Curse of the Undead Yoma (1989)

To transcend oneself; to trample on others

By: JWBM

This is a story that deals with the ultimate line-up of cool: monsters, magic, and rival ninja clans. Though at the center of its dark heart is a story of friendship since childhood that has been strained by the complexities of external forces—that's putting it lightly—not to mention growing up into a war ravished time no longer innocent. It's as emotional a tale as it is blunt: you'll be treated equally by tragedy and sorrow, as well as violence and savagery in the next breath.

The tone comes across as an action/horror with an otherworldly vibe. As if you picked a more traditional time in Japan, and included overtly gloomy backdrops and mysterious beings into the mix to shake it up and make you more and more uneasy as time presses on. If you were expecting just plain old '80s ninjas doing routine ninja things on any other ninja-centric afternoon—think again.

Hikage—who's part of the Takeda clan—is sent to stop a friend and fellow ninja, Marou, from spreading word of their leader's recent death in order for the clan to save face. Even after circumstances change, Hikage still persists in his search of Marou: the man with take-over-the-world ambition that resonates through his long, life-of-their-own locks. This is broken into two parts, where the first half just sinks its claws in, and the second—set some years later—only goes deeper into the darkness with a land full of death and destruction. If you're lucky, some stay dead. If you're unlucky, they return as yoma: or undead monsters of various shapes and forms. Ginormous man-spiders are common-place and just as horrifying as they sound.

For its day, the animation comes with a share of dynamic. Such as some wide angle shots that paint the surroundings with eerie backdrops and foreboding shadows that drip with menace. There are also tight and flashy shots to increase the adrenaline of what hairy or perilous situation Hikage finds himself in next. It seems that anyone he runs into is a victim of some evil underboss that wrecks havoc on whatever village or area it gets its demonic hands on. The illustrations can be personable and help solidify what Hikage is torn up over, but is too afraid to show: giving off doses of symbolism and shreds of humanity that sheds light on the tattered ruins these towns have become.

"Curse of the Undead Yoma" is an atmospheric anime that finds itself smack dab between the senselessly violent kind, and at another point where there's some shred of meaning included to give it another angle and some emotional impact. It deals with choice, societal constraints, acceptance, power, and even suicide from lives thought lost. The first time I saw this—picked up as a random buy on VHS—admittedly I had little idea of what was going on, but was enthralled by the encapsulating tone, visuals, and morbid curiosity of it all. It does that well. They had me at, "All of my life is an illusion," as a guy's throat sprays out red in that iconic delayed effect seen in any good Japanese sword play feature.

The major pitfall of this is—that if you've seen it enough times—it has moments of being rough around the edges. It's not always consistently linear with its story or with character introductions—especially the second half—leading the viewer to coincidentally stumble into this, fall into that, be confused over here. In one instance, some powers build up to the sky, so to speak, and then—once all of the over-the-top animation is done—are taken down by basic means. I mean, to be fair, it has tendency to be more poetic and artful than it is trying to be thoroughly accurate or challenging. Plus, ninjas always have a card up their sleeve, right? It's using the medium to explore other avenues live action isn't capable of. For that, it is eye-opening and memorable, not to mention thoroughly entertaining for being capable of keeping your eyes glued to the screen as an overall experience.

Rating: 8/10

Info: IMDB link
Trailer: Youtube link
Other names: "Blood Reign: Curse of the Yoma" for its DVD release. It includes an English dub, and also with Japanese with English subtitles (I feel this is the better version). The VHS is in Japanese with English subtitles.