Rating: 
Summary: Poorly done.
Review: Kai Doh Maru had a very great story line but I found that it had no real ending. My first thought was "This must be a series!" I did some research on the film and found no hints of it being a series. I am very dissapointed. It was short and the climax was horrible. To have got peoples attention they could have actually included Kintoki's past. There isn't much to say about it. It was a bad movie.
Rating:
Summary: Poorly done.
Review: Kai Doh Maru had a very great story line but I found that it had no real ending. My first thought was "This must be a series!" I did some research on the film and found no hints of it being a series. I am very dissapointed. It was short and the climax was horrible. To have got peoples attention they could have actually included Kintoki's past. There isn't much to say about it. It was a bad movie.
Rating:
Summary: Lost Potential
Review: Kai Doh Maru, while having the makings of a great film, failed horribly in its endevor. While the film boasts highly stylized animation, computer constructed environments and filtered animstion to make it appear as if it were a Heian period Ukiyo-e painting, the film has very little in the way of plot and plays out much more like a progression of major events and has remarkably little character development.The film is about Kentoki, the daughter of a feudal lord who raised her as a boy (something that was not uncommon in feudal Japan) in order to prevent his brother from usurping the lordship of the clan in the event of his death. Kentoki's uncle, in response, slaughters her family and takes control of the clan, forcing Kentoki and her maid to flee to the hills, where she is nicknamed Kai Doh Maru because of all the trouble she causes for the villagers. [Oddly, none of this actually plays out in the film]. After her uncle tracks her down, Kentoki is taken in by the Four Knights of Kyoto and she eventually falls in love with Lord Raiko [something else that is indirectly stated in the film, although this is a bit more understandable as intimate relationships in feudal Japan were not spoken of directly]. The bulk of the very short film revolves around Ohnihime (meaning Princess Ohni), Kentoki's cousin who has been driven mad by her consuming love of Kentoki and having watched her father kill her uncle and Kentoki's family, seeking her out by any means. While the film had great potential, based on the character and storyline profiles on the DVD, it failed to create a gripping storyline and calls for viewers to have an extensive knowledge of feudal japanese history in order to establish the relationships between the various historical characters. Although the film is visually pleasing, I would not recommend purchasing it if you are an intellectual viewer who demands a fully developed plot in addition to stunning visuals.
Rating: 
Summary: Short & Sweet
Review: The movie starts out confusing and has an abrupt, yet sad ending. I love it. Berevity is the soul of wit. There is this theme throughout the movie of moral nihilation: burning villiages, creepy girls, etc. The movie has a very realistic atmosphere, too. The rain makes you feel like you are wet. Serious. It's wierd. The seasons progress in the movie and anyone who's been to Japan will appreciate how realistically it represents her seasons. The only minus is that in parts of the movie, things just look too much like an OpenGL demo. For the most part, they did a good job at making an all-digital movie look like old japanese scrolls, but there are parts where the suspention of disbelief could have been better. All I can say is I hope they try again.. The ending cries "prequel" I don't care what happens next. probably nothing exiting, but I'd like to see the backstory unfold... oh, and whatever you do, don't watch the dub! watch it subbed. the dub sounds awful.
Rating: 
Summary: WORST ANIME I HAVE EVER SEEN
Review: This anime was awful. The back of the dvd case actually give you more informative information on the backstory than the feature itself. Its set in the Heian era of Japan in which different political factions, organized gangs, and hereditary rulers were all vying for power. Kintoki is a young girl raised as a boy whose parents are murdered by her uncle and she is next except she is rescued by Raiko, the captain of the "Four Knights", an elite guard of the city of Kyo. She is raised as a samurai and as she reaches the age of 17, she is an equal partner in the defense of the city. Thats when a sorceress, unaware that Kintoki is a woman and is consequently in love with her comes to stir up chaos and death. Why was this dvd awful? The same people that created Kai Dah Maru created Blood The Last Vampire. That movie was too short. The storyline was very simple so that its brevity didn't interfere with the enjoyment of it that much. The same does not hold true for this movie. You have all these complex intrigues and assasinations and backstory and presentstory and you're cramming it into 45 minutes. Think of any anime series ending after its second episode and you'll understand the problem here. I am not ignorant of Japanese history but I really never understood what was going on in this story. You really can't even figure out who is who character-wise until the show is over. It's like they were trying to do Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in the space of 20 minutes. Truly awful. No development. In addition to the shortness of the feature, the animation was sorry. I know by reading the cover that the palette was supposed to be influenced by the art of the time period and all this seasonal blah blah blah. What you get is the effect of watching the entire anime through a fog. Picture being in a theater watching a movie through a haze of smoke. Also, during the action scenes, the frames shake in a pitiful attempt to simulate a hand held camera. All it looks like to me is scrolling up and down on a computer screen. This movie was a total disaster. One guy gets his arm cut off and instead of bleeding to death on the spot, he jumps onto a roof and, as he escapes, yells to his amputator "I won't forget your face!!" The CGI used in this movie also stinks. It does not blend into the scenes. It's like every small flaw in Blood was taken and expanded upon by this anime. In the future, I would suggest that the makers, if they continue to make 45 minute movies, should stick to stories that are simple and that can fit into their time restraints. There are a lot of extras on this dvd but I didn't look at them because I hated the movie so much what was the point?
Rating:
Summary: Brief Magic
Review: This is a difficult anime to assess. It comes from Production IG, the studio responsible for 'Blood - the Last Vampire' and 'Ghost in the Shell.' But unlike those anime and others intended for large public exposure, 'Kai Doh Maru' is a far more intimate creation, curiously low key for a tale with this much violence. Intended more as artistic expression than high profile.
The story is set in the late 9th Century in the Heian capital of Kyoto. Action revolves around Kintoki Sakata, the Kai Doh Maru. When an envious uncle wiped out her branch of the Sakata clan, Kintoki escaped and was finally rescued by Lord Raiko Minamoto who is the captain of the Four Knights of the defense ministry. Kintoki has always been a tomboy, and now she sets out to be a warrior, one of Raiko's right hand 'men.'
The overt theme is the political conflict already brewing between the Minamoto and the Taira. Doji Ibaragi is a mad swordsman who serves Kintoki's cousin, Hime Ohni. He uses Hime's own compulsive desire for Kintoki to manipulate events into a crisis. The true theme, amidst the whirl of fighting and betrayal, is Kintoki's fatal effects on the lives of those that love her.
This is all told with the terse minimalism that the Japanese often seem to relish. The ending is sudden, and difficult to grasp. I found it jarring in its sudden tragedy, and I expect that many watchers will feel that 'Kai Doh Maru' is much too short. The film cries out for more detail and character development.
Yet, as an art piece, this film is outstanding. Colors and graphic style have been chosen to recall Heian artistic forms. The images of the capital and characters will stay with you for some time. And the fight chorography is nothing short of remarkable. It all makes the abruptness of the telling forgivable. The DVD includes a long discussion bout the making of the film and a lot of artistic artifacts. The latter include many of the 3D models for many of the film's features.
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