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On the back of their jidai-geki and chanbara films can be found small, and often hilarious, detailings of what you can expect from that particular title. In the case of Ashura, the warning is not only quite funny, but also quite accurate. What better way to start this review than by setting the mood the way Animeigo intended... “WARNING: Contains violence, romance, treachery, violent romance, romantic treachery and treacherous violence.” And I’d be the first to tell you that it has all of these things in spades! The city of Edo is under siege...only it really has no idea of the peril that already exists within its populous. With the ability to disguise themselves as normal humans, a slew of demons is already coexisting alongside the citizens, wreaking quiet havoc and indulging in a variety of vices and deviancies. Many know OF their existence, through rumor and stories, but few know who these beings could be and just how many of them there are. No one that is, except for the Demon Wardens. This group of skilled and spiritual warriors is all that stands in the way of the demon’s master plan; to herald in the rebirth of an ancient being known as Ashura...a being that can open the floodgates of the demon realm and bury Japan in a tide of marauding creatures. In fact, Ashura is said to already exist in the human world, lurking within a human host and waiting for its chance to emerge and lead the armies of the underworld in their war upon mankind. Izumo is a man not in love with his work, but performing it dutifully because he knows it is meaningful. As one of the most deadly Demon Wardens, he has dispatched countless of the monsters without hesitation...but when the role leads his hand to strike down a young girl, it is time for Izumo to make a change. Swearing to never raise his weapons again, he turns instead to a life in the theater and soon becomes one of the most famous kabuki actors in the region. Jaku may have been one of Izumo’s companions in the Wardens, but the two never really saw eye to eye. Whereas Izumo killed these creatures because they were evil, it is plainly evident that Jaku kills them because he loves killing...period. A borderline madman, Jaku slowly descends even further into his insane passions when he learns that the demon Asuka can only be released by the strongest man in the land. Believing this to, of course, be himself Jaku sets into motion a plan of betrayal that carries consequences far beyond his own petty aspirations. Tsubaki is a talented thief who lives a covert lifestyle of deception and cautious solitude. When her path suddenly crosses with Edo’s great kabuki actor, she finds herself immediately and almost supernaturally attached to him...and not only because he is taking every advantage to seek out the beautiful young burglar. As their paths continue to cross, they are both awakened to the fact that they were meant to meet; that there is something more to the both of them then a chance encounter. But what it might be, or why Jaku has now turned up working for the demons, is something neither of them knows. What is obvious, however, is that the war between good and evil has begun and they are trapped dead in the middle. While watching Ashura I couldn’t shake the feeling that the whole production was very Shakespearian. The entire film revolves around destined moments, betrayal of trust, apocalyptic prophecies, and in the most familiar of Shakespeare’s devices...a triangle of main players. The fact that much of the story takes place in and around Izumo’s kabuki theater does nothing but add to this feeling of stage production, so I was only slightly surprised to later discover that this film is based very closely on the highly successful play of the same name (Ashura-jo no hitomi). In fact, having seen stills and even some footage of that stage production, it is clear that the film is meant to be a very faithful reproduction (even the costuming is the same!), only with the added aid of computer generated effects. And speaking of digital effects...they really are the trademark of director Yojiro Takita, as any of you who have seen Onmyoji or its sequel can attest to. At first I found fault with his excessive use of hyper stylized effects, especially given that the effects themselves are simply not top notch by any stretch of the imagination; but I have come to realize that Takita uses them as a theatrical (there we go with that word again) aid and is hoping your attention stays more on the characters onscreen than on the magic and spurting green blood. Ashura is definitely an effects laden piece, but when you find yourself thinking back to this film it will be thoughts of character or witty lines of dialog that spring to mind...that seems like a win in my book. The characters in this film are immensely enjoyable and very easy to care for. Personalities and roles are established quickly through good old fashioned writing and decent acting, more so than with narration and dialog. Izumo had me cracking up multiple times with his wry wit and boyish charm, and actor Somegoro Ichikawa took home two Japanese best actor awards for this role. All in all, the whole project is well cast with a good mix of established faces and brand new talent of the time. Ashura is a fun piece of fantasy cinema that combines all the best parts of a sword swinging samurai flick, an intelligent historical comedy and a sci-fi supernatural drama. We aren’t talking Oscar winning stuff here, but we are definitely talking about a great evening spent with some demons, some samurai and more spurting green blood than I’ve seen since the idiotic editing of the Mortal Combat video game franchise. The extra disc of features, including an interesting “making of” and a peek behind the magic of all those visual effects, make this a no-brainer. Japanese cinema fans with a taste for lighter fare should really appreciate the stage-play feel of this movie and more hardcore movie enthusiasts will give thumbs up to the character driven nature of the plot...no matter how silly it all really is. Worth a look for many reasons, I have already decided to watch this one again...what are you waiting for? -aaron-
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