Ryuhei Kitamura burst onto the cinema scene with his film Versus,made in 2000. Though this was his third film, it is the one thatpropelled him to fame and that movie in now considered a cult classic. It was on the strength of Versus that Kitamura was hired to adaptAzumi, a very popular manga that has been running for years in Japan. A fan of the manga himself, Kitamura created a fast-paced chambara filmwith lots of battles, gallons of blood, and a questioning of if the endsjustify the means that usually isn't found in action films.

Inlate 19th century Japan, a warrior, Gessai (Yoshio Harada), decides thatthere are too many wars plaguing his country. He joins forces witha priest and...Read the entire review

Kokkuri (1997) is a bit deceptive.

First, consider its director, Takahashi Zeze, best known for his offbeat pink films Dream of Garuda and Tokyo Erotica X, though he has moved on to more commercial fare like Moon Child.

Second, look at how the film is marketed and the surface perception of its premise, one assumes it is another in a long line of supernatural Asian horror films. Apparently, in the UK for instance, the film was tagged as Dark Water 2 , despite the fact that Kokkuri came out a good number of year before Hideo Nakata's Dark Water.

Kokkuri is more of a teen drama, one of unrequited love and distinctly adolescent angst-ridden sexuality, with a healthy dollop of supernatural goings-on. You get the impression that Takahashi Zeze was commissioned to do a standard spook fare horror film and he instead decided to use the medium to e...Read the entire review

The Movie

You think American horror movies steal from each other with shameless consistency? Well, true, but the Japanese gore-slingers have the cannibalization thing down to a science. Look no further than the confusingly endless series of Ringu movies to understand how quickly the horror stuff gets churned out in the East. Or just get a load of the plot synopsis on the back of the Kill Devil DVD case:

"In the year 2025, the government decides to send juveniles with the murder gene to an uninhabited island in the Pacific under a premise of rehabilitation. Conducting various studies to determine the ferocity of the hidden gene, they implement an experiment with the code name "Tag," causing deep-seated murder impulses to emerge by erasing their memories -- resulting in boys and girls who brutally kill each other."

Gee, that sounds a whole lot like a flick called Battle Roya...Read the entire review

Movie: Sometimes, I get a chance to see a show that was released long ago but is new to anime. Often enough, such shows don't live up to their hype since they rely far too heavily on reputation than on actual quality but there are times when the sheer nostalgia of the material outweighs my better senses and I like the show anyway. The latest show to test my long term memory is the subject of today's review of Golgo 13: The Professional. Shot back in the early 1980's, the show was the result of Saito Productions trying to bring the popular Manga to life, using the skills of director Osamu Dezaki to try and instill the anime version with the same sense of darkness, all to limited effect. Here's a quick look at the movie, noting that the English language version has been talked about as much for the fact that it was handled by Carl Macek (the guy known for converting three separate series in...Read the entire review

When the original Ninja Scroll movie was released in theUS it caused a sensation among anime fans.  This action packed filmquickly becoming a fan favorite, but it still took a decade to turn itinto a TV series.  The series was a hit too.  This thirteen episodeseries is one of the better, and bloodier, samurai shows around. Released over three DVDs a couple of years ago, this series is now collectedin one boxed set with an extra, previously unreleased, disc of extras. This is one set that actually does live up to it's name: Ninja ScrollThe Series Ultimate Collection.

Shigure is a young lady who has never been out to the village whereshe was raised.  When she meets a wandering ninja for hire, JubeiKibagami, she bemoans the fact that she's seen so little of the worl...Read the entire review

Movie: One of the most popular anime genres used to be that of the ninja. After all, the character is based on Japanese mythology and history, which lends it an air of mystery. Men who learned how to move without noise, kill without remorse, and defeat an opponent using secret skills developed over the years. Set in medieval Japan, such assassins were used to attack an opponent without resorting to open combat. In anime, one of the most popular ninja characters has been Jubei. Various versions of this character have popped up over the years and companies were quick to cash in on the popularity that continues through to this day. The latest release, a short series called Ninja Scrolls: The Series is now out with the second volume, Volume 2: Dangerous Path. In this volume, Jubei and his small entourage continue to face a number of hostile demons and other supernatural threats...Read the entire review

Movie: One of the most popular anime genres used to be that of the ninja. After all, the character is based on Japanese mythology and history, which lends it an air of mystery. Men who learned how to move without noise, kill without remorse, and defeat an opponent using secret skills developed over the years. Set in medieval Japan, such assassins were used to attack an opponent without resorting to open combat. In anime, one of the most popular ninja characters has been Jubei. Various versions of this character have popped up over the years and companies were quick to cash in on the popularity that continues through to this day. The latest release, a short series called Ninja Scrolls: The Series is now out with the first volume, Volume 1: The Dragon Stone.

