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Blood Reign - Curse of the Yoma Number of Items: 1 Format: Color, Animated Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Running Time: 90 minutes Studio: A.D. Vision Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2001-01-30 Buy from Amazon |
"Unfulfilled promise..." Much in this production promised well, but alas this promise goes unfulfilled... The film has a fairly strong sense of style that is kept up throughout, but is lacking in substance. The plain fact of the matter is that I was rather bored with it - from beginning to end. Yes, there were some good things, but these were just not enough to chase away the strong sense of ennui... which is remarkable considering that there is so much going on that really SHOULD have been interesting... As just about all the othe reviews have mentioned, the animation is dated though it certainly must have seemed impressive at the time (which was only 1989 - surprising how much the average quality level of anime in general has gone up in the following decade). In the sound department, there is a fairly nice stereo soundstage for the effects. The music on the other hand left much to be desired - including some unfortunate testaments to the quality of 80s synthesizers (may they rest in pieces!). In conclusion, this effort was simply wanting. I would really rate it with two stars, but the seriousness of intent on the part of the makers that is so evident throughout earns them another star - albeit somewhat grudgingly. If only they had been able to fully realize their vision.. "If Ninja Scroll were more moody and brutal" This is some old anime, 1989 to be exact. So when people bellyache about it not being up to snuff technically, then there's why. If you judge it by other anime of that period, then it holds up just fine. The story is meant to be moody and semi-cryptic (imagine that! cryptic anime!) and when I watched it at about 3AM it genuinely weirded me out. There is much deceit and decadence, and the traditionally clueless main character, questing though he's not quite sure why or how. Surely this is no Ninja Scroll or Samurai X (Rurouni Kenshin), the storytelling aspect is not nearly as well done. But on a more basic level of horror and intrigue, it succeeds well. I think it all depends on what you're expecting when you first view the film. Don't approach Blood Reign thinking you're in for the second coming of Akira and you will be pleased. But it certainly is not for kids, unless you want your kids watching ground-dwelling beasts emerge up through the bloody corpses of freshly killed drunken thieves. "Blood Reign" This Movie had good sound, thats it. "better then average" Not perfect but, great mystery surrounds the whole movie because the Yoma are never fully explained. There could have been more conflict and fighting; this is no Vampire Hunter D or Ninja Scroll. The artwork is beautiful and the Yoma themselves are interesting, taking the forms of regular animals on earth and still containing their supernatural abilities. "Nubidu's Anime review" This movie blows. 2 episodes only - which will leave you uncertain about where this is going and where it all began. |