toy of a terrorist and the terrorist deliver their demands saying they want the release of prisoners who are serving lifetime sentences. Back with Kojou, the terrorists use him to take control of an Aldegyr airship where they plan to stop the peace ceremony by bombing the venue and thus starting a war between the two nations. But Kojou’s harem steps in to stop it. Asagi hacks into the ship directing them away from the venue, stops a missile from hitting the venue, and La Folia snaps Kojou out of Tiane’s control by having him smell Yukina’s sweating body (you are a perv Kojou). Kojou and Yukina do their thing and defeat Trine (who is a beastwoman. Both in and out of bed) as well as one of Aldegyr’s weapons on the ship where they damage it but are okay. The peace ceremony was a success and the royal family head home with the dad still not liking Kojou and the mother still wanting Kojou to marry La Folia.
Swords-Shaman of Shadow
In the first OVA Kojou, Yukina, Asagi, and Nagisa go to a resort called Blue Elysium courtesy of Motoki (thanks for the hookup bro). Only to find out that they’re workers for the resorts trial run (that son of a bitch). While there a girl by the name of Yume approaches Kojou asking him for help (you must be desperate if you’re going to him for help). We find out that she was rescued by Sayaka but got separated from her during the escape. Yume believes that Sayaka is now looking for her sister Riru as they were both locked up in the lab of Kusuki Erize the sponsor of Blue Elysium (of course they are). We cut to Sayaka who was caught by another sword shaman named Kiriha who works for this organization called Taishikyoku, an organization similar to the Lion King organization except they take orders directly from the government (dogs of the state who exists to wag their tails for their masters). Back with Kojou we find out that Yume is actually a succubus (most adorable succubus I’ve ever seen in my life) and Riru is actually her other personality. As a young child Yume was often bullied by her classmates and parents because of her powers which allowed her to control the minds of others (and make boys hit puberty way before they’re ready). So, she closed herself off from her succubus powers which resulted in Riru being born. She makes the girls express their true feelings for Kojou like how both Yukina and Asagi want Kojou pay more attention to them (https://youtu.be/906lPhQo9cA) only to return to normal thanks to Yukina’s spear which cancels out Riru’s mind control and her powers have no effect on Kojou (because you can’t control what was never thinking in the first place). Kiriha shows up and Riru openly goes with her but Kojou and Yukina won’t allow this so Yukina chases after them while Kojou stays behind and fights Sayaka who’s been brainwashed. Kojou beats Sayaka by ripping her top off (in his defense those boobs were begging to be released) and sucks her blood to regain the blood he lost. Yukina takes on Kiriha which in the process returns Yume back to her senses and she decides to take off back to Kusuki. Yukina meets back up with Kojou and Sayaka where Sayaka explains that there’s a huge demonic beast weapon submerged beneath the sea and Kusuki wants to use Yume’s powers to take control of the beast which is Leviathan (the snake of envy as referred to in the Bible). However, this process is dangerous as Yume will lose her life trying to control such a powerful beast. So the race is on to save Yume where we get a twist by finding out Yume wants to die. We find out that she put her classmates and parents into a comatose state and now wants to kill herself to avoid hurting anyone else. But because she’s the reincarnation of Lilith the strongest succubus of all time she’ll just be reincarnated into someone else. That is, unless she dies in the belly of Leviathan (who will somehow absorb and contain Lilith’s powers. This is starting to get ridiculous). Kiriha takes on Sayaka again where during their fight she reveals that the whole point of this mission is to kill Asagi because she’s the Priestess of Cain who according to legend will trigger a large-scale war (you said the same thing about Kojou and look how that turned out). They have to use Leviathan to destroy her along with the island because she can’t die as long as she’s on the island. The island is like an alter to Cain and will do everything in it’s power to keep her alive and play it off as coincidence to avoid suspicion (now, I have to admit this is a cool idea. It’s shocking and explains how Asagi has been able to survive this long despite just being a regular girl with good hacking skills). Sayaka calls their plan crazy and finally knocks out Kiriha with a chi push. Back with Kojou, he and Yukina use a boat to reach Leviathan (which fires missiles. I guess the gods were making missiles long before us) and dive right into the belly of the beast (the beast’s hide is too thick. We must kill it from within). They find Yume and convince her to give life a second chance (and Yukina delivers her annoying line of ‘No, senpai. This is our fight’ right the hell of nowhere. You weren’t even involved in this conversation so why the fuck are you butting in?). So Kojou releases a new familiar named Kiffa-Ater, which is a giant sword (that would make Gut’s sword look like a kid’s toy you get with a happy meal) that manages to hurt Leviathan but it gets back up ready for more (swing harder). That’s when Yume faces Leviathan and sings to put it to sleep (good. Now blow it to Hell). With Leviathan taken care of the group returns to the island safely and Kojou adds a loli to his harem.