Episode 1: Tragedy In The Hidden Valley:
A powerful ninja steals a jade stone called "The Dragon Stone" in...Read the entire review

First a recap of- Volume One and if you really need to, clicking on that review may further help and catch you up too speed... Japanese schoolgirls Emi and Yuko suddenly find themselves on another world with no recollection how they arrived, or any idea how they will get back home. They meet the tiny, knee high residents of this world, who believe the two are the Great Protectors summoned by the princess Alila to save the small town of Bellgazle which is located between the warring lands of the Glianas and the ruthless Valgidans.

When we last saw our intrepid Lemuel Gulliver's, Emi and Yuko, Shall, Beret and others were taking them on the journey into the enemy Valgidan land in the hope that they could find the captured princess and she could transport them back home. The last episode (four) ended with Shall and the girls bei...Read the entire review

The Movie

Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust is the sequel to a 1985 Japanese animation (called anime from here on out) movie. The main character, D (voiced by Andrew Philpot), is a Dunpeal, a half human/half vampire. He rides the line between his vampire and human side, never really fitting into either and denying both at the same time. D was born from the union of the Vampire King and a human woman a long time ago. Unlike most vampires, D can survive out in the sun, but not for extended periods of time. D also has a parasite in his body that forms a human face on his left hand. The parasite (voiced by Michael McShane) has a great wealth of knowledge and helps D only because if D dies he also dies. D has taken up to being a bounty hunter of vampires. At the beginning of the movie his services are requested by a father and son who want their daughter/sister, Charlott...Read the entire review

The Story: Japanese schoolgirls (Honestly, isn't it always Japanese schoolgirls?) Emi and Yuko suddenly find themselves on another world with no recollection how they arrived, or any idea how they will get back home. They meet the tiny, knee high residents of this world, who believe the two are the Great Protectors summoned by the princess to save the small town of Bellgazle which is located between the warring lands of the Glianas and the ruthless Valgidans.

Episode One- Walking in the Desert: A basic setup episode, beginning with the girls already wandering in the strange land and encountering its tiny denizens. Like most Japanese schoolgirls who find themselves suddenly transported to an unfamiliar planet/land, they are none too surprised. Emi the innocent, sweet shy girl is curious, whereas the spoiled and impatient Yuko is just annoyed. We also meet ...Read the entire review

Review:
Tekkaman-Blade II: Complete Collection

Movie:
Tekkaman-Blade II was originally released overseas in 1994 and is the sequel to the original series, which was titled Teknoman in the US. Urban Vision's DVD presents the entire six episode series on one disc, which is a full three hours. The series is broken down into three stages, two episodes per stage. The titles are:

Stage 1: The New Generation
Episode 1: Virgin Flush
Episode 2: Virgin Slush

Stage 2: The Alien Encounter
Episode 3: Virgin Dream
Episode 4: Dead Boy

Stage 3: Final Encounter
Episode 5: Dirty Nights
Episode 6: Dangerous Boys

With the tekka-system technology that the humans have stolen from their alien enemies, the Radams, a select few humans, known as primary bodies, can transform into Tekkamen. These Tekkamen, for the most part, belong to the Space Kn...Read the entire review

Review:
Twilight of the Dark Master

Movie:
Twilight of the Dark Master, originally released in 1997, is an OVA based on the graphic novel by Saki Okuse. Character designs and a terrific "sketch" DVD cover were done by Hisashi Abe, of Bio Hunters, Vampire Hunter D, Wicked City, and Golgo 13.

Long ago, Demon Masters were created by the Mother, the creator of all life, to teach mankind to fight. However, they did their job too well, and soon overpowered the humans. Guardians were thus created to aid mankind against the demon threat. Many thousands of years later, only one guardian remains, Tsunami Shijyo. He's alerted to the presence of his long time nemesis Takamiya, the supreme demon, when Shizuka, a woman whose fiancé recently became a demon, contacts him for help. Shijyo has a history with Takamiya; thirty years ago, the demon killed his lover and the resulting battle...Read the entire review