Search - Guardian of Darkness on DVD

Guardian Of Darkness, a different and dark OVA

Joel Jankiewicz | Dauphin, Manitoba Canada | 01/20/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This 3 part OVA series surprised me, to say the least. The cover speaks half the true, and at the same time, doesn't tell some other things. The main hero, Koichi(In the cover), has two forms. The form of the beast(The mecha dragon style armor), and Susanoo himself, who is a giant samurai style warrior. Koichi and Susanoo must battle the 3 dragons, in order to save the Earth.The fights are done in the style of Ultraman, in which Koichi lets Susanoo 'posses' him and control his body. As a result, they both become one. When there isn't any big fights, the overall feel of the story is chilling. When Koichi just starts to discover his powers, he doesn't want to accept the responsiblity, as he finds out the hard way of spilling blood when he wasn't in control (I won't spoil about that part).Koichi is the young man who doesn't like to fight, and looks down upon himself. But at the same time, he doesn't want to let anyone down. Terumi, his childhood friend, wants him to protect her, and she even begins to fall in love with him. Susanoo himself, is a fairly cold persona of a warrior, but puts things into perspective with purpose. The overall mood is dark, with creepy music, and a chilling plot. I had NO idea how the story was going to end, until the very end.The animation style is a bit older, reminding me of the art style similar to the "Guyver: Out Of Control" OVA movie, but Guardian Of Darkness' style seems more up to date.The english dubbing isn't bad at all. While it's mostly hit and misses, I pretty much enjoyed it, and was able to watch the anime with little to no trouble with the audio.If you want an anime that stands out from the crowd of animes on the market, give this one a shot. Rent it first if you want to, and if you like it, go ahead and get it."

ACTUALLY... Four is good =)

iansomniak | 09/08/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Well this was an interesting anime i must say. I love anime and everything so i looked at the back of the DVD and it sounded pretty good so i paid 15$ for it and took it home to watch it, i have to say i wasn't sure what to think of it at first it was more or less a little weird but then again alot of animes are weird. By the time to movie ended i was still a little confused. the animation is good and the action was pretty cool but the plot was a little bit weak (Edit: The last episode of this movie is by far the best). As far as violence goes they was some violent scenes, including one where a girl gets her head ripped off but nothing compared to Ninja Scroll. there wasn't much nudity in the movie. Anyway, i not sure whether buying it was a mistake or not but to sum up this review i'll say 2 things: i've seen better anime, i've seen worse anime. And if anybody wants to see this i suggest you rent this before deciding to give up 15$-20$...."

"It's not as if I CHOSE to have freckles..."

iansomniak | USA, Planet Earth | 10/16/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Although she appears to be just as cute as any other anime girl, Terumi Armono (voice of Lisa Ortiz, Deedlit from Record of Lodoss War) considers herself an ugly duckling due to her little pug nose and the scattering of tiny dots across her cheeks. Terumi's self-loathing is worsened, daily, by relentless taunts from her mean-spirited nemesis, Motoko, who continually refers to her fellow classmate as, "Poor, ugly Terumi." Both girls are obsessed with the green-haired soccer star, Koichi (voice of Ted Lewis, Etoh from Record of Lodoss War); and both are equally certain that Terumi is far too homely to ever attract the attention of a green-haired soccer star--even with the flattering sketches of him that she enjoys rendering on lined notebook paper. So, recalling something Koichi told her when they were children, Terumi pays a visit to the Shrine of the Eight-Headed Dragon (by the south end of the lake) to leave an offering of rice, salt and sake, in hopes that the Dragon God will answer her prayers and make her ravishingly pretty.

Some time thereafter, while Terumi tosses and turns in her bed, the eyes of the green dragon carving on the wall of the Dragon Cave glow red. At the same time, Koichi, who's relaxing in his bathtub, hears an eerie voice calling out to him...and it isn't Mr. Bubble. It is, in fact, Susa (a.k.a. Susanoo) of the Nenokuni. "I am one who takes the shape of a beast to fight the dragon," says Susa, "You must succumb to my will!" Later, in the shadows of the night, beneath a crescent moon, a cherry-red armored monster with a great emerald-green gemstone embedded in its prodigious brow slashes a screaming woman with its clawed hand. Blood splatters and a murky cloud of smoke envelopes the slayer and its victim. The dragon carving's eyes light up once more, while, simultaneously, a strange symbol flashes on Terumi's forehead as she continues to writhe and moan in her bed.

The following morning, Terumi gazes into her bedroom mirror and is amazed to find that she is suddenly drop-dead gorgeous (no pun intended). "Is this really me?" she gasps. Her hair is lighter and her freckles have miraculously vanished (otherwise, she looks exactly the same, but this story requires a willing suspension of disbelief). She ties her lovely hair up in a hot-pink bow, tosses a pastel-pink scarf around her slender neck, and rushes off to school. Her classmates--Koichi included--are speechless when they behold her breathtaking not-so-extreme makeover. The supercilious Motoko is almost literally green with envy. Unfortunately, Terumi's joy is short-lived. She soon learns that her newfound pulchritude does not impress the neighborhood stray cat. In fact, the black and white feline is downright horrified at the sight of the homecoming queen wannabe. What's more, the beautiful budding botanist's green thumb has turned to brown, and all of her roses are wilting in her hands.

That night, haunted by a newspaper clipping about a murdered woman given to him earlier by a mysterious priestess, Koichi locks himself in his father's study so he can hit the books to learn more about the Tenpyo Era and the righteous power of Susanoo the dragon slayer. Soon, he again hears Susa's voice, saying, "The dragon has arisen! Succumb to my will!"

The next two installments of this three-part OVA (each part is about 40 minutes long) introduce the priestess, Sayoko, and the priest, Jiunbo...as well as a female, flannel-shirted zombie with dangerously long fingernails. The plots of both stories are built around ancient Japanese legends, namely, "The Legend of the 800 Priestesses" and "The Mystery of Hiruko." Both feature extended scenes of Koichi reading, at length, from his library of folklore textbooks. These segments are interesting enough, but more action would be preferable. Part 1 is by far the best of this good, but not exceptional, series.

Guardian of Darkness (or Takegami) offers attractive character designs, but a somewhat dark and dismal color scheme. Contrary to what you might expect from the director of Bubblegum Crisis, the soundtrack is almost completely devoid of any catchy J-pop songs (aside from a few lines sung during the final episode). DVD extras include a set of clips from the show, called "Meet the Cast," and a subtitled interview with series creator, Osamu Yamazaki. Takegami is rated 13 and up for some gratuitous nudity in the second episode and occasional bloody violence throughout.

"If this is our destiny, let the current take us where it may. Tomorrow is another day.""