Blood: The Last Vampire

sothis Nov 20, 2004

8

StoryLet's be honest -- even though Blood the Last Vampire might be a great thing to watch, it isn't exactly swimming in plot. The little we know is that a young woman named Saya is one of the last original vampires, and works for the police department hunting down rogue demons and vampires alike. Her newest assignment places her at a local high school, where mysterious murders have been taking place. Unfortunately, that's about it. Throw in some additional vampires, a school nurse, and some neat chase scenes/fights, and you have the entirety of Blood. Luckily, even though the plot might be weak, the 45 minute movie still ended up being very entertaining. Admittedly, this is something you'd watch for the visuals, but still ends up playing out like a good episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, sans the comic relief. If you are looking for a beautiful hack n' slash vampire viewing, the story won't fail to impress, but to most, the main disappointment stems from the incomplete feeling you have once you finish watching. The movie really feels like the first part to a series, or an unfinished movie, though it does have sort of a conclusion. Fans definitely will want to see more, and I think this ends up hurting the credibility of the viewing for many people, including myself, to some extent. AnimationThere can be no denying that Blood the Last Vampire has absolutely stunning graphics. It's a Production IG work, so you'll recognize the character designs from such things as Ghost in the Shell. Quite frankly, the character designs were the only thing I *disliked* to some extent, because the outlined lips/gritty faces didn't seem to fit well with the beautiful surroundings. Backgrounds and details were superb, with rich lavish colors used all the time, especially for sunsets. The detail was the most prevalent, I think, during the school dance, where people in whimsical costumes mingled in a highly decorated auditorium. One of the best things about Blood was the virtually seamless blend of CG and regular animation. Other good points about the animation include things like the monster designs and transformations, the fight scenes, and the light and shading which deserves a special note. Blood definitely is a winner in the visuals category, and probably should be watched just for that even if you don't like the idea of the story. SoundThe blend of electronic music really reminded me of the feeling I got from watching the original Resident Evil movie, which I also really enjoyed as far as the musical selections. Blood contains mostly synthesized beats that fit VERY well with the mood and feel of the movie, including fight scenes or suspenseful bits. The voices were brooding and interesting, and the monsters sounded definitely sinister. CharactersCharacters, like the story, definitely weren't a strong point in Blood. This is surely because the nature of the movie was to be a beautiful piece of eye candy, not an intense epic storytelling adventure. Saya is the only character that is somewhat developed, but only because we know a few facts about her. In general, she is very mysterious and dark, and seems to be jaded to everything. The school nurse is the only other character who shows up throughout the entire movie, but we know zero about her except that she unfortunately keeps getting the shaft as far as demons attacking her, and that she gets scared a lot (for good reasons). We also are introduced to a few high school girls, some military folk, members of the government agency Saya works for, and some random expendable people, but none of them are more than a brief blip on the radar as far as development goes. OverallOverall, though story and characters are not a strong point of Blood, it still ends up being very entertaining and watchable. The animation is stunning and worth seeing no matter what, the topic is interesting and engaging (demon killing, etc), and the tone and feel is very dark and moody -- perfect for someone like me. If you haven't seen Blood, now is a good time to check it out!

