Product Description

Studio: Starz/sphe Release Date: 08/28/2001

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15025 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-08-28
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Animated, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, Japanese
• Subtitled in: English
• Dubbed in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 83 minutes

Amazon.com
Saya, 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

Customer Reviews

Hiding in the Shadows
In 1966, the Yokota Air Force Base in Japan is busy with the tense job of supporting the U.S. war effort in Viet Nam. Suddenly, in the surrounding town, several suspicious suicides have been reported and students at the base school are behaving strangely. Enter Saya, a mysterious swordswoman who works for a secret organization dedicated to hunting down Chiropterans - demons who subsist on human blood and are the basis for our legends of vampires. All we know is that Saya is 'The Last Remaining Original' and that her powers are considerable.

Disguised as a schoolgirl, Saya investigates the school and discovers the presence of three of the horrific creatures. In the middle of the school Halloween party, Saya desperately tries to hunt them down and kill them before they can escape or enter hibernation. If unchecked, the creatures could endanger not only those at the base, but the entire war effort.

'Blood' is beautifully made, with a careful blend of three-dimensional CGI work and classical anime illustration. This is an experimental approach that, for the most part, works quite well, heightening the viewer's sense of realism. The film gains its noir effect from very skilled use of light and shadow, and has surprising color range for having very little direct light.

Both plot and characters are minimalist in style. Nothing is allowed to interfere with the steady increase in tension and pace of action. Thus, the feature length film seems to run by like a single episode of other anime. Even so, the work is so atmospheric, and Saya so strong a character that it develops surprising levels of meaning. I picked this up expecting a pleasant vampire concoction, and I feel I got much more than that. Worth looking for.

Blood the Last Vampire
Wonderfully done graphics, really good shading and so forth.
As far as the plot goes it might as well be a situation of, Plot? Oops, did we need one of those?

Your more or less dropped into the middle of the story and then bounced from scene to scene so quickly you're still trying to figure out what was happening in the last one. Unfortunately, you never do. The only piece of evidence that even corresponds with the title "Blood the Last Vampire" is a little folder thingy but even that's pretty sketchy. Mostly you just run into some pretty fun slice and dice scenes with Saya *the supposed last vampire, or "origanal" as she is referred to all the time (I kept saying, the origanal of WHAT??)* kicking some...creature ass. That's another problem, you never find out exactly what she's killing and why and then combine all this along with Saya 's last scene and it turns out to be one of those movies that will leave you with a "Huh? Did I miss something here?" kinda feeling.
The only reason to buy this movie is for the graphics, but otherwise don't bother. Go buy Princess Mononoke or something with a halfway decent plot!

Poor at best
Sure... pretty sights... a waste money... Wait for the rental

Complete lack of character and story, a mere piece of eye candy.