Before their reclaim to fame with Haikyuu and PSYCHOPASS Production I.G. was wellknown for their callous militaristic works such as Ghost in the Shell JinRoh: The Wolf Brigade Patlabor among others. Of course its in bad taste to mention the aforementioned titles without their director Mamoru Oshii. Extremely partial to dystopian and political themes Oshiis acquaintance with the studio birthed many classics still ripe and praised to this day. Then theres Blood: The Last Vampire. The 48minute film isnt as held in as illustrious of a light as its brethren but proved to be somewhat of an anomaly productionwise and an overlooked entrant in Oshiis track record. While Ghost in the Shell and JinRoh primarily relied on handdrawn animation cels Blood was one of the anime mediums first test tube babies with overwhelming digital animation. Blood stirred up some attention for other reasons as well. 520https://64.media.tumblr.com/tumblrlzgsxyzHi41r621gdo1500.gif Less than an hour of sailorfuku and vampires Bloods runtime of a mere 48 minutes is its most glaring weakness. Even with films twice its runtime proper character development and a structured story is often impeded. And with Blood their presence is made even less scarce. Character development need not be mentioned since characterization in Blood is shrouded and gaping with a lack of background context. Most notably is Sayas character. Her interaction in the film was befuddling to say the least. Violent and snarling at a mans exasperated sigh of Oh Jesus... I had to rewind the scene a few times to ensure character context hadnt escaped my view. This sentiment carries over several times over the course of the film. As such Blood feels much more like a fragile exoskeleton of a concept rather than a solid film. However the concept its built on is solid and so is many other parts of Blood that overwhelmingly compromised for my enjoyment. A bit too grand for its allocated runtime the premise follows Saya a sailorfuku clad girl of obscure origin hunting down vampireesque creatures called Teropterids. Note the obscure origin and Teropterids. Had Saya been given quick and simple characterization denoting her origins and the Teropterids simply being labeled vampires it wouldve inflicted suitable modesty for the films short runtime. Nonetheless the shrouded mystery behind the premise is one to keep your eyes peeled for from the getgo though you may be left with insatiate hunger. Though character context is left untouched Sayas narrow character is filled with her drive to eliminate the Teropterids. Blood: The Last Vampire is just one of Sayas many violent ventures as she infiltrates an American military base school to out several of her prey. Theres little deviation and filler in its story Sayas sword cuts down a straightforward path of cruel gore and splattered blood. Saya wastes no time quite literally sniffing out her prey and slicing them down albeit delayed due to a certain Japanese school nurse. Theres no room for substantial characterization character development or story context in Bloods earnest drive for gore and action. However labelling it as a onestop goreshow or Blist horror flick is wrong. Blood is certainly not a politicallydriven dystopian setting film youd expect from Production I.G. but it has its semantic merits in depicting the intense emotions and atmosphere encapsulated in a 48minute concept film. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/mn1b0rcJL0/VBBSE7gjAZI/AAAAAAAADLU/EO5fNwlSkXU/s1600/tumblrlzz0p4BxBG1qzqnxxo1500.gif Were going digital Though Hiroyuki Kitakubo directed the film Blood starts off with a Oshiiflavored bang. That is the highsprung action sequence devoid of context. Despite the lack of dialogue the silently macabre train sequence loudly speaks on the phenomenal fluid digital animation and lowlighting. 3DCG and 3D imaging still has quite a stigma today but Blood is one to dispel. Smoothly intermixing the characters with 3Drendered background the sequence lacks any awkward hints. The lowlevel lighting is just as amazing to bear witness to with the trains fluorescent lighting buzzing to faint darkness casting muted tones on Sayas face as she runs with shaky motion blurring. 520https://thumbs.gfycat.com/DistantUltimateIchthyostegasizerestricted.gif Animationaside the music and sound production is also boasted in this first sequence. The lack of dialogue is compensated by the increasingly ominous orchestra jagged clinkingandclunking of the train and finally a very Hollywoodesque chase sequence sound track ended with a slicing impact. The superb sound production and finely selected music carries over for the rest of the film. Though Im hardpressed to label Blood as a horror film the soundtrack is reminiscent of such with occasional eeriness accompanying climaxing scenes. The majority of the film features action and gore and as such intense and upbeat tracks synchronize with them. Going back to the visuals the character design is nearly as favorable as the fluid animation. Katsuya Terada a video game designer was enlisted to draw the characters and proved to be a fine choice. Theres a rough and rugged sense to the characters primarily due to the the thick lines. Aside from being visually strong it also works well to accentuate their animated facial expressions. Saya is the most outstanding example. Her stern scowl morphing into rage sees her flashing eyes creasing lines pushing against her forehead and her mouth rampaging. The fantastic character animation plays a substantial role in conveying the detail in facial expressions as well but the designs in it of themselves are absolutely strong and detailed. 520https://fastly.syfy.com/sites/syfy/files/styles/1400xauto/public/tumblroi72kmlz1g1rfx24fo1500.gif Heres a 20 minute documentaryhttps://www..com/watch?v=K5m0ApXDLbo detailing the production process of the film if youre interested 520https://64.media.tumblr.com/f312c7ff3627be38cd5f4f705f4f3b0c/tumblrpncu2n1l1a1rgmfmpo1400.gif English Motherfucker do you speak it? As I mentioned at the start Blood had received attention for another reason. Which is its English dub. Yes Blood was intended and created to be dubbed in English with Japanese subtitles. Along with 3DCG English dubs dont have the most cherished reputation. As for Blood what can I say? It initially felt uncanny particularly with the first conversation. Robotic is the best I could describe it. Though the voice actors actually did the flow of the conversation felt as if the lines were read off a script without much fluidity. As the film progressed however the unnatural sense faded with occasional awkwardness that still didnt impede my enjoyment much. Very little Japanese is spoken limited to just Saya and the nurses conversations. Thanks to this youll be able to enjoy the cuminducing visuals to their full extent. 520https://pa1.narvii.com/5758/7dd7fe6d11704e7f2e3c142af4d503784e5536f7hq.gif Conclusion Blood: The Last Vampire is much more than a concept film than what its incomplete story and characters may lead you to believe. The use of 3DCG and imaging is far removed from its nefarious reputation offering a fluid feast of action and movement both intense and subtle. The lowlevel lighting and tones boost the quaint yet macabre atmosphere of this film. High quality on the technical side enjoyment is left satiated by the end of this 48minute course of gore and blood. Still the incomplete nature of Blood may require light stomach medicine after this stunning feast. Trailing off at the end with a mere final hint at Sayas character theres an obvious compromise of visual and atmosphere over vivid story. Blood is very much a story drugged up on its superb atmosphere and production rather than impactful characters. Blood: The Last Vampire left me burping and rubbing my stomach. I relished this appetizer of a film for being one of the first to usher in the age of digital animation. However beyond just that value Blood is a fantastic supernatural and action film that I could repeatedly watch purely for its production value. Among with its more famous brethren in Production I.G.s catalog of films Blood: The Last Vampire is one just as valuable. 520https://www.mangauk.com/wpcontent/uploads/2017/03/Blood.gif