The 4th Progenitor on the run
In this OVA series we start by meeting Gajou the father of Kojou and Nagisa (who strangely reminds me of Azazel from Highschool DxD. In fact, I think it might be the same VA). He’s here for Nagisa and takes her to the mainland (well we clearly know who he favors). Kojou goes about his business and rings in the new year with his friends until he receives a text from Nagisa with a picture of a magic circle. This has him worried so Asagi uses her hacking skills and tracks them down where their last location was in Kannawa which has been closed off by the JSDF (Japanese Self-Defense Force. Japan’s army basically) who are taking orders from SDC an organization that deals with magical disasters. This has Yukina worried because the SDC is a branch that works for the Lion King Organization and is now worried that Nagisa might be caught up in an accident. She tries to break into Nyanko’s shop for answers but Kojou stops her (wow, he’s actually being calm and rational about this. Usually, it’s the other way around) and they bump into Kiriha who tells them what’s going on. There’s a relic from a holy massacre sealed within the lake of Kannawa and now that seal is coming undone. After hearing what she said, Kojou goes to Natsuki’s place to asks for her help in going to the mainland but she refuses to help because she knows what’s going on in Kannawa and won’t allow Kojou to go (and she’s serious this time. She actually restrains Kojou and everything). Asagi is also heading to the mainland to see her older sister (is she hot? I bet she’s hot) and search for Nagisa as well but the island’s security doesn’t want her to leave (possibly because she’s the priestess of Cain and if she leaves the island there’s a possible chance she’ll die). Asagi manages to hop on a plane and escape the island (the island wants her to go). Back with Kojou, he gets saved by Nana and Kanon who help them escape from Natsuki and meet back up with Kiriha who gives Kojou and Yukina fake visas for the mainland (the enemy of my enemy is my friend) where they’re both a married couple (no spoilers there). Natsuki catches up to them and reveals that Nagisa has Avrora’s powers sleeping within her and the Lion King Organization want to use her to get the relic. She gives Kojou her word that Lion King Organization won’t harm her and will do everything in their power to protect her. While this information makes Kojou a little happy because Natsuki hasn’t betrayed him, he still wants to go save Nagisa (his pride as a big brother won’t allow him to sit on the sidelines). So, they all fight, Natsuki with Kojou and Kanon getting pulled into Natsuki’s prison where she explains that the Lion King Organization are trying to seal the relic once and for all and need Avrora to perform the spell that will seal it. If Kojou goes there’s a good chance that his powers will help break the seal on the relic and they don’t want that (okay, maybe Natsuki is on to something here). While Kojou understands all of this he refuses to let someone use Nagisa like that and continues to fight against the real Natsuki (who is hot by the way. Seriously, we need to see this form more often) while Yukina and Kiriha fight the fake in the outside world where Yukina does a divine possession to make herself stronger and put her on an even level with Natsuki. Kanon allows Kojou to suck her blood which allows him to awaken a new familiar Mesarthim-Adamas which helps Yukina defeat the fake Natsuki and after seeing this feat of strength gives up and let’s them go. However, a new obstacle occurs in the form of Shizuka one of the three leaders of the Lion King Organization who has come to seal Kojou on the island (man these guys are serious).
Knight of Sinful God
In the final three OVAs we see that the Lion King Organization and JSDF fucked up (you dun fucked it up. Like always). I can barely follow what’s going on in the first OVA because they do a terrible job at explaining what they’re trying to accomplish, whose who, and what’s going on. The best I can come up with is that everyone planned to sacrifice Avrora’s spirit inside Nagisa to destroy the relic which is called Avalon once and for all but in truth Avrora’s spirit has been keeping Avalon sealed this whole time but can’t do it anymore because all the past sacrifices that were used to seal Avalon were instead making it stronger as it absorbed the knowledge within them to get smarter and figure out how to break the seal. Now, Avalon has almost broken the seal and will be released on the word (and it’s all their fault because once again they fucked up). We then cut to Kojou, Kiriha, and Yukina who are in a hotsprings hotel not far from Kannawa. In their fight with Shizuka, they got saved by Dimitrie who transported them to this hotel to rest and prepare for their battle. After resting up they go to Kannawa Lake where all Hell has broken loose (again, they fucked up). Magical beasts have appeared and are killing JSDF like nothing and it gets even more crazy when we find out that a majority of them are a terrorist group who believe that all demons and monsters need to be destroyed in order for the world to be at peace. Once Kojou arrives they run into Yukina’s senior Yuiri (who in another life time would have been in Yukina’s position) and a new character named Grenda who in actuality is a dragon of the lake as well as the guardian. The terrorist faction want to use her to get information on how to eradicate demons, so Kojou and Yukina have to protect her as well as Yuiri. Kojou gets sucked into the world of the dead where Grenda saves him by allowing him to suck her blood and he also meets Cain for a brief second (Cain: Suck the blood of my priestess). Once Kojou returns, he unlocks a new familiar, Yukina says her line, and they beat the terrorist. The only thing different this time is that Asagi is there and finds out that Kojou is the 4th Progenitor (thank you! This has been long overdue). With the terrorists defeated and captured everything wraps up nicely with Nagisa and Gajou being okay and us finding out that there’s another priestess of Cain on the island.
Final Thoughts
And those were the Strike the Blood OVAs, can you see why people call this season 2? The OVAs continue the story from the first season and unfortunately make the same mistakes as the first season. The OVAs only focusing on going from arc to arc but never to stop to develop their characters or explore them. The only character that we learn something about is Asagi. The new characters aren’t all that interesting but I have to admit Kiriha was alright and I hope to see her become Yukina’s rival for Kojou down the line. Other then that everything else just follows the typical formula set up by the first season. The animation isn’t all that great, the music isn’t much either, and the fight scenes are nothing to write home about. If I had to name my favorite OVA arc it would have to be the Kingdom of the Valkyria arc as La Folia is one of my favorite girls from the series and we actually got to see a glimpse of a cool and interesting Kojou that really would have elevated this series.
Final Score
The Strike the Blood OVAs earn a 5.5/10. The same score as the first season. It’s not awful from my perspective but it adds nothing new to the series or fixes any of the mistakes or problems made in the first season. If you enjoyed the first season I’m sure you’ll enjoy the OVAs as well but for me, I really think this is a series that needs to change. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
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