Copyright: ©2000 Mamoru Oshii, Production I.G., Sony Visual Works Length: 48 minutes Genre: horror Rating: M, Recommended for Mature Audiences Language: Japanese & English Dialogue Original Story: Mamoru Oshii Screenplay by: Kamiyama Kenji Director: Hiroyuki Kitakubo Music: Ike Yoshihiro
AWESOME!!! Was of course the word repeatedly echoed inside my head through out the 48 minutes of this anime. Ever since the opening title, I was sitting upright to watch the cool details on every frame. The steel on subway’s rail and the silver poles caught my attention first because of the amazing shadows reflected on them, very real indeed! The CGI really made me forgot that this was an anime movie. The sitting upright and sticking my face to the screen didn’t last long, because while the movie told its story, my body kind of pulling away and my hand was reaching the nearest pillow to cover my eyes. The background music didn’t do much help for me in this department. I actually gasped loudly when one of the vampires attacked.
Saya was a teenage girl with a mysterious power. Her expression always appeared cold and iron-hearted, and somewhat menacing. She never smiled and her eyes were those of the lonely souled person. On the first ten minutes, we were left puzzled about her. We only knew from the first scene when she slew a man easily with only one stroke of Katana that she’s not an ordinary girl; and from the English dialogue that the two men asked her to finish off a group of something before they took many more life and that Saya was their only hope. They talked about her going to go undercover in some high school to finish this task. After that there was a scene of “said-to-be” another suicide case in a red-light district, people were talking in Japanese that a suicide like this was a common happening in a place like that, but some argued that there were too many of it lately.
As the story grew, we would know that it was 1966 Japan (during the Vietnam War) and the high school mentioned was a high school located in the Yokota Base, an American Airbase. I smiled when Saya asked David (her contact with the government organization, I think) about her undercover school uniform, still with a flat expression off course. “What’s this?” she asked. David replied, that was supposed to be the usual Japanese schoolgirls’ uniform. This, I think, was an inside joke for them. It turned out that the American high school in Yokota Base was like any other American public school, meaning there was no uniform needed for any of the students. With her Japanese features, and by wearing the sailor uniform, Saya’s outsider appearances was more likely to be accentuated, right? And you called this an undercover? Yeah, right!
Anyway, there was not much story to be told, there were a lot of suspense actions and Katana slashing, though. Though often associated with Buffy the Vampire Slayer—just because of her school girl appearance?—please don’t expect to see heart-throb vampires like Angel or Spike. The vampires were monstrous, you know, complete with humps on their backs, also sinister fangs and fingers. Unlike, Hollywood’s vampire story, there was no holy water, crosses (only once, I think, on the nurse’s pendant), or wooden stake involved. But, Saya’s dislike reaction on the saying of “Jesus!” or “Christ!” was very notable.
I have to agree to many reviews written for this movie, “It should have been longer.” I didn’t know until reading the reviews that Saya (the heroine) was also a vampire, and that the title “The Last Vampire” was referring to her. There was no background for the story, the audiences were forced to swallow all of the questions: Who was Saya? Was she a Japanese vampire? What government Saya was helping? Why Saya agreed to help them? Etc etc… And when the movie ended, the questions remained. (Blast!!) At first, I thought maybe because this was a pilot episode of a sequel, or maybe there has been a manga series of Blood and this movie was created for the fans’ satisfaction, but it turned out that this anime was the one actually inspired manga and graphic novel adaptations, and even a TV anime series.
Saya was a teenage girl with a mysterious power. Her expression always appeared cold and iron-hearted, and somewhat menacing. She never smiled and her eyes were those of the lonely souled person. On the first ten minutes, we were left puzzled about her. We only knew from the first scene when she slew a man easily with only one stroke of Katana that she’s not an ordinary girl; and from the English dialogue that the two men asked her to finish off a group of something before they took many more life and that Saya was their only hope. They talked about her going to go undercover in some high school to finish this task. After that there was a scene of “said-to-be” another suicide case in a red-light district, people were talking in Japanese that a suicide like this was a common happening in a place like that, but some argued that there were too many of it lately.
As the story grew, we would know that it was 1966 Japan (during the Vietnam War) and the high school mentioned was a high school located in the Yokota Base, an American Airbase. I smiled when Saya asked David (her contact with the government organization, I think) about her undercover school uniform, still with a flat expression off course. “What’s this?” she asked. David replied, that was supposed to be the usual Japanese schoolgirls’ uniform. This, I think, was an inside joke for them. It turned out that the American high school in Yokota Base was like any other American public school, meaning there was no uniform needed for any of the students. With her Japanese features, and by wearing the sailor uniform, Saya’s outsider appearances was more likely to be accentuated, right? And you called this an undercover? Yeah, right!
Anyway, there was not much story to be told, there were a lot of suspense actions and Katana slashing, though. Though often associated with Buffy the Vampire Slayer—just because of her school girl appearance?—please don’t expect to see heart-throb vampires like Angel or Spike. The vampires were monstrous, you know, complete with humps on their backs, also sinister fangs and fingers. Unlike, Hollywood’s vampire story, there was no holy water, crosses (only once, I think, on the nurse’s pendant), or wooden stake involved. But, Saya’s dislike reaction on the saying of “Jesus!” or “Christ!” was very notable.
I have to agree to many reviews written for this movie, “It should have been longer.” I didn’t know until reading the reviews that Saya (the heroine) was also a vampire, and that the title “The Last Vampire” was referring to her. There was no background for the story, the audiences were forced to swallow all of the questions: Who was Saya? Was she a Japanese vampire? What government Saya was helping? Why Saya agreed to help them? Etc etc… And when the movie ended, the questions remained. (Blast!!) At first, I thought maybe because this was a pilot episode of a sequel, or maybe there has been a manga series of Blood and this movie was created for the fans’ satisfaction, but it turned out that this anime was the one actually inspired manga and graphic novel adaptations, and even a TV anime series.
Oh, but I read that Bill Kong, producer of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero is setting up to make a live action version of this anime. WOO-HOO!!!! I really, sincerely, hope that this version will provide us with a more complete and satisfying story.
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