Blood: The Last Vampire



Blood: The Last Vampire (2000) is an anime film produced by Production I.G and Aniplex and directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo. A single-volume Manga sequel, Blood: The Last Vampire 2000 written by Benkyo Tamaoki, was published in Japan in 2001 by Kadokawa Shoten, and in English by Viz Media in November 2002 with the title slightly modified to Blood: The Last Vampire 2002. Three Japanese Light Novel adaptations have also been released for the series, along with a video game (which is the 6th game of the interactive adventure Yarudora series). It also spawned a fifty-episode anime series, Blood+, which is an alternate universe story. A live-action adaptation of the film with the same title was released in May 2009.

A new addition to the franchise, Blood-C, began airing in the Summer 2011 Anime Season.

The story is set in the American Yokota Air Base located in post-WWII Japan on Halloween 1966, a few months before the beginning of the Vietnam War. Its main protagonist is a girl named Saya, who hunts blood-drinking bat-like creatures called chiropterans for a secret organization known as the Red Shield.

Blood: The Last Vampire Contains Examples of:

 * Alternate Continuity: Blood+ and Blood-C.
 * Anti-Hero (Type III): Saya very much so.
 * Badass Longcoat: Saya has one in the beginning of the movie. Later she dresses as a Joshikousei.
 * Bilingual Bonus: Much like Bon Cop, Bad Cop, the dialogue switches languages every so often.
 * Bleached Underpants: Tamaoki Benkyo, the artist for Blood: The Last Vampire 2002.
 * Car Cushion: Used in the manga when Saya jumps off the roof of the school.
 * Cleanup Crew: Red Shield (The Council in the live-action movie) do this to cover up any evidence of chiropteran existence.
 * Dhampyr: Created by crossbreeding experiments between vampire hunters and captured chiropterans.
 * Dramatic Chase Opening: The first scene is a hunt inside the subway train.
 * Emotionless Girl: Saya.
 * Evil Twin: In the manga, Saya has Maya.
 * Fake American: Saya's a South Korean and her handler's an Irish. An American Kendo instructor's British.
 * Fan Service: The manga is full of this.
 * Hotter and Sexier: The original anime film had virtually no sex or nudity in it. This changed a great deal in the manga.
 * I Am Your Father: in the movie,
 * Katanas Are Just Better: The katana is Saya's weapon of choice.
 * Subverted in that the first one she uses snaps in a real fight. And according to her, it's just blades in general that are better.
 * The one she stole from the antique shop broke because it was a fake. In the film she explains that the only way to kill a Chiropteran is to make it lose a large amount of blood with a single strike which is why she prefers a katana.
 * Last of His Kind: It is implied that Saya is the last of the vampires ("originals") as opposed to the vaguely vampiric bat-monster chiropterans.
 * Lesbian Vampire: Maya, in the manga.
 * Morality Pet: For Saya: the nurse Mariko in the movie, Akiko in the manga.
 * Neck Lift: Saya has a habit of grabbing those that piss her off by the mouth.
 * Not Using the Z Word: They're called demons, monsters and Chiroptera. Averted once, presumably for the benefit of the Muggle nurse who just gave an unbelievable story to identify Saya.
 * Our Vampires Are Different: Though not a whole lot is expanded upon in the film, it is shown that Saya cannot be hurt by sunlight. She does, however, seem to have a fear of religious symbols and reacts angrily to those who mention God.
 * Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Saya.
 * Panty Shot: The movie averts this. The manga on the other hand does not.
 * Rain of Blood: Type 2, with a body in a tree.
 * Really Seven Hundred Years Old: Saya, who has been physically fifteen years old since at least World War II and wasn't much younger-looking in 1892.
 * Red Eyes, Take Warning: Saya, whose eyes are dull red by default but glow dangerously when her vampiric abilities kick in.
 * Salt and Pepper: David and Lewis.
 * School Uniforms Are the New Black: Saya wears a uniform for most of the movie and in the manga as well.
 * The Stoic: Saya.
 * Surprisingly Good English: All the English is grammatically correct and there are no weird accents where there shouldn't be, but the delivery...
 * Translation Convention: Various characters on the American Marine base in Okinawa speak fluent English or Japanese as appropriate. The DVD didn't offer dub selections for either, but allowed the viewer to choose which language was subtitled.
 * The Unfavorite: Akiko in the manga.
 * Vampire Hunter: Saya, of course.
 * Waif Fu