KARAS: THE REVELATION.
August 10th 2008 22:43
Category: Videos
Original story by: Tatsunoko Productions.
Director: Keichi Sato.
Screenplay by: Masaya Honda & Shin Yoshida.
Producers: Takaya Ibira & Shoichi Yoshida.
Starring: Jay Hernandez (Nue), Matthew Lillard (Eko), Cree Summer (Yurine), Steve Staley (Otoha/Karas), David Wittenberg (Kure) & Michael McConnohie (Chief).
Produced by: 2005 Tatsunoko Productions & Karas Committee.
Released by: Madman Entertainment.
Running Time: 90 minutes Rating: M.
After having seen Karas: The Prophecy and reviewed it previously I was naturally looking forward to watching the sequel, this volume. Thus when it turned up on my doorstep a week or two ago it was swiftly unwrapped from its packaging and the disc slipped into the receptacle of my trusty laptop. As soon as the action unfolded on the screen I immediately became aware of two things, the first was that I should probably have watched Karas: The Prophecy again before watching this and the second thing that crossed my mental landscape, albeit fleetingly, was that perhaps these two movies had been actually one in Japanese. More of that idea later.
It’s also interesting to note that there has been something of a line-up change in this particular flick, Piper Perabo who had previously been the voice of Yurine is not in the sequel. Instead her part has been taken up by Cree Summer, a noted voice actress who initially starter her career with providing the voice of Penny in the animated TV series Inspector Gadget. As part of the extras package that comes in this DVD there is an interview with Cree as a look in feature of the various actors in the voice over booth doing their thing, not a bad little sideline to watch if you’re interested in behind the scenes production features.
If you haven’t sent the first film or read the review on it here’s something to bring you up to speed, the world of mortals and the world of fiends/demons/fae co exists side by side and what can effect one can often have an effect on the other. Thus mankind’s seemingly disregard for all things wondrous and fantastic is taking its toll on the denizens of the otherworld. One particular group of demons, the Mikura, has decided to take steps to resolve this particular problem and it seeming involves wiping out humanity and starting afresh, this is the ideology of Lord Eko, the former Karas of Shinjuku who despises the very city and its populace that he has been charged with guarding and defending. He has abandoned his sacred duty and opted to pursue a course that is a complete anathema to his status as a Karas and is also directly against the will of the city.
It is the city that creates the Yurine, a manifestation of its will in both worlds, and she in turn decides who will become the Karas; choosing a human soul to reside in her sacred treasure and thus assuming the mantle of the city guardian and protector. Normally there is only ever one Yurine and Karas per city; however Eko through his actions has disrupted the order of things and as a result the city cause the birth of a second Yurine in order to combat the actions of Eko. The ex Karas has himself imprisoned his own Yurine so that he can effectively act as a free agent whilst still having the option of calling upon her power and the ability of the Karas should he need to.
The drama of this feature opens with a young woman on the phone calling back to her family in the country letting them know that she’s getting by in Shinjuku. From this rather ordinary domestic scene things move into a run down of the aftermath of events that occurred at the close of volume 1; the Prophecy along with an explanation of just how things stand as a result. Lord Eko the former Karas of the city of Shinjuku, is on track to see the fulfilment of his agenda, the rival Karas is seemingly stripped of his powers after his Yurine has been captured and Nue, the fly in Lord Eko’s ointment, has been badly beaten up to say the least. Rescued and revived by Otoha he plans to take the fight to Eko and advises that as a result of Otoha’s Yurine being kidnapped by the dastards minions he is probably destined to return to being without the power of the Karas.
Things certainly look bleak to say the least. Now normally this would be the point that you out there in the ethereal domain of the internet would expect me to say who and what turns things around to lead to either a twist in affairs or even a potentially stunning climax, the villain thwarted and a brand new day dawning upon the urban conglomeration of Shinjuku. Actually this is where the story gets a tad bit sidetracked and I had a confusing time of trying to sort things out. Certainly there is the climatic confrontation, after all when you have a villain like Eko with a potentially world changing plan and several protagonists opposed to his agenda, a confrontation of that kind is a dramatic given. What threw me is the sudden introduction of the Otoha back story so late down the track as well as the fact that Nue has a younger brother and it is this nameless brother who is a decidedly major factor in Lord Eko’s grand scheme to renew the city if not the world.
When the dust had finally settled on the death and mass carnage that enveloped Shinjuku as a result of the schemes of the former Karas and his Mikura minions it seemed to me that I had made a mistake in just watching this single film by itself, I probably should have watched both volumes one after the other. This naturally made me wonder whether or not if the Prophecy and Revelation had originally been a single feature two halves of a single tale rather than two separate episodes; it certainly had that feeling to it, and watching Revelation it did feel as I had sort of come halfway into the story. Its not the kind of feeling that I get whenever I have ever watched the sequel to a particular film, certainly it wasn’t that way when I watched Revenge of the Sith or the Return of the King. My advice is that if you do get a chance to watch this film only do so immediately after watching the first, don’t do what I did and watch the second some time later on down the track.
