Blood: The Last Vampire [Blu-ray]

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.

I know little of anime, but I am told that schoolgirls are a prevalent theme/imagery. Schoolgirls in cute sailer uniforms and short pleated skirts. One anime buff told me of a series featuring superhero flying schoolgirls who spread their legs and shoot death rays from their vaginas.Kinda makes the Power Puff Girls look like prudes, but hey, it's a Japanese thing.Blood -- The Last Vampire isn't as salacious as all that, but it falls into anime's superhero schoolgirl subgenre. Its young heroine, Saya, hunts vampires at a US Air Force base in Japan -- going undercover as a schoolgirl, sailer uniform and all. Despite being a pre-teen girl vampire hunter, Saya's hard-boiled professionalism is closer to La Femme Nikita or Witchblade's Sara Pezzini than to the chipper Buffy. Saya is Lara Croft without Croft's flippancy or smirky attitude. Saya doesn't enjoy her work, she does what needs to be done.Although some critics regard Saya as too enigmatic and deadpan to interest audiences, I was intrigued by Saya's silent ruthlessness. Still waters run deep. Of the above femmes, Saya is easily the grimmest, the most fatalistic. Saya doesn't care for small talk -- or friends. Unlike Buffy, Saya retorts to a classmate's friendly greeting with a glaring, "Don't talk to me."Saya is The Girl With No Name in a nihilistic spaghetti western (or noodle eastern). Imagine a schoolgirl Lara Croft wearing Clint Eastwood's laconic scowl, silent and cool, ever-ready to draw her weapon. That's Saya.(At the risk of revealing too much, Saya also bears similarities to the child vampire in Anne Rice's Interview With the Vampire.)Like most spaghetti westerns, Blood -- The Last Vampire has a simple story. Hunt and destroy vampires. It opens with savagery, and continues bleeding till the end.An old man is slaughtered on a subway by a sword-wielding hoodlum. We soon learn the hoodlum is a young girl, Saya, the old man a vampire. Saya reports to a pair of government suit types: one white, one black. That's relevant because it's confusing. The subway markings are Japanese, yet these men are clearly not Asian. Are we in Japan or the US? Or maybe in some Blade Runner type future?Maybe I missed something. It wasn't until I read some program notes that I learned the film is set in 1966 Japan "during the Vietnam War."Although a pre-teen girl, Saya is a deadly vampire hunter, possessing unique skills. Her quarry is a dwindling race of ancient shape-shifting monsters, morphing from human to reptilian form. As in Blade, Saya requires a sword for her job, and her swordplay evokes Sandahl Bergman in Conan the Barbarian.Saya's G-men controllers have tracked the remaining vampires to a US Air Force base. Saya -- in her undercover schoolgirl sailer uniform -- is planted in the base school to identify and destroy the vampire menace. Contributing to the film's dark atmosphere, the kids at the base school are preparing for a Halloween party, which shifts Blood -- The Last Vampire closer to horror anime (as opposed to superhero or sci-fi).Blood's atmosphere consists of nihilism and noirish fatalism. Saya is not alone in her grim sullenness. So too are her controllers. And the vampires. And the base prostitutes, all aged, ugly, and despairing, their sagging over-painted faces resembling the hooker in Orwell's 1984. (In contrast to the energetic mouthy streetwalkers in most US films). In Blood, the innocent are either destroyed by vampires, or exposed as one.Appropriate for noir, the film is largely set at night. Or else it's dawn or dusk, a menacing sky smeared blood-red, sulfur-yellow, and soot-gray. A live action shot of a jet fighter -- belching bleary exhaust fumes -- bleeds into the anime. Fumes and soot and dour Asians contribute to a Blade Runner milieu. (Hence, my surprise to learn Blood is set in the past, not the future.)Blood -- The Last Vampire should be seen not for its plot, but for its resplendent visual artistry, and for Saya. The film ends on a powerful emotional punch, not because the "surprise twist revelation" about Saya surprises us, but because we've already deduced enough to appreciate Saya's dilemma and remain intrigued to learn more.I saw Blood -- The Last Vampire with a Japanese soundtrack, subtitled in English, but the DVD also has an English language option. At 48 minutes, it's not quite a feature, yet something more than a short.

