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Blade of the Phantom Master
Wading through the world of anime can be a daunting task and every now
and then, one will stand out from the crowd and Blade of the Phantom
Master done just that, in this action orientated mind F**K that left me
reeling for more.
Unlike traditional Japanese anime stories, Blade of
the Phantom Master is taken from Korean folklore and revolves around a
loan survivor of the Jushin Empire, more specifically a peace keeper who
has the powers of the Phantom Masters.
The story begins in the desert
where Munso, the protagonist of the film is saved by a young man who wishes to become a Phantom
Master or more specifically, an Amen Osa, a protector who also has the
ability to summon dead warriors. Unfortunately his life is cut short by
the Desert Devils and Munso now discovers why this young man wanted to
become an Amen Osa as his land is oozing with darkness and corruption.
Munso soon discovers the town of his deceased saviour Monlyon and he
decides to disguise himself as the young man to learn what is going on.
Munso learns that this mans lover was Chun Hyang who is being used as a powerful
weapon by the lord of this town.
Munso
inspires a rebellion against the
lord which backfires when Chun Hyang is unleashed as a deadly female
warrior to quash the rebellion. Even with his twin guns and undead
warriors, Munso has a challenging fight, however when Chun Hyang
discovers that her lover is dead, she becomes lost and seeks a new
purpose and solace with our hero.
Like the gruff hero, he turns her
away, however when Chun Hyang, now transformed into Sando saves his
life, he reluctantly allows her to join. Together they investigate the
mystery on the island that truly throws a few psychological twists into
the work which I cannot spoil here because the discovery is quite huge.
The animation is fantastic on DVD and the fight scenes are extremely
well choreographed through the animation with a few CGI effects thrown
in for good measures to make this a very impressive production. Add in
some great voice acting, an engaging musical score and a plethora of fun
and over the top special effects and this is a well made anime film that
had me drawn in from the first few moments of the story.
Unfortunately
just when you’re getting right into it, the story ends and I would love
to see more adventures of Munso. Just be warned that Blade of the
Phantom Master is quite a gory movie with the most memorable scene in
the film being Munso using the body of Monlyon as a shield against the
Desert Devils.
Blade of the Phantom is a pure indulgent experience that breaks away from the
anime stereotypes, except for the cute black bat but none the less, I
recommend it!
Special Features
Making
of
Storyboards
Production sketches
Interviews with the Japanese staff
Original Japanese theatrical trailers
TV spots
Clean opening and closing |
