Blood: The Last Vampire - The 2000 horror anime film

Blood: The Last Vampire - The 2000 horror anime film

Blood: the last vampire is a 2000 anime film produced by Production IG and SPE Visual Works and directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo. The film premiered in Japanese theaters on November 18, 2000. A one-volume manga sequel, titled Blood: The Last Vampire 2000 and written by Benkyo Tamaoki, it was published in Japan in 2001 by Kadokawa Shoten and in English by Viz Media in November 2002 under the title Blood: The Last Vampire 2002 .

Three adaptations of Japanese light novels have also been released for the series, along with a video game. It also spawned a fifty-episode anime series set in an alternate universe titled Blood + and a second anime series, Blood-C, also set in another alternate universe. A live-action adaptation of the film of the same title premiered in Japan in May 2009.

History

The story is set in 1966. The main protagonist is a girl named Saya, who hunts down bat-like creatures called bats. Saya is introduced on a subway train, where she murders a man in a suit and tie. His American contacts or referents arrive. One of them, David, begins to inform Saya about another mission, while the other, Louis, discovers that the man Saya just killed was probably not a chiroptera.

Saya's next mission begins at the American Yokota Air Base, which is active in preparations for the Vietnam War. At least one chiroptera has managed to infiltrate the airbase, and it's only a matter of time before they feed again, hibernate, and become untraceable. Saya must pretend to be a student, infiltrate the high school adjacent to the base, then track down and kill the bats.

At school, Saya meets a mild-mannered nurse, Amino Makiho, on the eve of the school's annual Halloween party. Two of Saya's classmates, Sharon and Linda, visit Makiho in the nurse's office. Suddenly, Saya bursts into the room, killing Linda and injuring Sharon, breaking her sword in the process. Both girls turn out to be bats. Makiho is shocked by the revelation. Meanwhile, a third chiroptera reveals itself and begins to make its way to the base. Back at school, Makiho regains her nerve and chases Sharon into a room full of costumed American dancers, where she finds Sharon transformed. Saya rescues her and they both flee to a nearby parking lot. Bats trap them inside and attack.

David delivers a new sword and Saya uses it to kill Sharon. The last chiroptera then decides to escape, trying to hide on a departing cargo plane. David and Saya go hunting and she manages to hit the chiroptera and fatally wound it. It then stands above the dying creature and lets some of its blood drip into its mouth. Louis arrives and retrieves Makiho before the local police reach her.

Later, Makiho is seen in an interview with government officials questioning her about the night's events. However, it is revealed that all evidence of the battle between Saya and the bats has been covered up and both David and Saya have disappeared, leaving Makiho with nothing to prove the veracity of his story. Her interviewer then asks her to identify Saya in a photo that has a girl who looks identical to her, except that the photo was taken in 1892. The only other description of the photo is the word "VAMPIRE". Makiho then returns to the school, where he says he never found out the whole truth behind Saya and the bats, and wonders if he's still out there fighting them.

Characters

Skirt

hunt bats using a katana. It is implied that she is the last vampire left and called "the only one left original". Saya has no weaknesses in the open, although it is not known if she has any of the other vulnerabilities often attributed to vampires. However, she does, becomes distressed when she encounters religious paraphernalia and gets angry when people mention God in her presence. Saya displays superhuman senses and strength, but also cunning, resourcefulness and skill. The manga series suggests it was a human-vampire hybrid. Her age is unknown, but the film shows a photo of her with nine other people with the date 1892 and the word "vampire" attached. Although he despises most humans, he seems to have some sort of respect for David.

David

is a man who works for the United States government organization called Red Shield. He transmits missions to Saya and helps her at various points in the film. Voiced by Joe Romersa.

