________blood_______

[Neo_Max]

Well, if your an anime fan or not, whoever u show this movie to will love the movie, and...if your an artist/animator, this movie will make u C#%$M your pants O_o!!!!!! i kid you not, the things they do in this movie with MAya to Photoshop to Painter, will blow u away! the design is not very anime, but the overall mood of the movie just makes it as good and better than any live action that i have ever seen BUY IT NOW!!

[I'm not a doll]

:rolleyes: well with an ad like that, I'll have to see it ;)

tho i think i'll download it first just to see if its any good

[mrgazpacho]

I already bought it

[jetalone]

And??

How was it??

[Kayay]

I haven't seen it yet, but here are a few reviews about Blood:

http://www.theblackmoon.com/Watching/blood.htm
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/Blood/index.php
http://www.yoshi.webvis.net/freestyle/reviews/anime/blood/

And you can download a trailer here (although the quality was crappy when I tried to view it):
Sputnik7.com (http://blood.sputnik7.com/features/index.jsp?feature=blood)

[Mr_Bug]

bof

the excellence of the graphics is directly proportional to the crappiness of the plot.

its worth downloading, but I wouldn't spend 5$ on it much less 25-30, espicially seen as its only 48 minutes long...

[mrgazpacho]

It was good

[BigFire]

bof
the excellence of the graphics is directly proportional to the crappiness of the plot.

its worth downloading, but I wouldn't spend 5$ on it much less 25-30, espicially seen as its only 48 minutes long...

I totally agree. Anyone who thinks this is actually a good overall package as a movie is kidding themselves.

[Probot]

This movie kicks ass. A welcome change from dumbed-down plots and long-winded story explanations. Vampires. Die.

[Drizzten]

Says Probot:
This movie kicks ass. A welcome change from dumbed-down plots and long-winded story explanations. Vampires. Die.
:lol:
I must see this now. Ninja Scroll-esque, would you say then? "Vamipres. Die." Sweet...

[Probot]

Some of the art is so breath-taking it hides the one glaring downside of NO story development. I think if they would of added 20-30 minutes of background story or something, this show could of been a TON better. I'll take it at face value though.

[kephy]

It was like half a movie. Just when I thought "Now we're getting somewhere!" it was over. Like that. :|

[KamuiX]

Yeah, I bought it about a month back and though it is really amazing to look at it feels like a movie that had 30 minutes cut from its beginning and end ....There's no plot development at all. Oh well, it's still very cool to show friends :D


______________

http://www.gekiganger.com/kamuix/kamuix_sig.gif


Very sw33t dubs:
Ah! My Goddess
Akira (newly released version - duh!)
Cowboy Bebop
Macross Plus
Rurouni Kenshin TV series
More to be added ...

[Ura]

I was going to buy it at Manifest. Luckily I watched it first. It was crap, the plot went nowhere. I couldn't see why she was doing what she was. The Vampires made no sense. It was all just stupid.

[jblaze]

Yeah, they could have made Blood much better. You cannot deny the amazing art and graphics in the movie, but that's about it. No character development, no plot, no background, nothing. Right when I was getting into it, it ended. I don't even know why it's called "Blood the Last Vampire". I could see a very nice 4 part OVA being made out of this, not some less then an hour movie that only tickles your imagination. Kite was short as well, but I felt much more satisfaction watching that movie over this one. It's too bad, I think Blood could have been very good.

[Constantine Dragomirov]

I'll have to agree with Probot, the movie kicks ass BECAUSE it's so indescriptive and vague. Like a gunshot, it delivers the experience and lets you figure out the details for yourself... if you still want, or can.

It is definitely the next step in anime, an example of new style - both animation- and plot-wise. Some might view it as mindless eye candy, but I say - ascension to the next level of viewer interaction. Being a fan of thought-provoking anime such as Akira, Eva, or FLCL, I was delighted to see something NEW in this genre - a casual offer of questions with no intention or care for answers.

[Drizzten]

I finally had a chance to see it a while ago.

