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Shopping Bag: BLOOD: The Last Vampire Blu-ray
Another Crack at my Anime Dilemma By
Robert T. Trate
November 24, 2009
Saya from Blood: The Last Vampire is now on Blu-ray
© Bob Trate
In June of this year I wrote about my “Anime Dilemma” (see column). In that I column I spoke about my little to no success with the world of Anime films. More often than not I have stumbled into the dark and often overly twisted Anime films. Because of this I have unfortunately stayed away from the big titles such as Akira (1988) and Ghost in the Shell (1995). That week I gambled on Gigantor (1964) and hoped, due to the era it was from, it would be more fun than frightful. Sadly it was more dull than dynamic. Thankfully, Mania is the kind of site where our readers can respond to the plight of its columnists and give back. I didn’t give up on my “Anime Dilemma” and I have returned with good news.
Now before you get all crazy and think I watched all of your suggestions I didn’t. Time is of the essence for this critic/ columnist and watching what I need to sucks up a lot of my what-I-want-to-watch time. Thankfully today Starz/ Manga released both Blood: The Last Vampire (2000) and Ghost in the Shell 2.0 (1995) on Blu-ray so two Anime films coincided with my wants and needs. I flipped a coin and Blood: The Last Vampire would be my next attempt into the Anime world. I remembered what one Maniac said, “The most important thing to understand about Anime is it is not a genre but a medium made up of many genres…” (kirarakim_home). So, this story about a mysterious agent, who is “the last original”, hunting Vampires in Japan, had a lot of appeal. I was completely apprehensive at first because I had no way of knowing was this a sequel or a spin off. Was there a Blood: The First Vampire? I probably would have watched Ghost in the Shell if it wouldn’t have had 2.0 next to the title (later I learned it was to signify a re-mastered special edition) but regardless Blood: The Last Vampire it was going to be.
The animation for Blood: The Last Vampire was incredible. Initially in the first few frames I thought perhaps the only thing that was Anime was the box and the title sequence. The same creators as Ghost in the Shell did Blood: The Last Vampire and used some incredible digital effects adding to the realism. To witness this was a true treat on Blu-ray in 1080p. This wasn’t much of a surprise though. The animation in Anime has never been the problem, it’s just the usual explicit sex scenes lose me. This makes me roll my eyes and wonder when the story is going to take precedence over two people humping. Blood: The Last Vampire isn’t that kind of Anime.
The film opens with Saya (voiced by Youki Kudoh) hunting one of the last Vampires in Japan. We learn that she is “the last original” and the only person that can stop them. Her handlers are top-secret government agents who clean up after her and deliver her new assignments. This next one is to go undercover as a student on a U.S. Air Force base and take out yet another Vampire. There isn’t a lot of character given to the piece. Saya is said to be “the last” which gives her character a sense of loneliness. She has also been at this, hunting vampires, for some time because she complains that her sword no longer has its edge. Just how long we find out in the final minutes of the film. More of her back story would have lengthened the story however it just didn’t fit into the action at hand. There is an urgency that clearly takes precedence over the getting to know Saya.
Saya doesn’t have much time to blend in with the other children to find her prey. Immediately she is pegged as an outsider by the school’s nurse, Makiho (Saemi Nakamura), and before you know it Makiho and Saya are battling two Vampires. The action is cut throat as well as the Anime. I kept waiting for either of these characters to have the big crazy sex scene or even stumble into one and it never happened. This was a film about a huntress in her quest to eliminate these Vampires off the face of the Earth. It was creepy, scary and constantly threw surprises at you. Screenwriter Kenji Kamiyama even took the time to write in classic horror movie dialogue where the non believers try to console the believers. Of course this only leads to them learning the terrible truth in the worst way.
By the film’s conclusion I was left wanting more. This would have been a great pilot or first installment and its sequel would have easily made it to the top of my Netflix queue. As of now, at least to my knowledge, there isn’t one. There was a live action film released this year (see Tim Janson’s review) but I think I know enough that the Anime version will be far superior to anything done with live action. Since I finally found an Anime film that actually lives up to the hype for this style of storytelling I have decided to watch Ghost in the Shell 2.0 next. Much like the way I watch most foreign films I’ll look for similar writers, producers and directors. For the time being Anime will be no different.
