Blood+ on Studio 23

In other news, Blood+ finally gets aired on Philippine TV! Hurray for Studio 23 for finally catching on.

Blood+ is about a girl, named Saya, whose school-girl looks belies a personal history as old as time. She is a vampire, one of two immortal siblings whose descendants are fated to fight and annihilate each other. But with her memories all but faded, Saya unknowingly becomes a pawn to a secret government organization, the Red Shield, who is intent on destroying the blood-sucking Chiropterans. But what are the Chiropterans? And why is a mere drop of Saya's blood fatal to them?

The anime is a spin-off of the animated feature film, Blood: The Last Vampire. Read my review here. I also mentioned that Blood: The Last Vampire is getting a live-action adaptation, starring that Korean actress from My Sassy Girl and Koyuki (Last Samurai). With the recent success of the hyped movie, Twilight -- also about vampires -- I think this anime is going to be a hit among Filipino fans of the genre.

Blood+ has everything, from action to romance, high school girls in school uniforms, swords, and a tall, dark, handsome bishie who tugs at your heartstrings by playing Bach's cello suite pieces. The series is going to start airing on Studio 23 on the 23rd of March. It's probably going to replace the timeslot for Samurai X.

p.s. They're airing the dubbed version, just so you know.

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Blood: The Last Vampire Live-action

Yeah, I'm slow to catch up. Apparently, news of the live-action adaptation of Production I.G.'s Blood: The Last Vampire anime film became official way back in 2006.

Bill Kong, producer of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (one of my favorite kung fu movies), will produce the film, along with Ronny Yu. The latter was previously called to direct the movie but the directing helm has since been granted to Chris Nahon.

The movie will star Korean actress, Jun Ji-Hyun (My Sassy Girl) -- Gianna Jun -- as the 400-year-old half-human, half-vampire, Saya. Apparently, the entire script is in English...so it should be fun listening to the accents.

Anyway, I wasn't too interested in the movie at first because I knew that the chances of it getting shown in my country is close to nil. But recently, I got interested in Koyuki, the Japanese actress who got to kiss Tom Cruise in The Last Samurai, and from my fangirlish obsession for news of her latest projects, I found that she's going to appear in the movie as well.

Koyuki will play a powerful vampire that will do battle against Saya

it's an unwritten rule: all vampires are gorgeous

There are basically two reasons why I should watch the live-action adaptation of Blood: The Last Vampire. One is, of course, the film is one of the better anime movies that I have ever seen. The other reason is that I love Koyuki.

I'm not so much into Japanese dramas or movies (I am prone to watch Chinese films mainly because of the wuxia elements) so I didn't really know her before The Last Samurai. I liked her character in that movie but I kind of forgot about the actress afterwards. It was only recently, when I decided to pick up the manga, Kimi wa Petto, that I stumbled upon her name again.

The drama based on the manga became Koyuki's first lead role in Japanese TV. In there, she played a role that was different from Taka in The Last Samurai. I thought the difference was interesting, so I wondered if she was a good actress. I mean, she does know how to cry but that's not the only measure. So I watched Engine, a family-oriented, feel-good drama where she stars alongside Takuya Kimura ( ♥ ~). The drama is one of my favorite Japanese dramas to date -- not that I've seen a lot of Japanese dramas. I can count them all in one hand. Then, I watched Laundry, a whimsical film that's a little like Forrest Gump and I Am Sam.

In all these works so far, I've seen Koyuki perform as:

• a cool but occasionally clumsy career woman
• a tragic noblewoman who goes through the unspeakable shame of taking care of the man who killed her Samurai husband
• an uptight, meddling but well-meaning teacher
• a depressive, suicidal kleptomaniac

But I've never seen her do action. If I ever do get around to watching Blood: The Last Vampire when it is released in March 2009, that would mark my first seeing her do an actual fight scene. Has she done action before? I don't think she has. Okay, now I'm getting excited. 2009 is a long way off.

MORE INFO:

Blood: The Last Vampire (live-action) Wikipedia Entry
Blood: The Last Vampire (2008 live-action) @ IMDB
Blood: The Last Vampire Images

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Special Anime Trailer Post Pt. 1

I loooove trailers. One of my favorite parts of going to the movies is the previews shown before the show starts. Not only movies, but I also like trailers and previews for games and anime. I usually convert them into mp4 files for my mobile phone so I can watch them when I'm bored. Here are four from my collection.

5cm Per Second
[6.78MB, 176 x 144]
Technically, this isn't a trailer but the DVD extra (music video) for "One More Time, One More Chance," the theme song of the movie. One of the most beautiful anime movies I have ever seen in recent years.

Blood The Last Vampire
[1.72MB, 176 x 144]
Allison & Lillia
[1.90MB, 176 x 144]
Baccano!
[0.5MB, 176 x 144]

Enjoy! ♥

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Blood: The Last Vampire

One of the most impressive animated films in 2000, garnering a Grand Prize at the Japan Media Arts Festival, Blood: The Last Vampire is a beautiful dark anime that is lauded for its extravagant production values.

"Blood: The Last Vampire" DVD @ Amazon
"Blood: The Last Vampire" AUDIO CD @ Amazon
"Blood: The Last Vampire" (Japan Version - English Subtitles) @ Yes Asia
"Blood: The Last Vampire" DVD @ Play-Asia
"Blood: The Last Vampire" DVD @ RightStuf
"Blood: The Last Vampire" Soundtrack CD @ RightStuf

The film, produced by animation studio Production I.G. of Ghost in the Shell and End of Evangelion fame, in collaboration with Sony's Aniplex, features main protagonist Saya, a seemingly young Japanese school girl, who is actually a covert agent for the US Government. Her objective is to discover the human identities of chiropterans (monstrous winged creatures that feed on blood) and kill them before they fully transform. Saya uses a katana, saying in one instance that a sword can make a large enough cut that would spell the end for the monsters.

In the beginning, we are introduced to Saya on a deserted train. She sits very still, unmoving. Then all of a sudden, the train stops and the lights go out. What follows next is a one-minute action sequence that is guaranteed to take your breath away and give you an idea just how bloody marvelous this film is.

Although the film never does expound on Saya's real nature or the nature of the chiropterans for that matter, the characters do recognize her as the last remaining "original." Later, just before the ending credits roll, we are given a huge clue as to what Saya really is, which is to say a vampire.

Admittedly, the film does not explain a lot of things about itself. Much is merely suggested and audiences are often left to figure things out by themselves. For instance, we don't know why Saya works for the US Government. Nor do we know what these chiropterans are. Are they vampires? They feed on blood.

Actually, the entire film feels like an hour-long teaser trailer. A beautiful, 2D-3D film quality, mind-blowing trailer, that is. And in a way, it is only just a trailer, as more of Saya's story is expounded on in a later spin-off series, Blood+, another Production I.G. masterpiece.

But if anything, this anime will change how you think of animation. Even Academy Award-winning director James Cameron is reported to have said: "Digital imaging has entered a new era. The world will come to consider this work as the standard of top quality in digital animation." (source)

MORE INFO:

Official Production I.G. Site
Wikipedia Article
"Blood: The Last Vampire" IMDB
"Blood: The Last Vampire" live-action film (2008)
Screencaps from "Blood: The Last Vampire"

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Blood: The Last Vampire Screencaps

GET MORE "BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE" SCREENCAPS HERE



Review to follow this weekend.

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