Yokai and Other Monsters: From Asian Folklore to Cinema | Out of Competition | Online
Japan, 2021, 116’, Japanese
Directed by: Miike Takashi
Screenplay: Watanabe Yusuke
Cinematography (color): Yamamoto Hideo
Editing: Sagara Naoichiro
Music: Endo Koji
Producers: Saka Misako, Tsubaki Norikazu
Executive Producers: Kadokawa Tsuguhiko, Aramata Hiroshi
Cast: Terada Kokoro, Sugisaki Hana, Ando Sakura, Miura Takahiro, Oshima Yuko, Akaso Eiji, Omori Nao, Osawa Takao
Date of First Release in Territory: August 13th, 2021
After the box office success of the 2005 The Great Yokai War, Miike Takashi waited sixteen years to release a follow-up, The Great Yokai War: Guardians. Opening in Japan in August of 2021, the film earned only JPY33 million (USD2.2 million), disappointing co-distributors Toho and Kadokawa.
The film, however, had snazzier SFX than the 2005 version, which was loosely based on a 1968 film whose effects were mostly actors in yokai costumes.
The story, scripted by Watanabe Yusuke, was similar to The Great Yokai War, centering as it did on a young hero’s journey into the world of yokai. Also, actors from the previous film appeared in the new one, most prominently Kamiki Ryunosuke, the boy star of The Great Yokai War, returned as the adult teacher of the follow-up’s fifth-grader protagonist (Terada Kokoro).
But there are also differences that make Guardians more than a retread. Just as The Great Yokai War drew inspiration from the work of yokai manga artist Mizuki Shigeru and fantasy novelist Aramata Hiroshi, The Great Yokai War: Guardians references the three Daimajin films the Daiei studio released in 1966 featuring the title warrior god. (Miike had attempted to revive the character in the late 2000s but had to give up due to budgetary problems.)
Also, Miike’s signature ultra-violence and black humor are less in evidence, though there are action scenes aplenty. And the “war” of the title turns out to be something of a misnomer: Instead of a titanic climactic battle, the film seems to conclude with a full-throated singalong and feelings of friendship between yokai and humanity. But the film’s version of Daimajin, called Lord Bujin in the subtitles, has other ideas and in the final scenes we glimpse the Miike of old, who delighted in delivering twists and shocks to the credit crawl.
The story begins in the Watanabe household, as Mom (Matsushima Nanako) is about to leave her sons Kei (Terada) and Dai (Inomata Rei) for her job as a nurse. Their deceased Dad, as we see in a flashback, urged them to “get along and help each other” and with Mom away they do just that, if not in ways their father probably expected.
The action gets under when Kei draws a strange red fortune slip at a local shrine – and finds himself surrounded by yokai who scare the bejesus out of him, but turn out to be harmless. They ask him to be their savior, saying he is the descendant of Watanabe no Tsuna, a famed samurai oni (demon) slayer from 1,000 years ago.
The threat, they say, comes from a giant yokai called Yokaiju (a portmanteau of “yokai” and “kaiju”) that has emerged from deep beneath the earth’s surface and is threatening to destroy Tokyo. Kei’s weapon will be an ancient magical sword, Onikirimaru, that once belonged to his samurai ancestor. They also want him to enlist the help of the great Lord Bujin (Daimajin), though stirring him from his slumber is highly risky.
This is also the basic narrative arc of The Great Yokai War, but the story departs from it when little Dai goes in search of his missing big brother – and ends up on a similar quest with another crowd of yokai, who mistakenly think he is their anointed savior because he holds the red fortune slip that Kei dropped along the way.
Also, it turns out that Dai is the more courageous of the brothers, though Kei has a kind heart and forgiving spirit that wins over even sword enemies. And he has a great singing voice.
Miike Takashi
Miike Takashi (b. 1960) made his directorial debut in 1991 with the straight-to-video actioner Eye Catch Junction. In the 1990s he churned out a profusion of yakuza action films, often with a signature mix of extreme violence and black comedy. His 1999 shocker Audition brought him to the attention of the West. After that he alternated big-budget commercial projects with smaller indie projects such as Gozu. FEFF27 presents two Miike films inspired by the 1968 classic Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare: The Great Yokai War (2005) and The Great Yokai War: Guardians (2021).
SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY
1999 – Audition
2001 – Ichi the Killer
2003 – One Missed Call
2003 – Gozu
2005 – The Great Yokai War
2011 – Harakiri: Death of a Samurai
2021 – Mole Song Final
2021 – The Great Yokai War: Guardians