Blood-C: The Last Dark

IG and CLAMP definitely had the potential to turn this trainwreck of a series around for the better. The finished product? Nothing but bitter disappointment about how a great piece, Blood: The Last Vampire, could be turned into this. The issues definitely begin in the characterisation. Nobody is interesting. There is no emotional attachment to any of the struggles they go through, and we 'care' because the movie tells us to. Fumito definitely had the potential to be a remotely decent villain, but even there we are let down. The animation is mixed, but overall it is fairly negative. Much similar to the series Blood-C, themajority of art enjoyment comes from the monster design - and while a lot of what appeared is clearly rehashed from Blood+ and the entire Blood series (if you dare group them together), it is still the high point. For the remainder of the scenes, the animation is carefully guised to look pretty with that distinct I.G. style, but with some inspection the flaws are gaping. The CGI scene? Lets not go there. The plot itself made no real sense. The concept was clear, but the whys and hows of it were significantly lacking. There is no resolution, or even understanding, of the events that transpire and why we should be interested in them. Watanuki appears simply as CLAMP fanservice, in a drawn-out sequence which was really unnecessary. Blood-C has concluded to be a trainwreck of a project. With I.G. having input, one would have hoped for a return to the glory days of Blood: The Last Vampire. However the final project is nothing short of ridiculous, and while it is a definite improvement from the series it is still not cutting remotely close to average.

-Overal- I'd like to firstly recommend everyone to watch the Blood-C specials because they summon up the series really well. The specials go straight to the point without leaving behind important information. The feeling you get after watching it will help you when you watch the movie directly afterwards. Ofcourse if you saw the series then even better. I saw it as well, yet bcs it has been so long since, I watched the specials and it helped me remember every feeling. Do you know how it feels to be betrayed and lied to? Have you ever hated yourself for what you believe happend because of you? Try topicture it. Try to stand in her shoes. I admit that in the series her character may be very annoying, hell even I thought so at times. But in the movie they made up for it. Some say there is no character development, well I think they're wrong. In the beginning of the movie Saya is cold, you can't blame her after what happened. Gradually she changes yet stays herself. Whats diffrent? She found someone like her. No, not a 'monster' but a person. That person as well changes into a stronger someone because of the person's encounter with Saya. Saya seeks for revenge but in the end is it really as she thought it was? Watch the movie to find out what happened in the end. Find out the truth behind all these masks. //Nothing is as it seems.\\ -Sound- Overal the sound was alright actually. It wasn't wrongly added in a disturbing way. They mainly added it where it was needed for the tension. So overal a 8/10 for me. -Art- aaah Clamp and IG did an amazing job as is expected, definetly a 9 out of 10. The animation is beautifully done and the monsters I have to say are discustingly amazing!! The exesive use of blood is indeed still there but hey once you start it off like that, why not finish ;D -Story- The movie actually has a great story and it goes straight to the point: her revenge. As for the title: "The Last Dark", I think they actually explained that in the end of the movie when Fumito 'explains' a few things about Saya. So be sure to look out for that :D In the end I give the movie an 8,5 out of 10.

Blood-C maybe a distant memory for some (and for some they would love to forget) but what this movie has done has really blown me away. In short it reminded me of the emotions, the power of music and that top quality art, of what has made the blood franchise what it is. As we go back to memory lane, the Saya we all knew in Blood-C has returned into a distant cold and direct character with one mission. To take down Fumito. The way her character has changed makes her alike with all the other Saya's in the sense that deep down in thatcold self there is still a heart beating in their vampire-selves. Just like in the animated Blood-C series, the continuation of Clamp references amuses those who are familiar with it and of course the return of Watanuki in his lovely shop attending to Saya's services. The new characters within the movie has a very lovely chemistry between them, and creates a nice light-hearted atmosphere amongst the dark and eerie of what the movie is mainly about. Mana and her backstory and character development alongside Saya's struggling journey was nicely added just like how Kuroto was added to set the scene for Saya's meet up with Fumito. In short, just like the blood-c series, the twists are there, and are full of impact. But in all honesty, don't let what the blood-c series became deter you from watching the movie. The movie outshines all that was of that series and really brings back what has made the blood franchise a masterpiece.

