Of Swords and Parasols

I have spent the last 2 weeks ripping through Asian movies in my Netflix queue and that I have DLed. A couple have been DLed so long that they now have US releases. Whoops?

Bodyguards and Assassins (China): Set in 1905, this is about a group of people, many with no previous ties, working to stop a group of assassins during a trip of Sun Wen’s to Hong Kong to meet with fellow revolutionaries. The first hour-and-a-bit is devoted to setting up the politics and introducing the 15-or-more major characters. The last 50 minutes is nonstop action (aka, what most viewers probably signed up for-it takes a while to deliver, but it delivers) that makes Hong Kong’s streets look like Godzilla paid a visit. As roughly 80% of the fictional cast dies, they are given the “Person from place was born in this year and died in this year” treatment that characters often get in period films to let us know this was totally a real person. Am I evil if that was one of my favorite parts? At one point, Leon Lai takes on about 30 men armed with nothing but a metal fan, long, flowing hair, and Wuxia Angst. (The movie is not wuxia, but his angst is Wuxia Angst.) I may need to investigate more Leon Lai films. Also, the movie made me want a period film with a Donnie Yen/Fan Bing Bing pairing.

( trailer here )

Coweb (China): if you are looking for a movie with a complex plot, deep characterization, and breathtaking scenery, this is not the movie for you. If you are looking for a movie about almost nothing but a teeny woman using awesome martial arts skills to kick butt for 90 minutes is a mostly non-fetishized way (unless your fetishes run towards women in business suits and women who take on an entire movie’s worth of henchmen armed with nothing but a pink hoodie and nunchucks. Which they might.) then this is the movie for you. Yiyi is a security officer who is offered a job as a rich couple’s bodyguard. Then the couple gets kidnapped and she tears up the rest of the movie looking for them, going through about 5 movies worth of bad guys along the way. It is awesome. Have darkeyedwolf 's picspam.

( trailer here )

The Divine Weapon (Korea): She is a smart and serious scientist devoted to perfecting her father’s formula for rocket-like projectile arrows. He is a snarky badass warrior merchant. Together, they fight crime biker a lot and create 15th century Korean Weapons of Mass Destruction to evict the forces of Ming China from Joseon Korea. Somehow, I managed stumble across a serious Korean historical epic in which both romantic leads survive and they end up happy, together, and planning to get married. I was not aware such a thing existed. Lots of interesting history, though I honestly don’t know how accurate it is-I suspect there was some fudging with the Singjijeon but my limited knowledge of Korean history is mostly set after this-and medieval science, and some pretty good action. Especially the final battle. Speaking of which, on the one hand, I’m obviously annoyed that Hong-Li basically spent the final leg of the rebellion and the final battle in a cage, but at the same time, the success relied almost entirely on her weapons, and I suspect partly her strategy, too. Fun flick.

( trailer here )

An Empress and the Warriors (China): The first 15 minutes of this established that China knows the way into my heart and soul by setting up a story with a princess who has to take over a kingdom at war after her father’s murder. Assistant numero uno is a general who is Sekritly In Love With (For Years) the princess and expresses his love by telling men who are bickering over what man to put on the throne to stuff it because she’s the best, and then proceeds to train her to be the most badass thing this side of, well, him. And then she actually leads armies into battle! Wearing armor without conveniently sculpted breasts! The movie lost some momentum by inserting a romance between the now-Empress and a mysterious forest dweller, though. (Note: Generals/bodyguards/assassins Sekritly In Love With princesses/heiresses/queens/ladies have about a 60% chance of it being onesided, and about a 95% chance of dying.) Not enough to deter from my overall enjoyment, but I found it a bit dull, and it seemed to be there mostly because apparently wars and rebellions aren’t enough conflict for female leads, they need romantic problems as well. Also, she’s the only woman in the entire movie? I mean, most of it does take place either on the battlefield or in the forest, but I don’t think I even spotted any extras. Which is an annoyance that reared its head a number of times. But she dodges arrows! And poisoned darts! Leads armies! Grabs a spear and jams it through her opponent’s head when he has her pinned down. Also, at one point, Donnie Yen (the general) takes on an entire army. Because he’s Donnie Yen, and just that badass.

