Blood: The Last Vampire

Blood: The Last Vampire was released in 2000 by [Production I.G.]], an animated film production company that has come to be known for releasing quality [[anime movies, such as Ghost in the Shell, Jin-Roh and an animated segment in the highly popular film Kill Bill: Volume 1. The movie has garnered tons of media attention and has made fans around the world. It is an interesting work of animation that neatly blends both 2D and 3D graphics into one seamless picture, something that had not been done successfully until Blood: The Last Vampire was released.

Synopsis

The movie is set in the past, a few months or so before the beginning of the Vietnam War. The movie opens with a girl named Saya. Saya has been sent by the government to slay demons and vampires that have been inhabiting the U.S. Air Force Base. While she is in the school, she realizes that the school nurse seems to be the main target, and realizes that she has to keep the nurse safe as well as get rid of all the demons in the base. Saya’s boss is with her as they battle three particularly nasty vampires.

The secret of the movie arises when you realize that Saya keeps being referred to as “the last”. It turns out that Saya is the last original vampire and has been hired by the government to help them vanquish the demons and other vampires that exist in the world. It is clearly plain to see, upon a second watching, that Saya can not stand humans, which makes it even more interesting that she has to guard one.

Misc Info

Fans of Ghost in the Shell were somewhat disappointed at first when they purchased this movie. While the animation is superior, the movie is only 46 minutes long. Many fans felt betrayed because they were left wanting more. Later in 2000, Sony, one of the major distributors of Blood: The Last Vampire in the United States, tried to give it to them. They announced a video game that had some of the same characters, and added some new ones. It did not do as well as the industry hoped it would.

In 2005, Production I.G. and Sony teamed up once again in order to try to appease the fans at last. An anime series was introduced that was named Blood+. It featured Saya and was set a few decades after the original movie took place. Saya’s origins are explained the movie, and a host of new characters are also introduced. The anime series is 50 episodes long and has made fans of this amazing series much happier with the ending.

A live-action movie is also in the making. It is estimated that, in 2008, Blood: The Last Vampire will be released in the theaters. There is no word yet on how different the script will be from the movie, or if it will only touch upon the movie and follow the anime series instead.