Kai Doh Maru

Starring:Kai Doh Maru
Studio: Manga Video
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

A brief (43 minute) drama set in 894 A.D., Kai Doh Maru is an eerie mixture of history and supernatural fantasy. After her uncle usurped the family domain, Princess Kintoki was raised as a boy-warrior under the tutelage of the elegant Lord Raiko and the other stalwart Knights of Kyo. Pitted against the Knights is the Oheyama gang, led by the icy Princess Ohni and her crazed assassin Ibaragi. Ohni retains her childhood love for Kintoki, apparently unaware of her gender. American audiences unfamiliar with the intrigues of the Heian Court and the rise of the Fujiwara clan will find the story puzzling, just as many Japanese viewers would be lost at a stylized production of The Crucible. Kai Doh Maru is a strikingly handsome film that uses computer graphics to suggest the look of antique Japanese art filmed through gauze. (Unrated: suitable for ages 15 and older: considerable violence) --Charles Solomon

Customer Reviews:

Overall, not bad... (English dub).......2006-03-20

Forget K. Jones A.V.O. that person is a sissy punk! 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.

Who gave the OK to make this .......2006-01-01

Basically whoever watches this movie most likely won't be able to take the first 10 minutes. The movie is boring and it takes forever to find out what's going on. Plus the animation looks nice and half done at the same time. If you want to know what I mean then don't buy it just watch it on Starz they seem to like it a lot and won't stop playing it. So don't waste your money if your curious just watch it on Starz or borrow it off a friend.

45 Minutes of Artful Confusion.......2005-10-27

The animation group Production IG needs to understand that style is not substance. They are slick and innovative in their animation, but lack basic storytelling skills necessary to make great animators. Their first release, "Blood: The Last Vampire," could be forgiven as a rookie attempt, but their sophomore film "Kai Doh Maru" unfortunately replicates the same errors. At a little over 40 minutes, this isn't a feature or even an intro to a continuing series.

"Kai Doh Maru" is beautiful. That much is certain. Production IG is not afraid to take risks and push the boundaries of raw animation, playing with muting filters, color pallets, pencil techniques and various other technologies that create a unique look for their films. With "Kai Doh Maru," they have sought to capture the look of antique Japanese art, with an emphasis on browns and other neutral tones. The CG blending with Cel animation is somewhat less artfully done, and stands out in each scene. Still, it is nice to see Heian era Japan so fully dimensional.

The story, such as it is, is just a skeleton of plot to stitch together the visuals. As with "Blood: The Last Vampire," one has the distinct sense that the character designs came first, and then a plot was constructed to bring them together. A female warrior, Kintoki, is on the run from a power-mad Uncle. Rescued by Raiko of "The Four Knights," she begins to question her masculine nature. From there, incomprehensible villains appear and are defeated, and a strange semi-supernatural woman seeks Kintoki to be her lover. It is a confusing mess, and hardly able to be realized in the 45 minutes allotted to the film.

The special features on the DVD are greater than are actually warranted by the feature, clocking in at almost the same length as "Kai Doh Maru." For someone interested in the intimate mechanics of animation, these features might be of great interest. Personally, I could not sit through them all, as disappointed as I was with the main story.

Kai Doh Maru.......2005-10-10

Do me a favor. Visualize those two spoon-fulls of baked beans sitting next to the porkchops and mashed potatos on your dinner plate. Now, picture yourself two to three hours after the meal. What sounds does your body make? Can you hear them.

THIS ANIME IS A VISUAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THAT SOUND!

Cheated!.......2005-07-04

I'm a big anime fan and bought this with high hopes... they were shattered! This movie is made by the same people who made "Blood: The Last Vampire" and they make the same terrible mistakes in both. Both films look great but give you a heroine, a snippet of backstory, then END! I am none the wiser about anything after both these films and will NEVER buy a manga film besed on a "from the creators of Blood:The Last Vampire and Kai Doh Maru". Search out a Korean animation called "Wonderful Days" instead....BEST ANIME EVER!

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