ACTION / ADVENTURE / KUNG FU/ THRILLERS / WESTERNS
A Walk In The Sun ~ Dana Andrews, Richard Conte, George Tyne, and John Ireland
Adventures of Tartu ~ Robert Donat
Akihabara@Deep The Movie ~ Hiroki Narimiya
Angels & Demons ~ Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer, and Stellan Skarsgård
Angels & Demons [Blu-ray]
Angels & Demons [UMD for PSP]
Angels & Demons (Two-Disc Extended Edition)
Angels & Demons Giftset with Bookends [Blu-ray]
Angel Heart [Blu-ray] ~ Mickey Rourke, Robert De Niro, and Stocker Fontelieu
Buffalo Bill Jr. Double Feature: Rawhide Romance/The Texan ~ Buffalo Bill Jr.
Clearing The Range ~ Hoot Gibson
Encounters ~ Jonathan Reason, David Kershaw, and Alexandra London-Thompson
Far Cry ~ Til Schweiger, Udo Kier, and Emmanuelle Vaugier
The Fiend ~ Ronald Allen, Tony Beckley, Percy Herbert, and Madeline Hinde
Fugitive Road ~ Erich Von Stroheim
Green Fish ~ Seong-kun Mun, Hye-jin Shim, and Suk-kyu Han
He Walked Through the Fields ~ Chana Eden, Shraga Friedman, Assi Dayan, and Samuel
Atzmon
Human Cobras ~ Giorgio Ardisson, Erika Blanc, Alberto de Mendoza, and Miguel del Castillo
Ichi the Killer [Blu-ray] ~ Nao Omori
Ichi 1 ~ Yuki Oikawa, Eiki Kitamura, Kazuhiro Mashiko, and Chisato Amate
Mad Dog Morgan ~ Dennis Hopper, David Gulpilil, Harold Baigent, and Natalie Bate
Mallanna ~ Vikram, Shriya Saran, Ashidh Vidhyarthi, and Prabhu Ganesan
Megafault ~ Brittany Murphy, Eriq La Salle, Justin Hartley, and Bruce Davison
Megafault [Blu-ray]
New Police Story [Blu-ray] ~ Tony Leung Kar-Fai, Alex Lee, Jackie Chan, and John Sham
Radio Ranch ~ Gene Autry
Rex Bell Double Feature: Crashing Broadway/Fighting Pioneers ~ Rex Bell
Righteous Kill/Traitor [Blu-ray] ~ Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, 50 Cent, and John Leguizamo
Roy Rogers Double Feature: Cowboy and The Senorita/Under Nevada Skies ~ Roy Rogers
Seventy 8 ~ Haley Ramm, Dameon Clarke, Susana Gibb, and Rachel Loera
Silver Spurs ~ Roy Rogers
Silent Scream ~ Barbara Steele, Rebecca Balding, Cameron Mitchell, and Yvonne De Carlo
Son of The Renegade ~ Johnny Carpenter
Streets of Blood/Lies and Illusions [Blu-ray] ~ Val Kilmer
Terrorist Next Door ~ Michael Ironside
Three Monkeys ~ Yavuz Bingol, Hatice Aslan, Ahmet Rifat Sungar, and Ercan Kesal
Tokyo 10+01
Turning Point
Valley of the Heart's Delight ~ Tom Bower, Bruce McGill, Pete Postlethwaite, and Diana Scarwid
The Way of the Gun [Blu-ray] ~ Benicio Del Toro, Nicky Katt, Dylan Kussman, and Geoffrey Lewis
ANIME
Bamboo Blade: Part 1 ~ Cherami Leigh
Blade of the Immortal Volume 2 ~ Rina Satou
Blood: The Last Vampire [Blu-ray] ~ Youki Kudoh
Ghost in the Shell 2.0 [Blu-ray] ~ Atsuko Tanaka, Akio Ôtsuka, Kôichi Yamadera, and Tesshô Genda
Godkiller: Walk Among Us #2 ~ Davey Havok, Lance Henriksen, Danielle Harris, and Bill Moseley
Ikki Tousen Dragon Destiny Volume 1: Romance of the Three High Schools ~ Masumi Asano
Nabari No Ou: Complete Series, Part 2 ~ Brina Palencia
Nana: Uncut Box Set, Vol. 2
Naruto Uncut Box Set: Season One, Vol. 2
Philosophy of a Knife Limited Edition ~ Manoush
Philosophy of a Knife
Pokemon Elements, Vol. 5: Ice
Tears to Tiara: Collection 1
Teknoman Complete (Thin Pack) ~ David Thomas
CARTOONS
The Animation of Alexeieff
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ~ Adriana Caselotti, Harry Stockwell, Lucille La Verne, and Roy Atwell
Superman: The Complete Animated Series
COMEDY AND LOVE Mania Style
Four Christmases ~ Reese Witherspoon
Four Christmases [Blu-ray]
Funny People ~ Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, and Eric Bana
Funny People [Blu-ray]
The Jerry Lewis Show Collection ~ Jerry Lewis, Don Rickles, Flip Wilson, and Janet Leigh
The Maiden Heist ~ Christopher Walken, Morgan Freeman, Marcia Gay Harden, and William H. Macy
