Blood: The Last Vampire Review

(Blood, blood, and…not much else)

A month ago, while shopping at the local Suncoast for new anime, I stumbled across Blood: The Last Vampire. Magazine previews and high profile ads came to my recollection, so I picked it up, believing that it was a good movie. When the cashier saw my item for purchase, she abruptly said, “Blood: The Last Vampire is a great movie!”, so with hyped enthusiasm and a marijuana buzz (just kidding), I went home and popped my new DVD into my PS2. Then I sat back and experienced the biggest disappointment in Japanese animation since Ninja Resurrection. Blood: The Last Vampire was a HUGE letdown!

What’s it about?

Blood takes place in Japan during the autumn season of 1966, just days before the Vietnam War. Vampires roam the Yokota Air Force base, killing people for blood and then cleverly making their victims look like they had all committed suicides. Saya, a vampire huntress, has been dispatched by a top secret organization, the “Agency”, to rid the area of the blood suckers. Saya soon receives word that suicides have been reported to have occurred at the Yokota High School, so she goes undercover and investigates the matter.

So why don’t you like it?

Now, I know that some of you are thinking that I’m going to start bitching about how short Blood is. Though I wasn’t thrilled to find that Blood is unfinished and only 48 minutes long, this alone is not why I dislike this movie. There are many more serious problems that I’ve found while watching Blood. First off, Blood has no story. All that this movie has is a very shallow plot: young woman goes undercover and kills vampires, the end. Secondly, most of the characters are very dry and one-sided. Saya was just another bitch with a sword and an unreasonably stank attitude. There was nothing significant about Saya that separated her from other tough, hardcore heroines. The two Agency members, David and the Louis, were basically just movie filler. Of course David had a slightly bigger role, but it was still meaningless. The only character that had any sense of development was the nurse. She started off to be all timid and depressed because of the high school students’ deaths, but then she showed a little bravery near the end. I also didn’t care too much for Saya’s and the nurse’s voiceovers. They were speaking their English parts so slowly, as if they were trying all too hard to prove that they can articulate the language well. And another thing, what was up with that “last remaining original” crap? Why did they try to make that seem like such a mystery? Anyone who paid attention to the movie knew what Saya was. The title is Blood: The Last Vampire and Saya is the last remaining original. Hmmm… What could she possibly be!? :) And what’s worse, is that Saya being the “last remaining original” had absolutely nothing to contribute to the already non-existent story! And don’t get me started on the reused animation in the school dance scene! Above all things, Blood: The Last Vampire was poorly put together. It’s like they tried to cram a full length script into 48 minute feature and most of the important parts (like story, depth, and character development) just spilt out. If you’re looking for a good vampire-slashing anime with story and depth, then go see Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, instead.

Is there anything good about this movie?

For all it’s worth, Blood only has so many faults because the folks at Production I. G. decided to spend every yen in their budget on making it completely CG as an attempt to make Blood look as good as it can possibly be, instead of investing their money into making a full length movie with a decent plot and story. However, Blood does look nice. Production I. G. took an interesting approach to the visual aspect of Blood by having all of the characters drawn to look very gritty, almost dirty, yet they made the interior look of each drawing very smooth and fresh. Blood is also full of subtle, eye-catching detail. The glared reflection on the subway windows, the nurse, turning the steering wheel of her car, the camera work, during the short fight scene, in the infirmary, and the flight of the FMV-looking airplanes, are just a few of the many other aspects in this movie that were nicely done. Sadly, the only thing going for Blood, besides the amusing scenes with Mama, the transvestite bar hostess, is how it looks, and looks aren’t everything. It just goes against my nature to hold such high enthusiasm to such an empty movie, no matter how good it looks, especially since I saw Blood long after I watched Metropolis, which has a great story, nice plot, good character development, and is even better-looking than Blood!

To whom would you recommend the movie?

Well, let’s see. If you’re looking for a few minutes of vampire slaying action, if you want an anime that looks simply amazing, regardless of how bad the storyline is, if you want the first words to come out your mouth, after you finish watching, to be, “Is that it?”, then this is the movie for you. Otherwise, don’t bother.

-By MamoruAlpha