Blood: The Last Vampire
Encyclopedia
Blood: The Last Vampire is a 2000
anime
film
produced by Production I.G and SPE Visual Works
and directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo
. The film premiered in theaters in Japan
on November 18, 2000. A single-volume manga
sequel, titled Blood: The Last Vampire 2000 and written by Benkyo Tamaoki
, 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 Japanese light novel
adaptations 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+
. A live-action adaptation of the film with the same title
was released in Japan in May 2009.
located in post-World War II
Japan, a few months before the beginning of the Vietnam War
. Its main protagonist is a girl named Saya, who hunts hematophagous
bat
-like creatures called chiropterans for a secret organization known as the Red Shield. Saya's mission begins in a subway train, where she assassinates a man suspected of being a chiropteran. However, David and Louis, her Red Shield contacts, arrive and discover that the man was not a chiropteran. David then gives Saya orders for her next mission. There are at least two chiropterans that have managed to infiltrate the air base, and it is only a matter of time before they feed again, go into hibernation, and become untraceable. Saya is to pose as a Japanese high school girl, infiltrate the high school adjacent to the base, and then track and kill the chiropterans.
At the high school, Saya runs into the school's meek nurse Makiho Amano on the eve of the school's annual Halloween party. Two of Saya's classmates, Sharon and Linda, make a visit to Makiho at the nurse's office. Suddenly, Saya bursts into the room and kills Linda and wounds Sharon, breaking her sword in the process. Both girls are revealed to be chiropterans. Makiho goes into shock at the revelation as Saya pursues Sharon. Meanwhile, a third chiropteran reveals itself and begins making its way to the base. Back at the school, Makiho regains her nerve and pursues Sharon, but is taken hostage by Sharon. She is saved by Saya and they both flee into a nearby motor pool. The chiropterans trap them inside and attack. Makiho manages to break down the doors with a jeep and faints. David then arrives and gives Saya a new sword, which she uses to kill Sharon.
The final chiropteran then decides to flee, attempting to stow away on a departing cargo plane. David and Saya give chase and she manages to strike the chiropteran and mortally wound it. She then stands over the dying chiropteran and lets some of her blood trickle into its mouth, which apparently kills it. Louis then arrives and recovers Makiho before the local police can reach her first.
Afterwards, Makiho is seen at an interview with government officials who question her about the night's events. However, it's revealed that all evidence of the battle between Saya and the chiropterans has been covered up and both David and Saya have disappeared, leaving Makiho with nothing to prove the veracity of her story. Her interviewer then asks her to identify Saya in a picture which has a girl that looks identical her, except the picture was taken in 1892. The only other description of the picture is the word "VAMPIRE". Makiho then returns to the school, where she narrates that she never really discovered the full truth behind Saya and the chiropterans, and wonders if she's still out there fighting them.
wanted to produce a new project that was an original concept rather than being an adaptation of an existing anime or manga series. He approached Oshii Mamoru, who ran a series of lectures known as the "Oshii Jyuku" for teaching new filmmakers how to create their own projects, about his idea and asked him to have his students submit ideas. The submissions of Kenji Kamiyama
and Junichi Fujisaki became the basis for the upcoming film: a girl in a sailor suit
wielding a samurai sword. Ishikawa suggested Yokota Air Base
for the film's setting, referring to it as the "state of California within Japan". Hiroyuki Kitakubo
was selected as the film's director, a position he accepted on the condition he be given artistic license with the material.
After titling the work Blood: The Last Vampire, Kitakubo chose video game designer Katsuya Terada
to work on the character designs, and Kazuchika Kise as the animation director. When asked why he chose Terada instead of a regular character designer, Kitakubo stated "I personally felt he had an amazing talent; his characters have a feel to them that is universal and that is probably why he has drawn characters for video games played by people all over the world." He goes on to note that he wanted both Terada and Kise together, and would not have hired Terada had Kise not agreed to work on the project. The resulting film uses completely digital animation. Rather than following the tradition of using animation cels, the entire film was inked, colored, and then animated with computers. It also uses primarily "low light" settings, with much of the film featuring large amounts of grey and brown.
In directing the film, Kitakubo notes that his having read Dracula
and watched the American television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, they may have had some influence on the film as the rest of his life experiences have. Production I.G broke new ground in Blood: The Last Vampire by being the first company to film an anime series almost entirely in English, with Japanese subtitles, feeling that it would help the film reach foreign markets more easily.
The resulting film is very short for a theatrical work, spanning only 45 minutes. Kitakubo stated in a 2001 interview with Animerica that he had the remaining story of "Saya's past present and future" in his own mind, but that it was up to the others involved in its making as to whether there would be a sequel. Production I.G noted that they deliberately intended for it to be a three part story, with the rest of Saya's story to be carried through in a light novel trilogy and a two-volume video game.
