Kai Doh Maru (2001)
The battle for the Capital city of Kyo rages as warring political factions vie for power against hereditary rulers. After the murder of her parents at the hands of her seditious uncle, a young girl named Kintoki flees to the mountains to lead a harsh life; she is renamed Kai Doh Maru by the local villagers. Rescued by Raiko, the Captain of 'The Four Knights' - honorable defenders who protect the peace of the city, she is raised within their group as a boy. Living among the Knights, she learns the practices of martial arts and develops into a skillful samurai, becoming a permanent member of their team. Now, as a young woman of seventeen, she begins to discover new feelings of passion and love for Raiko... but she also discovers that these new emotions cause a storm of jealousy and rage in another woman linked to her past.
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Reviews
Such a frustrating disappointment
The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.
It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.
The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
This OVA is set in feudal Japan; a time when the capital is threatened by banditry and disease. Young Kintoki is caught up in a family feud but is rescued from her murderous uncle by Raiko; one of a band of warriors. She is raised as a boy and five years later she is a skilled warrior. She gets caught up in battles but also develops feelings for Raiko.The first thing to say about this OVA is that it looks stunning; the artwork based on the style of Japanese art at the time. This animation nicely combines both 2D and 3D elements. The central story is interesting but I can't help feeling if it would have been better used as the basis for a series rather than an OVA. As it was there is little time to show the character development... one minute Kintoki is being rescued the next she is a warrior; we don't see anything in between or learn much about the world she is in. There is a medium amount of action and this looks pretty good; it is also fairly bloody with some scenes that might upset animal lovers even if the horses are only drawings. Overall I think this is worth watching; more for the visuals than the story.These comments are based on watching the Japanese version with English subtitles.
"Kai doh maru" is an animated 45-minute film from almost 15 years ago. It was directed by Kanji Wakabayashi, who is an experienced animation filmmaker and also contributed to the pretty successful "Steins;Gate". Writer Nobuhisha Terado, however, is not even close to Wakabayashi's experience and this also shows here I guess. The style and animation all isn't bad, the voice acting is fine too, but I just never really could get into the story, which was a mix of supernatural elements with problems that exist in the real world as well, such as greed, corruption and murder. The whole think looked rather bleak, but this is not necessarily a criticism if the atmosphere and story comes in the same tone as well. However, as a whole, this is not a disastrous watch, but also not a good one. Thumbs down.
The animation is very good, though a bit pale in places. I can get into the storyline fairly well, but the English dub is so stilted, it makes it difficult to get into the story. Also, it would have been better to refer to characters as -san rather than Mr -insert name here-. Honestly, it flows better.A lot of this may have to do with the Western habit of doing dub work with the actors in a room on their own, with no one to play off. The Japanese practice is to have the actors all in the same room, where they may act off each other's performances.I'd be interested in seeing a reworking of this with a different dub performance.
The film, or more reasonably, a short (at under an hour), harks back to the times of feudal Japan and the mysticism that surrounded political and warring factions of the time. The story itself revolves around a child known as the Kai Doh Maru, a figure of importance to a few warring parties.A good mix of action and romance ensues. Those who like Ninja Scroll and other such "sword heavy" anime may feel disappointed but that might be missing the point of the film. The short is incredibly well drawn and animated and ranks, for me, with "Blood: The Last Vampire" and "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" in terms of digital animations and sharpness. It would come as no surprise that the production team behind all three of these creations is IG Production, who created the original Ghost in the Shell. Whilst being a creation of startling visuals, the plot may leave some wanting more, as some loose ends and "legend" aspects are left unexplained, and not in a way that would be easy to figure out either! Overall though, the film presents a beautiful, if slightly too mystical slice of anime, which showcases the talents of it animators incredibly well. 8/10