Blood: The Last Vampire 2002

by Benkyo Tamaoki, Carl Gustave Horn (Adapted by)

This graphic novel is based on The Last Vampire, once the fastest-selling title in the history of Manga Entertainment. Benkyo Tamaoki updates this Vietnam War–era anime story to present-day Japan. The immortal Saya returns — still clad in her trademark sailor suit and armed with an ancient Samurai sword — to continue her holy war against the vampiric Chiropterans. Like Buffy the Vampire Slayer in tone but with graphic violence, this book is recommended for mature readers.

Genres: Manga, Horror, Vampires, Fantasy, Comics, Graphic Novels, Seinen

200 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

He makes hentai manga. But not "just" the kind of hentai manga that features as much overt sex as possible and little realistic storyline. Tamaoki's stories display a great sense of psychological detail, and usually end in a refreshing way. He says about his work: "I want to create hentai manga that convey a feeling of everyday life". His first collection was 'Ero-i Hon' ('Erotic-ish Book') in 1995. His manga has been published in many magazines, and also been published in the USA. One of his best known manga is based on the anime 'Blood: the Last Vampire'.

His real name is SUMI Toshihiko.


Associated Names
Бэнкё Тамаоки
PORNOSTAR
SUMI Toshihiko
TAMAOKI Benkyou

Name (in native language)
玉置勉強

Zodiac
Aries


Blood Type
B

Reviews

[Bibliothecat · Rating 1 out of 5]

It comes as absolutely no surprise that I did not like Blood: The Last Vampire. I suppose it's a classic manga of sorts, and there's a reason why I never bothered with it. Yet, there's also a reason why I did, not necessarily wanted, but needed to read it.

I don't think this manga can be viewed as a stand-alone work and it gets a little tricky as it doesn't have direct pre or sequels, yet you need at least a few of the other works of the Blood universe to get anything out of this.

It all started with the Blood: The Last Vampire movie (haven't seen, don't want to see) which was eventually continued in the form of this manga and a novel titled Night of the Beasts. Both are sequels in a sense but I find the connections a bit vague and I am not sure whether the manga or novel comes first. In any case, I started my Blood journey with Blood C, which is probably more appropriate to read last as it is also the most recent work made in relation to this series. I only read Blood C due to CLAMP's involvement in the project - surprisingly, I loved it, even though it seems to be the least favourite instalment among Blood fans. Perhaps it just comes to show, I am not the targeted audience for this franchise and the reason why I loved the least popular instalment is that it's different. In any case, as I loved Blood C, I had my mind set on reading the previous works to get a clearer picture of Saya's origin story.

To be fair on this manga version, as mentioned above, I am not the targeted audience. While I have no scruples to read or watch gore, I'm just plain and simple not interested - it's boring to me and just doesn't do anything. I much prefer a quiet horror story over splatter. But even without this being my cup of tea, I do feel as though there are actual quality issues at hand.

I don't like the art - at all. And I don't believe it's only a matter of personal taste, there are a lot of issues with proportions and the monsters look even more grotesque by being drawn in what I would consider a rather amateurish manner. The characters look starved with ribs and other bones protruding - if it were plot-related, I'd say good job to the author as it's not that easy to actually make characters look starved. Yet I see no logical reason why they should all the skinny to the bone. The action scenes were jumbled, confusing and thus hard to follow.

As this is a sequel of sorts to the movie, I feel that the author should have given a better introduction. The way this is written, it's almost impossibly to make sense of what's going on without having seen (or in my case, read a summary) the movie. In a similar sense, it ends without any big explanation. The story could lead anywhere next, which can sometimes be good, but in this case, I feel as though Saya made a big decision towards the end and we don't get to see what impact her final choice has.

Lastly, there's nothing much to grasp my attention. I like Saya as a character but that's purely based on other works I know her from. This particular volume does nothing to draw me in or make me care about any of the characters. So other than providing me with a bit more information about Saya, this book did absolutely nothing for me.