I was amazed with the visual presentation...often my friends and I simply ignored what was happening to gawk at the graphics.

But that only took me so far. Only the barest hints were given to the enemies' background as well as the main character's. The long sections of no dialogue and scene panning were majestic, but wasted in my opinion because they could have been used so much more effectively to convey the seriousness of the threat, or to provide more information to the viewer so he/she could try to understand or at least grasp why the lead character did these things. Sure, the obvious answers are fine for some, but I wanted more...especially after watching the empathy flash through the main character's eyes when she killed one of the last monsters.

[Constantine Dragomirov]

Drtizzt

The movie's better that way. Even more exposition crammed into the short timeframe would ruin it, IMO. The viewer's given more than enough info; and if you cant make heads or tails out of the last Saya scene, then maybe you should've payed more attention to the "VAMPIRE" paper clipped to her 1892 photo... if that's not obvious, then I don't know what is.

Vampires are said to procreate by feeding someone the vampire's blood. Saya's last gesture is probably the acknowledgement of her nature, a symbolic "Embrace", intended both to give the dying vampire a redemption of sorts (a la communion), and to fulfill Saya's own desire.

[Drizzten]

Says Constantine Dragomirov:
Drtizzt
*cough*
You've just won Drizzten's "Worst Name-Mangling Award." ;)

Even more exposition crammed into the short timeframe would ruin it, IMO.
Even more? There wasn't enough in my opinion to begin with.

The viewer's given more than enough info; and if you cant make heads or tails out of the last Saya scene, then maybe you should've payed more attention to the "VAMPIRE" paper clipped to her 1892 photo... if that's not obvious, then I don't know what is.
Yes, I saw the photo and I understood the obvious connotations. So...is that and...

Saya's last gesture is probably the acknowledgement of her nature, a symbolic "Embrace", intended both to give the dying vampire a redemption of sorts (a la communion), and to fulfill Saya's own desire.
...that all we get for 50 minutes? I understand you enjoyed the different approach the anime took...but isn't my stance on this sort of like your arguements on Escaflowne? Certainly not the ones about being grounded in reality (since this was a hyper-realistic movie), but not being logical in the producer's presentation?

Blood gave you but a steering wheel to build a whole car from. The atmosphere they created (which I enjoyed) was ruined every time they skipped over giving us an idea of the motivations behind the action.


***SPOILERS***



Saya really doesn't like it when someone mentions or openly shows religious (specifically Christian, but we don't see any other religions) overtures. Yet I saw no other spiritual tones in the show. Why the phobia/hatred?
We are never given a hint as to where the Teropterids are coming from or why they're doing what they're doing. They can communicate amongst themselves...that we know. Saya's "handler," David, mentions that "it's all over if we lose this one," referring to the third Terop he picks up on his scope. He also sounds alarmed that there are three to deal with. Why the sudden increase in frequency? Besides wanton murder, what is at stake here? To go further, David tells the military to stand down while he's shooting at the Terop...why? Wouldn't the resources of the US Military be worthwhile to have when all you have to do to kill these things is to shed a lot of their blood quickly?
"As far as we know, she's the only remaining original," says David. Well...what happened to the rest of them? How did she survive while others didn't? She doesn't have any adversion to sunlight.
She can smell and sense where their "dining room" is, but she can't sense anything on or from the two girls who sat less than 20 feet away in the classroom? If she could, why didn't she act sooner? Not only that, but she doesn't immediately strike the demon that fell burnt after the gas tank exploded. As much as they show her to be cold-hearted and determined, she certainly flubbed that one.
Don't get me wrong. I liked the movie. I liked what they accomplished. But I was sorely disappointed with the plot.

[Constantine Dragomirov]

"You've just won Drizzten's "Worst Name-Mangling Award." "

Ooh! Ooh! Where can I collect it? Is it a shiny one?

"I understand you enjoyed the different approach the anime took...but isn't my stance on this sort of like your arguements on Escaflowne?"

Escaflowne writers plain screwed up in some places. They havent given enough thought. Blood writers, OTOH, have given quite a thought to the plot, in my opinion. It might sound quod licet Iovi non licet bovi, but it isn't, really.