Air America [Blu-ray] ~ Marshall Bell, David Bowe, Burke Byrnes, and Jr. Robert Downey
Shorts ~ Kat Dennings
Criterion Collection
A Christmas Tale (The Criterion Collection)
The Golden Age of Television (The Criterion Collection) ~ Andy Griffith, Myron McCormick, Ernest Borgnine, and Betsy Blair
Gomorrah (Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray] ~ Toni Servillo, Gianfelice Imparato, Maria Nazionale, and Salvatore Cantalupo
Gomorrah (The Criterion Collection)
HORROR
Breaking Nikki ~ Oliver Kolker
Cujo (25th Anniversary Edition) [Blu-ray] ~ Robert Behling, Danny Pintauro, Terence Donovan, and Bob Elross
The Curse of the Crying Woman ~ Rosita Arenas, Julissa, Enrique Lucero, and Rita Macedo
Devilman ~ Hisato Izaki
Frailty [Blu-ray] ~ Luke Askew, Powers Boothe, Vincent Chase, and Cynthia Ettinger
This Hollow Sacrament ~ Anthony Falcon, April Potter, Marcus D. Shelby, and Sheila McClay
Hunchback of the Morgue ~ Albeto Dalbes, Maria Perschy, Vic Winner, and Rosanna Yanni
I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle ~ Anthony Daniels, Michael Elphick, George Rossi, and Neil Morrissey
The Monster Squad (20th Anniversary Edition) [Blu-ray] ~ Ernie Brown, Adam Carl, Leo Cimino, and Sonia Curtis
My Bloody Valentine (Special Edition) [Blu-ray] ~ Neil Affleck, Cynthia Dale, Don Francks, and Lori Hallier
Red Room 2 ~ Miyuki Katô, Yukio Kokago, Salmon Sakeyama, and Yuka Takahashi
The Witches Hammer ~ Claudia Coulter, Stephanie Beacham, and Jason Tompkins
SCIENCE FICTION / FANTASY
Ink [Blu-ray]
Rock and Rule ~ Catherine O'Hara, Maurice LaMarche, Susan Roman, and Don Francks
S4 (Sector 4) ~ Henry Clarke, Robert Watts, Will Edwards, and Antoinette Correia
TV LAND
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Season Four
Beverly Hills 90210: Season Eight ~ Jason Priestley, Brian Austin Green, Ian Ziering, and Tiffani Thiessen
Hogan's Heroes: The Komplete Series, Kommandant's Kollection ~ Bob Crane, Werner Klemperer, Richard Dawson, and Larry Hovis
Laredo - The Complete Series 1965-1967 - 12 DVD Set! ~ Philip Carey, Neville Brand, William Smith, and Peter Brown
Law & Order: Criminal Intent - Season Four ~ Kathryn Erbe, Vincent D'Onofrio, Jamey Sheridan, and Courtney B. Vance
Life on Mars: Series 2 (UK) ~ John Simm, Philip Glenister, Liz White, and Dean Andrews
Melrose Place: Season Five, Vol. 2 ~ Thomas Calabro
The Sopranos: The Complete First Season [Blu-ray] ~ James Gandolfini
BOX SETS
Ken Maynard Western Classics: Honor of The Range/Town Went Wild/Fargo Express/Lightning Strikes West/Two Gun Man ~ Ken Maynard
COMING SOON
Kingdom of the Spider Special Edition ~ William Shatner
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one must also ask themselves -- self, was there also a Blood -- The Penultimate Vampire?
I remember I'd sent that great big blog discussion I had with Maelstrom (and company) and I think someone added a comment to it....but hell I can't see it -- the third or fourth page (whatever it was) shuts down and it asks for a password or something...
maybe if Jarrod can get some oo-mox from this Movie Maven female hotness....he could fix it :) go for the timpanic tickle, movie loving femle hotness!
still love FullMetal Alchemist -- haven't seen its movie "Conquerer of Shamballa"....yet....but if you try it, you obviously need to watch the show first as I'm told it ends in a cliff hanger....which the movie dives into...but the premise of the movie is awesome and makes me want to just go watch it anyway
here's a question -- since we have standard hand drawn animation on Blu-Ray now, is there a noticeable difference from the standard dvd presentation? animation is so clean looking to begin with, I'm just wondering if it really is better or if it takes a trained eye to see the difference