[Ming Wei · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just what I expected from a Vampire book, really enjoyable, read the book over 2 days, the story line kept me interested throughout, I was familiar with the general theme of Blood the last Vampire before I read the book, which made the story easy for me to follow, plenty of violence, blood etc, I think this is a decent book, well written, presented etc, no editorial faults that I could find, I like the moody looking book cover, if you enjoy Vampire stories, this is a good book to read, ensure that you are familiar with the Blood last Vampire theme, as if are new the story might be a bit confusing at first. Excellent work.

[Chels M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

No es que sea un pelotazo, pero me ha gustado.
Desde el principio del manga tratas de conocer más detalles sobre la enigmática Saya. Me ha sorprendido ver la profundidad que tiene la historia realmente. No me lo esperaba. Y me ha gustado.

El final ha sido algo confuso, menos mal que viene con explicaciones tanto del autor de esta adaptación de Blood + como de Agustín Gómez Sanz, el traductor. Con dichos datos, uno puede formarse hipótesis.

Da que pensar ese final. Y ya sólo por eso, la historia en sí, que es entretenida y Saya, que es un personaje bastante interesante, se lleva el aprobado.

Aviso para navegantes: yo no tenía ni idea de ello cuando lo compré, pero hay escenas bastante explícitas, ya me entendéis. Lo digo por si alguien es sensible con estas cosas. También os digo que yo lo soy y aquí me tenéis, me lo he leído y no he muerto y tal XD

Vamos, que no pasa nada. Por probar no perdéis nada.

De momento, me quedo con ganas de ver el anime. Así podré seguir teorizando sobre esta historia tan... diferente.

[Sarzen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Primer y único manga de Benkyo Tamaoki publicado en Argentina. También fue el primero de la franquicia Blood, que se retomó años después con los tomos de Blood+. Probablemente repite ISBN de la edición española y se reeditó con el logo de Ivrea en azul.

[Kikstar · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was... something.

The proportions were weird and everybody was as skinny as you can be for... what reason?

The story also doesn't seem finished or like it's complete, there seems something missing.

I understood some things and some I didn't, there definitely is something missing.

Looked interesting but hey not everything that looks interesting has to be/will be ig.

[Wee!wawaLAA!!! · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is pretty good...despite the violence
the story is hard to understand till i had to search it on wikipedia to understand it :P
but the modern show of this- blood+- is so much better, in my opinion :) but all the characters look rearranged XD
the only thing that is confusing is really about the chiropterans
aha...
so waffle lady's kinda right :D
it is a smidge creepy
but like this version is extremely...sexual, leave it at that
like totally older teen-ish
okay, this is based on the movie, blood: the last vampire
this is just like a visual of the acutal movie
the ending was a bit sketchy, even though i knew what was going to happen
i can only wait for the next movie to come out, the actual live-movie starring korean celebrities :D
how awesome is that?

[Clem Noria · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book because I watched the anime Blood+.
La historia es muy interesante y te dan ganas de seguir leyendo. Tambien es cierto que tiene escenas MUY EXPLICITAS no aptas para menores de edad, y a mi entender, concluyó con un final Open. En cuando a Maya (en el anime Blood+, Diva)es un personaje muy interesante, tanto en el manga como en la versión televisiva de esta saga. Y esta Saya es, sin duda alguna, mucho mejor que la del anime de Blood, incluida la de su siguiente versión Blood-C, lo sé porque vi todas las versiones de esta saga.
La trama es muy buena, pero hubieron aspectos que no te explican bien, como el nacimiento de Saya y Maya. Aunque hay una escena que te lo da a entender, como que no se comprende muy bien.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent horror title, with a fair amount of blood and guts and the seamy underbelly of modern life, etc. I feel like the "suddenly, hot lesbians!" scene is kind of gratuitous, but it /is/ a horror staple, even if the characters would then typically be the first to die. The titular vampire who hunts vampires is not very good at fitting into modern society. All of the exposition winds up crammed into the final showdown, which is kind of distracting! The ending is purposefully vague, which bothered me at first, but I think it's fitting for a horror story to leave you feeling off-balance and unsure.