"Blood gave you but a steering wheel to build a whole car from. The atmosphere they created (which I enjoyed) was ruined every time they skipped over giving us an idea of the motivations behind the action."

They DID give us the motivations. A moderately intelligent viewer would see all the "obvious" explanations, and probably wouldnt bother to think more of it; and those who are unsatisfied with the easy answers have plenty of hints to the deeper plot.

"Saya really doesn't like it when someone mentions or openly shows religious (specifically Christian, but we don't see any other religions) overtures. Why the phobia/hatred?
"

Err, she's a Vampire. Ever heard about those shlobs being allergic to religious symbols?

Besides that (an instinctive fear/hatred) it probably has to do with Saya's despise of religion as a psychological crutch for the mentally weak. She also could have been subject to religious persecution in the past (they burned witches, so why not vampires?).

"Yet I saw no other spiritual tones in the show."

Do you normally see a lot of spiritual tones in:

Subway;
School;
Military base?

And if you mean that religion wasn't used as a weapon against the vamps, then my guess is that it CANT be a simple weapon. The cross doesn't burn Saya or whatnot, but somehow disturbs her greatly (same goes for the Savior's name uttered). Again, the answers might lie in the past.

"We are never given a hint as to where the Teropterids are coming from or why they're doing what they're doing"

They live among people, feed, then hibernate. A pretty natural lifecycle, for an intelligent carnivore/parasite. As to where they came from, my guess would be - from the primal amoeba :-) I dont think they're a bioweapon, cause vamps have been around at least since 1892, and genetics didn't even exist then.

"To go further, David tells the military to stand down while he's shooting at the Terop...why?"

They wanted to keep it a secret, remember? If you run around telling every Joe that there are vampires on the loose, it wouldnt be much of a secret. Especially dangerous in a foreign country. Note how they completely covered up the trails of the accident (and will most likely stick the nurse into a lunatic asylum).

"Saya's "handler," David, mentions that "it's all over if we lose this one," referring to the third Terop he picks up on his scope. ."

It would be "over" if they lost any one, probably. The vamp would escape, hide, and hibernate. The tracking device probably can only locate active vamps.

"He also sounds alarmed that there are three to deal with "

Apparently they picked up the track of a single vampire (the train guy), but then got intel data on 3 others. And why shouldnt they stick together? Or maybe there was only 1 vamp to begin with, and he Embraced 3 humans.

"Besides wanton murder, what is at stake here?"

You mean besides having an invisible killer feasting on the population? Well, how about him making a whole new bunch of such killers, who in turn would reproduce at a scary pace? Still not enough? Okay then, how about those killers being able to take any human form, and, say, seize power in some no-nonsense country with nuke capability?

"Wouldn't the resources of the US Military be worthwhile to have when all you have to do to kill these things is to shed a lot of their blood quickly?"

I am NOT sure that just drawing their blood is enough. Maybe for Saya it is, but not for ordinary humans. Otherwise, a squad of Marines armed with buzzsaws would do a good job against those vamps.

"Well...what happened to the rest of them? How did she survive while others didn't? She doesn't have any adversion to sunlight."

Neither do other vamps, at least while they're in human form. As to what happened to the originals (and what exactly are they), we can only speculate (or go read the novels).

"She can smell and sense where their "dining room" is, but she can't sense anything on or from the two girls who sat less than 20 feet away in the classroom?"

She did sense. That's why she checked their personal data folders, and then tracked them down. She didn't act right away because she wasn't 100% sure yet. Viciously murdering two innocent schoolgirls in a full classroom wouldnt improve the image of her organization much. Therefore she waited until they revealed themselves.

"Not only that, but she doesn't immediately strike the demon that fell burnt after the gas tank exploded"

1. There was fire in that corner, and still more gas tanks (which promptly began exploding later).
2. There was another Vamp outside.
3. There was David outside, probably carrying a new sword.

