Blood The Last Vampire Anime Movie Review: Done by Rancel

Blood The Last Vampire Anime Movie (2000) (Essence of Anime)

Saya from Blood: The Last Vampire (2000)

Description

Blood The Last Vampire Anime Movie is an anime released in year 2000, that is directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo. Manga Entertainment licensed it for distribution in North America. It has since been made into an anime TV series that came out in 2005, called “Blood+”, which is set in an alternate universe. A live-action movie adaptation came out in 2009 under the same title of Blood The Last Vampire. The anime adaptation of the film is rather short at 48 minutes. The film is unique for anime since it uses both English and Japanese languages.

Summary

Blood The Last Vampire takes place in 1966 during the time of the Vietnam War. There is another war being fought that a girl named “Saya” has undertaken. She battles Demons/Bat-like creatures called “Chiropterans”. She is also the last of her kind. She works for a mysterious organization. She is unique for a vampire. She is a hybrid vampire/human. She doesn’t display any vulnerability to sunlight; she is vulnerable to religious things though. She has the common vampire ability of superhuman strength and senses. Saya poses as a schoolgirl in order to infiltrate an English speaking Japanese High School that is next to the American Yokota Air Base. She uses her Katana sword and her natural Vampiric abilities to hunt and kill the creatures.

Blood The Last Vampire Anime Movie: The Review

Blood The Last Vampire Anime Movie is a great short Action/Horror Anime film. Some may not like it due to the extreme amounts of violence, blood & gore, profanity, and slight amounts of nudity. It also does not have much of character development. The novel and Manga adaptations of this film have more of the story, than this somewhat incomplete film. The film starts with a slow build up but once the fast-paced action scenes take place it becomes very cool. Saya just appears on the scene and not much is told about her. The fact that she is a Vampire/Human hybrid is implied rather than indicated clearly. Saya’s age is also not revealed in the film. I do assume she is like between the ages of 17-20. The animation quality is very good. The company that developed the film called “Production I.G” used computers entirely for the animation. The drawing, inking, and coloring of the anime were done completely digital instead of traditional cell-based animation. The result would turn out to be fast, excellent expressive features in the characters, and fluid animation. The animation style I believe would be used in the more recent adaptations of the Ghost in the Shell anime series such as Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. I think with this film although I haven’t kept up with my anime recently, but this would become the new style for more recently released Anime Movies and TV series. The music is dark and adds atmosphere. Saya is pretty cool as a character since she is a tough cold-blooded girl. The designs for the demon creatures are well done. They look like a cross between a Gargoyle and Nosferatu. They are really ugly and ferocious looking.

Chiropteran in Blood: The Last Vampire (2000)

The dub parts of the voice acting are well done and not an annoyance like sometimes when English voice actors are used in anime. The film even though it’s visually gratifying and the action scenes are well done, some might be turned off by it only being 48 minutes long with not much of a plot and character development. Blood: The Last Vampire was an international success and in my opinion one of the best post 90’s Anime films. This is not a film for kids due to the horror and violence. I would also suggest checking out Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust and the Hellsing Anime TV and OVA series if you are into Vampire Horror type anime. For myself I’m going to catch up on more recent anime and check out the Blood Anime TV Series. I have also not seen the Live Action movie version of this and also I will be checking out that one soon. You will enjoy this film if you like mindless action fun and destruction. Stay away if you prefer long drawn out drama films. The ending, which I’m not going to reveal, leaves you guessing.
Blood The Last Vampire Anime Movie Official (Anime Trailer)