, Blood: The Last Vampire was directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo
. The film's characters designed were crafted by Katsuya Terada. The original screenplay was written by Kenji Kamiyama, while its musical score was composed by Yoshihiro Ike. Before the film was completed, it was licensed for release in North America by Manga Entertainment
.
It first premiered at the 5th annual International Festival of Fantasy, Action and Genre Cinema, nicknamed Fantasia 2000, in Montreal
, Quebec
, Canada
where it was screened for attendees on July 29, 2000. The film aired in Australia on August 26, 2000 at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Arts Festival. It made its theatrical debut in its 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 releases on August 26, 2001.
, Production I.G had Benkyo Tamaoki
write a sequel to Blood: The Last Vampire to complete the story. It brings Saya to the year 2002, with a new generation of handlers and continuing her quest to destroy chiropterans. Appropriately named , the single-volume title was published in Japan by Kadokawa Shoten
on May 1, 2001. It was licensed and released in English in North America by 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 handler 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, she learns that chiropterans co-existed with humans, until humans began experimenting on them in the 19th century to try to gain immortality. The experiments increased the chiropterans' killing instinct and removed their former regard for humanity. Scientists, in turn, developed twin anti-chiropteran weapons. Maya, a prototype, still required blood and could transform like other chiropteran. The second, Saya, did not need to drink blood and had no transformation abilities so she was considered the perfected weapon. Maya searches for Saya, desiring to have Saya eat her so they can become one pure-blood chiropteran. After this meeting, Maya's body cannot be found, but it is never shown if Saya granted her request. Saya kills her handler and walks off into the night.
of light novels have been created in relation to Blood: the Last Vampire and published by Kadokawa
. Published in Japan in October 2000, was written by Mamoru Oshii
. It was published in English in North America by DH Press
on November 23, 2005.
The second novel, was written by Junichi Fujisaku
, who also directed the spin-off Blood+
anime series. This was published in January 2001.
The third novel, also written by Fujisaku, is and was published in July 2001.
co-produced a two-volume Blood: The Last Vampire video game. The game features a musical score by Yuki Kajiura
with Youki Kudoh
reprising her role as the voice of Saya, and over two hours of theater quality animation. It is a graphical adventure that brings Saya and her hunt for Chiropterans to Tokyo in 2000. There she meets a seventeen year old boy who begins wondering about Saya and the history of "Blood". Both volumes of the game were released to the PlayStation 2
in Japan
on December 21, 2000. Animerica
Dr. Brown called the game "boring", but did compliment it for having "beautifully animated sequences".
In 2006, Production I.G and Sony re-released the game. Both volumes were combined into a single game for the PlayStation Portable
(PSP). The game was called and was released in Japan on January 26, 2006. The combined game included new cover art and additional features, including a strategy flow chart, a digital art
gallery, and some exclusive films.
, a fifty-episode anime
television series. It is held to be an alternate universe
telling of Blood: The Last Vampire; it has only minor connections and similarities to the film, and many differences. Blood+ premiered in Japan
on October 8, 2005 on MBS
/TBS
and aired until September 23, 2006. The series was directed by Junichi Fujisaku
and features original character designs by Chizu Hashii. Through Sony's international division, Blood+ was licensed for distribution in multiple regions. In the United States
, the series was broadcast as part of Cartoon Network
's Adult Swim
from March 11, 2007 until March 23, 2008. The anime became its own franchise, with two light novel series adaptations, three manga adaptations, and two video games.
In 2011, a new series called Blood-C
, is being produced by Production I.G with the manga creators CLAMP
.
and Hero
, announced that he was producing a live-action film adaptation of Blood: The Last Vampire, directed by Ronny Yu
, and, like the source anime film, primarily filmed in English rather than Japanese
. The film's setting, however, will be shifted to 1948 at a United States Air Force Base in Tokyo
, shortly after the conclusion of World War II
during the American occupation of Japan
. Early reports indicated that the film's plot will feature Saya as a 400-year-old half human-half vampire
who hunts full blooded vampire
s, both to rid the world of them and as they are her only source for food. She works with an organization known only as "The Council". Normally a loner, Saya forms a friendship with a young girl she meets at an American military base while preparing to battle Onigen, the highest ranking of the vampires.
Kong and Yu originally planned to finance the project themselves, but in November 2006, Production I.G officially consented to the film and began offering financial support. Through ties to Manga Entertainment
, the French company Pathé
became the film's production company. Yu was retained as its producer, but Chris Nahon
took over as the film's director. Korea
n actress Jun Ji-Hyun
, who adopted her English screen name Gianna Jun for the release, plays the role of Saya. Rather than being paid a straight license, Production I.G will receive a percentage of all revenues generated by the film.
