DVD REVIEW [Early] . Ashura (aka: Ashura jo no hitomi)

by Chris   ⋅   June 2, 2007   ⋅   Comment now   ⋅    RSS

When I first watched and reviewed Ashura, almost a full year ago, I was struck by the smart dialog, fun story, endearing performances, and quality production values. It was a fun little film that I definitely enjoyed, but didn’t think too much of after my review was in the bag. Now, having viewed the film again, I find that it’s continued to grow on me. Maybe because of the new subtitle translation, or maybe just because the characters were now familiar to me, I found the film was just more enjoyable, more fun, and more exciting than it had been previously. A lot of what I like about the film has been addressed in my old review, so in the interest of not repeating myself, I’ll refer you to that rather hastily written thing, here. For those of you unfamiliar with Ashura, that article also contains your plot synopsis.

There are some additional items I would like to point out, if only informally. First off, with my second viewing I really noticed what a wonderful performance Somegoro Ichikawa delivered. As the production pointed out, the guy’s just cheeky enough to be funny, while still letting you care about his fate. Rie Miyazawa’s performance is by and large good, but pales in comparison to his. Furthermore, I’m not sure how much of her performance can be attributed to her actual acting ability, or just her sorrowful face. Still, these are far better performances than you’ll see in comparable fare, on either side of the Pacific.

Secondly, while watching the film the first time, I was struck by the strange and beautiful music. This time I actually read the credits and realized it was none other than Yoko Kanno! Whether doing work for anime series such as Cowboy Bebop and Ghost in the Shell: SAC, or films such as Ashura, her compositions just sing (no pun intended). And, now, with the chance to play them in 5.1 surround, I was having a blast.

Lastly, the dialog and the layering of theatrical elements within a cinematic context were even more intelligent and purposeful than I initially thought. There were many lines that had me laughing out loud this time around, and thanks in part to insights provided by Kris, I realized just how well the Kabuki element was integrated into the film. For example, the demon bridge is quite like the bridge into the kabuki audience. Jaku and Izumo’s initial altercation in the Kabuki hall, and their later gateway battle mirror each other in their focus on both bridges. Quite cool.

In closing, I’d say Ashura is an even better film than I initially gave credit for. The story is smart, the performances noteworthy, the action engaging, and the effects work stunning. Quite the oxymoron, Ashura is a good natured tragic-love story that deserves to be seen by an intelligent audience. If you’re up for it, seek it out.

The DVD
This marks the very first time I’ve encountered a double disc AnimEigo release. Also, it marks the first time I’ve encountered one with a neon green spine (I believe this is to match the color of the demon blood shed in the film). It’s pretty safe to say your eye will be drawn to it on your shelf, but what about the quality of the disc itself?

AnimEigo presents Ashura in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio, with your choice of English 5.1 or Japanese 2.0 audio tracks, as well as your choice of subtitlings (literal translations, or minimal-text translations). Now, one reader had expressed concern about the DVD encoding used on AnimEigo releases, so I made extra sure to look at this disc with a fine tooth comb. Whether on my CRT using component cables, or on my computer monitor, at 1680×1050 resolution, this disc looks nice. I looked for things out of place, or scanning incorrectly, and just wasn’t finding them. This is a nice looking transfer. In fact, it’s far better than the initial Japanese copy of Ashura I viewed. If you’re not doing something funky like converting from NTSC to PAL, and then upscaling, this film will look more than fine.

In bringing Ashura to American shores, AnimEigo also made improvements on the translation. I loved having the literal subtitles this time, which (in regular AnimEigo fashion) not only translated the dialog, but every bit of text on screen, as well as providing explanations for various cultural elements featured in the film. The English Dub track is pretty good, though I found issue with some of the supporting actor’s Japanese pronunciations (one even says “Ido” instead of “Edo”). Still, being that it was in 5.1 surround, I found myself flipping to it whenever the Yoko Kanno score came in. Nice.

The major extras on the disc include a lengthy Making of Feature, as well as Special Effects documentary. Both rely on interviews with cast, crew, and director in order to convey the bulk of the information. The “Making of” feature focuses on issues in adapting the Ashura jo no hitomi stage play for the screen, casting the correct actors, and constructing a believable realm for the Ashura film. The Special Effects doc concerns the struggles in filming with the intention of later special effects inserts, as well as the creative process involved in digitally filling in “the last 20%” of an effect. In both of these I was struck by how down to earth director Yojiro Takita, and everyone on his production were. These are some decent, informative documentaries, but seemed a little long. There was one strange issue with these, however. For some reason the full screen docs were dropped in the disc in an anamorphic widescreen format (Just like Columbia’s Eating Raul release). To fix it you just need to tweak your DVD player from a 4:3 display to 16:9 on a standard tv, or simply not expand the image widthwise on your widescreen tv. It’s remedied easily, but I’m not sure how many people will know how to do it.

Rounding out the disc are the usual AnimEigo production notes, and photo and trailer galleries (this time containing every possible promo for Ashura, as well as trailers for the 47 Ronin, Shinsengumi, and Shogun Assassin). Compared to other AnimEigo outings, the production notes were a bit sparse. There are brief bios on the actors and directors, as well as some explanations of a few plot elements and translation decisions, but I was hoping the would include a few more educational bits. There are a few screens focusing on Kabuki, which certainly piqued my interest, but I would have liked to see a few more. Also, the photo gallery was an animated photo gallery, with a moving camera zooming in and out of each production still. It’s nice that it’s animated and set to music, but I prefer the good old fashioned static image galleries. Nitpicks, I know, but just being honest.

Lastly, the AnimEigo warning label. This one is pretty good. It reads “Warning: Contains violence, romance, treachery, violent romance, romantic treachery, and treacherous violence”

All in all, you have a nice release of a very cool film. The transfer is very clean, and the best I’ve seen for the film. The translation is far better than previously available. The extras are marred by a few small issues, but overall are of a decent quality. As you will be watching the film far more than the extras, I give this one a healthy recommendation.

About the Author

Chris Nelson has been a film fanatic since age six. A random sampling of some of his favorite films include Bring me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, Lady Snowblood, Kikujiro, and The 400 Blows. A former film and English major, he is now a Software Engineer and contract Technical Writer living in the Silicon Valley.

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