Blood - The Last Vampire
by Hiroyuki Kitakubo
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DVD details
Actor: Joe Romersa, Rebecca Forstadt, Saemi Nakamura, Stuart Robinson, Youki KudohDirector: Hiroyuki Kitakubo
Producer: Mitsuhisa Ishikawa
Producer: Akira Sato
Producer: Ryuzo Shirakawa
Writer: Kenji Kamiyama
Writer: Katsuya Terada
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; Japanese (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); English (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Anamorphic, Animated, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 83 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-08-28
Studio: Manga Video
DVD Reviews of Blood - The Last Vampire
DVD Review: Fantastic independent short film
Summary: 5 Stars
This is not an anime in the traditional sense. It feels much more like an independent short film...which is exactly what it is. I tend to do my research before watching a film. I went into this one knowing that it was an independent "experiment" and only 48 minutes long. Knowing that, I viewed it as I would any other independent short film - with an open mind, not expecting a hollywood-style epic, but a brief, creative experience. I was not disappointed. Blood: The Last Vampire immerses the viewer immediately into the mysterious, dark and very serious world of Saya, the organization she serves and the creatures she hunts. With interesting premise, stunning visuals, a great soundtrack and an interesting setting, the creators of this film had my attention from the first scene. During our short exposure to Saya, it becomes evident that she has an extensive and dark past, which immediately casts her as a deep and intriguing character. This is regardless of the fact that very little is ever revealed about her. The creators immerse the viewer briefly into this very dark and creepy world, made even more creepy by the contrast of Saya's apparent youth and femininity with her seriously foreboding personality and deadly, obviously super-human skills. In short, this film is much more "show" and much less "tell", and I give it lots of kudos as an independent work of art.DVD Review: As Classic As Ghost In The Shell.
Summary: 5 Stars
brilliant animation, Great characters, very emotional and as serious as Ghost In The Shell. Saya is my favorite female character off Blood-The Last Vampire and so is Motoko off the Ghost In The Shell movie.I also love both movies because there both classics unlike the now or days movies. Overall I love this movie.DVD Review: I can't speak Japanese
Summary: 1 Stars
The CGI graphics are wonderful but no one tells you before you rent the movie that more than half of it is in Japanese and there are no subtitles. I became lost as to what was really going on. My advice, if you want to see it buy a copy on dvd so you get subtitles.DVD Review: Vampric Anime
Summary: 4 Stars
There's some pretty bad vampire anime out there and there's some very good...and then there's this movie.
The original voice acting is good, the animation is fine, the look of the characters is....different. I liked it, but I realize that not everyone does. I love how uh, BAMF, the main character Saya is. She kicks vampire-butt and takes names. She has a super cool sword. She is emotionless and jaded.
This movie is not the best, in terms of anime, vampire anime, or the "series." I _love_ the TV series and the different mangas are at least interesting. I do think I would have been jaded and not liked this movie as much if I had seen the it after the TV series. But it is a good movie and I certainly don't feel like I wasted my time.
DVD Review: Short but sweet...
Summary: 4 Stars
BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE tells of the horrific events which took place in a U.S. military base in Japan, just before the Vietnam War. It seems that the populace of Yokota Air Base is unknowingly suffering from a series of vampire attacks. Unknowingly, because the victims then show up as suicide casualties. So in comes the mysterious Saya, who works in concert with a covert government agency in hunting down these vampires, which are actually blood-sucking demons called the Chiropterans. Posing as a high school girl, Saya begins to nose around the base's high school, even as everyone else prepares for the big Halloween bash. More the lethal slayer type than a detective, it still doesn't take too long before she and her samurai sword stumble into something...
BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE is a wicked cool anime, running at 48 minutes, which I like to pop in the player whenever I've got a dull hour to kill. This film, which came out in 2000, has a couple of things going for it. First off, the film looks amazing. The animation is absolutely state-of-the-art and about as seamless a marriage I have seen of 2D and 3D graphics. The film right away establishes an ominous mood, which it then refuses to relinquish, much credit to the brooding soundtrack. The action sequences are dynamite stuff, excitingly presented. From the moment the lights dimmed on the subway train and Saya exploded into action, I was friggin' wowwed. The shaky cam technique used at times during these action sequences is pretty effective. It doesn't hurt that the Chiropterans are imposing, scary looking things. To see a tiny high school looking girl tackle these beasties (and then relentlessly dispose of them) simply adds to the cool factor.
Her handler claims that Saya is the "only remaining original," and I guess he means she's the last vampire. But then the story doesn't delve into that very intriguing tidbit. I guess there just wasn't time for the film to drop some background 411 on Saya. What we do learn is that she's sullen and stoic and very determined. She's aggresively anti-religious. She's disdainful of people. But she carries out her missions with a grim relentlessness and a no-nonsense air. And, when she springs into action, she makes you forget that her character is pretty one-dimensional.
There's really not much of a set-up. The film plants the viewer smack dab in the thick of the plot, which I kind of like since it lends a more pronounced sense of immediacy. The movie being only 48 minutes long doesn't really bother me, although, yes, that doesn't really give the movie a chance to develop the story or its characters, who do come off as shallow. The main characters seem to be Saya, the agent David, and a plump, good-hearted school nurse in peril. It's kind of refreshing that our surly heroine refuses to be solicitous of the very frightened nurse; instead, Saya gets extremely annoyed with her. That's our Saya!
The brevity of the running time makes it seem more of an expanded episode to a series than an actual film. Then there are the unaswered questions. Just what exactly is the deal with Saya? We are clueless regarding her motivations, how she hooked up with the agency, why she can't kill humans...When she offs the last demon at the airfield, what was up with what she did afterwards? An old photograph near the end does flesh out her background some...And I don't really understand the relevance of the pre-Vietnam War backdrop (is it some kind of metaphor?). Not having all these questions answered doesn't bug me too much, but I can dig that it frustrates folks.
There's a decent amount of gore and blood splatter here, a tiny lacing of profanity, and even a brief nude shot of a suicide victim in a bathtub. So, no, this isn't for the really young 'uns. Concerning special features, the 21-minute-long "Making Of" segment is pretty dry, because it's so technically driven, focusing as it does on the CG effects. But, hey, if you're a CG freak, this might be right up your alley. There's also the theatrical trailer and a photo gallery.
Meeting Saya in BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE is like briefly spending time with a stranger. You learn some stuff about the person, but not too much. You're made privy to the surface gloss, the public face, but that's all. For a span of forty-eight minutes, Saya lets us into her chaotic, violent life. But then she goes away, leaving us with the same impression we had when we first saw her - that of a sword-slinging enigma. In a weird way, that's kind of neat.
Description of Blood - The Last Vampire
Studio: Starz/sphe Release Date: 08/28/2001Saya, the last true vampire, battles the bloodthirsty demons attacking an American base in Japan during the Vietnam War. Much of the story takes place during the late afternoon and evening, and the artists use shadows, reflections, and light with exceptional skill: the look of the film is more interesting than the underdeveloped story. Saya wields a deadly sword and pursues her foes with chilling ferocity, but she's silent and sullen and fails to develop as a character: the viewer has no idea how she views her deadly occupation. Albeit a visually striking film, this dark, violent work fails to live up to its billing as "Japan's first fully digital animated feature film": the three-dimensional objects and effects are digital, but the two-dimensional characters are hand-drawn. Nor is the film really "from the creators of Ghost in the Shell." Blood came out of a group that Ghost director Mamoru Oshii organized to encourage young talent, but he didn't direct it. And at 48 minutes, it's very short for a feature, although this edition includes a rambling 21-minute making-of film and a 3-minute trailer. It seems unlikely that Blood "will transform Japanese animation," but other artists may use its visual style to tell more compelling stories with better-developed characters. Unrated; suitable for ages 17 and up for profanity, brief nudity, and considerable violence. --Charles Solomon
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