So, I'd say it was logical for her not to go right into the fires and risk being fried (i.e. disabled and helpless) just to whack the unconscious vamp with a shovel (would require quite a bit of chopping to kill him). Instead she chose to get a real weapon and stay away from the explosions.

Just some more info to brood on:

Here is the history of the Blood Project:

1806 Napolean conquers Europe. From the confusion, powerful organizations rise.
The name Saya appears for the first time in the records of these
organizations. The existence of a young, black-haired defender is
confirmed. The Blood Project begins. It is recorded in the records of the
secret organizations.

1892 In France, Saya's portrait appears. Saya's blood sample is secretly taken.

1900�@Evidence is found that Saya's blood was transfused into young babies.

1914 A photograph of Saya appears in the records of the secret organizations.

1923 The Great Kanto Earthquake. The teraptorids begin to invade Japan.

1944 World War Two. The Japanese people begin to be agitated by the
teraptorids.

1946 After the war, the murder rate begins to rise. Strange murders become
more frequent. The teraptorids begin to increase their activities.

1964 During the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics, Saya is spotted among
the spectators on film.

1965 The beginning of the Vietnam War.

1966 Saya is reported to have battled Teraptorids at Yokota base. The army
denies the co-operation and existence of Saya and anyone related to her.
Reportedly, Saya fought three Teraptorids at the base, but no evidence was
ever found besides eyewitness reports. (movie: Blood the Last Vampire)

1969 Near Tokyo, a student protest arises over the strange instances. The
Immortality project is investigated further. (novel: Night of the Beast)

1973 The Vietnam war ends.

1989 Flood of X city in Tokyo, the young boy (you) becomes lost. He is
seriously injured and a temporary measure is administered to keep him
alive.

1995 After the crash of Japan's bubble economy, Sakuragaoka becomes a slum.
Ohka begins contact with the remaining Teraptorids.

2000 In Tokyo, Saya and the Teraptorids are spotted in several areas.
(comic: Blood the Last Vampire 2000, novel: Seduction of Blood)

[Drizzten]

Says Constantine Dragomirov:
Ooh! Ooh! Where can I collect it? Is it a shiny one?
More shiny than a Marine generals boots during a court-martial. :lol:

They DID give us the motivations. A moderately intelligent viewer would see all the "obvious" explanations, and probably wouldnt bother to think more of it; and those who are unsatisfied with the easy answers have plenty of hints to the deeper plot.
OK, the outward motivations (staying alive in the face of an enemy, preventing further bloodshed, containing a threat) are obvious. But that's a paper-thin layer of obviousness. Of course I'm going to know the motivations of a person running from a monster. I was looking for the "SEELE-level" plot abstraction.

What are your thoughts on the deeper plot? Keep in mind that I've never heard of the books you mentioned or any previous Blood-related material.

Err, she's a Vampire. Ever heard about those shlobs being allergic to religious symbols?
Given her visceral response to them, I wonder if they'd be useful as containment devices against the teraptorids?

Besides that (an instinctive fear/hatred) it probably has to do with Saya's despise of religion as a psychological crutch for the mentally weak. She also could have been subject to religious persecution in the past (they burned witches, so why not vampires?).
I'll give you that...

They live among people, feed, then hibernate. A pretty natural lifecycle, for an intelligent carnivore/parasite. As to where they came from, my guess would be - from the primal amoeba :-) I dont think they're a bioweapon, cause vamps have been around at least since 1892, and genetics didn't even exist then.
Well, it's too simplistic for me. Maybe it's due to all the vampire discussions I've had with my friends...I've come to expect that the producers of a vampire-related story would take the time to explain their origins. Going off what we get from the movie, you only get a single date and a lot of conjecture.

They wanted to keep it a secret, remember? If you run around telling every Joe that there are vampires on the loose, it wouldnt be much of a secret. Especially dangerous in a foreign country. Note how they completely covered up the trails of the accident
Right, they wanted to keep it a secret. But David was shocked that they had to go up against so many at once, and the only support we see him getting is from Saya and Louis in the helicopter. The aftermath invesitgation reveals "official ignorance" but the people "higher up" must have known about this...surely more assisstence was warranted. But this is moot.