Originally slated to be released worldwide in spring 2008, the film premiered in Japan on May 29, 2009 under the title . The film was released in the United Kingdom on June 26, 2009. Sony Pictures licensed the film for release in North America, where it was released to theaters by Samuel Goldwyn Films
on July 10, 2009.
.
In the first week of its North American release, more than 70,000 DVDs and 30,000 VHS copies of Blood: The Last Vampire had been sold. Within the first month after its release, it became Manga Entertainment
's top selling title in the company's history. The film also appeared on both the Video Business, Billboard, Video Store Magazine and Entertainment Weekly lists of top DVD sales. The company attributes this success to their use of two unconventional marketing methods: a limited theatrical release before the DVD release to market the title and offering the entire film for free on the day the DVD was released through a streaming video broadcast on Sputnik7.com where it was downloaded by more than 61,000 viewers. Marvin Gleicher, then president of Manga Entertainment, stated that the film's "success has proven to be a landmark time in the history of Manga Entertainment."
Michael Stroud of Wired News praised the film's blend of 2D
and 3D
elements and quoted Academy Award winning director James Cameron
as saying: "Digital imaging has entered a new era. The world will come to consider this work as the standard of top quality in digital animation." In The Anime Encyclopedia, Jonathan Clements
and Helen McCarthy
praised the film for its groundbreaking use of English, its "stunning animation" and its high end action sequences, but criticized its short length and lack of a conclusion. Animerica
reviewer Urian Brown called it a "piece of superb animation" that a "pretty and gritty...sleek, dark, and sexy" film that will make a viewer forget its lack of "story, depth, and character development."
According to Electronic Gaming Monthly
, Blood: The Last Vampire was one influence behind the "striking visuals" of the video game Crackdown
.
2000 in film
The year 2000 in film involved some significant events.The top grosser worldwide was Mission: Impossible II. Domestically in North America, Gladiator won the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Actor ....
anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
produced by Production I.G and SPE Visual Works
Aniplex
, formerly known as Sony Pictures Entertainment Visual Works Inc. and Sony Music Entertainment Visual Works Inc., is a Japanese anime and music production and distribution enterprise owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan and established in January 1997...
and directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo
Hiroyuki Kitakubo
is a Japanese director, animator, and screenwriter.Kitakubo began work in the anime industry as a teenager, having worked on the 1979 Mobile Suit Gundam television series. He debuted as a director with the Cream Lemon episode "Pop Chaser" in 1985, then worked on films including Black Magic M-66...
. The film premiered in theaters in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
on November 18, 2000. A single-volume manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
sequel, titled Blood: The Last Vampire 2000 and written by Benkyo Tamaoki
Benkyo Tamaoki
is a Japanese manga artist. His books The Sex Philes and Blood the Last Vampire2000 have both been translated into English. His work is characterized by an excellent storytelling and very realistic atmosphere...
, was published in Japan in 2001 by Kadokawa Shoten
Kadokawa Shoten
is a well-known Japanese publishing company based in Tokyo, Japan. Kadokawa has published both manga novels and magazines, such as Newtype magazine...
, and in English by Viz Media
VIZ Media
VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...
in November 2002 under the title Blood: The Last Vampire 2002. Three Japanese light novel
Light novel
A is a style of Japanese novel primarily targeting junior high and high school students . The term "light novel" is a wasei-eigo, or a Japanese term formed from words in the English language. Light novels are often called or for short...
adaptations 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+
Blood+
Blood+, pronounced as "Blood Plus", is an anime series produced by Production I.G and Aniplex and directed by Junichi Fujisaku. The series premiered in Japan on Sony's anime satellite channel, Animax, as well as on terrestrial networks such as MBS, TBS, and RKB on October 8, 2005. The final episode...
. A live-action adaptation of the film with the same title
Blood: The Last Vampire (2009 film)
Blood: The Last Vampire, released in Japan as , is a 2009 horror-action film, a Hong Kong-French-British co-production; it is the remake of the 2000 anime film of the same name....
was released in Japan in May 2009.
Plot
The story is set in 1966 in and around the American Yokota Air BaseYokota Air Base
, is a United States Air Force base in the city of Fussa, one of 26 cities in the Tama Area, or Western Tokyo.The base houses 14,000 personnel. The base occupies a total area of and has a runway...
located in post-World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Japan, a few months before the beginning of the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. Its main protagonist is a girl named Saya, who hunts hematophagous
Hematophagy
Hematophagy is the practice of certain animals of feeding on blood...
bat
Bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
-like creatures called chiropterans for a secret organization known as the Red Shield. Saya's mission begins in a subway train, where she assassinates a man suspected of being a chiropteran. However, David and Louis, her Red Shield contacts, arrive and discover that the man was not a chiropteran. David then gives Saya orders for her next mission. There are at least two chiropterans that have managed to infiltrate the air base, and it is only a matter of time before they feed again, go into hibernation, and become untraceable. Saya is to pose as a Japanese high school girl, infiltrate the high school adjacent to the base, and then track and kill the chiropterans.
