Orochi, the Eight-Headed Dragon

Orochi, the Eight-Headed Dragon
Theatrical release poster
Directed byTakao Okawara
Screenplay byWataru Mimura[1]
Produced byShogo Tomiyama[1]
Starring
CinematographyYoshinori Sekiguchi[1]
Music byKiyoko Ogino[1]
Production
company
Distributed byToho
Release date
  • 9 July 1994 (1994-07-09) (Japan)
Running time
105 minutes[2]
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese
Box office¥800 million[3]

Orochi, the Eight-Headed Dragon[2] (Japanese: ヤマトタケル, Hepburn: Yamato Takeru) is a 1994 Japanese epic religious fantasy film directed by Takao Okawara and produced by Shogo Tomiyama, with a screenplay by Wataru Mimura. Distributed by Toho and produced under their subsidiary Toho Pictures, the film is based on Japanese mythology, specifically the birth of Shinto.[1] It stars Masahiro Takashima, Yasuko Sawaguchi, Akaji Maro, Yūki Meguro and Saburo Shinoda.

Plot

A pair of twin princes are born. Their father, emperor Keiko of Yamato, feels a great loathing for one of his sons, Ousu. Being convinced that this feeling is a premonition, Keiko orders the shaman Tsukinowa to kill Ousu, yet his efforts are spoiled by Amano Shiratori, the White Bird of the Heavens. Keiko's sister, seeing this as a clear sign of divine intervention, takes it upon herself to raise Ousu. Years later, when Ousu has matured into a man, he is given pardon by Keiko and allowed to return to the castle. However, not long after, Ousu's mother empress Inahi falls ill and dies mysteriously. This sends Ousu's brother into a rage and causes him to attack Ousu, who defends himself and accidentally kills his brother in the process. Keiko, furious at these events, orders Ousu to leave the castle and not return until the barbarians living in the Kumaso domain are dealt with. Ousu makes haste to complete this task, stopping off at a shrine on his way where, after a quick battle, he befriends a young priestess named Oto Tachibana who joins him on his journey. They, along with companions Genbu and Seiryu, raid the castle, killing Kumaso Takeru and their god Kumasogami.

Following this defeat, Ousu changes his name to Yamato Takeru, yet fails to win the acceptance of Keiko. His aunt, though, warns him of a great threat looming overhead, as the moon god Tsukuyomi is poised to return, endangering the Earth. Takeru must prepare to halt this from occurring. She tells him to bring the enchanted Sword of Dark Clouds to her for safekeeping as it holds a good deal of the god's power. He secures the sword but is tricked by Tsukinowa, who revealed himself to be Tsukuyomi's acolyte, into surrendering it, thus inadvertently restoring Tsukuyomi to full power. Tsukinowa also reveals that it was him who killed Inahi and Takeru's brother to frame Takeru.

The solar eclipse falls over Earth as Tsukuyomi blots out the sunlight. Takeru is told by the deity Susanoo that his divinely ordained destiny is to destroy Tsukuyomi with the aid of Oto, who revealed to be the incarnation of the sun goddess and Susanoo's sister Amaterasu. Susanoo tests him by having him pull the Sword of Dark Clouds from a stone, and tells him that it is the only weapon that can kill Tsukuyomi. Together, Takeru and Oto are transported to the moon to face Tsukuyomi, who transforms himself into Orochi, the eight-headed dragon. Takeru and Oto are joined by Amano in the form of a phoenix, and riding Amano to launch an aerial attack on Orochi, but Orochi overpowers them. As they have both lost their lives, Oto sacrifices herself to gives Takeru her life energy. Takeru realizes that the prophecy – that he would become a warrior of the gods once he possessed three lights – has come true, as he now has the shrine mirror, the Sword of Dark Clouds, and the sunlight of Oto's spirit. Takeru transforms into a gigantic warrior named Utsuno Ikusagami, who fights and defeats Orochi, who reverts into Tsukuyomi after defeated. With Tsukuyomi's defeat, Oto is restored to life. Susanoo again appears and tells Takeru to seal Tsukuyomi's spirit into his comma-shaped jewel, then cast it into the sky. The eclipse ends and the sun again shines on Earth. As Takeru and Oto mount Amano to fly home to Earth, Keiko says he wants to see Takeru.

Cast

Release

Orochi, the Eight-Headed Dragon was distributed theatrically by Toho in Japan on 9 July 1994.[1]

The film was released in the United States as Orochi the Eight-Headed Dragon directly to home video by ADV Films with an English dub on June 13, 1999.[1] The film was reissued in Japanese with English subtitles in 2003.[1]

Reception

Robert Firsching of AllMovie awarded the film three-and-a-half stars out of five, stating that "the film is firmly in the province of magical fantasy, and is quite a good example of the form [...] Many films attempt to capture the look and feel of 1960s fantasy, but most fall prey to '90s cynicism and can't quite pull off the necessarily naïve belief in heroism and the power of goodness and purity to save mankind, or even that the belief that mankind is worth saving. This film does, and that alone makes it a refreshing throwback, and a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon."[4]

See also

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Galbraith IV 2008, p. 386.
  2. ^ a b Toho Special Effects Movie Complete Works. ヴィレッジブックス. September 28, 2012. p. 240. ISBN 978-4-864-91013-2.
  3. ^ 1994年邦画作品配給収入 Kinema Junpo 1995, p. 156
  4. ^ Firsching, Robert. "Orochi the Eight-Headed Dragon (1994)". AllMovie. Retrieved January 20, 2019.

Sources

  • Galbraith IV, Stuart (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-1461673743.
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