not what I wad expecting the pace was quick and I liked the story line

This film was the first thing I watched that I was aware of as anime and I enjoy it now as much as I did then. The, admittedly light, story sees a young girl working for a secret organisation infiltrates a school on an American airbase to find and kill the vampires that are there. The vampire that the main character hunts aren't the usual western style vampires but their more demonic eastern counterparts and this could leave some vampire fans a little underwhelmed. This is a brilliant anime with great animation and is exciting to watch. The main problem with this film is its short length, at a little over forty minutes this does mean that things are rushed slightly in places but Blood remains enjoyable nonetheless.

hi,i thought i wouldn't like this sort of thing but i was pleasently surprised. the story line was good the acting or voice overs could get annoying at times as there were long gaps between sentenes, i understood that this was ment for tension building and so you could admire the animation etc.i won't tell you any story line as lets be honest the clue is in the title, but its worth watching.... well at least once.

I bought this title from "things you will also like" Amazon suggestions.I like very much the Manga world, the drawings and the art behind the story.The title is very short only 48 minutes. So as long it was playing I felt that the end is near. The story is complicated but as it is short, the viewer gets only the main parts and can guess only all the picture by their own imagination.I'm not a big fan of Vampires stories but something on the other reviews catch me.I can say in a full heart that this movie delivers 100% of its intention. The drawings are very good, the soundtrack helps the viewer enter to the scene and even it is only drawings, there some parts that the monsters give you a real fear and admire.If you admire the world of Manga, this title is one of those you need in your private collection.

There have been so many reviews on this title I wouldn't know what to add. But still the feature is so good that I cannot help but give my view on things.This feature is a teaser... it shows us a glimpse of what is a very dangerous yet exciting reality that we are unaware of. A reality where there are demons who will drink our blood, and heroes and heroines who kill them to protect us.Brilliant sound effects, a clever mix between English and Japanese dialogue with subtitles (thus preventing the nearly always problematic dubbing ritual) and animation of superior quality (both CG and traditional) make the portrayal of the story and characters alone worth while viewing. Add to that, the deep and highly evolved character designs and the brilliant story and you have an amazing film, impossible for any critic to slander. The two latter elements I must explain, are part of the bigger picture... remember I said we only see a glimpse of this reality.We are thrown into the story by witnessing Blood, doing what she does best... killing a demon. This one is merely the first of several. These demons apparently are seeking their prey around an American airbase in Japan. She goes undercover as a student in the American high school to seek them out and in turn terminate them.We don't know what happened prior to this adventure, or what happens afterwards... and therefore it might be harder to understand what happens during it. But this film was not made to be understood, it was made to shock and dazzle you. There is no over dramatisation, no cheap emotion, just pure raw reality, bringing with it all the suspense it needs to get you right at the edge of your seat throughout half the feature.I'm not going to go on by saying the short length of this feature will leave you gasping for more... because it wont. This feature is the length it is because that's how long it took to tell that part of the story. There's a perfect balance between heart throbbing action and the typical anime 'uncomfortable calm' in the film, and adding anything to it would only disturb that balance. Viewers have to accept that we were only shown that part of the story for a reason, and whatever that may be, it probably was for the best of the film... imagine a three hour story where some bitter, overly serious chick with a sword goes around killing demons...you'd be bored stiff. There's no boss, there's no end goal, just the moment, take it as it comes, which is ,using the words of another reviewer, ' refreshing' to say the least!This is a brilliant piece of anime, a milestone in many ways and well worth purchasing.

As the other reviews say: short, but beautifully done. A real classic and for this price, not to be missed. M