 | | ▪ | RELEASED BY: | | FUNIMATION ENTERTAINMENT | | | ▪ | ASPECT RATIO: | | 16:9 ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN | | | ▪ | AUDIO: | | ENGLISH AND JAPANESE DD 5.1 | | | ▪ | RUNNING TIME: | | 90 MIN | | | ▪ | RATING: | | TV MA | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 06/30/2009 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 07/01/2009 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | HOLLY ELLINGWOOD |
Once the land of Jushin was a prosperous place under the rule of a righteous king. Amen Osa, elite agents of justice, would go out among the various cities and root out all corruption and tyrants. The kingdom of Jushin fell however, and the Amen Osa are said to have been destroyed. The time of peace is but a story to most as the fractured lands feel the sting of lashes and the boot heels of their oppressors. One man however moves among them to right the wrongs and find the one responsible for the fall off king and empire. He is Munsu, and he may be the last of the Amen Osa and the populaces’ final hope for salvation. Blade of the Phantom Master is an epic fantasy feature film and marks the first anime collaboration between Japan and South Korea. The story was first published as a manwha, written by In-Wan Youn and illustrated by Kyung-Il Yang. It tells the story of the last Amen Osa and his struggles to bring peace to a troubled land while searching for revenge. Munsu is the stoic lone warrior, giving and taking nothing except his righteous wrath upon those who have shown tyranny and inhumanity. He saves people because it is his duty, but in the story Munsu shows little patience or tolerance for weakness. He does not feel pity, particularly for those too cowardly to fight for their freedom or others too fearful to look at the harsh truths before them. The film opens on a beautiful women horribly abused by a despot. When Munsu moves to depose of the leader, she is manipulated by the very people who have imprisoned her to fight Munsu. Upon her freedom at the Amen Osa’s hand, Chun Hyang becomes Sando, one who serves the Amen Osa with her deft sword skills. Their travels are silent and beautifully scenic, showing lush lands before he happens upon another place corrupt from within. When a strange boy riddled with amnesia begs Munsu’s help and is recaptured and taken to an island, Munsu follows Jyun to find out the truth Jyun cannot face. Strange goings on has Munsu on the alert. A physician as socially skilled as he is medicinally adept raises Munsu’s suspicions. An attack by a female assassin raises even more. A secret of the walking dead and a clue perhaps to the one Munsu seeks may be at hand. Yet first he must survive and see if he can convince Jyun of the truth the young man fears, while facing against one of the greatest foes Munsu has yet fought – the terrible angel of death – Yuite. It is strong fantasy telling and gives the film a theatrical scope with the way it allows scenes with no dialogue to give the viewer a sense of a much larger landscape and world at hand. Although the film does not resolve the quest for revenge on the one Munsu blames for the fall of the kingdom of Jushin, it is not meant to. Blade of the Phantom Master is a saga, not unlike a spaghetti Western or epic samurai tale where the lone warrior wonders eternally on his solitary road, meeting out justice while always unable to truly assuage his own inner burdens. The beautiful orchestral score throughout the movie was composed by Kow Otani (Haibane Renmei, Outlaw Star, Shakugan no Shana, Gunslinger Girl Il Treatino, Blade of the Immortal, among others). The animation is outstanding theatrical quality. It has gorgeous landscapes, detailed and expansive. It also showcases electric action in the sword duels that take place. Munsu fights with his guns, reinforcing the Old West touch, however Sando’s sword fighting often threaten to eclipse him with her aerial techniques and the amazingly fast yet visually followed moves animated in the film. Whether you like Old West tales, fantasy quests, or lone samurai, this movie will appeal to all of the above.
EXTRAS:
The disc has a rich store of extras. Bonus features include a making of CG video with the animation production staff, previews of other anime titles, storyboards to CG comparisons, production sketches, TV spots, original Japanese and US theatrical trailers, and video interviews with the Japanese cast including behind the scenes of the recording session with Keiji Fujiwara (Munsu), Sanae Kobayashi (Sando), and Romi Park (Mari).
IN SUMMARY:
Blade of the Phantom Master is a high quality fantasy saga of the lone warrior out for justice. |