At the high school, Saya runs into the school's meek nurse Makiho Amano on the eve of the school's annual Halloween party. Two of Saya's classmates, Sharon and Linda, make a visit to Makiho at the nurse's office. Suddenly, Saya bursts into the room and kills Linda and wounds Sharon, breaking her sword in the process. Both girls are revealed to be chiropterans. Makiho goes into shock at the revelation as Saya pursues Sharon. Meanwhile, a third chiropteran reveals itself and begins making its way to the base. Back at the school, Makiho regains her nerve and pursues Sharon, but is taken hostage by Sharon. She is saved by Saya and they both flee into a nearby motor pool. The chiropterans trap them inside and attack. Makiho manages to break down the doors with a jeep and faints. David then arrives and gives Saya a new sword, which she uses to kill Sharon.
The final chiropteran then decides to flee, attempting to stow away on a departing cargo plane. David and Saya give chase and she manages to strike the chiropteran and mortally wound it. She then stands over the dying chiropteran and lets some of her blood trickle into its mouth, which apparently kills it. Louis then arrives and recovers Makiho before the local police can reach her first.
Afterwards, Makiho is seen at an interview with government officials who question her about the night's events. However, it's revealed that all evidence of the battle between Saya and the chiropterans has been covered up and both David and Saya have disappeared, leaving Makiho with nothing to prove the veracity of her story. Her interviewer then asks her to identify Saya in a picture which has a girl that looks identical her, except the picture was taken in 1892. The only other description of the picture is the word "VAMPIRE". Makiho then returns to the school, where she narrates that she never really discovered the full truth behind Saya and the chiropterans, and wonders if she's still out there fighting them.
Characters
- hunts chiropterans using a katanaKatanaA Japanese sword, or , is one of the traditional bladed weapons of Japan. There are several types of Japanese swords, according to size, field of application and method of manufacture.-Description:...
. It is implied that she is the last remaining vampire and called "the only remaining original." Saya has no weakness to sunlight, although it is unknown if she has any of the other vulnerabilities often attributed to vampires. She does, however, become distressed when she encounters religious paraphernalia and angry when people mention God in her presence. Saya displays superhuman senses and strength, as well as cunning, resourcefulness, and skill. The manga series suggests she was a human-vampire hybridDhampirA Dhampir in Balkan folklore is the child of a vampire father and a human mother. The term is sometimes spelled dhampyre, dhamphir, or dhampyr. Dhampir powers are similar to those of vampires, but without the usual weaknesses...
. Her age is unknown, but a picture of her with nine other people is shown in the film with the date 1892 and the word "vampire" attached to it. Though she holds most humans in contempt, she seems to have some sort of respect for David. Voiced by Youki Kudo. - David is a man working for the U.S. government organization called the Red Shield. He relays the missions to Saya and helps her at various points in the film. Voiced by Joe RomersaJoe RomersaJoseph M. Romersa is an American song writer, drummer, multi-instrumentalist, producer, sound engineer and vocalist....
. - Chiroptera, Greek for "hand wings" and translated as in Japanese, are hematophagousHematophagyHematophagy is the practice of certain animals of feeding on blood...
batBatBats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
-like creatures. They are extremely long-lived individuals that are comparable to humans in intelligence. Their natural appearance is much like a large, monstrous, long-limbed batBatBats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
. Chiroptera live by feeding on human bloodBloodBlood is a specialized bodily fluid in animals that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells....
. They possess extraordinary speed, strength, and supernatural healing abilities and can heal almost instantly from any non-lethal wound. Because of this, the only way to easily kill them is to cause them to lose a sufficiently large amount of blood from one attack.
Production
Production I.G's president Mitsuhisa IshikawaMitsuhisa Ishikawa
is Japanese anime entrepreneur, the co-founder and current president and CEO of Production I.G, as well as a leading producer for the studio. He was also a former executive at Bee Train from 1997–2006, and as of 2010 is expected to join Tatsunoko Productions company as a part time director.Ishikawa...
wanted to produce a new project that was an original concept rather than being an adaptation of an existing anime or manga series. He approached Oshii Mamoru, who ran a series of lectures known as the "Oshii Jyuku" for teaching new filmmakers how to create their own projects, about his idea and asked him to have his students submit ideas. The submissions of Kenji Kamiyama
Kenji Kamiyama
, born on March 20, 1966 in Saitama Prefecture, Japan, is a Japanese anime director. He has worked regularly with the anime studio and production enterprise, Production I.G, such as his work on Jin-Roh, Patlabor, Blood: The Last Vampire, and for whom he has directed the Ghost in the Shell: Stand...
