Premise - This story is about a land called Jushin, where the kingdom of Jushin has just been destroyed. The world has fractured into smaller kingdoms and city-states. Cannibals lurk the deserts and power-mongers oppress the weak. While the kingdom of Jushin flourished, the king had an elite group of soldiers called the Amheng Osa. These soldiers traveled the kingdom, dishing out some good old-fashioned justice. With the kingdom gone, the Amheng Osa have pretty much vanished, save a few exceptions. This story is about one of those exceptions that goes by the name of Munsu.
Animation Style - This anime was made in 2004, but the animation never feels dated. In fact, this movie took some different and inventive approaches to the animation that I quite liked. I suspect these style choices have something to do with the South Korean influence on this anime. There are also some dream sequences where the animation really takes flight. One is very dark yet vibrant, while another goes with a minimalist approach, looking like an animated manga. The fight scenes were cool and bloody, but I will talk more about them later. The characters, for the most part, were nice and unique, though some characters did look a bit generic (Sarinjas).
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| Sorry about the quality. Apparently, not many people like taking pictures of these not-so-unique beauties. |
Music - This is a very well done score for this movie. I found myself captivated by the moving pieces that really matched the situations. It added depth, and never felt overpowering.
Plot - The plot for this movie was okay, and would have been really good if this movie was combination of five or six episodes from the middle of an anime. Unfortunately, this story gives a very disconnected beginning and a "what was the point of this?" ending. The movie feels as if it was broken into two distinct storylines, and then somehow mashed together as if they had something to do with each other. There were some very touching parts in this movie, but, while they did make you feel for the characters, I always seemed to come back to the looming fact that I knew next to nothing about any of these people. This fact greatly detracted from the story, and I wished they better developed the characters, especially Munsu. Another reason I really did not like the story is because of its violent inconsistency. Literally, there was inconsistency in the amount of violence. One minute you'd be seeing some characters talking, and then BAM! Everyone and their brother is decapitated, blown up, or shot in the face for no apparent reason. It made the fighting feel mindless, and, although cool looking, grotesque in context. I will say that the violence towards the end is meant to make you feel a bit sick, due to previous conclusions made. The last arc of this movie is very well done, though the very end of the arc made me question what the point was.
Characters - This category is probably the movie's greatest downfall. There are some characters that could have been great, given the proper development, and others that would have made the movie better had they not existed. The main character, Munsu, has a sarcastic yet conflicted feel. Despite his crass front though, he has a strong sense of justice. I quickly connected with Munsu, though he felt underdeveloped at times. This returns to my point of this movie making me feel like I walked into the middle of something, or the first half of something, before the explanations and back stories. There was one character that is met towards the beginning of this anime, that I also liked, but he is not in the movie for long, which is a shame. Now we come to a character that is not only poorly written, she is an object of sexism. Chun Hyang, or Sando, has about 4 or 5 lines in this entire movie, yet is introduced in the first 15 minutes of this movie. She is a great fighter, yet becomes a devoted and loving servant to Munsu for a ridiculous reasom. And if her slave-like manner wasn't bad enough, the animators thought it a good idea to dress her in next to nothing and call it a day. I was honestly appalled with this character, and the creators could have gone so many better ways than they did with her.
Conclusion - This was not a terrible movie by any means, and some parts, especially the ending, had some good story points. The animation was also a unique style that I quite enjoyed. However, the pros do not outweigh the cons this time around. The inconsistency was just too great here. Had Sando not been in this, I might have given this a 6. Unfortunately, she exists, and her existence must be weighed.
Score - 5/10
+ Unique Animation - Sando
+ End "arc" - Generic villains+ Munsu - Inconsistent pacing
+ Some cool fights - Mindless Violence
- Discombobulating beginning/ending
Wallpapers:
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| Awesome. Source |
Low quality, but good cutting. Falling in the Black by Skillet
Chop Suey by System of a Down
Goodbye by SR-71
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