You mean besides having an invisible killer feasting on the population? Well, how about him making a whole new bunch of such killers, who in turn would reproduce at a scary pace? Still not enough? Okay then, how about those killers being able to take any human form, and, say, seize power in some no-nonsense country with nuke capability?
I hate to sound like I'm being obstinate, but that is all assumption. Good assumption, but nontheless. No clue was given to these beasts' "reproductive" habits...they just appear in the movie. You hear about some of the them "feeding," about the various undefined activies they are doing, stories of suicides, and you see a military policeman get mauled. That's it. Of course, you'd assume that they create others through their own means. It just annoyed me that the creators felt like they had to skip all that possible storytelling and focus on something else. When it comes to vampire movies, people typically like the mechanics of the vampire's life...I missed that.

I am NOT sure that just drawing their blood is enough. Maybe for Saya it is, but not for ordinary humans. Otherwise, a squad of Marines armed with buzzsaws would do a good job against those vamps.
Saya's powers seemed to be focused in the realm of extraordinary strength and sensory perception. She says herself that it takes one blow and a heavy blood loss to kill these things. They didn't show any unstoppable speed or ability beyond brute strength, flight, and claws and teeth...a small 5-8 man squad with edged weapons wouldn't have an impossible time with them. Afterwards, you take the squads and their families away, reassign them, and force them into oaths of secrecy. It doesn't take a leap of imagination to think the agencies behind Saya would have some sort of contingency plan...unless she IS the contingency plan...

She did sense. That's why she checked their personal data folders, and then tracked them down. She didn't act right away because she wasn't 100% sure yet. Viciously murdering two innocent schoolgirls in a full classroom wouldnt improve the image of her organization much. Therefore she waited until they revealed themselves.
I'll give that to you.

1. There was fire in that corner, and still more gas tanks (which promptly began exploding later).
The fire was not a threat to the vicinity of the terap body, giving her an opening. It was prone and on it's stomach. A swift strike with the edge of the shovel would remove the head from the body. She demonstrates her strength often and when she chose the shovel, she swung it edge-first in a slashing motion...looking like she intended to cut and gouge with it. I'd fully expect her to be able to run up and hack at that thing no problem.

Of course, having a few gasoline drums explode in your face would be traumatic to say the least. Some time would be needed in order to recover...

2. There was another Vamp outside.
...but I think she had time to do something before it arrived.

3. There was David outside, probably carrying a new sword.
Again, time passed before she knew he and the other terap were there. For all she knew, she was locked in the warehouse with a bruised-and-battered-but-OK monster.

Just some more info to brood on:

Here is the history of the Blood Project:
Damn. Maybe part of the problem is that about 1/10th of that was covered in the movie??? I was not aware of any of this previous data. Can you point me to all the books/novels/mangas that Blood spawned from? I'd be interested in reading them.

[jblaze]

Wow, there's a lot more to the whole Blood saga then the movie covers. No wonder it leaves a lot of us in the dark. One question I have is why does Saya fight these creatures in the first place? Is it her family tradition/duty? Why does she work with David and his organization? I too would be interested in seeing more about this anime.

[jblaze]

I found this site which has a ton of Blood Project stuff on it. However it is all in Japanese. There seems to be a whole lot more then just the movie.

http://www.scei.co.jp/sd2/blood/

[Constantine Dragomirov]

Drizzten

"Of course I'm going to know the motivations of a person running from a monster. I was looking for the "SEELE-level" plot abstraction."

There are more "obvious" motivations than merely instinctive behaviour in the face of an enemy. Basically, we are given the nature of the beasts, the goals of the MiBs, and Saya's personal perplexions. That's enough for a 48-min plot.

However, there are also tips at the deeper layer, as I said. What can be more SEELE-level than an unseen organization manipulating the general public and the military for its own dark means?

"What are your thoughts on the deeper plot?"

Good question :-) Point is, naturally I dont have any of the novels, and the Internet resourses are surprisingly scarce. The Timeline was the single really useful piece of info on the Blood universe that I found. So, we'll have to speculate.