and Junichi Fujisaki became the basis for the upcoming film: a girl in a sailor suit
Sailor suit
A sailor suit is a uniform traditionally worn by enlisted seamen in the navy, and other government funded sea services. It later developed in to a popular clothing style for children....
wielding a samurai sword. Ishikawa suggested Yokota Air Base
Yokota Air Base
, is a United States Air Force base in the city of Fussa, one of 26 cities in the Tama Area, or Western Tokyo.The base houses 14,000 personnel. The base occupies a total area of and has a runway...
for the film's setting, referring to it as the "state of California within Japan". Hiroyuki Kitakubo
Hiroyuki Kitakubo
is a Japanese director, animator, and screenwriter.Kitakubo began work in the anime industry as a teenager, having worked on the 1979 Mobile Suit Gundam television series. He debuted as a director with the Cream Lemon episode "Pop Chaser" in 1985, then worked on films including Black Magic M-66...
was selected as the film's director, a position he accepted on the condition he be given artistic license with the material.
After titling the work Blood: The Last Vampire, Kitakubo chose video game designer Katsuya Terada
Katsuya Terada
, is a Japanese illustrator and cartoonist from the town of Tamano, Okayama. His alias is .-Biography:Katsuya Terada is probably best known in the United States as the character-designer for the animated film Blood: The Last Vampire...
to work on the character designs, and Kazuchika Kise as the animation director. When asked why he chose Terada instead of a regular character designer, Kitakubo stated "I personally felt he had an amazing talent; his characters have a feel to them that is universal and that is probably why he has drawn characters for video games played by people all over the world." He goes on to note that he wanted both Terada and Kise together, and would not have hired Terada had Kise not agreed to work on the project. The resulting film uses completely digital animation. Rather than following the tradition of using animation cels, the entire film was inked, colored, and then animated with computers. It also uses primarily "low light" settings, with much of the film featuring large amounts of grey and brown.
In directing the film, Kitakubo notes that his having read Dracula
Dracula
Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...
and watched the American television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, they may have had some influence on the film as the rest of his life experiences have. Production I.G broke new ground in Blood: The Last Vampire by being the first company to film an anime series almost entirely in English, with Japanese subtitles, feeling that it would help the film reach foreign markets more easily.
The resulting film is very short for a theatrical work, spanning only 45 minutes. Kitakubo stated in a 2001 interview with Animerica that he had the remaining story of "Saya's past present and future" in his own mind, but that it was up to the others involved in its making as to whether there would be a sequel. Production I.G noted that they deliberately intended for it to be a three part story, with the rest of Saya's story to be carried through in a light novel trilogy and a two-volume video game.
Film
Produced by Production I.G, SPE Visual Works and Sony Computer EntertainmentSony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. is a major video game company specializing in a variety of areas in the video game industry, and is a wholly owned subsidiary and part of the Consumer Products & Services Group of Sony...
, Blood: The Last Vampire was directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo
Hiroyuki Kitakubo
is a Japanese director, animator, and screenwriter.Kitakubo began work in the anime industry as a teenager, having worked on the 1979 Mobile Suit Gundam television series. He debuted as a director with the Cream Lemon episode "Pop Chaser" in 1985, then worked on films including Black Magic M-66...
. The film's characters designed were crafted by Katsuya Terada. The original screenplay was written by Kenji Kamiyama, while its musical score was composed by Yoshihiro Ike. Before the film was completed, it was licensed for release in North America by Manga Entertainment
Manga Entertainment
Manga Entertainment is a producer, licensor and distributor of Japanese animation in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Australia and New Zealand...
.
It first premiered at the 5th annual International Festival of Fantasy, Action and Genre Cinema, nicknamed Fantasia 2000, in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
where it was screened for attendees on July 29, 2000. The film aired in Australia on August 26, 2000 at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Arts Festival. It made its theatrical debut in its 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 releases on August 26, 2001.
Manga
Using a concept from Mamoru OshiiMamoru Oshii
Mamoru Oshii is a Japanese filmmaker, television director, and writer. Famous for his philosophy-oriented storytelling, Oshii has directed a number of popular anime, including Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer, Ghost in the Shell, and Patlabor 2...
