It must be great fun to use one own's family name to create the legend of a famous samurai who fought demons 1000 years ago, with power-bearing descendants to carry on with his heroic deeds in present times. It is equally conspicuous that Yusuke Watanabe had a blast re-creating the world of Yokai which aged well due to Takashi Miike's previous take on creatures from the Japanese folklore and mythology: “The Great Yokai War (2005)” is still as exciting to watch as it was 15 years ago, and it stands out as one of the best fantasy films ever made.
The Great Yokai War: Guardians is screening at Japan Cuts
If there could be any talk of change in quality between the original movie and its sequel, it can be frankly attributed to one technical aspect only (although the great job was also done back in 2005). The special effects of today are simply more advanced, bringing many new opportunities in depicting the pantheon of outwordly creatures in a more striking way.
Watanabe did a magnificent job of imagining a completely new adventure that doesn't have much to do with the original script written by Miike and Mitsuhiko Sawamura (based on the novel by Hiroshi Aramata) for “The Great Yokai War”. With his vision of a troublesome chain of events happening long after the first big bloodshed, this a fantasy tale of a different kind. We are even willing to forgive him moments of confusion regarding the identity of some of the characters, because the whole package works. Just think of an army of fast-running Tanuki (Japanese Racoon dogs) led by the human-hating Gyobu Inumagi yokai (Takao Osawa) who's riding a fire-spewing motorbike to the beats of heavy metal music. Encore!
Some of the craziest-looking Yokai are back: Rokurokubi, the woman who can stretch her neck to extreme lengths (Ikuko Mori), the azuki-beans washer Azukiarai (Takashi Okamura delivers some of the greatest comedy moments in the film), the snow woman Yukionna (Yuko Oshima), Tenome (ghostly blind man with his eyes on his palms), the giant head Okubi (Renji Ishibashi) and ‘The Heavenly Dog' Tengu (Takahiro Miura). They are gathered to try to prevent the impatient Yokaiju (a collection of resentment of the ancient, enraged creatures buried within the Fossa Magna) to reach the Pacific ocean through Tokyo.
Invisible to human eye, Yokaiju appears without warning, crushing everything below its heavy body with a force of a terrible earthquake. But that's less of a concern for Yokai who fear something else far more than humans dying in the process. It's the memory of an evil much bigger than lost souls longing to return to the ocean and unwilling to negotiate their chosen path. Right below Tokyo, the most powerful of all demons is trapped under the seal that blocks his super-powers. But the ghosts of the former sea creatures are simply driven by the call of ‘heimat', stubbornly rolling over the hills and villages without an actual agenda of causing harm. Metaphorically speaking, they just follow a wrongly chosen leader – a giant howling head that leads them in one direction. It's just another day in the life of sheepish voters so to speak, and reasoning with them doesn't really work.
The criticism of leaders/ politicians who push their people into the abyss doesn't stop here. We are invited to take a look into YAMMIT: World Yokai Summit, very similar to everything we know from the live transmitted parliamentary discussions world-wide. Although not human, the participants show exactly same kind of treats, including ignorance and negligence of basic ‘creature's rights.
As in the “The Great Yokai War”, a child needs to be chosen to lead the fight against the evil (no adult can see the yokai!) That child also has to come from ‘a house without a gable', which is a story that dates back to the times when Watanabe no Tsuna (Kazuki Kitamura) chased the demon through the gable of his home. As it happens, the 6th-grader Kei (Kokoro Terada) is not only the boy who is chosen to lead the next great Yokai war, he is also his descendent. Watanabe, it is.
Miike shows yet again a great sensibilty in working with children. They are not meant to be “natural born fighters”, but first and foremost – just children with their fears, weaknesses and goodness of the heart that were not yet spoiled by the adult way of thinking. A great chunk of praise for this goes of course to Watanabe, but we've already witnessed a similar approach to the lead (child) character in “The Great Yokai War”. Kei is a shy and sweet boy who still mourns the death of his father. He is not heroic without a strong motive which is the safety of his younger brother Dai (Ray Inomata). Terada's acting is believable – he is doing what a kid would do in impossibly challenging situations.
Also the rest of the cast is very well chosen, from extras to leads. Seasoned Japanese actors aside, it won't come as a great surprise if Ray Inomata becomes big one day. With his acting talent, all he needs is a good agent to lead him into other exciting film projects.
Miike teams again with cinematographer Hideo Yamamoto responsible for the photography in 15 of his previous films (Young Thugs: Innocent blood, Audition, Dead or Alive, Salaryman Kintaro, Tennen shojo Man next: Yokohama hyaku-ya hen, The Guys from Paradise, Visitor G, Ichi the Killer, The Happiness of the Katakuris, Graveyard of Honor, Shangri-La, One Missed Call, The Great Yokai War, Yatterman and Terra Formars). This is a match made in heaven. Yamamoto is not only excellent in boosting the suspense with his meticulous framing, he knows ‘his Miike'. The way he switches from scenes depicting the mundane life of Watanabe family painted with bright, happy colours to the darkness of the life-threatening parallel universe is effortless.
We are barely thrown into the pits of an underground maze where the picture becomes more unsettling, but the strong comedy elements take the gloom away. There is a skeletal dragon pissed off about being awaken by intruders before becoming a version of Falkur, tamed by Onikiramaru – the sword a former female demon ‘Foxface' (Hana Sugisaki) made for Kei from the umbrella he used to protect himself. There is also a demon hilariously clumsy for his vocation – Amanojaku, a Yokai that is supposed to instigate people into wickedness, but too lonely to be bothered.
And let's not forget Mrs Fox (Hana Sugisaki)! A former demon whose life was spared by no one less than Watanabe no Tsuna a century ago, is a significant link between the two worlds, and the protector of her former enemy's children.
Miike is up to so many things at the moment (we are already biting nails in excitement), that it makes you wonder how the heck he manages to put so much dedication into his filmmaking process. He's yet back again to his 3 movies a year productivity, including the final instalment of the ‘Mole Agent'. We are not complaining. The more Miike the better, thank you.
“The Great Yokai War: Guardians” is a film with a seal of approval by kids and adults alike. It might be two hours long, but every minute of it is justified.