This particular point aside though Karas the Revelation is an entertaining movie with some truly fantastic animation and amazing fight scenes, in fact the scene in the bar where Otoha fights some Yakuza gangsters is very reminiscent of the fight scenes from the Matrix and its sequels. Once again the producers of this film have come up with a finely crafted piece of anime, although like I do have to reiterate they are probably best watched in tandem and it surprises me that they aren’t sold as a two disc set, especially as both movies were produced in the same year and there is that distinct impression that they should be of a piece rather than apart for my view. Still no doubt wiser minds than mine probably came up with the decision to put this tale in the format that it currently is distributed to the English speaking world.
Director: Keichi Sato.
Screenplay by: Masaya Honda & Shin Yoshida.
Producers: Takaya Ibira & Shoichi Yoshida.
Starring: Jay Hernandez (Nue), Matthew Lillard (Eko), Cree Summer (Yurine), Steve Staley (Otoha/Karas), David Wittenberg (Kure) & Michael McConnohie (Chief).
Produced by: 2005 Tatsunoko Productions & Karas Committee.
Released by: Madman Entertainment.
Running Time: 90 minutes Rating: M.
After having seen Karas: The Prophecy and reviewed it previously I was naturally looking forward to watching the sequel, this volume. Thus when it turned up on my doorstep a week or two ago it was swiftly unwrapped from its packaging and the disc slipped into the receptacle of my trusty laptop. As soon as the action unfolded on the screen I immediately became aware of two things, the first was that I should probably have watched Karas: The Prophecy again before watching this and the second thing that crossed my mental landscape, albeit fleetingly, was that perhaps these two movies had been actually one in Japanese. More of that idea later.
It is the city that creates the Yurine, a manifestation of its will in both worlds, and she in turn decides who will become the Karas; choosing a human soul to reside in her sacred treasure and thus assuming the mantle of the city guardian and protector. Normally there is only ever one Yurine and Karas per city; however Eko through his actions has disrupted the order of things and as a result the city cause the birth of a second Yurine in order to combat the actions of Eko. The ex Karas has himself imprisoned his own Yurine so that he can effectively act as a free agent whilst still having the option of calling upon her power and the ability of the Karas should he need to.
The drama of this feature opens with a young woman on the phone calling back to her family in the country letting them know that she’s getting by in Shinjuku. From this rather ordinary domestic scene things move into a run down of the aftermath of events that occurred at the close of volume 1; the Prophecy along with an explanation of just how things stand as a result. Lord Eko the former Karas of the city of Shinjuku, is on track to see the fulfilment of his agenda, the rival Karas is seemingly stripped of his powers after his Yurine has been captured and Nue, the fly in Lord Eko’s ointment, has been badly beaten up to say the least. Rescued and revived by Otoha he plans to take the fight to Eko and advises that as a result of Otoha’s Yurine being kidnapped by the dastards minions he is probably destined to return to being without the power of the Karas.
Things certainly look bleak to say the least. Now normally this would be the point that you out there in the ethereal domain of the internet would expect me to say who and what turns things around to lead to either a twist in affairs or even a potentially stunning climax, the villain thwarted and a brand new day dawning upon the urban conglomeration of Shinjuku. Actually this is where the story gets a tad bit sidetracked and I had a confusing time of trying to sort things out. Certainly there is the climatic confrontation, after all when you have a villain like Eko with a potentially world changing plan and several protagonists opposed to his agenda, a confrontation of that kind is a dramatic given. What threw me is the sudden introduction of the Otoha back story so late down the track as well as the fact that Nue has a younger brother and it is this nameless brother who is a decidedly major factor in Lord Eko’s grand scheme to renew the city if not the world.
When the dust had finally settled on the death and mass carnage that enveloped Shinjuku as a result of the schemes of the former Karas and his Mikura minions it seemed to me that I had made a mistake in just watching this single film by itself, I probably should have watched both volumes one after the other. This naturally made me wonder whether or not if the Prophecy and Revelation had originally been a single feature two halves of a single tale rather than two separate episodes; it certainly had that feeling to it, and watching Revelation it did feel as I had sort of come halfway into the story. Its not the kind of feeling that I get whenever I have ever watched the sequel to a particular film, certainly it wasn’t that way when I watched Revenge of the Sith or the Return of the King. My advice is that if you do get a chance to watch this film only do so immediately after watching the first, don’t do what I did and watch the second some time later on down the track.
This particular point aside though Karas the Revelation is an entertaining movie with some truly fantastic animation and amazing fight scenes, in fact the scene in the bar where Otoha fights some Yakuza gangsters is very reminiscent of the fight scenes from the Matrix and its sequels. Once again the producers of this film have come up with a finely crafted piece of anime, although like I do have to reiterate they are probably best watched in tandem and it surprises me that they aren’t sold as a two disc set, especially as both movies were produced in the same year and there is that distinct impression that they should be of a piece rather than apart for my view. Still no doubt wiser minds than mine probably came up with the decision to put this tale in the format that it currently is distributed to the English speaking world.
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