Kai Doh Maru
(2003)
review by Big McLarghuge

Kai Doh Maru is an Original Video Animation (or OVA) showcasing the animation work of I.G. Plus, the animation house responsible for Ghost in the Shell and Blood: The Last Vampire. Were that the only reason for Kai Doh Maru to exist, then it would be perfect. The film showcases several excellent set action pieces, seamlessly blends 3D CGI and traditional 2D animation, and offers a very interesting take on production.

What the film fails to do is really deliver anything to the casual viewer. Sure, we’ll appreciate the great visuals, the style, and the ultra-realistic character design, but we won’t identify with any of the characters, we won’t care about the story, and we won’t watch the DVD again.

To me this is sort of like seeing that really awesomely huge, beautifully wrapped, red-ribboned, mega-holiday present beneath the decorative tree/candleholder of your chosen faith. The gift is so great looking you just know that whatever is inside is just the greatest gift ever. So you work slowly and carefully to peel away the wrapping while savoring the care and love that went into the choice of paper, the perfect creases, and the nearly invisible taping to hold the thing together. The excitement builds as you pry open the flaps and dig through a sea of styrofoam packing peanuts to find a package of tube socks with one pair missing.

Kai Doh Maru begins with the main character Kintoki, a 12 year old girl raised as a boy, fleeing the assassins who have just killed her father and seized the throne of her province. She is capture but before she can be killed by the leader of the assassins (her Uncle), she is rescued by Lord Raiko, a samurai in charge of defending Kyoto.

Five years later Kintoki is one of Raiko’s soldiers and joined with Tsuna, a one-eyed knight, Suetake, a monk who fights with a staff, Sadamitsu, another knight, this one with a scar across his nose.

But all is not well in the city. A massive plague has swept the city and surrounding areas and now, with the defenses weakened, Kyoto is ripe for attack by the Jushin-Doji.

The Jushin-Doji are led by Ohni-Hime, the daughter of Kintoki’s uncle i.e. her cousin, driven mad by the site of her father assassinating Kintoki’s parents and her unrequited love for Kintoki. Serving as Ohni-Hime’s hit-dude is Ibaragi-Doji, a young man who’s good with a sword and has blonde hair.

Anyway, the film spools out as Ohni-Hime’s minions attack the four knights protecting the city. To say anymore about the plot would spoil what little there is.

In place of plot, character development, or a reason to watch we do actually get some cool stuff that makes Kai Doh Maru almost worth watching. Kanji Wakabayashi directs the action sequences using the current trend of shaking the absolute hell out of the camera while people fight, and in a live action film this makes me want to fling my excrement at the screen. However, in Kai Doh Maru it works to emphasize the chaos of combat, and since the film is framed well we are never at a loss for just what’s taking place on screen.

Also, the film is presented with a weird bleachy tint that makes the story appear as if drawn on old rice paper, at first I found it distracting, but it didn’t take long for me to appreciate the softness of the imagery. The muted colors really help bring out the wonderful backgrounds and CGI work and it balances the look of the characters designed by Sho-u Tajima and Kyouji Asano with their backgrounds.

Manga presents Kai Doh Maru with a whole slew of extras including character design sketches, biographies of the characters, CGI Models of the buildings used in the film, and a very short round-table discussion featuring director Kanji Wakabayashi and character designers Sho-u Tajima, and Kyouji Asano. The most interesting comment was when Wakabayashi remembered that he thought the production needed more time.

I agreed with him wholeheartedly. At a scant 42 minutes Kai Doh Maru feels completely unfinished, more like the outline of a 42 minute movie than an actual movie. It’s a damn shame too because the visuals and the idea contained in the film warrant a fully fleshed script.

Mangaoffers Kai Doh Maru with both English and Japanese language tracks, English subs, and a choice of 2.0 and 5.1 stereo.

Still, all that said, I had to read several pages of character biographies to determine the motivations, histories, and personalities of the characters in the film, a task that did not make me a happy reviewer.

Overall Kai Doh Maru makes a great showpiece for the talented animators as I.G. Pulse but unless you plan on hiring them to animate a coherent and finished script, the film doesn’t offer much.