( trailer here )

Evil Twin (Korea): This is, I think, only my second Korean horror movie, the first being The Legend of Evil Lake, though I’m not sure if that was actually horror, or just had horror elements due to the ghost. Set in the Joseon period, twin sisters-one who was sweet and everyone loved, and one who was cruel and decided unloved-fell into a lake. Hyo-Jin, the “good” twin drowned, while So-Hyon, the “bad” twin lived, but spent ten years in a coma. When she wakes up, she has amnesia and falls in love with the man who was in loves with Hyo-Jin when they were children, and Hyo-Jin’s ghost returns and starts doing nasty grudge things. One of the twists was fairly easy to spot early on, but not another, but I don’t think it detracted from the movie. There were some things I wasn’t sure about (particularly how straight the Light/Dark Heroine aspect was being played) but I think the ending made it all pay off.

( trailer here )

Ichi (Japan): A blatant sendup to both the Zatoichi movies (which I haven’t seen) and Yojimbo (which I have seen), Ichi is about a blind, wandering swordswoman who is actually the daughter of Zatoichi, and who meets a samurai who is skilled, but unable to draw his sword due to Deep Childhood Angst, and they end up in a town where there’s a power struggle between a local gang and nearby bandits. The movie is fun and prettily shot and has some great fight scenes, but ends up being more about Ichi’s sidekick than Ichi most of the time, and we learn that Ichi became a wanderer to find her father after she was raped and kicked out of her home because of it. There were faily parts, but they were faily parts that I expected and just hoped wouldn’t be there for once, as opposed to something that was sprung on me.

( trailer here )

Jeon Woo Chi (Korea): The full title of this is Master Taoist Jeon Woo Chi, I believe. This is the movie that has a man running along the side of a wall, fending off a giant, armored rat with a whip. It also has a woman running along the tops of cars and firing arrows from a moving car, as well as men getting sucked into paintings. It has another woman picking up a car, and then putting it back down because throwing it just wouldn’t be interesting enough. This is also the movie where Kang Dong Won sports a ponytail, trenchcoat and fedora and poses atop buildings, leaps over cars, runs on wires, and flies. Woochi is a taoist wizard who spends more time playing pranks than anything else. Shortly after falling in love with a supposedly cursed widow, he gets trapped in a painting by the gods, only to be brought back to fight escaped monsters in modern times. Of course, he bears a bit of a grudge for the whole painting thing, and is often more interested in chasing after the reincarnated widow. I’m not quite sure what to make of the movie, but then, I’m not sure it knew what to make of itself either. The first part is a light period fantasy romp, the second part a light modern fantasy romp with a temporally displaced lead, and the last leg is a more serious, action-oriented supernatural flick that borders on taking itself seriously at times. Despite that and some slow bits, though, it was a very entertaining movie, and I really wish Kang Dong Won did more stuff. Like sageuks.

( trailer here )

Mulan (China) Live-action Mulan, people. Which should be self-explanatory? Not as awesome as hoped, but still pretty nifty, and considerably closer to history than the Disney version. But it needed more battle formations and battle strategies, and less romantic-wangsting. The romantic plotline started decent enough with Basara-like hot springs scenes and romantic declarations like asking your new BFF to burn your body if you die in battle so no one will learn you were really a woman breaking all kinds of laws by joining the army as a man. But then came wangst and mansplainin’ and Wentai faking his death when he’s severely wounded in battle, because worrying about him would upset her delicate womanly nerves too much. Actually, I’m trying to block that whole section of the movie. Also, while I love Zhao Wei, Chen Kun is kinda…a block of wood? Like, I look at him and think that someone looked at him with a checklist for “conventionally attractive Chinese male” and checked off everything and the end result was terribly blandly attractive? But they forgot to check his ability to, well, act. (Of course, it could just be that Zhao Wei’s awesome sucks the life right out of him. I have only seen him in two movies with her so far.) But! Epic battles! Crossdressing! Ladygeneral! Campy version of Gladiator’s villain! Random Russian singer wearing white fur! Have darkeyedwolf 's picspam.