VivisQueen Aug 27, 2007

7.5

StoryThis film is in essence the equivalent of a short story or novelette. Not just because it is literally a short film but because it wears shortness well; it compacts a tale without ever losing meaning or pace. They say short stories are some of the most difficult to tell, and if that is true, then Blood is a tiny masterpiece. Saya is a vampire slayer working for an unnamed organisation whose main representation in the film is her colleague/boss David. She has to root out some vampires on an American base in Japan before their killing spree gets out of hand. There is a certain predictability here which the creators did nothing to avoid and that is part of Blood's strength. It's like the recipe for a traditional sponge cake; it is undeniably a good sponge cake recipe so we don't want to ruin it by chucking in almonds. The story is streamlined, that is, it is honed and polished to such an extent that, once set loose, there is no mistaking where it's going. What makes it so satisfying is the fact that it hits its target without missing a beat and the execution is impressive. The film shows you just enough to keep you morbidly fascinated; you are shocked by how violently the victims fall prey to the demons (and the sometimes darkly humorous ways their bodies end up) but, like any guilty pleasure, you keep anxiously hoping for more.AnimationWhen it first aired, Blood's animation made ripples. As is natural, it has been surpassed by newer productions over the years but despite that, retains a classically mature and understated style which looks impressive even today. Certain character designs like David's looked very ‘scratchy', as if someone had just sketched them into the scene with a pencil, which occasionally made for awkward movements but simultaneously enhanced the eeriness of the film. Needless to say the colours used are dark throughout - even daytime is treated like the night's poor attempt to cheer up - and that suits the anime's mood just fine. There are moments of course when the film has to portray normal happy people doing normal happy things, but the muted tones alone keep you on edge and remind you that death is just around the corner. Think Claymore but grimier. The crowning glory of this film is its action animation. The opening five minutes have no real dialogue, which makes you appreciate just what visuals can do for a film when in the right hands. The ‘shock' pacing of the first scene doesn't just set the mood but displays intelligent and engaging direction as well.SoundBlood went with understated realism when it came to vocals and general hubbub. One of my favourite bits of sound (yes, crazily enough, I have those) is when Saya has to climb a wire fence during a pursuit. The timing and pacing was just perfect so the clinking of the fence was eerily discordant in the muted background noise. Although not hugely original or unique, the soundtrack to this film is epic and dark when it needs to be, with hidden tensions in the rhythm and the bass line, use of strings, use of a gong to give it some ‘spook' etc. Especially in the climactic scenes, the music carries your emotions right where they should be - quite Bond-like in places. Vocally, I enjoyed the mixed use of English and Japanese. The movie is set in Japan and pleasingly embraces this in the voice acting e.g. announcements at the train station are Japanese dubs with English subs. The Nurse switches from Japanese to English depending on who she is talking to and she speaks in both languages to Saya, reinforcing that sense of non-patronising realism the film is going for. The voice-actors used are also very appropriate. Being a bit of a sub junkie myself, it's a rare instance when I like the English dubbing, but the creators of Blood really watched out for this film. Saya and David's voices were fantastic; their dialogue, although slow at times, mostly came across as natural, and their voices are not just suited in themselves but also suited to each other. In fact, they're so good that you don't even blink when a girl who looks 15 sounds like a 27-year old.CharactersI said the plot shows you just enough to keep you interested, which is also very true where the characters are concerned. We know that in a film this short, there is going to be little or no character development but, rather than allow it to be a handicap, the film flaunts it with flair. Take Saya for example; by the end she has learned no lessons, gained nothing new or lost anything precious, but as viewers we learn so much about her through details tossed to us as asides in the course of dialogue or imprinted on our minds in the form of ‘incidental' events. David exclaims quite angrily to another colleague that Saya must not be pissed off because she is the last ‘original'. What does this mean? Original of what? She clearly is related to those demons in some way, but how? The ending actually suggests her feelings towards her prey to be more complex than pure antagonism, and if this is so, then why does she really hunt them? So much is revealed and yet left unsaid, like delicious morsels of the concept to gobble up, savour and interpret later as we think back over the film. So Saya doesn't grow as a person in 40 minutes. Who cares when she is so intriguing?OverallBlood: The Last Vampire unashamedly presents itself as what it is; moody, dark and gory. However, it manages to wrap itself in some great speculation of what more could exist in the wider context of Saya's adventure, and that is all the depth it needs to be a great 40 minute production.

