Reviews

Unbeatable, baleful, and sinister Ashura, Queen of the Demons, has a plan to dominate this world.

The Japanese film "The Eyes of Ashura's Castle" is set in the chaotic nineteenth century Edo (later Tokyo) where humans, demons, and evil spirits coexist. The Demon Wardens, a secret society, is beating invincible undead in the city. In the midst of the war between human beings and demons, Ashura's assistant Bizan notifies demon slayers about the rebirth of the impregnable queen Ashura in Edo.

The story revolves around the ghostly, heartrending love relationship between dandy Kabuki actor Wakuraba Izumo and a beautiful thief named Tsubaki. He is a former star demon slayer, and she is graceful and fierce. While developing their romance, they cross a border between this world and the next, which triggers a disastrous outcome. Ultimately, their love and fate unfold by insinuating a common memory of the past that is the dramatic relationship between killing and being killed.

Professional Kabuki actor Somegoro Ichikawa plays Wakuraba Izumo. He is the scion of the most famous Kabuki families whose tradition is much respected by many and recognized as one of the chief Japanese traditional art forms. His skillful and flamboyant swordplay is admirable. Rie Miyazawa, a popular Japanese actress, plays the mysteriously attractive yet ferocious Tsubaki.

Directed by Academy Award winning film director Yojiro Takita, "The Eyes of Ashura's Castle" features a timeless range of cultural references to Japanese popular culture from romanticized eighteenth century Kabuki theater and its playwright Tsuruya Namboku IV's ghost stories to contemporary playful video games and computer graphics. Besides, the film skillfully adds exhilarating zombies with kimono costumes to Japanese pop music. A psychedelic mixture of old and new epitomizes the richness of Japanese popular culture.

The prologue is particularly an eerie collection of some Japanese myths and ethereal symbols. For instance, a fireball is approaching to Edo while Emish, an ominous demon, is singing a parody of children's tune, "Toryanse."

Further, signposts for ogres such as bridges, borders, and twilight are effectively employed. A ghost emerges at the edge of a bridge connecting this world and the next. Additionally, seas, rivers, and mountains demarcate the two worlds. Finally, the opening scene is twilight, which is a brief period of ambiguous time. It is a time of transformation from one being to another. Indeed, the times of uncertainty are chances for ethereal beings that are roaming around the human world.

Furthermore, a parody of legendary horror playwright Tsuruya Namboku IV (1755-1829) plays a crucial role to unite the whole eclectic Japanese national and cultural symbols: Kabuki theater, Izumo's crimson thread magic, Tokubei's giant frog, stylized actions, and the undying Japanese ghost story, "Oiwa." Namboku produced many ghost stories for Kabuki plays, and also wrote about Tokubei's story. These cultural references from the early nineteenth century add an exotic character to the film.

Consequently, the story unfurls a series of Namboku's fantastically weird tales, which include comedy, apparitions, love, tragedy, and disgust. A dreadful opening and a wonderful ending are key components of his story. Blurring this world and the next in the film, Namboku says 'which world you live in, the world has its own paradise.' The poignant story, where the lovers cannot fulfill their love in this world, clearly follows Namboku's traditional Kabuki taste.

Overall, the film is entertaining and worthwhile watching.

The film is a story about a girl's spiritual growth and overcoming difficulties in a new life. Momo Miyaura, a sullen 11-year-old, encounters three goblins from an old Edo-era's comic book. The goblins are Iwa, Kawa and Mame. Iwas is large, clumsy and honest; Kawa is middle, manipulative and greedy; Mame is small, slow and infantile. They are mischievous, sloppy and dull.

Their appearances are reminiscent of "Kyoka Hyakki Yakyo," an illustration of goblins in an Edo-era comic book called "Kibyoshi." "Kibyoshi" is a precursor of 'manga.' In the Edo era, various images of goblins entertained readers and told valuable lessons.

