"Blood Blockade Battlefront" is something different. After watching dozens of anime shows, it's easy to get overloaded and sick of it. So much of it shares the same basic traits. If you felt like this, "Blood Blockade Battlefront" is refreshing. Based on a manga by Yasuhiro Nightow (author of the 90's hit "Trigun") and directed by Rie Matsumoto (director of the excellent anime "Kyousougiga") and animated by Studio Bones (a studio responsible for several beautifully animated action anime), it makes sense that it should be treated as a modern classic. It doesn't quite stick the landing all the way, but it is such great fun that it deserves to be seen despite any flaws.Set in a alternate future, it supposes that some supernatural portal opens in New York City, transforming the area into a dangerous ecosystem with a wide variety of new monsters, aliens and demon-like beings. Cut off from the rest of the world, the city (now called "Hellsalem's Lot") continues on its own, much like you would expect New York natives to. Its citizens carry on going to work, yelling at traffic, catching a bite to eat on the way home. Sure, the subway might evaporate one day or a crater might kill a few million people the next, but really, this isn't too different from how it's always been, right? The story focuses on the exploits of "Libra," an organization made up of superpowered humans and monsters trying to keep the peace and clean up any new messes, as well as occasional contract work. Specifically, the story is told alongside the point of view of Leonardo Watch, a young photographer and journalist who finds himself as part of the group, while trying to uncover the mystery behind the deity that gave him "The All Seeing Eyes of The Gods" at the expense of his sister's eyesight, without being asked or with any other clear motivation. More specfically (since Leonardo's driving quest ultimately doesn't get fullfilled here), a mystery between Leonardo and a similarly-aged girl (named White) he finds in a hospital cemetary, who might have ties to a dangerous being planning total destruction.For most of the show, we get episodic subplots that go through the daily lives of each of the members of Libra. Sometimes they are trying to keep a mission under control, sometimes they are trying to take a relaxing day off despite the city's best efforts to prevent it. The sheer creativity at play is addictive, and director Rie Matsumoto is one of the best suited in the industry to take advantage of the crazy setting. The overarching plot that slowly reveals itself is an engaging one, thanks to the sweet youthfully-awkward friendship and romance that buds, and the reveal of the backstory. All of the characters, be it main players like Kluas and Zapp, or any of the rest, are great fun and each fascinating in their own right. The best description I can place is that the show is the closest anime I can think of to the writing of Douglas Adams, author of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." The two feature a variety of fun characters and odd situations, some threatening the lives and natural laws of the world, and all the heroes can do is to shrug and go with it, sometimes barely escaping alive to repeat it all the next day.... but it isn't all perfect. Studio Bones didn't have to do much for the show, as much of the world and character designs come from the manga. They do a good job with the sense of place, putting detail in the city blocks to make it feel like you've walked its streets. They do a good job with most of the action scenes. But occasionally, it is noticeable that they used new talent for scenes they weren't ready for yet. One clear example is when watching a flashback of how the season's antagonist came to be: in standard fashion, he turns around, eyes glowing, slowly grinning a sinister smile. The smile looks horrendous, like it was traced from a ten-year-old's fanart. This might not be so bad if they didn't reuse this shot again later in the show. 
And sadly, while the journey is fun, they don't stick the landing. The double-length finale episode was infamously postponed due to production issues, and when it finally aired, it felt like a giant feel-good march to the final battle, with each and every character getting a moment to cheer Leonardo on to the end. Quite simply, this setup was overly long and poorly written. It resolves the arc with the antagonist and the girl, but feels like it misses huge opportunities to how it ties these loose ends, making for an unsatisfying experience. Instead of succesfully ending in a fireworks-level bang (as it clearly tried to do), it feels like it ended in a sputter of fizzes before going out. And I fear the whole fiasco might have put one of my favorite new directors out of the industry for good: while too early to say, as of 2018, Matsumoto hasn't directed anything since.If the ending is absolutely crucial (and if there wasn't eventually a continuation of the series), one might rank "Blood Blockade Battlefront" a lot lower. But the show is largely an episodic one, and each of those episodes are delightful. The music is catchy, and both the opening and ending themes rank as my favorites in anime, period. The voice actors in Japanese and English hold up the characters' desperate attempts to make sense of the world around them while maintaining a fun-loving freedom. Despite any flaws, the show and its setting is too original and too much fun to ignore.