, Production I.G had Benkyo Tamaoki
Benkyo Tamaoki
is a Japanese manga artist. His books The Sex Philes and Blood the Last Vampire2000 have both been translated into English. His work is characterized by an excellent storytelling and very realistic atmosphere...
write a sequel to Blood: The Last Vampire to complete the story. It brings Saya to the year 2002, with a new generation of handlers and continuing her quest to destroy chiropterans. Appropriately named , the single-volume title was published in Japan by Kadokawa Shoten
Kadokawa Shoten
is a well-known Japanese publishing company based in Tokyo, Japan. Kadokawa has published both manga novels and magazines, such as Newtype magazine...
on May 1, 2001. It was licensed and released in English in North America by Viz Media
VIZ Media
VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...
under the title Blood: The Last Vampire 2002 on November 5, 2002. In the manga, David has retired and Saya has a new handler 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, she learns that chiropterans co-existed with humans, until humans began experimenting on them in the 19th century to try to gain immortality. The experiments increased the chiropterans' killing instinct and removed their former regard for humanity. Scientists, in turn, developed twin anti-chiropteran weapons. Maya, a prototype, still required blood and could transform like other chiropteran. The second, Saya, did not need to drink blood and had no transformation abilities so she was considered the perfected weapon. Maya searches for Saya, desiring to have Saya eat her so they can become one pure-blood chiropteran. After this meeting, Maya's body cannot be found, but it is never shown if Saya granted her request. Saya kills her handler and walks off into the night.
Light novels
A trilogyTrilogy
A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games...
of light novels have been created in relation to Blood: the Last Vampire and published by Kadokawa
Kadokawa
-Companies:*Kadokawa Shoten, a publishing house, or its subsidiaries**Kadokawa Shoten Pictures, the film production branch, at various times called Kadokawa Daiei Motion Picture Co., Ltd., Kadokawa Herald Pictures, Inc. and Kadokawa Pictures, Inc....
. Published in Japan in October 2000, was written by Mamoru Oshii
Mamoru Oshii
Mamoru Oshii is a Japanese filmmaker, television director, and writer. Famous for his philosophy-oriented storytelling, Oshii has directed a number of popular anime, including Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer, Ghost in the Shell, and Patlabor 2...
. It was published in English in North America by DH Press
DH Press
-Titles:* Aliens* Dracula: Asylum* Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Volume 1 The Lost Memory* Hipira* Kong: King of Skull Island* Predator* Scarface: The Beginning * Vampire Hunter D series-External links:* *...
on November 23, 2005.
The second novel, was written by Junichi Fujisaku
Junichi Fujisaku
is the chief game director and game writer for Production I.G's Game Production Department. He is a graduate of Production I.G's think-tank "Oshii Academy", used to train the next generation of staff for the company.-Works:...
, who also directed the spin-off Blood+
Blood+
Blood+, pronounced as "Blood Plus", is an anime series produced by Production I.G and Aniplex and directed by Junichi Fujisaku. The series premiered in Japan on Sony's anime satellite channel, Animax, as well as on terrestrial networks such as MBS, TBS, and RKB on October 8, 2005. The final episode...
anime series. This was published in January 2001.
The third novel, also written by Fujisaku, is and was published in July 2001.
Video games
In 2000, Production I.G and Sony Computer Entertainment JapanSony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. is a major video game company specializing in a variety of areas in the video game industry, and is a wholly owned subsidiary and part of the Consumer Products & Services Group of Sony...
co-produced a two-volume Blood: The Last Vampire video game. The game features a musical score by Yuki Kajiura
Yuki Kajiura
, born August 6, 1965 in Tokyo, Japan, is a Japanese composer and music producer. She has provided the music for several popular anime series, such as one of the Kimagure Orange Road movies, Noir, .hack//SIGN, Aquarian Age, Madlax, My-HiME, My-Otome, .hack//Roots, Pandora Hearts, Puella Magi...
with Youki Kudoh
Youki Kudoh
is a Japanese actress and singer. She won the award for best newcomer at the 6th Yokohama Film Festival for The Crazy Family. She also won the award for best actress at the 16th Hochi Film Award for War and Youth.-Filmography:-External links:* *...
reprising her role as the voice of Saya, and over two hours of theater quality animation. It is a graphical adventure that brings Saya and her hunt for Chiropterans to Tokyo in 2000. There she meets a seventeen year old boy who begins wondering about Saya and the history of "Blood". Both volumes of the game were released to the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
on December 21, 2000. Animerica
Animerica
Animerica is a quarterly digest published by Viz Media. It initially started as a monthly magazine featuring reviews of anime and manga titles, as well as related works. After a preview issue was released in November 1992, the magazine's first issue was released in February 1993 with a March 1993...
Dr. Brown called the game "boring", but did compliment it for having "beautifully animated sequences".
In 2006, Production I.G and Sony re-released the game. Both volumes were combined into a single game for the PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
(PSP). The game was called and was released in Japan on January 26, 2006. The combined game included new cover art and additional features, including a strategy flow chart, a digital art
CG artwork
CG is a term most commonly known in the West for its use in Japanese webpages to denote digital artwork. In traditional Japanese, it is an abbreviation of the Japanese gairaigo , used to refer to any form of digital artwork, from digitally shaded dōjinshi to legitimate cinematic art...
gallery, and some exclusive films.
