Blood - The Last Vampire [2000] [DVD]

The story is bare-boned. Not because there is none...but because it is clear that we are only witnessing a small part of the story. This isn't the beigging, and it certainly isn't the end, and refreshingly the film never apologizes for its lack of a begginning/middle/end with the standard ridiculous manga excuses. We don't need to know why there's a vampire (possibly the last) working for the government (possibly?) tracking down demons masquerading the earth as humans. We've heard all the stupid explanations before and they never stick, so it's nice to just be given the piece of art as it is. And it is a piece of art.

As you've probably already read-this has been toted as the first anime to use full digital animation. Again-another half-truth. It is in fact a dizzyingly perfect mix of traditional cel animation/cgi/and stunning digital special fx. The director can fully explore the surroundings of the characters in a way they never have been able to in anime. The camera sweeps and jutters thru' the gorgeously painted cityscapes and never resorts to the boring traditional techniques of animation. This is a film where finally animation is being used to its fullest as we see things we could never see in celluloid cinema.The colourization and sharp/yet grittness of the charactors is astounding, and those odd moments in the best of anime is in constant flow here as every scene dazzles the senses with detail and depth.

Of course there has to be something bad about this film, and if anything its merely the running time.At a fullfilling yet tantalizingly short 50minutes this film will leave you desperate for more. And you'll leave unsure as to whether the studio has begun the perfect series or left you with merely a demonstration of the talent at there finger tips. Either way - it's going to be amazing finding out.

One last thing to take note of here is that the dialogue flips between astoundingly well voice-acted japanese And english in an extremely refreshing decision for anime that finally eliminates the often difficult and awkward decision of choosing subtitles or not.

An insightive half hour making of documentary is included, a plethora of manga dvd previews,some crisp stills from the movie,and the orginal trailor of the film (with cut out shots) is held within the making of...

If you like this film then check out... Ghost In The Shell, Perfect Blue, Lain, Akira, Hakkenden, Princess Mononoke, Patlabor 1 & 2, Wings Of Honneamise.