( trailer here )

Negative Happy Chainsaw Edge (Japan): This is the touching love story of a boy who wants to die heroically who gives his true love a ride on his bicycle every day so she can combat a chainsaw-wielding killer who descends from the moon accompanied by gently-falling snow. Yes, you read that right. Yes, at least one of the writers seems to believe that this is, indeed, a serious, touching romance. Whose heroine decided she wasn’t going to be a victim and started walking around with throwing blades strapped to her leg, can fly, uses a chainsaw that’s trying to kill her when flipping, and battles a chainsaw with a mop. Yes, it is the glorious, badass crack you are imagining. At some point, it considers having a plot, or at least explaining things. But then it realized that that would take too much time away from asskicking and so it forgot to finish the plot. I doubt anyone cares. Have darkeyedwolf 's picspam.

( trailer here )

Queens of Langkasuka/Legend of the Tsunami Warrior (Thai): I include the annoying licensed title only because that’s what you’ll find it under at Netflix/DVD stores. Once upon a time, there was a supremely practical and badass queen. Everyone and their masked spouse wanted her throne, so she decided to get some cannons and blow them all out of the water, and sends her daughters to find the apprentice of a European cannon-maker who disappeared a while back. One daughter is kinda a younger version of the queen, only nicer and possibly prepping herself for a lifetime of Forbidden Love with a scarred bodyguard. The other is what happens when Xena and Disney’s Princess Jasmine have a kid. If they could have a kid. Hijinks ensue when they run into pirates, assassins, raiders, and an angsty sea rogue who breathes underwater and talks to fish. I am told large chunks are based on actual history. Presumably, not the guy who talks to fish. The first half is good but rather slow, but the second half is a blast. Have darkeyedwolf 's picspam.

( trailer here )

Raging Phoenix (Thai): A straight-up action flick with the actress from Chocolate playing an angry punk rocker who learns drunken kung-fu/hip hop fusion martial arts in order to take down a slavery ring specializing in pretty young girls. Her cohorts are unwashed alcoholics with angst. Her opponents include
Ninjas on pogo sticks with blades, drag queens (Thailand, I’m working on a very limited exposure here, but can we talk about that and your action movies?) sex traders, her teammates, and her liver. This is no Chocolate, and you must firmly disengage all but the “WTF? OMG DID SHE JUST…!” part of your brain, but it will do. Have darkeyedwolf 's picspam.

( trailer here )

Storm Warriors (China): This is a sequel to the movie Storm Riders a movie in which the wind violently musses Aaron Kwok’s mane and makes Ekin Cheng’s locks serenely flutter. At the same time. There’s also an evil master, men exploding out of waterfalls, tragic women, fun women, the exchanging of demon arms, people who crumble into dust if you touch them at the wrong time, best friends on opposite sides, and what would be a really fun pairing if the movie had, like, more than 5 seconds to spend on that. And fun fight scenes. In Storm Warriors the wind violently musses Aaron Kwok’s mane and makes Ekin Cheng’s locks serenely flutter. At the same time. There’s also an evil warlord, added Nic Tse, men exploding out of cave walls, people fighting over a dragon’s spine, men being possessed by evil spirits, and best friends on opposite sides. And way way awesome fight scenes. The women, sadly, mostly said “Wind” or “Cloud” a lot, depending on which they were in love with, and made a few heartfelt pleas, but they also actually had screen time together. Cloud is less interesting than in the first movie, but Wind is more interesting, so I suppose it balances itself out. There was also bonus Wuxia Doom. I am fond of Wuxia Doom, as long as it doesn’t result in the main character wandering ancient China with the entire rest of the cast dead.