Anime series
In 2005, Sony and Production I.G announced the creation of Blood+Blood+
Blood+, pronounced as "Blood Plus", is an anime series produced by Production I.G and Aniplex and directed by Junichi Fujisaku. The series premiered in Japan on Sony's anime satellite channel, Animax, as well as on terrestrial networks such as MBS, TBS, and RKB on October 8, 2005. The final episode...
, a fifty-episode anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
television series. It is held to be an alternate universe
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
telling of Blood: The Last Vampire; it has only minor connections and similarities to the film, and many differences. Blood+ premiered in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
on October 8, 2005 on MBS
Mainichi Broadcasting System
is a broadcasting station in Osaka, Japan, affiliated with Japan Radio Network , National Radio Network , Japan News Network and TBS Network, serving in the Kansai region. MBS is also one of the major stockholders of Tokyo Broadcasting System Holdings, Inc...
/TBS
Tokyo Broadcasting System
, TBS Holdings, Inc. or TBSHD, is a stockholding company in Tokyo, Japan. It is a parent company of a television network named and radio network named ....
and aired until September 23, 2006. The series was directed by Junichi Fujisaku
Junichi Fujisaku
is the chief game director and game writer for Production I.G's Game Production Department. He is a graduate of Production I.G's think-tank "Oshii Academy", used to train the next generation of staff for the company.-Works:...
and features original character designs by Chizu Hashii. Through Sony's international division, Blood+ was licensed for distribution in multiple regions. In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the series was broadcast as part of Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
's Adult Swim
Adult Swim
Adult Swim is an adult-oriented Cable network that shares channel space with Cartoon Network from 9:00 pm until 6:00 am ET/PT in the United States, and broadcasts in countries such as Australia and New Zealand...
from March 11, 2007 until March 23, 2008. The anime became its own franchise, with two light novel series adaptations, three manga adaptations, and two video games.
In 2011, a new series called Blood-C
Blood-C
Blood-C, is a 2011 anime/manga series and 2012 film produced and collaborated by Studio Production I.G and manga creators CLAMP. This is Production I.G's second anime series related to the Blood franchise, the first being Blood+, which aired in 2005–2006...
, is being produced by Production I.G with the manga creators CLAMP
Clamp (manga artists)
, is an all-female Japanese manga artist group that formed in the mid 1980s. Many of the group's manga series are often adapted into anime after release. It consists of their leader , who provides much of the storyline and screenplay for all their works and adaptations of those works respectively ,...
.
Live action film
In May 2006, Bill Kong, producer of Crouching Tiger, Hidden DragonCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a 2000 wuxia film. An American-Chinese-Hong Kong-Taiwanese co-production, the film was directed by Ang Lee and featured an international cast of ethnic Chinese actors, including Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, and Chang Chen...
and Hero
Hero (2002 film)
Hero is a 2002 wuxia film directed by Zhang Yimou. Starring Jet Li as the nameless protagonist, the film is based on the story of Jing Ke's assassination attempt on the King of Qin in 227 BC....
, announced that he was producing a live-action film adaptation of Blood: The Last Vampire, directed by Ronny Yu
Ronny Yu
Ronny Yu Yan-Tai is a Hong Kong director, producer, and movie writer. Yu was born in Hong Kong and graduated from Ohio University. He has worked on both Hong Kong and American films.- Career :...
, and, like the source anime film, primarily filmed in English rather than Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
. The film's setting, however, will be shifted to 1948 at a United States Air Force Base in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, shortly after the conclusion of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
during the American occupation of Japan
Occupied Japan
At the end of World War II, Japan was occupied by the Allied Powers, led by the United States with contributions also from Australia, India, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. This foreign presence marked the first time in its history that the island nation had been occupied by a foreign power...
. Early reports indicated that the film's plot will feature Saya as a 400-year-old half human-half vampire
Dhampir
A Dhampir in Balkan folklore is the child of a vampire father and a human mother. The term is sometimes spelled dhampyre, dhamphir, or dhampyr. Dhampir powers are similar to those of vampires, but without the usual weaknesses...
who hunts full blooded vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
s, both to rid the world of them and as they are her only source for food. She works with an organization known only as "The Council". Normally a loner, Saya forms a friendship with a young girl she meets at an American military base while preparing to battle Onigen, the highest ranking of the vampires.
Kong and Yu originally planned to finance the project themselves, but in November 2006, Production I.G officially consented to the film and began offering financial support. Through ties to Manga Entertainment
Manga Entertainment
Manga Entertainment is a producer, licensor and distributor of Japanese animation in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Australia and New Zealand...
, the French company Pathé
Pathé
Pathé or Pathé Frères is the name of various French businesses founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France.-History:...
became the film's production company. Yu was retained as its producer, but Chris Nahon
Chris Nahon
Chris Nahon is a French film director best known for directing the films Kiss of the Dragon, Empire of the Wolves, and Blood: The Last Vampire.- Filmography :-External links:...
took over as the film's director. Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
n actress Jun Ji-Hyun
Jun Ji-hyun
Jun Ji-hyun also known as Gianna Jun, is a South Korean actress and model. She had her breakthrough role in 2001 as The Girl in the film My Sassy Girl which became the highest grossing Korean comedy of all time...