Chiropterids is a term for bats ("bone-winged" or something? my Latin sucks, we call them "membrane-winged" in Russian). It would be safe to assume they evolved from a sort of vampire bat, and probably fed off the human race for quite a while. They develop protective mimicria so complex it allows them to shift into human, biped, and winged forms (though it doesnt seem to be an instant or easy process). This mechanism also allows to quickly heal all minor wounds.

They're communicating using sounds (lip movements), yet not of the human frequency (just like bats). They feed by consuming large amounts of blood, then hibernate in a safe haven (again like bats, though with increased proportions).

The way of their reproduction is largely unknown, though it could be possible that "vampirism" is a kind of virus which exists in the blood, and when injected into a new human host, can transform them into a chiropterid (pretty logical considering their transformation abilities).

This would explain the Timeline date 1900: Saya has been marked as a powerful Vampire, and her blood has been used to create a number of new Chiropterids. The project might have had a double goal: creating a biological weapon and also a means of achieving immortality (hence its other name, the Immortality project).

"It just annoyed me that the creators felt like they had to skip all that possible storytelling and focus on something else. When it comes to vampire movies, people typically like the mechanics of the vampire's life..."

That's the point. The mechanics of vampirism and lycanthropy have been chewed over for the last half a century, and practically anyone knows a good deal about them. Therefore, no need to waste time on useless (and unoriginal) exposition. A viewer who is familiar with vampires would fill the details by himself.

"It doesn't take a leap of imagination to think the agencies behind Saya would have some sort of contingency plan...unless she IS the contingency plan..."

Undoubtedly they did; if the vampire succeeded in getting aboard the C-130, then they could-ve shot the plane out of the sky, or destroy it on landing, etc. Point is, David's team was given the necessary intel and power to deal with the threat. If they failed, Someone would have taken their place.

"a small 5-8 man squad with edged weapons wouldn't have an impossible time with them. Afterwards, you take the squads and their families away..."

Yeah right, and risk them babbling about Vampires to the personnel and chance acquantances. Besides, we don't know how many Chiropterids there are, and how many groups are hunting them. The MiBs probably have more button-men than just Saya, but she's been sent on the most dangerous and important mission.

"Of course, having a few gasoline drums explode in your face would be traumatic to say the least."

Of course. And they DID explode. So she was right not to go there immediately, IMO. Not taking stupid risks.

"Can you point me to all the books/novels/mangas that Blood spawned from?"

They're all in the timeline, AFAIK. There's also a PS2 game (though it sucks, I think).

Jblaze

"why does Saya fight these creatures in the first place?"

For some reason she can't kill humans (though sometimes she wishes she could). She also shares a bond with the chiropterids, not just hating them but recognizing as her kin. We never see her eat or drink, so maybe the organization's feeding her human blood in exchange for assistance with the rogue vamps. Perhaps she feels responsible for Chiropterids, or is specially tied with the organization. And anyway, what else is there for her to do? Take over the world? Maybe some day she'll try that...

" I found this site which has a ton of Blood Project stuff on it. However it is all in Japanese. "

How bout translating it to English? Some online translator, perhaps...

[HellRaiserRXR]

yea blood kicks a lot of ass and rocks on a number of levels, but i think it was too short. 45 minutes of torn flesh and violence just doesn't seem like its enough.

[AnkaraStark]

:heh: A gorey crowd of people I hang with here at AB... 0_o *

[chasta]

I got Blood just a week ago and I personally kinda wish I had just rented it. Although I think I might watch it again after reading this discussion, it might put a new perspective on things.

It is gorgeous though, isn't it? :)

[Renard Baines]

Well, I managed to find it on the net, and I thought it was damn good....good quality AVI too....

Anyways, I liked it for it's myserious feeling. It gave a sort of bystander outlook on the story, as someone who doesn't know the whole history, but see part of the story, leaving a lot to the imagination....sure, it was short, but hey, I liked it.

[Manathern]

Cool... But no real story...