The film is set in Shio Shima, Inland Sea, an allusion to Yasujiro Ozu's classical film "Tokyo Story." Momo moves from Tokyo to the small island after her father's sudden death. While she is boarding a ship, three drops of spirits come down from the sky and land on her. The drops are the goblins or guardians, which help her reconcile a sad memory about her father. She regrets criticizing her father before he passed away.

In the film, the legendary goblins and Momo develop strange but warmhearted relationships that unite the past and present, or this world and afterlife. A motif of connectedness appears at various levels and creates a poignant but cheerful story. First, it shows continuation of time in Japanese popular culture by making a connection with the funny goblins emerging from a "kibyoshi" and in Momo's contemporary life. The past is linked to the present via 'manga.' The emergence of old 'manga'unfolds a history of Japanese popular culture, which intertwines with her daily life and symbolizes continuity.

Second, the connectedness illustrates the relationships between the spirits and humans in a spectacular way. Various types of spirits such as orchard spirits, ocean spirits and forest spirits assist Momo. This is most memorably exemplified when the spirits collaborate to help her in the midst of a fierce typhoon. Thanks to their support, she overcomes a difficulty. Demonstrating collective forces, the animating spirits generate a harmonious and splendid message that life is working with others. Nobody can live alone.

In addition, the scene also gives us a lesson. Each one of the vigorous spirits provides her with a tiny power that is almost negligible, but its contribution is valuable and finally brings a tremendous result to aid her. It reminds us that selfishness and indifference do not bring anything good. The significant message is that everybody has a role to play in the world. The scene is a pivotal moment of her spiritual growth.

Furthermore, the connectedness with the spirits also underlines a powerful animistic note that we are part of nature, which exerts enormous power and is larger than us. Nature and humans can coexist harmoniously in this world. The connectedness is the key that keeps our lives going.

Third, the connectedness demonstrates that death is not the end of life. The goblins have been sent from Above in order to watch over the living. Their special mission is to rally round Momo and report about her life to Above. Their mission expresses a vastness of time in human life, including the afterlife. In short, the dead also have a mission to do in this world. A person's life in this world is finite, but one receives another mission to complete in the afterlife. The amicable relationships between the hilarious goblins and her imply that the deceased can also return to this world and work together with the living. The connection between the dead and the living indicates a culture of ancestor worship, emphasizing the relationships between ancestors and offspring, or the past and present.

Accordingly, the story offers a strong viewpoint that it is possible that we can be befriended by spirits or the deceased. A sense of infinite life is an unforgettably emotional moment and contributes to her psychological relief that she has another chance to make up with her father. Finally, the togetherness ameliorates her hardship. All the connectedness is linked to a process of her reconciliation with her regret.

This film would be particularly appealing for victims of the unprecedented great earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in 2011. Many people unexpectedly lost their loved ones and everyday lives. They were totally unprepared to suffer such tragedies, let alone time to bid farewell. Later, they left their familiar lands and have been struggling with new environments.

In the film, such sentiments are clearly illustrated. Momo's father had an accident at sea and never returned. Her relocation to Shio Shima is an outcome of the loss of her father. The abrupt loss echoes Japanese collective grief and sorrow for those affected by the unbearable incidents.

Likewise, Momo's struggle is part of their struggle. Her feeling of sadness is theirs; her tears are theirs. Eventually, her achievements foreshadow their hopefulness. The story captures her shuttered heart as a reflection of theirs. It epitomizes Japanese psychology – many people hesitate to talk about their tragedy because it is negative.

The film finally offers a moment of catharsis and kindles a flame of hope. Consequently, underlining the importance of familial bonds and hopes that keep them going toward their future, "A Letter to Momo" is a letter to those victims.

More importantly, the story conveys Japanese Gambaro spirit that is an encouragement for people to work hard. The spiritual essence cultivates a sense of esprit-de-corps and persistence. Gambaro spirit is a sense of working hard together and for others, who will help us sometime and somewhere.

Ultimately, intersecting beings from the afterlife with this world, the film informs us of a traditional belief that invisible spirits live together in this world in order to help us.

All the deceased are our guardians, so chin up!