( trailer here )

Incidentally, does anyone know if the first Wind & Cloud series is available with English subs anywhere? I know I can get the second online, but have never found the first.


The Sword With No Name (Korea): A highly-fictionalized movie about Empress Myongseong, a Joseon queen who attempted to limit Japan’s influence in Korea and strengthen other foreign ties. The movie focuses on her fictional relationship with a fictional mercenary who falls in love with her and joins the royal guards to be close to her. The movie is gorgeous, well acted, and well written, but as you may have guessed, the fact that the main focus was on a fictional guy’s angsty forbidden love and not on the real woman kept me from enjoying it as much as I would have otherwise. Don’t get me wrong, I liked him, and thought the romantic plotline was well done, I just wish it had been a supporting plotline to her life at court instead of the main focus with her policies and struggles at court in the background. Seung-Woo Cho also tries to take on an entire army. He is not as impressive at it as Donnie Yen, but that’s ok. Not everyone can be Donnie Yen.

( trailer here )

Wheat (China): Set in 3rd century China, this is about a village of whose husbands have left for war who mistake deserters from the enemy nation for their own soldiers, with neither the women nor the renegade soldiers knowing that the war ended just after the two men deserted. This is a very beautiful film, but it…doesn’t really seem to have a strong plot or message, and I’m not sure it really said anything beyond “war is awful.” Half the time, I think the plot was “Fan Bing Bing is breathtakingly gorgeous.” I mean, I’m totally behind that plot (it was the root of my initial interest) but I kinda needed either more meatiness to the plot or more action (despite the trailer, there’s very little action in the movie) to go with it. As it is, it’s a very lovely, well acted movie, but rather slow and without a lot to grab me.

( trailer here )

You may have noticed that I linked to darkeyedwolf 's posts a lot. This is because she has very convenient tags like “genre: dangerous ladies” and “genre: adventures in asskicking” that are quite beneficial.

Briefly:

You may recall that I read and adored the book this movie is based on not long ago.  (Read it!  Readitreaditreadit!)  The movie changes some things up, but leaves the base intact.  Unfortunately, a large part of the book's appeal is how incredibly strong and engaging Momoko's voice is, and that doesn't carry over as well to a visual medium, though the strange outlook on life and jaded Lolita-ness are still there.

( brief comments on the changes )

 The makers of Azumi decided that falling sakura petals were passe in conveying angst.  Instead, our assassins are showered with dead leaves as they embark upon their bloodstained path.

It's beautiful.


This is the best thing since Death Trance, Taitei no Ken, and Dororo!

Ah, Japan...you and your "just like manga"(because it's based on one) insane samurai-ish shonen action movies whose sole purpose is to make everyone who sees it run around screaming "CCCCRRRRRAAAAACCCCCCKKKKKK!!!  SWORD WEILDING MONSTER FIGHTING EMOTASTIC CCCCCCCRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCKKKKKKKK!!!"

In this case, our emotastic hero is Hyakki-maru, also known as Dororo.  Years ago, Hyakki-maru's father, with half a dozen arrows sticking out of his back that he didn't seem to notice, made a deal with some demons:  If he gave them his unborn son's body, they would give him the ability to conquer the world.  He was pretty cool with this.  (Wait, DIDN'T I JUST READ SOMETHING WHERE THE MAIN CHARACTER'S FATHER SOLD HIS UNBORN FOR POWER???  *sigh*)  When the baby was born, he only had a head and torso, and was alive despite missing all of his organs.  Mom saved him from dad and sent him down a river, Moses style, and he was found by Mad Scientist Medicine Man, who then used alchemy(I think) to turn the bodies of dead children into limbs and organs for Hyakki-maru.  In Hyakki-maru's fake arms, he installs two swords, one of which makes things blow up, and Hyakki-maru can remove the fake arms to fight, and then reattach them.  When grown, Hyakki-maru sets off to find and slay the 48 demons who have hios various body parts.  As he kills each one, the body part the demon has regrows on his own body.  Along the way, he meets a female thief who pretends to be a boy, who refuses to tell him her name, but decides she likes "Dororo."  She wants the exploding sword so she can get revenge for the death of her family.  They go on many adventures and make many demons blow up, set to jaunty music(I'm particularly fond of the Noh masked tree demon that spewed sakura feathers at them.) 