The bats

chiroptera or, as we speak in the film, chiroptera), from the Greek for “wings of the hands” (翼 手 (yokushu) in Japanese), are bloodsucking creatures similar to bats, comparable to humans for intelligence. They disguise themselves as people and can gradually transform, becoming large, monstrous and slender. In this form, a further transformation produces leathery wings that allow the creature to glide, but not to fly freely. Bats live by feeding on human blood. They possess extraordinary speed and strength. They heal almost instantly from any non-lethal wound. For this reason, the only way to kill them easily is to have them lose a sufficiently large amount of blood from an attack.

Production

Produced by Production IG, SPE Visual Works and Sony Computer Entertainment, Blood: The Last Vampire was directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo. The characters in the film drawn were made by Katsuya Terada. The original screenplay was written by Kenji Kamiyama, while the soundtrack was composed by Yoshihiro Ike. Before the film was completed, it was licensed for North American release by Manga Entertainment.

It premiered at the 5th Annual International Fantasy, Action and Genre Film Festival, dubbed Fantasia 2000, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where it was screened for attendees on July 29, 2000. The film aired in Australia on 26 August. , 2000 at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Arts Festival. She made her theatrical debut in her home country of Japan on November 16, 2000.

Manga Entertainment released the film theatrically in North America in the summer of 2001, followed by VHS and DVD on August 26, 2001.

Manga

Using a concept from Mamoru Oshii, Production IG asked Benkyo Tamaoki to write a sequel to Blood: The Last Vampire to complete the story. He brings Saya to the year 2002, with a new generation of trainers and continuing his quest to destroy the bats. Appropriately named Blood: The Last Vampire 2000 (ブ ラ ッ ド ザ ・ ラ ス ト ヴ ァ ン パ イ ア 2000, Buraddo Za Rasuto Vanpaia 2000), the single volume title was released in Japan by Kadokawa Shoten on May 1, 2001. It was licensed and published in English in North America from Viz Media under the title Blood: The Last Vampire 2002 on November 5, 2002. In the manga, David has retired and Saya has a new manager who makes it abundantly clear that he has no respect for her. He sends her to Jinkōsen Shūritsu Valley High School under the name of "Saya Otonashi". There, he discovers that bats coexisted with humans, until humans began experimenting on them in the 19th century to try to attain immortality. The experiments increased the bats' killing instinct and removed their former respect for humanity. Scientists, in turn, have developed two anti-bat weapons. Maya, a prototype, still needed blood and could transform like other bats. The second, Saya, did not need to drink blood and had no transformational ability, so it was considered the perfect weapon. Maya searches for Saya, wishing Saya to eat her so they can become a thoroughbred bats. After this encounter, Maya's body cannot be found, but it is never shown if Saya has granted her request. Saya kills her supervisor and goes off into the night.

Technical data

Original title ブ ラ ッ ド ザ ラ ス ト ヴ ァ ン パ イ ア
Buraddo Za Rasuto Vanpaia
Original language Japanese
Country of Production Japan
Year 2000
Duration 48 min
Gender animation, Horror
Regia Hiroyuki kitakubo
Subject Mamoru Oshii
Film script Kenji Kamiyama
Production house Production IG
Distribution in Italian Sandwiches Video
Art director Yusuke takeda
character design Katsuya Terada
Entertainers Kazuchika Kise (conductor)
Original voice actors
Youki Kudoh: Saya
Saemi Nakamura as Mahiko Caroline Amano
Joe RomersaDavid
Stuart Robinson:Louis
Akira Koieyama: Mom
Tom Fahn: Teacher
Paul Carr: Headmaster
Rebecca Forstadt: Sharon
Fitz Houston: Soldier # 1
Steve Blum: Soldier # 2
Italian voice actors
Cristiana Rossi: Saya
Silvana FantiniMahiko Caroline Amano
Raffaele Farina: David
Massimiliano LottiLouis
Luca Bottale: Mom
Natale Ciravolo: Teacher
Maurizio Scattorin: Headmaster
Marisa Della Pasqua: Sharon
Marco Balbi: Soldier # 1
Stefano Albertini: Soldier # 2

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/