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BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE

Her new assignment is to work undercover as a Japanese schoolgirl at the US Air Force base at Yokota. It's 1966, and a lot of servicemen and their families are stationed there, gearing up for missions to Vietnam.

She picks up the trail of her quarry at the school medical office. The school nurse (Rebecca Forstadt, who some may recognize as the English voice of ROBOTECH's Lynn Minmei) is the intended victim of two demons disguised as Saya's classmates. Saya dispatches one, but the other gets away, hiding among the Halloween revelers. As a witness, the nurse is now a target for the demon - and two more are rapidly approaching the base from town.

Producer Mamoru Oshii (director of GHOST IN THE SHELL) and director Hiroyuki Kitakubo (ROUJIN Z) have teamed up to once again expand the art form of animation. BLOOD merges stylized cel animation seamlessly with CGI settings and effects to create an exciting new look, all in service of a thrilling, action-packed story that mixes BLADE with BUFFY by way of VAMPIRE PRINCESS MIYU. Manga is justly proud of this addition to their library, even giving it a theatrical release in certain cities.

There is only one thing that will keep BLOOD from joining the likes of AKIRA and PRINCESS MONONOKE as a modern anime masterpiece: its length. During the 1980s, the Original Anime Video release became established as a legitimate and accepted cartoon format in Japan, making projects of intermediate length viable. But at 48 minutes, BLOOD feels unfinished (especially since Manga erroneously printed a running time of "83 minutes" on their packaging). The story leaves many unanswered questions, such as whether the man Saya killed in the opening sequence was really a vampire or an "acceptable human loss," or how she came to be doing what she's doing. There's no indication as to why it's set against the Vietnam War (other than to give a unique setting for supernatural horror), and there's the feeling that Saya is headed toward an even bigger climax soon after, perhaps in the war zone itself. It begs for a sequel, but why not provide a much more satisfying debut?

Make no mistake though - that 48 minutes is pure anime magic. Manga includes a 20-minute "making of..." documentary that shows the creative care that went into every frame. An included demo reel shows what the film might have looked like if they hadn't gone back for another pass and given it a different look. The wonderful music soundtrack by Yoshohiro Ike also deserves applause.

The disc also includes the US video trailer, a "photo" gallery of 20 images, and promotional pieces for other Manga releases.