[Switchblade]

I generally liked the finale. The big CGI dragon fight was pretty cool, especially with Rei's armor taking on more draconic properties as it ingested the dragon's blood (yes, I see what you did there, show). I will echo some of the complaints others have, though: the return of Goro-chan was completely random and pointless and Alice's face turn at the end completely negated the single coolest moment of the entire series.

I did not hate Alice. I didn't love Alice, but I don't get all the hate she's taking from some corners. Yes, the actress isn't amazing, but I've seen far worse. Is she the worst part of the series? Honestly, I don't think so. The dragon knight generally felt a lot worse and Kagome was almost a complete waste of space. I respect what the show was trying to do with Alice: having her serve as a very obvious Kaoru analogue for Rei. She generally worked there, although it felt rushed, especially near the end. It was all in service of the BIG PLOT TWIST, though, and I goddamn loved that. It took me by complete surprise and I completely loved how it cast the preceding 11 episodes in a totally different light. That was the big moment of the show for me and made the whole series for me, even if Alice's performance was pretty weak (don't get me wrong, though, I really liked all the standalone, MotW episodes).

I kinda hated how they pulled back on that at the end, though. I'd have much preferred it if Alice hadn't repented and stayed committed to her original goal. There probably would have been less pathos that way, but I never really bought the idea that Rei was head over heels for some teenage girl in the first place, so I could live with that.

But yeah, I liked the show overall. It had some weak elements, but the standalone episodes were really good and the visuals were up there with some of Makai no Hana's best moments. After the low budget letdown that we got last year with Makai Retsuden, this really felt like a big step back in the right direction.

And as far as Rei shows go, Black Blood is still the worst show Garo has put out as a franchise. This was much better.