No20 [Anime] Vampires & co

Blood C The last Dark is a sequel, or rather an epilogue, to the animated series Blood C, although it does not follow the plot of the first film in the series; Blood: the last Vampire (2000). If you haven’t already had the opportunity to see the series, you might not be able to grasp the whole of the plot, which now largely revolves around esotericism and magic rather than conspiracy theories and military action. Thankfully for fans of the first Blood, the setting is familiar: Tokyo and its subway at night, a strange man turns into a vampire and starts devouring passengers. Saya Kisaragi is also in the carriage, draws her sword and slices the vampire into sushi. After such a bloody beginning, the story has a hard time picking up and all the ramifications of the situation are difficult to grasp. Saya joins up with a team of young hackers who are looking into infiltrating the evil Fumito Nanahara’s company and all these supporting characters, although funny, get in the way of the action. On the one hand, this helps turn the film into a longer feature (107 minutes) compared to Blood the last Vampire, which only lasted about fifty minutes. on the other, scenes taking place in the hackers H.Q. are of little interest and quite dispensable to the plot. The directing is just as efficient as in the first Blood, but with a brand new character design by Clamp. Saya Kisaragi is meticulously portrayed and her face, as candid as it is dark, makes her enigmatic and charismatic. Fight scenes are dynamic and well animated. one sequence is of particular interest: when a pretty vampire fights off a monster covered with tentacles which can regenerate… The tension built up in this scene is the highlight of the film. Not to spoil the story, but you will be treated to a big surprise at the end of the movie with a 3D Monster that is enormous in every sense of the word. Technologically speaking, this magnificent creature is deserving of a big blockbuster and works really well. However, as far as the context of the scene is concerned, it is difficult to understand what a kaiju with dreadlocks is doing here. The sequence sums up the movie as a whole: it is beautiful to watch, but we don’t really understand what’s happening. With Studio IG (the films of Mamuro oshii and the xxxHolic series) at the controls, this new interpretation of Blood is an undeniable technical success with great action scenes, but it is guilty of failing to deliver a more mature and convincing storyline that would have made this a must-see movie. That said, Blood C the last Dark is much superior to the version of Blood: the last Vampire directed by Chris Nahon in 2009.

Blood-C The Last Dark, Manga Entertainment