Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend (1989)

If sacred ground had an opposite

By: JWBM

The uncut version of this is one of the most over-the-top animes I've laid eyes on. It's one of those films that you have to double check not only who's in the room, but who will potentially come home and accidentally walk in on some of the scenes shamelessly displayed. Not only is it incredibly dark and violent, it's also perverted to another level beyond innocent fantasies: being at the far back of the mind of even the most demented person's imagination. Films such as "Violence Jack," and "Wicked City," set this up to knock it out of the park and run the bases two times over just because. One doesn't know whether to stick around, keep one eye open, or run for cover.

A large focus of this tale is of a foretold legend and what's to come from it for the three species of worlds: will better times be ahead, or will darker times swallow up any shred of light? Maybe a mix of both. There's a pull and tug between demons and humans, with the half-breeds to bring together a balance of sorts. Demons bring senseless destruction and chaos: from murder, and rape, to any other form of the heinous acts that go along with it. As far as they are concerned, things are just fine and dandy just the way they are. The more reserved half-breeds—while perverted, and just as capable of danger—are hanging on to a dream that the legendary Chojin will end up stopping the madness.

This is part fantasy, action, erotic, post-apocalyptic, coming of age, and also part horror. The tone shifts are sometimes at complete opposite ends of the spectrum: going from utter carnage and perversion, to light and fluffy teenager stuff. You'll witness scenes that will potentially leave scars for how utterly far they're taken, to then in the next breath have a kind of innocent high school love angle with sparks in the air. But, then again, that's what makes this work: if everything were painted black and red, the contrast would become monotonous despite its rugged edge. Needless to say, this is not for someone with a strict moral code. Take the scene with the nurse, turned demon, turned penis-arms taking every bit of advantage of a poor, innocent student behind closed doors. You'll never look at a nurse's office or even a predatory octopus the same again.

While the experience is one bounds-pushing sensation after the next, the underlying direction is not as linear as one would hope for. In some ways, it's a great collection of some memorably creative, perverse, and horrific ideas stirred up and let loose into the air. Some of the story—as simple as it is—does get a tad muddled at points with everything going on.  Also, a few of the character representations and voice-overs are somewhat awkward and silly, such as the two henchmen from the Makai world. Or the somewhat misplaced, cute, and perverted looking monkey thing that follows around Megumi: a half human, half demon with no sense of how a lady wears a skirt. Though, the first time I saw this, I walked away wide-eyed and with a few more check marks shy from my imaginary list of things I can say I've seen in the world. That seems to be the ultimate point here: to serve up a movie watching experience like no other you can escape into. "Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend" is what you get.

Rating: 8.5/10

Director: Hideki Takayama (Captain Future, Gu-Gu Ganmo)
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: Youtube link

Fist of the North Star (1986)

Hope is not on the horizon

By: JWBM

As the dominant species with intelligence on earth, we often contemplate altering our genetic make-up to transform ourselves into more than our destined path would have been: whether that be holding on to our youth, filling our brain with more knowledge, or making every attempt to further our physical abilities. Now take the world going into a post-apocalyptic age, where those with excessive physical strength and ability become a chiseled symbol of supremacy. Men with immeasurable muscles and the demeanor of true scumbags, are now treated with genuine fear and almost like false gods.

We fight for food and water, we fight for mating rights, we fight for territory, and, at other times, we fight to see who's the best. With a little bit of all of the above, "Fist of the North Star" opens up to a testosterone laden world of sheer savagery with little end, and puts the weight of it on the shoulders of one man: Kenshiro. He's got a tragic past and scars to prove it, he looks like Bruce Lee had a kid with Mad Max, and, ultimately, he's got a certain genuine inner character balanced with an outer strength that might just be the key to saving humanity from the dark and nearly hopeless path it's headed down. 

What's interesting about this story is it's not saturated with drama of what we've become as humans, it mainly hovers around the primal portion of ourselves on either side: whether we've gone full dark and embrace chaos and destruction, or, in a more rare case, embrace trained violence for the sake of righting wrongs in a lawless world. It's essentially the necessary answer to most problems here; it's also unintentionally comical for how doors are opened, or any bit of property is treated, because at this point who cares. Psychologically, it resonates in the same morbid curiosity of not being able to look away from seeing two thugs duke it out on the streets from afar, to a bigger bully being taken out by a hero of sorts that steps in. I feel that connects with our deep-rooted instincts in that we don't want to admit it's there in this day and age of technological advancement and emotional suppression. Take for example, when was the last time you said hello to your neighbor, versus when was the last time you wanted to say something angrily to your neighbor? This uses the bleak and barren backdrop to take several steps back to where it all began.