[Fugo Feedback · Rating 3 out of 5]

En su momento me gustó bastante, y recuerdo haberlo leído más de una vez para ver si le encontraba más gracia. Como nunca vi la película, ni jugué los videojuegos y recién me reencontré con el universo "Blood" con los mangas de la remake, Blood+, tampoco pude disfrutarlo globalmente. Pero tampoco me quejo y fue una linda lectura hace nueve años, cuando el panorama pintaba no muy alentador. Al menos en el mundo historietil.

[T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the kind of dark, gritty, gorey and sexy atmosphere that always hovered around the anime series, Blood+, which I felt never reached its full potential (or even tried). Tamaoki's erotic drawing style, combined with the darkness of the storyline, took me by surprised in the best way possible. I wish the rest of the series was this creepy and kinky.

Also, news flash, this isn't a prequel, it's the conclusion. I had no idea. Oh, well. I'm still gonna read the Blood+ manga.

[Alisonrusselreads · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this. I love the art style, which is more rounded and cartoony than i consider my usual style. I love the setting and the timelines, and the slightly subdued gothic vibe that runs through the whole story. This was made into a OAV long ago, and although I saw it at the time, I dont remember much about it, so I think I might need to track it down online and give it another go.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Waited forever for this book to find it somewhere! I got it on ebay in 2008 and loved it.

Alot of evil things going on. but thats what saya's all about, thats why you would pick up the books i think ? :p

[Leira Capa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Happy

[Yafu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uno de mis primeros mangas!!

[Kapitol Tank · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tremendo flashback. Traía seis episodios: 1 al 6 más FINAL.
Incluía también un posfacio del autor y tres páginas de aclas del traductor.

[Cata Plasma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Los vampiros del cambio del milenio son así.

[Loki · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had kind of high hopes going into reading this based on consuming other Blood+ content, but I finished feeling rather disappointed. Also, I thought this was going to be something that the anime was based on, but reading the author's bio I've realized that it was just it was based on the anime... and as I vastly preferred the anime I now actually like it even less.
There are other manga written by others that look like "official" manga that were released with the anime, I'll have to read those at some point. But this story doesn't seem to be necessary or part of canon?

I still love Saya as a character and it was interesting reading more stuff with her in it, but I could have also done without having ever read it. I didn't enjoy really anything in it. The translation felt a bit rough, and the art felt rough. There was a lot of gratuitous violence and nudity and sa, I mean... I expected violence but it was gorier than I would have expected. Nothing in the book really did anything for me, I didn't feel connected to or care about any of the characters, and I kind of hated everyone with the exception of Saya, but I don't know if I would have even cared about her if I didn't already care about her. Everything felt really shallow and a lot of the sexual violence and nudity felt like it existed just for the sake of existing.
Of course, I didn't realize that this was a hentai author- and I'm not against spicy material at all- but the vibe was very much not what I was expecting and this is probably one of those times the spice is created for ~the male gaze, derogatory~ so it doesn't feel great to read.

[Saya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definitivamente, soy más de la película de 48 minutos que del manga. Conocí la película porque formé parte de un fansub que la subtituló (juraría que yo hice el timing), hace ya muchísimos años, y me encantó (de hecho, de ahí sale mi nick). La película no cuenta nada especial: es solo un evento más en la vida de Saya. El manga se sitúa después de la película y no es tan de mi gusto, tal vez porque me sobra todo el apartado sexual (el autor suele hacer hentai), y porque tengo la sensación de que a las páginas les falta algo de dinamismo: las viñetas son muy estáticas, siempre perfectamente rectangulares. Los diálogos se me hacen confusos porque saltan de un personaje a otro cortando las frases, De todos modos, este volumen es importante para entender de dónde viene Saya y qué son los “chiropterans”, aunque no creo que esté del todo bien explicado (al final del tomo tanto el autor como el traductor dan más información al respecto). Mi tomo es del 2002 y lo leí por primera vez hace mucho tiempo, pero por desgracia esa sensación de ligera decepción sigue vigente con una nueva relectura. Eso sí: es una historia que se lee rapidísimo. Por cierto, nunca me metí en el mundo Blood+/C porque no soy muy fan de los universos paralelos.

