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Kai Doh Maru.




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Mr Mania



Joined: 10 Feb 2003
Posts: 581
Location: UK
PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2003 10:32 am Reply with quote
So what does everyone thing?
Personally I was really disappointed had been looking forward to this release and it really let me down.I guess the main problem is that its 45 mins long.It wasn’t such a problem for Blood:The last Vampire because blood told a story which only needed 45 mins,admittedly more character development would have been nice and the story could have been expanded but it still works as it is.The difference with Kai Doh Maru is that it takes a story that needs at least 90mins to tell and squashes it into a 45 min production.Doing this makes it feel like its been heavily edited as the story is very hard to follow. I grasped the story better by reading the back of the DVD than by watching the feature. Also the character motivations are hard to grasp especially those of Ohni Hime. Not only that but I hadnt got a clue what was going on with the twins until I read the character profiles on the DVD.Also the art and animation was a little off putting at times.It was an admirable idea to use a colour scheme reminiscent of the art style at the time but unfortunately it doesn’t work.Also the cgi while not bad didn’t blend in all that well but I think that may have been to do with the colour scheme.The only real plus point of the feature was the action scenes which while nothing spectacular were nicely done.
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Legato 2057



Joined: 18 May 2003
Posts: 437
Location: Soon to be Japan
PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2003 10:57 am Reply with quote
Yeah, that about sums it up for me tooo. I was expecting something more, not sure what I was expecting exactly, but I know it wasn't in the film Razz It reminds me of the old school one shots like Darkside Blues and such that were obviously only pieces of the story. I agree that it could have been a lot better if it had been extneded to 90 mins.
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Lupin_333



Joined: 08 Jun 2003
Posts: 136
Location: Houston, TX
PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2003 9:19 pm Reply with quote
If you buy it at Suncoast you can get it for $19.99. I think that you get something with it, but I forgot.
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Freddy C



Joined: 31 Mar 2004
Posts: 142
Location: UK
PostPosted: Sun May 02, 2004 7:27 pm Reply with quote
I now I have been reviving my share of old threads, but since this one only had 3 posts I won't make another thread.

I thought KDM was okay, it did have a dreamy atmosphere, but no where near as good as Blood.

The story was also a bit confusing for me, well maybe I only watched it once. I only understood it after reading the info bit on the official site.

This was just too confusing, characters' names were hard to remember, too little background inog too. but the good ting guess was that it was short.
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Ken Hayashi



Joined: 13 Apr 2004
Posts: 752
Location: Singapore
PostPosted: Mon May 03, 2004 3:05 am Reply with quote
You said that the movie was too short. Was it edited? Did it have missing sections? I haven't watched it (maybe I won't, after all this) but i had a similar experience when I bought GITS. The first 3 versions I bought were badly edited and lots of scenes were missing. I know because I had the GITS Contiuity Script (basically the storyboards) and was comparing the movie and the book scene-for-scene.
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ShellBullet



Joined: 20 Mar 2003
Posts: 1051
Location: I hit things, with my fist.
PostPosted: Mon May 03, 2004 3:38 am Reply with quote
After watching it I wondered if it was based on a manga. In which case, if you have read the manga then you might get a kick out of it, if not then don't bother. There was nowhere near enough character developement. By the time when people started dying, I couldn't find myself caring what happened to these people one way or the other. The art style is interesting but only as an oddity, a failed experiment if you will. The movie should have been much better than it was.
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Freddy C



Joined: 31 Mar 2004
Posts: 142
Location: UK
PostPosted: Mon May 03, 2004 7:03 am Reply with quote
Ken Hayashi wrote:
You said that the movie was too short. Was it edited? Did it have missing sections?


No not as far as I know, does anyone know here? I think it was just meant to be short since it probably takes a while to do al those CG in the film so they couldn't make it too long.
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eva05
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PostPosted: Mon May 03, 2004 8:11 am Reply with quote
KDM is based on a few old stories from Japanese history/myth.

If you don't know the stories I could see how it would be a little confusing.

I personally thought it was awesome. Def the best thing to come out that year...

The actual animation and shot tempo was refined to a science practically.

j
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Dilandau



Joined: 06 Jan 2004
Posts: 525
Location: Tea House
PostPosted: Tue May 04, 2004 5:24 am Reply with quote
I agree that the directing and choice of animation style was fabulous. But, I didn't get the story either. I had to have a Japanese friend explain the myth behind Kai Doh Maru before I even vaguely grasped what was going on.
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Ken Hayashi



Joined: 13 Apr 2004
Posts: 752
Location: Singapore
PostPosted: Tue May 04, 2004 5:42 am Reply with quote
Freddy C wrote:
Ken Hayashi wrote:
You said that the movie was too short. Was it edited? Did it have missing sections?


No not as far as I know, does anyone know here? I think it was just meant to be short since it probably takes a while to do al those CG in the film so they couldn't make it too long.


Was it full CGI, like Avalon (I heard, not seen it myself). Because Blue Submarine 6 was very CGI heavy too but it was some 4 episodes (so almost 2 hours I think).
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Unicorn_Blade



Joined: 18 Jul 2010
Posts: 1153
Location: UK
PostPosted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 5:32 pm Reply with quote
I just finished watching this one as well... And I was glad to see that I was not the only one confused. If not the plot overview at the back of the DVD, I would have no clue or whatsoever what was going on in this film. The most confusing 40 minutes I have seen in a while. It actually looks like if someone took the film, and randomly cut out 80% of it, leaving some (again) very random scenes. The plot is not consensed into those 40 minutes, there is no plot really. Because of that the interactions between the characters are incomprehensible.

It seems that almost all of the characters pop out of nowhere to say a few lines spoiler[and die or disappear into thin air.] We dont know who 90% of them are, what are their motivations, why are they doing what they are doing. I wonder if it makes more sense if you are familiar with the stories the films is based on...spoiler[Where did Ouni's power came from, who were the creepy twins (?), why did Sadamitsu join them at the end, and finally, what the hell is going on in this film...Smile
]
Maybe you need to read an article on wiki to get it, but otherwise the film explains nothing.

The only thing I did like was the animation style, different, but worked for me, gave the series a sort of creepy mood.
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Kruszer



Joined: 19 Nov 2004
Posts: 7994
Location: Minnesota, USA
PostPosted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 6:50 pm Reply with quote
I thought it was extremely weak. The white-out animation style physically hurt my eyes to watch and I could tell what was going on half the time. In addition the story was not all that entertaining.
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RHachicho



Joined: 07 Oct 2009
Posts: 897
Location: Essex, UK
PostPosted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 6:54 pm Reply with quote
Aye my opinion can basically be summed up above this never really "hooked" me.
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Boomer





PostPosted: Fri Sep 24, 2010 1:22 pm Reply with quote
I remember seeing this years ago as a rental. Although I am not a huge fan of period pieces, in anime or otherwise, I thought this movie would be a good way to pass a bit of time. I did not like it very much at the time, but it comes out looking okay compared to all the crappy anime I have seen since. It's a mediocre or below average show at worst. Sure, Kai Doh Maru is no Kakurenbo, but I admire its makers for trying to create something with a different and unique look. It deserves credit for that alone.
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Unicorn_Blade



Joined: 18 Jul 2010
Posts: 1153
Location: UK
PostPosted: Fri Sep 24, 2010 2:18 pm Reply with quote
Well, I appreciated the art... And first 2 minutes of it. But the script must have been written during a drinking game or something.

You know this game when you write a sentence, then fold a piece of paper to cover it and pass it onto the next person to write next sentence? That's what I think must have happened in case of Kai doh maru.
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