CHATAN, Okinawa — There’s a scene in a popular Japanese anime that seems to reflect the attitude of some of the most ardent opponents of U.S. bases on Okinawa.

In the beginning of "Blood+ Volume One," a Sony Pictures DVD that Army and Air Force Exchanges have recently begun selling, there’s been a series of serial killings on Okinawa where the victims have been drained of their blood. In the latest incident, at a high school in Okinawa City, the U.S. military takes over the crime scene and spirits away the victim’s body and other evidence.

When a reporter for an Okinawan newspaper interviews a Japanese expert in forensic science who reviewed the evidence before it was seized, there’s the following exchange concerning the U.S. military’s involvement in the case:

REPORTER: "Don’t you think the military has been a little overbearing, professor?"

PROFESSOR: "It doesn’t matter what you or I think. Never has, probably never will. Welcome to Okinawa."

In the show, the U.S. military attempts to quash rumors that something more sinister is occurring on the island. It announces that a Marine with drug and alcohol problems has been arrested for the murder. He’s taken into military custody and little more information is available to the public and the press.

The heavy-handedness of the American military in the series could be a reflection of how many Okinawans feel about the presence of the U.S. bases, which cover about 21 percent of the prefecture’s main island, said Masaaki Gabe, professor of international relations at the University of the Ryukyus.

For more than a decade the U.S. and Japanese governments have been trying to alleviate the anti-base unrest by promising to reduce the "footprint" of the bases.

But whether the Japanese writer or director consciously decided to use the anti-base sentiment as the opening setting of their successful vampire anime series is unknown. The Tokyo-based production company, Aniplex, did not respond to requests for an interview.

The DVD contains the first five episodes of "Blood+," introducing the viewer to Saya Otonashi, a high school girl with amnesia adopted by a Japanese-American who runs a bar in Okinawa City.

Saya is also anemic, a clue to her real character — a demon who has been combating vampire-like shape shifters called chiropterans for more than a hundred years. They can be killed only by a cut from Saya’s sword, soaked in her own blood.

Saya awakens to her true nature when a chiropteran attacks her at her school and kills a teacher. Saya is saved when a mysterious figure who has been following her in the shadows hands her a katana sword and she easily dispatches the monster.

The monster, it turns out, is the result of a biological experiment conducted by the U.S. military on Okinawa to develop "super soldiers."

In "Blood+," the military dominates the island and drives the economy. When one of the chiropterans escapes and runs amok, the U.S. military steps in and cordons off the school, confiscates the teacher’s body and other evidence, and supplies a drug and alcohol-addicted Marine as a patsy.

It’s not hard for Okinawans to believe something evil lies inside the base fences, Gabe said.

"For many Okinawan people, there are high psychological walls between military installations and local communities," he said. "That’s because the military bases are surrounded by fences and the gates that are strictly guarded, refusing an access of the public."

The military taking over the crime scene is reminiscent of an actual incident in August 2004, when a Marine helicopter crashed on the grounds of Okinawa International University, adjacent to Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. Marines blocked local police from accessing the crash site to conduct their own investigation and local authorities were not allowed to inspect the site until after the debris was removed.

"People see military installations, where physical access is not possible, as the space where something that is beyond public knowledge is going on," Gabe said.

In "Blood+ Volume One," the military solves its vampire problem by destroying the laboratory, located in the remote jungles of northern Okinawa.

But Saya’s journey has just begun. Her quest is to discover who she really is and why she has been enlisted by a secret international organization known as "Red Shield," which is dedicated to destroying the chiropteran menace. There are 49 more episodes, available on a DVD box set from Sony Pictures. All of the episodes can also be found on the Internet, including English and Japanese versions on YouTube.

Saya’s odyssey eventually takes her around the globe, fighting the vampire beasts at every step and discovering she, too, is one of them. The anti-military theme runs through the entire series.