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


Hiding in the Shadows   December 6, 2002
 32 out of 34 found this review helpful

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.


My taste for blood is not satiated   September 27, 2001
 29 out of 35 found this review helpful

The computer graphics and animation in this film were good and I like the idea that a vampire can only be killed by causing them to suddenly lose a large amount of blood, but that isn't enough to keep this movie afloat. The movie is far too short. It's quite slow and it's only 45 minutes long! There is practically no character development. When I saw the credits rolling, I actually thought that credits were appearing halfway through the movie as a artistic decision, or as an intermission sort of thing. I did not expect it to be the end of the movie. Very disappointing.


Blood the Last Vampire   January 17, 2002
 28 out of 30 found this review helpful

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!


Absolutely GUT-WRENCHINGLY AWFUL!!   February 20, 2002
 23 out of 31 found this review helpful

It's times like these when I wish for zero stars. This was so slow and boring I almost fell asleep. The only good part was that the torture ended quickly. And as for the reviewer who called this a 'masterpiece' and said 'poor Philly', I say 'poor YOU!' Ever notice that people find the 1 and 2-star reviews more helpful?