"An excellent slice of scary death." by V. Krätke (Netherlands) on May 9, 2005

Horror shows are hard to do right in animation. Character designs simplified by budgetary constraints are rarely visceral enough to inspire genuine fright. So most animated horror goes for a more understated, psychological blend of scares. Think Boogiepop Phantom or Vampire Princess Miyu. Blood, however, is a different beast altogether. To begin with, it really is a beast good and proper. There's a good amount of brutal no-holds-barred violence on display. Coupled with intricate, un-cartoony character designs that actually look human and a strong gloomy atmosphere, this makes for an involving slice of visceral horror.
In its short running time, Blood offers us a glimpse of a shadow war against creatures of the night. It's basically the same premise as tons of other horror anime; a lone supernaturally-powered protagonist versus a breed of mysterious boogeymen. However, Blood sets itself apart with its unusual setting (American-occupied Japan on the brink of the Vietnam war) and its extremely polished visuals. At times, Blood's atmoshpere reminded me of Production IG's phenomenal Jin-Roh with its recent history setting, human-like character designs, stunningly lifelike background designs and strong millitary elements. More than just great artwork, Blood also features great animation. There are tons of moving figures and characters gesticulate vehemently while talking, all of it looking smooth as silk. This is quite a break from the more static talking heads generally associated with anime, as are the detailed character designs with their pronounced lips and noses.
With its great visuals, fast pace and intense atmosphere, Blood provides some excellent gory action. The film is bi-lingual, with parts of the dialog either in English or Japanese, as befits the setting. Some characters sound just a tiny bit wooden in English, but nothing overly bothersome. I would've liked an option on this DVD to subtitle only the Japanese bits of dialog, but the Dutch subtitle track is perfectly adequate all the same (and thank heavens there's none of those hideous dubtitles that plague so many Dutch A-film releases). There's also over an hour's worth of staff interviews included on the DVD, but I didn't find any of it very interesting. The main feature is perfectly solid enough to warrant the purchase despite its short running time. Now that you can snap this DVD up for roughly ten bucks at most video stores, there's really no reason to think twice about Blood.

"Vampires!" by N. (Nederland) on May 1, 2005

A thrilling movie about vampires.
The plot revolves around the last real vampire, a young japanese girl who apperently works for the american government, who destroys other monstrous vampires. It has great animation and the action sequences are quite bloody.
In the movie they speak both english and japanese. So don't be surprised when the characters start speaking english and go thinking you were ripped off for only paying for an english dub. Wait a while and you'll see, some other characters speak japanese. There is only one audio.
In short, a great flick to watch if you like vampires.

"court mais superbe " by ptitlouis (Belgique) on May 11, 2004

Ce film au-delà de la démonstration technique magistrale nous présente un regard froid sur une jeune fille que la socièté et ses origines ont rendu violente. L'histoire sait se faire oublier pour laisser l'action et la mise en scène nous en mettre plein la vue. Jamais support n'a été aussi cohérent avec son contenu. Blood exigeait une qualité d'image et d'écoute parfaite. C'est chose faite avec ce Dvd proche de la perfection.