Customer Reviews

Blood: The Last Vampire

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

The book's cover is deceptive. You see a picture of Saya, the "Immortal Vampire Slayer." In the nearly 300 pages of text, you see Saya 3 total times. She gets 5 total pages of time in the lime light. The rest of the book is spent following a 15 year old Japanese high school student who is protesting the oppressive conservative Japanese government. There's a lot of filler in here. In fact, the entire book seems like a bunch of random research papers put together (inaccurately) on how to dispose of a body, the evolution of the species, and how protest and anti-establishment organizations work. I kept reading, hoping that something would come of it, but in the end I should have just stopped and saved myself the random philosopical musings of an anime director trying his hand as a writer.

The subject of this novel is Saya, the vampire hunter who appeared in the film Blood: The Last Vampire. Night of the Beasts is not directly related to the events in the movie, but it does take place in more or less the same setting (Tokyo area in the late sixties), probably soon after the events of the movie. The events in this story are related from the point of view of Rei, a teenage boy who dabbles in radical left-wing political activism and can generally be described as bored and disgruntled. The story starts off with Rei taking part in a mass protest which turns out to be anything but boring: running from riot police, Rei stumbles across Saya dispatching a vampire in her usual bloody fashion. Rei's role as witness to this event gradually draws him into a web of intrigue and deceit as he is sought out by various people of questionable motives who are also interested in the activities of Saya and the organization she works for.

Blood: The Last Vampire is actually an extended project that encompasses novels, manga, PS2 games, and of course the movie. So far only the movie, this novel, and one manga (Blood: The Last Vampire 2002) have been translated and distributed in English. Most readers of this novel will likely be most familiar with the movie (also directed by Mamoru Oshii), so I should point out right away that though most fans of the movie will enjoy this book it is very different from the movie. Where the movie was driven mostly by action, Oshii's novel is driven mostly by dialogue. Through conversations with various people who are involved in or investigating the activities of Saya and the vampires that she hunts, the main character begins to learn more about the background behind the horrific event that he witnessed. Rei turns out to have more backbone than his original impression would suggest, and however reluctantly he becomes actively involved in the hunt for the vampires that are threatening both him and his friends. Through this we learn a great deal about the vampires and about the organization that is helping Saya to hunt them.

The great strength of this novel is that Mamoru Oshii has clearly done his homework before writing this further contribution to the Blood project. He approaches the idea of the vampire intelligently from the viewpoint of legend and myth, evolution, paleoanthropology and history. By the time the story is done he has provided a very rich context for the creatures which in his movie were just mysterious blood-sucking monsters. Unfortunately, this creates a couple of drawbacks. First, many sections of the novel move very slowly. Characters provide the background information in long, rambling speeches which often feel unnatural and appear to be just rather clumsy attempts to provide this information to the reader. Secondly, the character Saya who should really be the focus of the story is pushed to the background... characters talk in great detail about her, but almost never talk *with* her.

The slow pacing is really the only serious problem I had with this novel. Because Mamoru Oshii has done such a great job of constructing his own rich and consistent context for the vampire legend it really did not detract from my enjoyment of the story. For that reason alone, this book is a must for any fans of Saya or just fans of vampire stories in general.

Probably the best way to critique this book is to state right off that it simply fails to deliver what it promises. Blood was one of my early encounters with anime, a fine and chilling film that still sticks in my mind years later. When I found this book my biggest concern was that turning Saya Otonashi into the subject of a boys adventure story might spoil the fine edge that the film managed. But I need not have worried, Saya Otonashi is hardly the subject of this tale. Actually, it's hard to say just what is the subject of the story. Maybe it's the woeful lives of high school radicals in a conservative society. That I can connect with, but not in the context of something that claims to be horror fiction.

Rei Miwa is a boy in his late teens who is deeply involved in the politics of the Japanese anti-war (anti Vietnam War) movement. He gets caught up in a protest march that goes wrong, and in his flight from the police he stumbles on the scene of a slaughter. The victim is some form of horrible monster, and the killer is a young high school girl with a long sword and the eyes of a demon. When he wakes from unconsciousness later he finds that he has been suspended from school, and grounded to boot. But the sudden appearance of a police detective - Hajime Gotouda - draws Rei into a thickening plot that entangles his fellow radicals and brings him face to face with creatures that can only be called vampires.

Had the book kept going in this vein (sorry) it would have been a top grade story. But suddenly Mamoru Oshii seems to lose control of the plot, and everything bogs down in a pseudo-philosophical discussion of parallel species, the hunter hypothesis, Descartes, the international Jewish conspiracy, and the evils of the Catholic Church. Saya is reduced to a few walk on appearances and the reader, if he has good sense, promptly falls asleep. But the time things start happening the story has fragmented and Oshii rushes everything to a whimsical conclusion. It all turns into a more or less depressing coming of age story. I know you are sitting there thinking "Oh wow! A Blood novel." But pass this one up. You'll feel better for it.