The animation was fresh, creative, and original for its time. It makes the scenes pop, and the interactions feel that much more powerful. Some detailed painted backdrops are used to show the lifeless and soul-crushed state of the earth: buildings are a vague reminder, along with any shred of green or blue. Other scenes offer up wide-eyed surprises when it comes to the fight choreography and certain character's abilities. One of the coolest characters here is Rei, who has an ability to slice his opponents into a series of pieces in these atmospheric slow motion cut-away shots. An interesting note is the change in picture quality for the extremely gory scenes; apparently the original version was lost and then later spliced together.

This is a simple tale that works due to having an epic feel to it. Being a condensed version of a multi-part manga, there are portions missing in between that would connect the dots better, though it still maintains an emotional connection to the roles, along with manages to steer from being just a black and white approach to good and evil. This takes your typical fantasy story of fate and what's written in stone, and then inverts it from the unexpected and what was "supposed to happen." You'll want to either root for the anti-heroes, or possibly even transform into them yourself to serve up some crude justice.

Rating: 8.5/10

Director: Toyoo Ashida (Vampire Hunter D)
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: Youtube link

Baoh (1989)

An anti-hero with a worm for a brain

By: JWBM

For heroes and anti-heroes alike, the '80s were a breeding ground for one characterization to stand out with something more unique than the next upcoming sensation. Where "cartoons" were once known as an innocent means to bring about comedy or adventure, some were becoming more serious and story oriented. Material hit the shelves with the likes of "Vampire Hunter D" and "Wicked City": stuff so mind-bendingly violent and perverted that you'd have to hide it from your Sunday school teacher in fear that they'd discover the dark truth and deem you a heretic.

"Baoh" is akin to the next level of live action. It's not "Akira" level of sophistication, or what "Guyver" would end up fleshing out further with a guy with sudden abilities, but it's still where animation was learning a creative thing or two, plus taking powers and capabilities to another level of ferocity. Every other scene goes for a wide-eyed, queasy stomach hit to the senses and then some. It's your head in a vice tempting a messy fate with every skull-crushing turn. The story stripped down is fairly simple and pedestrian, though it's the punctuation put after it that gets the pot boiling to a roaring degree at points. Its mode of story-telling is to lunge for the throat, release, and then to offer up an explanation for the surprising outburst. In a nutshell: a government tested human weapon escapes the clutches of its masters and is then hunted down by an assortment of other powerful experiments in a series of bloody showdowns.

In what turns out to be its strength for the first half, also turns out to be its weakness for the last half without any change of formula. It's like a live-action music video: flashy, fastly edited, and somewhat hollow for story, but full of a share of creative angles and emotional impact. One moment its sense of mystery comes with fresh surprises, though there are points where it feels like it makes it up as it goes with more strange powers, and more random characters that pop out of thin air. It could have benefited by some duality to Baoh's or his master's character; even at 48 minutes, it doesn't have much for meat on its bones. In other creatures on the loose type of films you often get some kind of morality or sympathy coming from either side: from the creator with the best intentions that accidentally takes it too far, or from the monster having unparalleled power but not knowing the consequences of its actions. It makes it lack the inner workings to be more than a black versus white tale of I'll attack you, you attack me back, till one of us comes out the victor.

It still has a certain factor of coolness going for it, along with some memorably gory scenes to high five your friends to. Despite its quirks and straightforward nature, it's somewhat entertaining if you let your guard down and know you're only getting exactly what's promised. It's just not up there with other action oriented animes such as "Fist of the North Star" with a little more backbone and characterization to it.

Side note: If you're trying to decide which language version to watch. I'd go with Japanese with English subtitles. The dubbed English feels somewhat rushed and unintentionally eye-rolling at points. Though it's not without its charms if you've got a rowdy, voice-their-opinions group watching this.

Rating: 6/10

Director: Hiroyuki Yokoyama (Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam)
Info: IMDB link

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.