, who adopted her English screen name Gianna Jun for the release, plays the role of Saya. Rather than being paid a straight license, Production I.G will receive a percentage of all revenues generated by the film.
Originally slated to be released worldwide in spring 2008, the film premiered in Japan on May 29, 2009 under the title . The film was released in the United Kingdom on June 26, 2009. Sony Pictures licensed the film for release in North America, where it was released to theaters by Samuel Goldwyn Films
Samuel Goldwyn Films
Samuel Goldwyn Films is an independent film company founded by Samuel Goldwyn, Jr., the son of the Hollywood business magnate/mogul, Samuel Goldwyn...
on July 10, 2009.
Reception
Blood: The Last Vampire received multiple awards at various film festivals around the world. In 2000, it was selected as "Public's Prize Best Asia Feature Film" at the Montreal Fantasia Film Festival where it debuted, it won the Grand Prize in the animation category at the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs' Media Arts Festival, and it won the Ofuji Noburo Award at the Mainichi Film Competition. In 2001, it won Special Prize at the akasaki Film Festival and it was selected as the Best Theatrical Feature Film at the World Animation Celebration. Director Hiroyuki Kitakubo won an award for his work on the film at 6th Animation Kobe. It received the Grand Prize for animation at the 2000 Japan Media Arts FestivalJapan Media Arts Festival
The Japan Media Arts Festival is an annual festival held by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs since 1997. The festival for a nominal year was usually held during February or March next year, rather than at the end of the nominal year. For instance, the 2010 Japan Media Arts Festival, where...
.
In the first week of its North American release, more than 70,000 DVDs and 30,000 VHS copies of Blood: The Last Vampire had been sold. Within the first month after its release, it became Manga Entertainment
Manga Entertainment
Manga Entertainment is a producer, licensor and distributor of Japanese animation in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Australia and New Zealand...
's top selling title in the company's history. The film also appeared on both the Video Business, Billboard, Video Store Magazine and Entertainment Weekly lists of top DVD sales. The company attributes this success to their use of two unconventional marketing methods: a limited theatrical release before the DVD release to market the title and offering the entire film for free on the day the DVD was released through a streaming video broadcast on Sputnik7.com where it was downloaded by more than 61,000 viewers. Marvin Gleicher, then president of Manga Entertainment, stated that the film's "success has proven to be a landmark time in the history of Manga Entertainment."
Michael Stroud of Wired News praised the film's blend of 2D
2D computer graphics
2D computer graphics is the computer-based generation of digital images—mostly from two-dimensional models and by techniques specific to them...
and 3D
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
elements and quoted Academy Award winning director James Cameron
James Cameron
James Francis Cameron is a Canadian-American film director, film producer, screenwriter, editor, environmentalist and inventor...
as saying: "Digital imaging has entered a new era. The world will come to consider this work as the standard of top quality in digital animation." In The Anime Encyclopedia, Jonathan Clements
Jonathan Clements
Jonathan Clements is a British author and scriptwriter. His non-fiction works include biographies of Confucius, Koxinga and Qin Shihuangdi , as well as monthly opinion columns for Neo magazine...
and Helen McCarthy
Helen McCarthy
Helen McCarthy is the British author of such anime reference books as 500 Manga Heroes and Villains, Anime!, The Anime Movie Guide and Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation. She is the co-author of The Erotic Anime Movie Guide and the exhaustive The Anime Encyclopedia with Jonathan Clements...
praised the film for its groundbreaking use of English, its "stunning animation" and its high end action sequences, but criticized its short length and lack of a conclusion. Animerica
Animerica
Animerica is a quarterly digest published by Viz Media. It initially started as a monthly magazine featuring reviews of anime and manga titles, as well as related works. After a preview issue was released in November 1992, the magazine's first issue was released in February 1993 with a March 1993...
reviewer Urian Brown called it a "piece of superb animation" that a "pretty and gritty...sleek, dark, and sexy" film that will make a viewer forget its lack of "story, depth, and character development."
According to Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly is a bimonthly American video game magazine. It has been published by EGM Media, LLC. since relaunching in April of 2010. Its previous run, which ended in January 2009, was published by Ziff Davis...
, Blood: The Last Vampire was one influence behind the "striking visuals" of the video game Crackdown
Crackdown
Crackdown is an open world, third-person shooter video game for the Xbox 360. It was released in North America on February 20, 2007, and worldwide by February 23, 2007. Crackdown was developed by Realtime Worlds, and distributed by Microsoft Game Studios. It was conceived by Realtime Worlds...
.