Naturally, of course, they must have a Big Conflict to wrap the movie up, and we learn that it was scum!Dad who killed Dororo's family.  WOE! EMO! ANGST!  Cue much drama and  fighting and and utterly awesome final fight.

Yes, it's cheap entertainment, but it's MASSIVELY ENTERTAINING cheap entertainment.

PEOPLE!  He removes his arms to fight!  When he gets his real body parts back, the fake ones either fall off or get puked up and then disintegrate!  Not only is he cool with his girlfriend taking his name and going around acting like a boy, he actually calls her a boy(probably because he gets kneed if he treats her like a girl, and he apparently got that part back inbetween the origin story and the main action)!  He rides bird demons! He battles 30 foot tongues!  He fights demons who SPEW SAKURA PETALS!  And his WOE! EMO! ANGST! MANPAIN! moments were glorious, as only manga and things based on manga can be.

Oh, and it has Eita.  Eita is always a nice bonus.  Especially as I wasn't expecting him to randomly appear halfway through.

Also, I think the girl who played Dororo must just enjoy genderbending roles...I'm pretty sure she played the Historical Personage of Questionable Gender(in the movie, male in history) in Taitei no Ken.

Uhm...he has 24 body parts left to find.  I demand a sequel.

Incidentally, there are TWO MANGA with this plot...there's also a manga called Madara...I investigated when I first heard of Dororo and found 2 different series.  So either two people in this world came up with that plot, or there's a mangaka out there with an awesome but limited imagination.

 I just finished(well, half an hour ago...)  Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood.  Starring Toshiro Mifune (just like every other Kurosawa move I've seen, which is coincidence, not deliberate) ToB is based on Shakespeare's MacBeth.  MacBeth is my favorite of Shakespeare's plays (blame Gargoyles...which actually has a MacBeth based on the actual history, but if I start on that I shall never shut up) and ToB is an excellent adaptation.  For whatever reason, I don't actually have a lot to say about this one, beyond "it was really good."

One thing I do want to bring up, though, is Lady MacBeth.  While I haven't read all of Shakespeare's plays, it seems that he only ever created 3 really strong and interesting female characters:  Beatrice(Much Ado About Nothing), Kate(The Taming of the Shrew) and Lady MacBeth.  Beatrice and Kate, though very different, are clever, independent and spirited.  Lady MacBeth, though, is a little different.  Though a protagonist, she's also a villainess, able to turn and apparently good and honorable man into a traitor and murderer, only to have her own machinations destroy her.  When I first read MacBeth, I read her turnins him as a seduction, both in the feminine wiles sense, and a seduction of ambition that fed on fear, and the two theatrical versions I've seen played it that way(one excellently, the other not so much.)  I was, therefore, rather interested to see how ToB handled it, and was pleased with the even darker, more conniving Asaji(I think that's what they called her)  who fed and preyed on her husband's pride and ambition.  Somehow, the character is what made a samurai movie based on a play about ancient Scotland work.

Like the other Kurosawa films I've seen Seven Samurai more than lives up to it's classic  status. The plot, in case there's actually someone not familiar with it, revolves around a village hiring seven samurai to protect them from bandits.  The samurai, most of whom have never met before, are gathered by a slightly older samurai named Kambei, and they're paid little more than food and bed.  While everything in the movie is excellent and solid, it is completely owned by Toshiro Mifune's Kikuchiyo, a  loud, rough, not-too-bright vagrant with a (secret) big heart who manages to join the group because they can't manage to get rid of him.  Sometimes perseverance pays off.

