Animonday: Kai Doh Maru
Set in Japan’s Heian era this tale of love and political intrigue feels way too short at just 45 minutes. We skip over Kintoki learning to be a warrior after the opening scene and pick up the tale years later. Maybe it’s just me, but I got the feeling that the intervening years would have been more interesting than the tale that unfolds.
Coming from the creators of Blood the Last Vampire you’d expect the animation to be good, and it is, just not as good as that (equally short) anime classic. The use of colour is outstanding though, with the bright red blood standing out in harsh contrast to the more muted blue tones of the rest of the film.
Ultimately there isn’t much to recommend this, you’ll find far better and more involving historical anime out there. The animation may be more basic but I’d recommend the Rurouni Kenshin TV series over this any day.
