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The two-disc Collector's Edition unites two linked stories, although the appearance of the characters and the style of direction change between them. Pai is the last Sanjiyan or holy demon: the rest were exterminated 300 years ago when their king, Kaiyanwang, turned to evil. She's spent the last three centuries trying to become human. In Japan, Pai meets Yakumo Fujii, whose scientist father discovered that transforming a Sanjiyan into a human requires the "Statue of Humanity." The evil creatures who hope to resurrect Kaiyanwang also want the Statue: Pai and Yakumo challenge them in a series of bloody battles. Pai turns Yakumo into a Wu, a spirit whose soul is bound to her own and who cannot be killed while she lives. Yakumo falls in love with her, although it's difficult to understand why. Immortals ends when Pai and Benares, Kaiyanwang's chief henchman, disappear in a violent explosion. Realizing that Pai must still be alive, Yakumo vows to search until he finds her again. Divine Demon picks up the story four years later: Pa-Bo Ayanokoji believes she's a typical high school girl who likes to hang out with her friends. Her world is shattered when Yakumo reveals she is not a human, but Pai. Kaiyanwang is about to rise again, and his servants are trying to kill Pai, who can challenge his power. Pai's memories of her life in the blessed realm of Kunlun have been blocked by a spell; Yakumo takes her to Tibet to break it. Along the way, he fights assorted villains led by the sniggering Choukai. Pai and Yakumo cross the barrier to Kunlun with the aid of treasure hunter Jake Macdonald. There they battle both Choukai and Benares. Both stories end on weak notes, with enough plot strings left hanging to form a fringe. In Immortals, the viewer never learns what becomes of the sinister Mrs. Wong, the Statue of Humanity, or Yakumo's group of friends. In Divine Demon the expected confrontation between Pai and Kaiyanwang fails to materialize. Contains these episodes: 1. "Transmigration," 2. "Yakumo," 3. "Sacrifice," 4. "Straying," 5. "Descent," 6. "The Key," 7. "The Return." Rated 16+: considerable violence, minor profanity, and nudity. --Charles Solomon
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