Honestly, before watching Blood-C: The Last Dark I had no familiarity with the franchise. Sure, I saw a couple of episodes of Blood+ on TV, but that’s all, so the only reason for me to watch this film was that my friends invited me to a convention, and it was shown there. And this film turned out to be crap. I decided to write this review but delayed submitting it for two months before I finally got a chance to marathon the Blood-C television series to get a better grasp of the plot. And guess what, now I think that the film is even moreof crap than I initially assumed, therefore, I’m submitting this review mostly unchanged. The setting of the film is undetailed and lazy. The creators are trying to bring a dystopian feel to it: Japan is ruled by a corrupted government, the Internet is heavily censored, and underage people are not allowed to stay late on the streets without any adults accompanying them. However, it is never stated why the things are this way. How did the political situation change and why is the government trying to restrict the freedom? Y’see, censorship is like outright speaking “We have stuff we don't want you to know”, and there are a lot of much better ways to hide the truth. Like spreading rumours, gossips and crazy theories that will make actual facts look like yet another lunatic fantasy, for example. The only reason we have this setting clumsily established is that the writers wanted to introduce the good guys as a resistance, freedom fighters trying to overthrow oppressive and unjust regime, and it hurts how uncreative and forced this is. And yeah, those freedom fighters… Here, have a look at this roster: a crippled mentor type of a guy in a wheelchair; his secretary; a tough-acting guy and his geeky friend, our comedic relief duo; and a token loli, who is a also a hacker. They’re clichéd as much as most secondary characters are, so they’re neither really interesting nor irritating. Excluding the loli one, and let me explain why. She is a hacker so good that she actually uses two keyboards simultaneously and types on the second one with her feet. Y’know, there is an anime called Battle Programmer Shirase, the protagonist of which is, well, a programmer and he can move his fingers so fast that he has to use six keyboards to keep up with his speed. This is stupid, but in insanely awesome kind of way. And loli typing with her feet? No, that’s just dumb. There can be a thin line between these two examples of ridiculous anime stuff, but I stand my ground here. So, the plot. Meet our protagonist, Saya. If you haven’t watched the Blood-C television series, all you’re going to know about her is that she wants revenge for some unclear reason. She wants to kill Nanahara Fumito, a powerful man who has big influence in Japan. Saya accidentally runs into Hiiragi Mana, a resistance member I haven’t mentioned earlier, during the attack of a vampire monster kind of thingie in an underground train. Saya saves Hiiragi from the monster and escapes from the police with the help of Hiiragi’s resistance friends. Then Saya meets up with Mogari Kuroto (mentor guy in a wheelchair) and learns that they have a common goal as resistance wants to end Nanahara’s oppressive rule. Also, Mogari has some personal feud with Nanahara, so he is just as fuelled up with revenge as Saya. As you can see, the opening of the story is pretty generic. However, it’s packed with action scenes and I have to admit that those are pretty good. They are well animated (putting aside my personal hate for CG vehicles), exciting and thrill inducing. The beginning of the film is really fun to watch on the big screen. But when the story slows down a bit… Oh, boy. First of all, Saya and Hiiragi. As I have already mentioned, Saya wants revenge. That’s her whole character and it’s uninteresting. On the other hand, Hiiragi is her opposite. While Saya is cold and introverted, Hiiragi is cheerful and friendly. While Saya wants to kill the antagonist, Hiiragi wants to find her father (a plot thread that ends in a rather pathetic but nevertheless amusing way). When these two are talking, it’s painful to listen to because it always follows “Hiiragi is trying to make friends, Saya doesn’t give a thing” formula. This routine gets old very fast and eats up a big chunk of the film. Secondly, the plot. It quickly deteriorates and stops making sense. I can turn a blind eye on some things because there is always a possibility that I don’t understand them due to my unfamiliarity with the franchise, but there are still a lot of moments when the stuff happening on screen is illogical, confusing or just pure bosh. I especially like how the film treats hackers as if it’s still the Nineties, when people believed that if one smashes buttons hard enough, he will break a card reader lock wirelessly with his mobile phone. Also, there is a cameo appearance by a character from another CLAMP work, but needless to say, this cameo is utterly pointless. The last fight is disappointing, to say the least. And the ending of the story is… I have no words to describe it. When the film ended, I found myself sitting in the middle of a cinema driven to a nonplus and feeling irritated and angry. A lot of plot threads are unresolved, and after watching the TV series I can say that the writers didn’t even bother to explain or address any loose ends left hanging in it. As a result, The Last Dark is a bad film. It’s bad if you haven’t watched the TV series because the film’s plot is confusing and makes no sense. And it’s even worse if you did watch the series because the film still makes no god damn sense and doesn’t fill the gaps in its prequel. There is only one redeeming quality in it: action scenes. The director, Shiotani Naoyoshi-shi, is quite good and knows his deal (you can check out currently airing Psycho-Pass series to see what he is capable of, when a competent writer is aboard). Thus, if you want a mindless eye candy kind of a film, The Last Dark can pass as your choice; otherwise, well, excuse me.

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