Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Just perfect...

Absolutely brilliant

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

Viewed on Streaming. Production value = eight (8) stars. Director Youjirou Takita unleashes a dynamic period fantasy that seems to be targeting just about all ages. This is a spectacular Shochiku Company production loaded with foreground/background CGI effects and samurai-style sword swinging. It is also spectacularly plain silly (and boringly repetitious) rarely rising above the level of a cartoon populated (for the most part) by actresses/actors (vice digital composites thereof). The Director seems to have given his cast free rein resulting in uniform melodramatic and hammy performances. Cinematography (semi-wide screen, color) is excellent and editing is crisp. But scene lighting can be a bit on the dark side (perhaps to disguise digital shortfalls?). Sound field is good. Subtitles are okay and use multiple colors for translation clarity (there is also a bit of expository information (in white) at the top of the screen regarding demonology during the Edo period of history). Fun to watch for almost 30 minutes. WILLIAM FLANIGAN, PhD.

'Ashura-jô no hitomi'takes place in the Japan of some centuries ago. Demons have infested Edo, the main city, taking human form and being hard to recognize. That's why they have the Demons Wardens, the guys who hunt and kill the demons to bring some peace to Edo.Even being a necessary job, being a Demon Warden is not easy, since you need to have a lot of cold blood and a sixth sense to recognize demons. Izumo is a charming and well known Kabuki actor with a demon-slaying past. He eventually meets the mysterious girl Tsubaki and falls in love with her. The problem that neither he or Tsubaki knows, is that she is a demon, the reincarnation of Ashura, the Queen of all the demons. And as the mysterious mark in Tsubaki's body increases her size, more strange things starts to happen to her. To make things harder, Jaku, who was Demon Warden working with Izumi, is corrupted by Bizan, a demon lady who is a kind of Ashura's advisory and follower.'Ashura-jô no hitomi' looks an incredible movie for it's reviews, but I need to be honest and say that I expected a little more excitement from it. (It's is not that the movie is terrible or anything like that, I thought it was fun and I liked some actors and actresses, I just thought it would be FANTASTIC.)Some of the special effects (specially the first ones in the demons eyes and mouths)were bad, but you can forget that when you see the charming Izumo Wakuraba trying to get Tsubaki's heart.Ps: I think this is the first Japanese movie I see a sex scene.Ps2: Even enjoying the acting of the actor Somegoro Ichikawa as the character Izumo Wakuraba, I found his looks a little odd, looking he did plastic, botox and lip collagen. Can someone who is familiarized with the actor Somegoro, send me a PM telling me if he did those procedures or not?

Japan is in serious trouble. Demons have infested Edo, taking possession of earthly forms and bending them to their unholy will. On top of that, the rebirth of Ashura, Queen of the demons, is nigh. The only thing that stands against this grave threat are the Demon Wardens, a fearsome group of warriors, who might just be as bad as the demons themselves.Izumo is a retired Demon Warden, who five years ago, took up theater instead of Demon Slaying after accidentally killing a innocent child (In a battle that's strangely reminiscent of the bar scene from Dusk till Dawn). One night by a chance encounter he meets a beautiful and mysterious woman named Tsubaki. Their fortunes intertwine (literally) and they are bound by fate to be lovers and enemies.If you think this sounds like your typical Japanese Fantasy/Swordplay epic, you'd be wrong. In fact, there's nothing typical about Ashura. It is a hodge-podge of many different genre's of film. Those just mentioned, as well as a comedy, drama, and romance. Director Yojiro Takita (Onmyoji) juggles the genre's fairly respectfully (Although, the comedy seems forced in some scenes) and the end result is a ridiculous, but really fun popcorn movie.To be sure, there are flaws in the film. Some of the humor seems contrived, and out of place. And the acting isn't the greatest. But seriously, do you watch Fantasy/Swordplay/Comedy films for the great acting performances?? No, we watch them for the action and the crazy CG visuals, all of which Ashura has in Spades. Not to be misleading, the film is not all action, but it is spaced out generously enough with lots of swordplay and buckets of green blood to keep the average viewer happy.Bottom line; the films has it's faults and is not a martial arts epic, but it doesn't try to be and it features interesting visuals and good swordplay action. The reason the film worked for me is that it never takes itself too seriously and if the viewer does the same, their sure to be delighted by this fun and silly swordplay fantasy action flick.My Rating 7 out of 10. Fun popcorn movie.

The movie only enter the cinema in Indonesia this year (2007), two years after it's official release, and after many illegal DVD's had found its way to the public. Apparently the popularity of the illegal DVD's lead to the release into the theaters, with still public coming to watch.The movie is a great epic, bringing Japanese culture into your house in an exiting way. In a sometimes humorist way, the story is told about a theater writer who writes a story for his theater, since the regular Kabuki theater plays is something he finds boring.At first, the audience might be a little bit confused about which story we are following, but when the story unfolds, we see that the love between a male human and a female demon leads to a great story for a new Kabuki theater piece.The audience is left in the dark if this is a story that is supposed to really have happened in Japanese traditions and mythology, but that doesn't matter.The way the story is told with a love for theater, expression, vivid colors, humor and tragedy, makes this a great ride on the roller-coaster of Japanese cinema as well as theater.Let yourself go completely when you watch this movie, try to see it in a cinema instead of on your television at home.One critical point though: the soundtrack is sometimes a little bit annoying. Though most of it is great music, there are a few moments in the movie that I think they should have chosen some more dramatic music. But maybe the fact that the story contains moments of humor made the director choose for lighter moments in music as well.