Rating: 
Summary: Not bad, but not that great, either
Review: It's obvious that the creators of this anime were trying hard to achieve something, but it obviously lacks the polish to achieve their intentions.To begin with, the animation is definitely aged. It's not awful, but there are points at which I think the animation falls to sub-standard quality. There's an overall creepiness that the animators gave to the movie, but it doesn't serve to do much. Story-wise, this movie is lacking. They try hard to weave a decent story, but lack of character development and just a simple lack of direction hinders what could have been a very good plot. You never seem to care for the characters as much as you should. There are also some cliche moments throughout the movie. The music is rather forgettable. I watched the subbed version and the voice acting was decent. Still, despite it's numerous flaws, this movie does have an underlying quality to it. Had this movie been developed in plot and overall cinematics, it could have been much better. As it is, it's an average movie that I can't really recommend unless you're just a serious anime fan.
Rating:
Summary: Unfulfilled promise...
Review: Much in this production promised well, but alas this promise goes unfulfilled...
The film has a fairly strong sense of style that is kept up throughout, but is lacking in substance. The plain fact of the matter is that I was rather bored with it - from beginning to end. Yes, there were some good things, but these were just not enough to chase away the strong sense of ennui... which is remarkable considering that there is so much going on that really SHOULD have been interesting...
As just about all the othe reviews have mentioned, the animation is dated though it certainly must have seemed impressive at the time (which was only 1989 - surprising how much the average quality level of anime in general has gone up in the following decade).
In the sound department, there is a fairly nice stereo soundstage for the effects. The music on the other hand left much to be desired - including some unfortunate testaments to the quality of 80s synthesizers (may they rest in pieces!).
In conclusion, this effort was simply wanting. I would really rate it with two stars, but the seriousness of intent on the part of the makers that is so evident throughout earns them another star - albeit somewhat grudgingly.
If only they had been able to fully realize their vision..
Rating: 
Summary: Blood Reign
Review: This is some old anime, 1989 to be exact. So when people bellyache about it not being up to snuff technically, then there's why. If you judge it by other anime of that period, then it holds up just fine. The story is meant to be moody and semi-cryptic (imagine that! cryptic anime!) and when I watched it at about 3AM it genuinely weirded me out. There is much deceit and decadence, and the traditionally clueless main character, questing though he's not quite sure why or how. Surely this is no Ninja Scroll or Samurai X (Rurouni Kenshin), the storytelling aspect is not nearly as well done. But on a more basic level of horror and intrigue, it succeeds well. I think it all depends on what you're expecting when you first view the film. Don't approach Blood Reign thinking you're in for the second coming of Akira and you will be pleased. But it certainly is not for kids, unless you want your kids watching ground-dwelling beasts emerge up through the bloody corpses of freshly killed drunken thieves.
Rating: 
Summary: If Ninja Scroll were more moody and brutal
Review: This is some old anime, 1989 to be exact. So when people bellyache about it not being up to snuff technically, then there's why. If you judge it by other anime of that period, then it holds up just fine. The story is meant to be moody and semi-cryptic (imagine that! cryptic anime!) and when I watched it at about 3AM it genuinely weirded me out. There is much deceit and decadence, and the traditionally clueless main character, questing though he's not quite sure why or how. Surely this is no Ninja Scroll or Samurai X (Rurouni Kenshin), the storytelling aspect is not nearly as well done. But on a more basic level of horror and intrigue, it succeeds well. I think it all depends on what you're expecting when you first view the film. Don't approach Blood Reign thinking you're in for the second coming of Akira and you will be pleased. But it certainly is not for kids, unless you want your kids watching ground-dwelling beasts emerge up through the bloody corpses of freshly killed drunken thieves.
Rating:
Summary: Blood Reign
Review: This Movie had good sound, thats it.
Rating: 
Summary: Boring movie, medicore animation
Review: This movie was the first one to teach me that once a film is transfered to the DVD format, it's picture quality does'nt necessarily have to be remastered to cause a more enjoyable viewing. Thus, it seems that it has the same picture quallity as the VHS version. Now, as for the plot, it is just as simple as boring, the main character goes on a stupid quest to search and destroy his former youth comrade who has turned evil, but no one bothers to tell us when or why' for the story begins from the middle of something. The hero's quest itself is boring and slow, and at most of it's parts not understandable. Last, the monsters in the movie are pretty stupid (flesh eating horse?!) and the fact that the entire movie consist of two seperate episodes makes this film to look as unworthy and a waste of money. I baught the movie in France and was fooled by the plot summary on it's back to think that it's a good adventure anime.
Rating:
Summary: An ill fated lover's lullabye for a smaller audience
Review: Yoma is a twinbladed sword. On one side it's very bloody, there is ninja action and horror but with his mystical and sometimes calm story, his changing colours which are mostly of a darker nature it will more attract people who like dark fairy tales then ones who expect and want to see a good action movie. If you're in search for a good action flick with ninja/monster thematics you should stop reading here right now and go buy ninja scroll, cause this movie might dissapoint you. Yoma is also a melancholic flavoured ghost story about everlasting friendship and love that's stronger than death as well as other pathetic stuff. Romantic natures who might think now that it might be worth a try should mind the fact that there is a lot of blood and brutality as well, though it lacks the typical rapture scenes that are used most of the adult animes (which is a very good point i think). That leaves a small audience and that might be, in addition to it's age, the reason why it's not that successful and why people are so different in their opinions about it. I think it's a very good picture, cause i like dark fairytales with mystical and frightning elements as well as the era of the samurai and ninja clans. The moody colouring which might appear dull to some viewer fits the actual moments in the movie quite well i think (when you're outside at night you might notice sometimes that all around you seems to be singlecoloured or at least dominated by a certain colour). The music fits great, there is mystical music when something strange is happening, fight music when the yoma appear and Hikage has to fight em and dramatic music for the memory and love parts. Of course some things could have done better (i for myself hate the part where hikage is reminded of his childhood where he used to run trough the green fields with his best friend - nothing against scenes like that but it's repeated a lot and then always the same like a filler or something - they could have improved that a lot by using someway different scenes at least), but due to the nice characters (hikage is my favourite anime ninja ever, his skills and usage of weapons is quite unique in the genre - the redhaired aya of the second part is a kinda stereotype character in the story, but a really cute one - the yoma with their mighty arrogance who see nothing but food and tools in humans), the bitter-romantic plot (the end is someway really touching), the stunning fight scenes and the nice music it's one of my alltime favourite animes, maybe just BECAUSE it's so full of opposing elements and different from straight styled pictures.
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