Series: The Legend of the Dog Warriors V1: The Hakkenden is set in feudal Japan in 1457. As expected, the country is continually at war and the story focuses on two smaller factions on the Southern part of the country that are at odds. The poorer of the two provinces is led by Yoshizane Satomi (the lord of the Awa Province) and after many battles gallantly fought, his people are just about finished. Relentless attacks and even supernatural means have been used against them, the countryside feeling the effects of starvation and war so acutely that their defeat is a forgone conclusion. Satomi sends out his best people for a last ditch attempt to slay the leader of the rival clan, Lord Kagetsura Anzai, a man rumored to have magic powers at his disposal, and they fail. Ending all hope of survival, Satomi jokingly tells his loyal family dog Yatsufusa that if he brings him the head of Anzai, he will give the dog his daughter's hand in marriage. The surprise visit by the dog with Anzai's head (dripping with blood) shocks Satomi, the man now ready to rally his remaining forces to save the kingdom. Through a series of events though, it becomes clear that the dog wants his promised reward; Princess Fuse's hand in marriage and the princess, being truly noble, forces her grief stricken father into accepting her fate as a sign form the gods; leading her to tell him that she should be considered dead as she leaves for a secluded mountain hideaway with the dog.

All would be fine at this point except Fuse's main suitor, Daisuke Kanamari, searches for them and seeks to end her apparent misery, shooting the dog from a nearby hilltop. As happens so frequently in folklore, he kills the dog but also the princess, rushing down to grieve over her dying body. She accepts her fate stoically and as she passes on to the next world, her necklace glows and flies into the air; each of the eight beads containing the symbol for some human virtue held in high regard. If I followed the show correctly, this led to the mingling of Fuse's spirit with that of Yatsufusa, resulting in the birth of eight powerful warriors; each with different characteristics but all in human form (there was no doggy style action between the princess and the dog shown for those of you perverted enough to think of it).

While all that happened in the first episode, the remaining four episodes seemed a bit off beat as the die was cast for the warriors to fight evil in the form of a jerk trying to scheme his way into power and riches. The first encounter he has in the show had him cheating a young man out of a precious sword that signified rightful leadership of the land. The young man is named Shinto Inuzuka and whether that is descriptive of his religion or just a (ha!) coincidence, he winds up being the focal point for the rest of the volume as he meets some of the warriors (that are not a cohesive band of brothers as one would suspect going into the show). They assist him and through the machinations of the evil Samojiro Aboshi, they get pit against other foes and placed in precarious positions that only being true to their supernatural natures will get them out of trouble.

The episodes here were 1) The Kaleidoscope, 2) Dark Music of the Gods, 3) The Futility Dance, 4) Horyu Tower, and 5) Demon's Melody. I'll be frank and admit that I was bothered by the confusing nature of the show, even watching it twice not helping me all that much as the characters and situations were so varied and hard to keep up with, I strongly suspected previous knowledge was needed to do so. I know that the popularity of the original release of this series in a boxed set long ago has been all over the internet but I have long held the impression that a handful of dedicated followers have propped this up as something special more than the show being embraced by the masses at large. The metaphysical nature of the events taking place were compounded by some really strange quirks in the animation style that had characters looking very different from one clip to the next, requiring me to go back time and again to make sure I was following the story correctly. Still, it had some interesting observations about human (and demon) nature to enjoy so you might appreciate it a lot more than I did when I figured rating it as a Rent It last night while writing this one up. Give it a look before picking up a copy but set aside some quality time to figure it out before proceeding to the next volume in the 13(?) episode series.

Picture: The Legend of the Dog Warriors V1: The Hakkenden was presented in the original 1.33:1 ratio full frame color it was shot in by director Takashi Anno for release in Japan. The print used for this one was old and worn, the animation style employing a lot of static shots that were shuffled or panned to create a weak sense of movement at times. In a retro sense, it was not the worse I've seen in the last 40 years but it was distinctively limited in scope; almost as if a manga was not merely the inspiration but the source of the animations too. I saw compression artifacts, shimmer, and a host of other issues too with this one looking really rough around the edges. The main characters appeared to be hand drawn by different artists so they did not look consistent as most modern anime is known for either.

Sound: The audio was presented in 2.0 Dolby Digital with the original Japanese track and an English language dub for those so inclined to want one. The optional English language subtitles followed the dub fairly closely and neither track appeared to be handled significantly differently than the other. By that, there was no boosted bass on the dub or revisiting of the score, the elements remaining largely the same as far as I could tell. The score and sound effects did compliment the visual elements fairly well but the voice acting seemed rushed and disjointed all too often here so it would sound really good and then lame all in the space of a few minutes.

Extras: The DVD cover was double sided but given that there were five full episodes, the extras had little room to fit on the disc.

Final Thoughts: The Legend of the Dog Warriors V1: The Hakkenden is said to be one of the best examples of medieval samurai outings ever made in the anime media but I found this to be more marketing hyperbole than anything else. The stories were a fusion of myth, magic, and contemporary story telling technique with a great deal of reverence seemingly applied but I was lost all too often as I tried to figure out what was going on. It did not help that the way the episodes were animated varied so much but if you like the older style of anime relying on art more than a corporate gloss (and the consistency that comes with it) The Legend of the Dog Warriors V1: The Hakkenden might work well for you. I strongly suggest renting it first to see if you can stand the kind of look and storytelling the series employs but give it a chance all the same as this might become something more than the first volume has shown me.

If you enjoy anime, take a look at some of the recommendations by DVD Talk's twisted cast of reviewers in their Best Of Anime 2003, Best Of Anime 2004, Best of Anime 2005, and Best of Anime 2006 articles or their regular column Anime Talk.