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Focus: Blood - The Last Vampire
by Kit

Friday, November 22, 2002

Production I.G. was the studio behind Ghost in the Shell and Jin Roh, so it may come as no surprise that their eye pleasing CG/Animated movie Blood was both dark, stylish, and in the end, nothing but captivating.

Title - Blood: The Last Vampire
Creators - Production I.G.
Directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo
Released - Japan, 2000
Length - Approx. 50 minutes

There's a lot of good to say about Blood: The Last Vampire. First off, it has an undeniable pedigree behind it. Production I.G. was the studio behind Ghost in the Shell and Jin Roh, both of which were directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo (director of Black Magic M-66 and a contributor to Robot Carnival); and co-created by Ghost in the Shell director and anime legend Mamoru Oshii.

What made Blood significant when it was released 2 years ago was that it was the first fully digital animated film out of Japan. This meant that while Blood was animated traditionally using paper and cells, the actual artwork was physically scanned into a computer and then edited for clarity. The entire process is done completely digitally just as most Disney features are now today. The result is crisp image quality, and an undeniable level of detail not seen in any Japanese animated film previously.

The digital process has made Blood one of the most beautiful japanimations on the market.

Of course, some might have taken this digital aspect of the film to be the only attention grabber. However beneath the techno babble that describes the technology leap that is Blood, there lies a very captivating story and style that is sure to have fans begging for more.

The movie's focus is on the young Saya, a teenaged girl who, as part of a special and secretive US Army operation, fights tirelessly to eliminate vampires. The vampires in blood aren't your average cape wearing, bat transforming types either. These vampires are big, mean, and very ugly. Also forget about garlic, these vampires die by losing huge amounts of blood, very quickly. Luckily Saya is always willing to oblige in this dark requirement.

Here one of the vampires makes the transformation from ugly to very ugly.

The action in Blood is very intense and done in spurts. Unlike other B-type horror movies where the action and gore are mearly thrown at the viewer as a means of shock and excitement, the action sequences in Blood are stylishly done, and very intense. Each swing of the Katana blade (Saya's weapon of choice) is a deadly calculated move meant to kill in a single swing. Saya doesn't choose to use guns because they don't kill the vampires, only slowing them down.

One aspect of Blood that may attract viewers is the pervasive darkness that emanates throughout the film. This is indeed one of the darkest animes on the market right now. The setting (during Halloween), the dialogue, and even Saya's character are all done in a way that portrays a very somber mood that was so effective in the now syndicated X-Files. The mood is also helped by the fact that you know very little detail of the events that lead up to Blood, or even any background detail at all which is contrary to other animes such as Robotech, or Tenchi Muyo, which had very deep background stories. The mysterious nature of the film and its characters lends to the mood, and it keeps you excited as each detail is slowly revealed throughout.

The cornerstone of the film is Saya. Never a girl to smile, her diminutive stature and emotionless demeanor hide the rage and fury that is contained within. She never smiles during the entire movie, and comes off as very angry even when she isn't scowling. She's mysterious, and attractive, but we never really are told who she is. We're left to speculate as to who (or what) she is, and why she does what she does, assisted only by the tiniest morsels of clues doled out as the movie progresses. The only indication that Saya is even capable of emotion is when she is forced to explode into furious moments of violence when engaging a vampire. In this aspect, Saya is both humanless and exact in her judgment. Her task is simply to kill, and in that she is very efficient.

The many emotions of Saya: Apathetic, callous, and angry.

Throughout the film, we never are told why Saya feels so much rage. At the end we are told a little of her history, and perhaps that is the answer to the darkness and intrigue that surrounds Saya. In fact, during a poignant moment at the end of the film, we are shown a rare human side of Saya that reveals a bit of her true origins and perhaps an insight into her psyche, something that can appropriately be described as "tortured".

In the end, Blood's true achievement is nothing technical at all. It's the enthralling story Kitakubo has created. The film, although short, has us begging for more. Let's hope our prayers are answered and we are allowed a better glimpse into the story of Blood.

--- Kit

Blood: The Last Vampire is now available on DVD. It is rated R due to extreme violence.