It's well written and starts off pretty strong although a bit too much time is spent discussing the inside workings of an organized protest.
The story really begins when Rei encounters Saya for the first time and gets a glimpse of the chiropteran carcass she's just wasted. Or at least you hope the story begins. What follows is Rei, his activist buddies, and a mysterious detective trying to sort of who Saya is and how she's involved with the deaths of six of their peers.
Their story for the most part is interesting but becomes a drag when Oshii sees fit to allow the plot to dissolve into pages upon pages of didactic historical and/or philosophical drivel that do little to further the plot but take up mucho space(I mean to the point that Oshii has to list references at the end of the book people). No wonder the book is 300 pages. For instance, instead of simply revealing that perhaps Rei's friends may have been sucked dry by a vampire, the detective goes on and on about the history of death, rotting corpses, and how to properly dispose of a body (Should we burry, eat it, feed it to our cat, or deep fry it? etc.).

Saya doesn't even appear in the story much, she never says anything, we don't learn much about her inner person at all. When Saya appears we only see her through the eyes of Rei who describes her as fierce, evil, and beautiful. They never really interact either. They stare at each other. This itself was a mild disappointment.
What little we learn is just from what others say/think about Saya. She remains an enigma. And considering the timing of the novel's US release, right when the much the anticipated TV series Blood+ is airing in Japan, I think most people who purchase this book will do so because they want more Saya. Not Rei.
I'm sorry, the book isn't all that bad. Give it a chance but don't expect that much. It is rather interesting, you may opt to skip some of the philosophical content like I did though.

So where's Saya? If this is the first installment of a trilogy I guess it may be appropriate to not pour out that much information about who she is. That said, I'm still interested in reading the remaining two novels if ever they're published.

Finishing this book tonight the content is fresh in my memory.

I have to say, i am not the type of person that reads books. I stay as far away from books as possible. However, I really enjoyed the movie Blood The Last Vampire. As i'm sure most whom read this did.

Spoilers below....

I was expecting more vampire action, and a lot more Saya. But the story actually took a different direction.

It starts of with young High School rebel Rei(forget the word that was used)Protester in 1969 Japan. After their large group is attacked by police Rei makes his escape and witnesses a girl named Saya checking her blade after just killing a monster.

Rei is confronted by 2 foreigners and is knocked unconscious and wakes up in a hospital. He is confronted soon after by a man named Goutuda who claims to be a cop.

Throughout the book, Rei and his group of High School protesters...Try to figure out the answer to why there have been killings of several members of a very private organization called SR that their friend is part of. Fearing for his life they join Goutuda to help him figure it out why these members are being killed and why the blood is drained from their body, and why this girl named Saya transfers to the school and class of those members days before their dissapearance.

After another encounter with Saya, Rei and Goutuda are enlightened(after being kidnapped by the foreigners)In an extrememly long history lesson.

After that Rei goes back home and his final encounter with Goutuda and Saya takes place in the school, where its seemingly over...

The book ends in an Epilogue where 30 years later where it explains what happened to the boys after the events of the book. As well as Saya's final appearance.

--
--
Thats my somewhat brief summary of the book. Saya appears 4 times in the book, and is very brief each time.

This book has a lot of Very LONG talks in it. Somewhat interesting. They talk about corpses and how to dispose of a body. And about the evolution of vampires and humans.

I wouldnt call this a sequel to the anime movie, its more of a side story of someones encounter with Saya.

I would reccomend you read this if you really enjoyed the anime movie. It doesnt go into Saya's past at all. All we really learn about Saya is she is half human half vampire from experimental breeding, her being the only successful one. And that she hates humans and vampires but alias herself with the humans so that she can kill the vampires she hates...(read the book it makes more sense...)

All in all its a great tale on the life of a teenage boy in japan in 1969 and his encounter with a girl named Saya.

For a side note, I dont think you have to see the movie to enjoy this book. Because the only character from the movie is Saya. If anything, this might be a good prequel to the movie even though its afterwards...

P.S.S. If you are a fan of Blood+ a spinoff of Blood the last vampire, then this book and the movie, as well as the Blood the last vampire 2002 manga are different.

Blood+ is an alternate universe with the mostly the same characters but different approach.

P.S.S.S. There are also 2 more books in the Blood The last Vampire series other then this first one, I'm not sure when(if) they will come to the USA.

I hope I helped you understand this book a little better.

Not for children, kind of gory foul language, and drug and alcohol use by minors.

Slow-paced. Political rhetoric. Where's the action? Where are the vampires? For that matter, where is Saya? Don't be fooled... it was nothing like the movie.

I've seen the anime movie. I've watched all 50 episodes of the made-for-tv anime series. I have yet to see the live-action movie.