One of the most important things to remenvber about thi movie is that (like Yojimbo and Sanjuro) it hugely influenced virtually every action movie that came after it.  If you watch it and think "I've seen this 50 times before," well, that's because the 50 movies and shows(or shonen manga or anime) you saw thought it was a good idea when they saw this and used it.  My particular favorite is Toshiro Mifune originating the "let me prep a half dozen back up weapons because I'm sure I'll kill so many that I'll use up/break my main one."  For whatever reason, I always love that.

BUT!

It also impacted shojo manga/drama/wuxia too.  "Here, lets cut your hair and dress you like a boy and no one will guess the truth even though you still look just like a girl."  Soon to be followed by:  "Because of your clothes I will think you're a boy even though you look just like a girl until a random plot contrivance causes me to accidentally grab your chest.  We will then fall in love."  The fact that 90% of the times I've seen variations of that was likely caused by this movie just made to 10 times better.

Anyway, excellent movie, go watch.  For those who fear such things:  I believe there were more people without samurai haircuts than with.

BTW, part of the reason I watched it now instead of in a few days is that I shall now watch the Samurai Seven anime, which I did not want to watch until after I saw the movie.

 *ahem*

THIS WAS POSSIBLY THE MOST VASTLY ENTERTAINING THING I HAVE SEEN THIS YEAR!

*hem*



Generic plot synopsis because I could not possibly do any better myself:

Synopsis: Free-spirited wandering swordsman Yorozu Genkuro (Abe Hiroshi) easily towers over everyone with his tall, lanky stature and all-mighty "Sword of Alexander". His larger-than-life sword is one of three sacred objects carved from orichalcum, an otherworldly metal that brings its owner superhuman powers. He who possess all three objects will rule the world, and Genkuro is on a quest to find the other two items - a cross and a dagger - and a man worthy of wielding such powers. On the road, he rescues and befriends the lovely Princess Mai (Hasegawa Kyoko), who is on the run from the Tokugawa, and her scrappy ninja bodyguard (Kudo Kankuro). This turns out to be the beginning of a myriad of troubles for Genkuro as there are a plentitude of Tokugawa assassins and warriors, not to mention an alien-possessed bear hunter, out to get the princess.

Other points of import:

1)  It has spaceships dueling in space, saying "prepare to die."
2)  The heroine, Mai, is possesed by and alien, Ran.
3)  Both Mai and Ran have a crush on Genkuro.
4)  There's this awesome samurai girl who calls herself Botan who just completely randomly shows up, saves everyone's butts, then disappears again.
5)  It has KRYPTONITE!  They say it's something else, but I say it's kryptonite.
6)  It has its own versions of Yukimura Sanada and Sasuke Sarutobe (all versions of them make me bouncy thanks to Samurai Deeper Kyo)
7)  All the women stare longingly at the giant sword and want to touch it.  It's amazing.

The only thing needed to make this perfect was Nakama Yukie.

So, after posting the poll earlier, I remembered that I was thinking about watching Versus, as I got an extremely high level of enjoyment out of Death Trance.  

Now, the plot may have been largely irrelevant in Death Trance, but it was pretty easy to follow, both while watching an in descriptions. Coffin with massive power inside is stolen from a temple by a guy who really likes to kill things.  Temple sends young monk off to get coffin back.  Many other men who like to kill things hear someone has the coffin and also set off to get the coffin.  Many fights involving every weapon imaginable follow.  Not high quality cinema, but easy to follow, a good distraction, and some very good(and often entertaining...hello Gun Guy) fight scenes.

But Versus?  I was completely lost one sentence into the description and it only got worse from there.  It was like a lot of random ideas were thrown into a paragraph and no one cared if it made sense or not.  I checked several places and was lost every time.

I don't mind irrelevant plot(though I prefer a good plot) or midless violence as long as it's entertaining(and not endless) but I at least need a plot I can follow, no matter how paper thing it may be.