Singan Dec 22, 2012

2

As long as I watch anime, there're two things that never cease to amaze me:- how a team of talented and experienced people with a huge budget in their hands can still produce a terrible show;- and how drastically the public reception of a certain anime may differ from one's opinion. Blood: The Last Vampire is a brilliant example of these paradoxes. First, let's examine some data concerning this anime:- based on a screenplay by Kenji Kamiyama, director of Seirei no Moribito and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex;- made by Production I.G, one of the most prominent anime studios;- awarded the Grand Prize at Japan Media Arts Festival;- finally, received very well by the audience in Japan & abroad with dozens of positive comments and reviews. Some even create a cult of this little movie and call it "the best vampire anime ever".Hope, I haven't forgotten anything.Now, when you know all that, imagine those multiple facepalms I had while watching this piece of "art". Believe it or not, this show is totally worthless. The reason is simple: the movie delivers nothing except for animation, which is also not as top-notch as many people claim.STORYAs you could've already heard or read from the synopsis, the story tells about Saya - the last true vampire who works for CIA, and how she and two of her colleagues head to an American base in Japan where vampires appeared and killed several people. The story takes place on Halloween, and there's a party in the school at the base. Vampires are there, and Saya must exterminate them. That's the premise, and while it may be not particularly mind-blowing, it still sounds not bad.Yet as the show goes on, you realize that the movie doesn't deliver in any aspect it possibly could:- it has almost no action. Saya performs 4 kills for the whole movie, and each is executed with one slash of her katana. In other words, there're no actual fights in this show: 4 slashes of katana and one unimpressive chase is all the action you get here;- it fails as thriller, because in order to thrill someone you need amazing and sudden plot twists; anime like Kaiji and Perfect Blue are great examples of that. However, the plot here is plain and straightforward as much as it could possibly be;- it fails as horror, because we see only one person getting killed by vampire for the whole movie. So, not only it's primitive & predictable when it comes to plot - even the shock factor is way too low to qualify for horror; - it has almost no mystery, like searching for those vampires or figuring out who of these people are vampires. It takes very little time and doesn't count as any sort of investigation;- it doesn't feature any interesting ideas or thought material, because the story is totally empty, shallow & predictable, as already mentioned above.Besides, the movie feels torn out of context as it starts in the middle of nowhere and lacks any backstory to explain major plotholes, like why Saya works with humans, why she is the last real vampire, what the difference is between her and those vampires she annihilates, what those vampires tried to accomplish or, if they simply preyed on humans, why they had to infiltrate a military base instead of hunting in a city. Of course, one might say that the movie is a mere trailer for the Blood+ series and it doesn't have to explain everything, however: a) I can't recall a trailer getting festival prizes and a huge following; b) even the shortest story should have a proper beginning and conclusion, and not something starting and ending in the middle of nowhere. SPOILERAlso, there's a totally illogical moment that occurs when the last of those vampires flies away and Saya chases it in a car: why on earth couldn't it rise at least 2 metres higher in the air to avoid getting hit by Saya?! Seriously, that moment looks so WTF and lame as if the people who scripted the action sequence had never done it before.SPOILER END On top of everything, the show is crowned with an ending scripted by Captain Obvious himself, where the major revelation and the only plot twist awaits us: the main character... turns out to be a vampire! However, even if you didn't read the synopsis and never heard of Blood+, Saya's nature is so blatantly hinted from the very beginning that you would understand it anyway long before the ending. Overall, the anime creators' logic is a complete enigma to me, because I still struggle to understand how they planned to deliver anything with a story like that. What's even more enigmatic, plenty of reviewers call it "a classic action plot". In my opinion, "a classic action plot" sounds more like Ninja Scroll or Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust i.e. you get lots of exciting action and a simple, comprehensible story with some drama and a bunch of crazy things thrown in for the additional effect. Here, the story is almost devoid of action, drama, mystery and other aspects that could possibly attract the viewer, and it has some major plotholes on top of that. Why do people like it? Again, that's a huge mystery to me.ANIMATIONNo doubt, the quality of art and animation is great in many aspects: the camera angles are great, the light effects and reflections are well done, and the backgrounds are quite impressive too. However, things literally get ugly when it comes to characters: they have really ugly faces and move like robots, which looks awkward and simply off-putting. So, the quality of art and animation is awful when it comes characters, and great when it has to do with everything else. Also, I can't help but mention the excessive amount of colour black in this movie: almost everything is black, from the backgrounds to characters' clothes and even lips. Perhaps, the creators thought the more black you use the more sinister the anime feels, yet it only turns out extremely gloomy and rather difficult to watch, because sometimes you can't even tell what's going on the screen. So, the whole thing looks like another not very clever artistic decision.SOUNDThe problems continue in the sound section:- first, the soundtrack is absolutely generic. You won't remember a single melody after watching;- still, it could work if it created the right atmosphere and pushed your emotional buttons, but here comes the second problem: the soundtrack is muted for the most part, as if they refrain from using it. Consequently, the OST leaves no impression as it is generic and almost non-existent;- on top of that, the movie features one of the worst examples of voice-acting I ever heard: the speech is absolutely colourless and mechanic, devoid of semantic emphasis and pauses. It totally fails at conveying emotions, especially when the characters speak English. In fact, they sound almost like some translator program when you type in a text and push "Play". So, the characters not only move like robots, but also talk like them.CHARACTERSPerhaps, the weakest part of the movie:- first, we have Saya, who is a pathetic attempt at creating a strong female lead: instead, they made her a cold ugly bitch acting rudely towards the people around. The only time she acts in a more or less humane way is in the end of the movie after she kills the last vampire. Before that, she evokes no sympathy at all;- then, we have the school nurse, who is a totally generic character yet she at least makes an impression of a human being;- and then, we have all other people including Saya's companions, who make an impression of nothing but talking dummies.All in all, no personalities, no character development and no backstory because the movie is torn out of context. Now, add the horrible character designs, robotic movements, colourless voice acting and incredibly primitive B-movie dialogues, and you'll get an awful characterization even for a 100% action flick.OVERALLThis anime is so remarkably empty and flawed in every aspect that it hardly warrants any recommendation even to those who like B-movies and mindless action. In fact, I'm still wondering how a studio like Production I.G could've made something like that. Perhaps, the animators were replaced with zombies, monkeys or some computer generating random ideas, but we'll never know the truth. What I do know, however, is that I could recommend you some shows instead of this movie:- those of you interested in vampires should check Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust and Kigeki;- those of you looking for a dark thriller should look for Kaiji and Perfect Blue;- and those of you who want some quality horror should try Berserk and Mononoke (not to be confused with Ghibli's Princess Mononoke, which is also a great anime).