I'm a fan of vampire fiction. (i.e. WOD, Anne Rice, etc.)
This is not vampire fiction. It's a story that includes "vampires" in it, but it is not about vampires. This assessment is based on the amount of space dedicated to the subject. If you've read any of the other reviews, you will already know the story does not center around Saya (the protagonist of anime movie, tv series, and life-action movie).

So keep in mind the majority of the people who posted low-star reviews were most likely anticipating the action-packed events in the anime/movie to be depicted in prose in this book.

They were most likely very disappointed. I was.

Having said that, there are elements of this story that make the book worth reading.

If you're interested in theories about the origins of the "vampire" and human evolution, then you'll find a passage in this book that I found interesting.

If you're interested in the rather dry and clinical discussions about corpse disposal, political activism, the dynamics interpersonal encounters (i.e. interrogation, maintaining dominance in a discussion, etc.); then you'll find passages in this book pertaining to those subjects.

I have an inkling of what the author tried to do with this book, but as a novelization of the Blood: The Last Vampire franchise, it's an exercise in mis-direction.

I would not recommend this book for those fans of the series who are looking for more of the same.

If you are open to a different perspective, then it may be worth the time and effort it will take you to read through to the final page.

It primarily leads along a path of investigation performed by what appears to be a Japanese detective and a group of high school students, into the murders of other high school students and the possible connection these have to a transfer student, named Saya.

The main character, one of the high school students, is witness to one of the slayings it is he and the detective who ultimately unravel the mystery.

Hope this helps.

It's 1969 and Japan is in turmoil, with anti-Vietnam student protests and riots; high-schooler Rei Miwa is attending a protest when it goes bad, causing him to cut and run. Escaping the mêlée, he runs into a schoolgirl with a sword and standing over a body, with blood splattered everywhere. He is struck down, left unconscious to be picked up by the cops, but since the blood splattered all over wasn't human he's released.

Suspended from school, he finds that the cop Hajime Gotouda, a Lt. Columbo type, has snuck into his home to question him about his politics, and the people of his protest group. During the questioning, Rei learns core members of the cult-like SR, the enforcement arm of Rei's group, have, except for Shouji Aoki, all disappeared, or have been killed.

Rei then talks to group about this and there is much hostility about his even talking to Gotouda, with Aoki actively hostile to the concept that he might even be in danger and storms out. Rei and the rest, with Gotouda's help, then decide to investigate the disappearances and to find out who is offing the SR's members and what Saya Otonoshi, a surly schoolgirl who has showed up at every school where SR members have disappeared or died, have to do with it all.

Mamoru Oshii is the man behind the brilliant "Ghost In The Shell" animés and others, and movies like "Avalon", so he should know what he's doing, so what the hell was he thinking with "Blood The Last Vampire: Night Of The Beasts"? "Blood The Last Vampire: Night Of The Beasts" is the source novel of a franchise that involves games, manga, and a dynamite cult demo-animé, and whose mythology was revamped for the "Blood+" animé series and its spin-off novelizations and mangas. The animé is a fast-paced, bloody, extreme horror-adventure, and it is centered around the psychotic killing machine, and dhampir, Saya as she tracks down vampires. So, for the first 202 pages "Blood The Last Vampire: Night Of The Beasts" is a meandering supernatural juvenile detective story, interesting mainly because of its unique setting and period, not its stock characters and plot. Still, the decent set-up and pacing are annihilated when Oshii decides to stop the novel dead for a SIXTY PAGE HISTORICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL LECTURE. And while philosophy and horror can work--witness "The Mind Parasites" by Colin Wilson--it all has to be evenly leavened throughout the work, not just info-dumped on its audience all at once, and should have something to do with the story's plot. C'mon, did we need ANOTHER lecture and discourse on the whole Zionist conspiracy nonsense? As mentioned, the animé revolved around Saya, but except for a couple of walk ons, she doesn't even appear until the final showdown on page 289 in an extremely anti-climatic, too-little/too-late, five page fight. While some of the clunky prose can be chalked up to "Blood The Last Vampire: Night Of The Beasts"'s translation, the poor storytelling is all Oshii's. This was supposed to be first of a trilogy of novels, but evidently this one was greeted so negatively the other two were never published here. They couldn't be worse. So, if you like weird detective mysteries then you won't like the last third of this novel, and if you like philosophical novels, you won't get past the first two thirds, and if you are a fan of Saya, you won't like any of it. What a waste of a good character and a unique setting.

This review was originally printed in "Cemetery Dance" #58 in 2008, and was originally edited by Bob. Thanx Bob.

The book is poorly written with almost non-existant characterizations. The writer actually tries to introduce a group of about 8 boys (i lost count-they're all the same anyway) at one go and doesn't use dialogue tags as often as he needs. He throws in a chunk of pseudo-history and there is very little escalation of action. I would have stopped after the first ten pages if I wasn't forced to read this thing for a book club.

This story is long and complicated. You actully get to read about Saya 3 times, they're few and far between and very short. If I were to some up this book in one word it would be Dry, very dry reading. I suggest not wasting your money.