I just finished this one.  To be perfectly blunt, this is not, necessarily, a "good" movie...the plot is both thin and rushed and the ending seems designed for a sequel, and the characterization is sparse(I don't even know the names of most characters, but thast's ok, because I gave them ever-so-creative names to compensate.)  It's all about the over the top action, and it never pretends otherwise.

The plot is essentially about Coffin Guy, who steals a coffin that can supposedly grant any wish you want from a temple.  Lots of people have tried to steal the coffin before and the monks turned them into stone for it.  One young monk, Priest Guy, is sent to retrieve the coffin because the coffin could destroy the world if opened (the power of the Goddess of Destruction is sealed inside.)  Priest Guy is also given a Special Sword that no one can draw until the right time.  Along the way, Priest Guy meets up with Mohawk Guy, who also wants the sword, and for some bizarre reason, Mohawk Guy decides he may as well help keep Priest Guy alive while looking for the sword.  There's also Warrior Chick who also wants to keep the coffin from being opened(but seems to think smashing it to bits is ok) and Little Girl, who is completely unphased by having dozens of people die around her and trails after whoever has the coffin at any given point in time.  Also, while the setting looks medieval (it's described as "an unknown time and place" and it's implied that Goddess of Destruction has rebooted the world once or twice already) there are guns and even a motorcycle.  Which are actually kinda fun...

Priest Guy was rather boring and sanctimonious, and I rather wonder why Mohawk Guy and Coffin Guy didn't just toss him off a cliff or kill him (not like he stood a chance against either one anyway.)  I did rather like Coffin Guy and Mohawk Guy.  Mohawk Guy  acknowledges the wisdom of of carrying a gun.  Distance weapon that can kill long before the other guy can get to you vs weapon that requires you to get up close and personal?  Not a difficult choice.  He is, howver, well aware of the danger of running out of bullets, and has his sword as a backup.  There's one very fun scene where these ninjas whip out weapon after weapon and look menacing, and he just keeps shooting the weapons out of their hands(eventually, they realized he had more bullets than they had weapons and he kinda made them his servants.)

Coffin guy reminds me a bit of Samurai Deeper Kyo's Kyo, though not as cool.  He's a simple guy who wants nothing more than to prove he's the best(though in Coffin Guy's case, it's more finding someone good enough to kill him) and to kill anyone who gets in his way.  He's even quieter than Kyo though.  I wasn't sure if he would say anything at all in the movie for the first 40 minutes.  To cement the comparison in my mind, towards the end he has glowing red eyes and a glowing red sword.  Like Mohawk Guy, Coffin Guy acknowledges the  practicality of a gun, but as he likes his fights up close and personal, he only brings out the gun when he decides a fight has lasted to long(as in, more and more keep showing up and he's getting bored with killing them) and he has things to do.

I think my favorite scene is when Priest Guy and Coffin Guy first meet.  Priest Guy asks why Coffin Guy stole the coffin and asks if he knows its dangerous, blah blah blah.  Coffin Guy simply replies that he heard it could grant wishes and walks off.  Priest Guy, being assured of the protection his priestliness grants him, follows him and when Coffin Guy asks what the big deal is, Priest Guy launches into a long story about the coffin and when he keeps going long after the pertinent parts are covered, Coffin Guy clocks him and when Priest guys asks why he did that(from the ground) Coffin Guy replies that his stories are too long and stalks off after his coffin.

Also, for some reason, Priest Guy looks like Cloud Strife with a facial tattoo at the very end...

Anyway, pictures...


Apparently there's also a manga of this(was pretty sure 10 minutes in there was a novel or manga.)  As it's only 2 volumes, I'll likely check it out.  I'll likely try to find some art first, though.

Also, apparently this is directed by the sanme guy as Versus, and Coffin Guy is also the star of Versus.  Versus is also supposedly a much better movie than this, so I may check it out.