[lexy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Blood the Last Vampire 2002 vem como uma continuação do filme original de 2000, com uma promessa de responder perguntas e nos dar um final satisfatório à história de Saya, mas infelizmente não é o que entrega.

Durante os capítulos a história é um pouco confusa, a arte não é das melhores, mas o que mais me incomodou foi a sexualidade e as cenas explícitas que não agregam em nada na narrativa, incluída em um contexto onde as personagens são vistas como menores de idade e, provavelmente, uma delas é.

O último capítulo foi o único que eu realmente me envolvi com a história, o diálogo entre a Saya e a Maya trouxe um tema que poderia ter sido muito melhor abordado durante o Volume inteiro, mas que infelizmente não ganhou força em momento nenhum.

Não é completamente horrível, porém não chega nem perto da obra original.

[Gise.Wen · Rating 4 out of 5]

El manga nos cuenta sobre saya una adolescente que mata Chiropterans ( vampiros) para el gobierno, pero en una de sus muchas misiones le dan una para que haga contacto con una chica, que por los informes a hecho contacto con un grupo de motociclistas que hacen desaparecer personas en circunstancias raras. Es un manga bastante sangriento pero claramente nos cuenta sobre una guerra entre humanos y vampiros que desde hace muchísimos años están peleando mientras la humanidad solo piensa que son supersticiones de niños.
La verdad que el final me gusto mucho y me dieron ganas de volver a ver las películas y series como de leer los otros mangas.
Muy recomendables si te gusta el manga, el gore y los vampiros.

WEN

[Jo-Chan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow this has to be the worst installment in the Blood franchise. It's very rushed, and the pacing is awful. There is no time to understand any character's motivation or even the plot. You can tell the mangaka assumes you've seen the film, so there is no explanation of anything. The art is also not the best as it's alternates between clean lines to rough lines with no reasoning. I literally cannot recommend this.

[Biatris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my first ever review, so apologies in advance.
I liked the story. It had a very good and promising beginning, but the ending was terribly executed. Something was just missing. I think it should've focused more on Saya and the girl (Maya's lover? I forgot her name, that's how boring and irrelevant she was). Overall, it was mid.

[Selenita · Rating 2 out of 5]

Podría haber sido una historia interesante con más y mejor desarrollo. Al ser un único tomo te meten la información a presión y dejan muchos cabos sueltos. Además, hay bastantes escenas de mujeres desnudas y un momento de sexo lésbico que no aportan nada, sólo están por el morbo.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh...
Bought this book years ago; finally read it.
It was okay. Nothing special.

[Emery · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Jin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Incomprehensible story.

[Tankii · Rating 3 out of 5]

Man wird in diesen Manga ziemlich reingeworfen, dass macht das Reinkommen etwas schwer. Jedoch versteht man recht schnell worum es hier geht. Die Story ist nicht Weltbewegend, aber auch nicht schlecht. Allerdings etwas sehr dunkel und wer mit dem Thema Vergewaltigung nicht klar kommt, sollte ihn nicht lesen. Allerdings enthält er auch einiges an Gewalt und Nacktheit.

[Mulviterso Infinito · Rating 4 out of 5]

La obra sanguinaria de Benkyo Tamaoki que nos supo sorprender en los 2000.

[Zintulo Deyuno · Rating 4 out of 5]

BLOOD The Last Vampire 2000

Tomo único

[Desire Manara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Primer comic de la franquicia BLOOD publicado en el país. Seguramente la edición española repetía el mismo ISBN.