Blood+: Part One

Based on the feature Blood: The Last Vampire (2000), Blood+ (2005) combines elements of the magical girl, vampire and biomedical experiments out-of-control genres. In the original film, Saya, the last true vampire, battled the bloodthirsty demons attacking an American base in Japan during the Vietnam War. This Saya has lived for more than 100 years, but remembers little of her past. The magical guardian Hagi appears and presents Saya with a special sword: she must cut herself and allow her blood to flow into channels in its blade. Only her blood can destroy the artificially created monsters known as Chiropterans. The sinister conglomerate Cinq Fleches who created the Chiropterans is pitted against the secret society the Red Shield, whose members include Hagi and Saya. Blood flows freely during the ensuing battles, escapes, and flashbacks, as Saya whines, fusses, and cowers while her friends get stomped. The filmmakers arbitrarily change the rules of the story as it stumbles along. The characters repeatedly say that only Saya can kill a Chiropteran, but near the end of the first season, the hooded figures called the Schiff appear, who hack Chiropterans to pieces with their swords. As Saya is a vampire, she needs blood to stay alive, but she never bites anybody and spent years in a human family without seeking blood (or having problems with silver and garlic). A sixth disc is devoted entirely to interviews with the filmmakers. Unrated, suitable for ages 16 and older: graphic violence, violence against women, nudity, alcohol and tobacco use, ethnic stereotypes) --Charles Solomon