Audience reviews
12 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
GGrocks
This anime is the textbook definition of style over substance, or "aura and hype moments over writing," as the cool kids call it. It has a paper-thin revenge plot that any anime fans seen over a million times and characters so underexplored and tropey that you might find more interest exploring the writing of a cartoon character on a cereal box. It's as campy and generic as rushed 80s straight-to-DVD anime gets, but if there's one thing it does right, it knocks it out of the park with its atmosphere and horror. This ova is one of the most morbid and eerie you'll ever lay eyes on. Some of the scenes are so dark and full of malice that it feels like it was made by Go Nagai himself. Its aesthetic also has that glossy 80s anime charm and is one of the coolest looking ones I've laid my eyes on.…
Read at the sourceLuxuriousHeart
The issue with this OVA is that it seems like a supplement to the manga, as opposed to a standalone adaptation. It's so random that it feels like a dream. It's as if you watched Berserk and various shows with ninjas, and then fell asleep. There's so much going on, and it jumps from scene to scene and plot point to plot point. The show doesn't allow itself to breathe. Maybe it *is* a supplement to the manga, though as someone who hasn't read the manga, this was just jarring and confusing.
The characters are okay. I will give it some leeway because it obviously inspired Berserk and other ninja based anime after it. I even see some inspirations of Ooku in it. Though it's my logic with Princess Knight. Just because it inspired some masterpieces, doesn't mean it's a great work of art. I do gr…
Read at the sourceghostbishnu
A truly jarring experience.
There isn't really a story here, it's more like a confusing dream that you wake from and ask what does it mean? The answer is not much.
The protagonist moves through various scenarios to be provided with an excuse to do ninja stuff. The cuts between scenes and tone are really quite unpleasant. It's enough to make ones brain itch.
The main character doesn't say much, but when he does it becomes clear he thinks women are terrible. The only driving force here is his pursuit of his male friend, so maybe there is some homo-erotic subtext to the whole situation.
Read at the sourceSgtSalamander
Blood Reign: Curse of the Youma is a good example of your archetypal late-80s OVA, complete with ultraviolence, passionately detailed art, and unapologetic, at times even corny, badassery. Beginning with the story, we are presented with a brief revenge tale, colored by the supernatural and undergirded by an unyielding perseverance in the face of great horrors. It's a fun, action-packed story, and justifies various high-octane fight scenes throughout. My only qualms are with its pacing and occasional inconsistency. Everything feels a tad rushed, and the big, dramatic scenes feel a little unearned at times as a result. Then, though this is a lesser issue, its internal lore and worldbuilding, while a very cool version of a gritty feudal Japan, seems to lose the thread at times, failing to exp…
Read at the sourceKamezuki
“Youma” has a confusing, jumbled mess of a plot that’s hard to follow. Its biggest drawback is that lots of things are happening at once, including flashbacks, and it’s hard to understand what’s going on half of the time. This might be yet another case of an OVA being more of a supplement to its original source, rather than a standalone adaptation.
Since there are only two roughly half-hour episodes, there’s not enough time to adequately develop the characters, either. The main character, a ninja named Hikage, shows little emotion throughout the series, and rarely talks about what he’s thinking or feeling. His interactions with other characters are brief, limited and sometimes awkward. For instance, in the second episode, he berates a female ninja named Aya for crying, twice. He also acts…
Read at the sourceEzekiel_01
Anime Review No. 33
It is surely fun to watch something that is under the category of historical and horror and with a small fraction of thriller from time to time but this show kinda show the opposite on what I mention.
Plot (3/10)
The historical theme is nothing more than a setting itself. Nothing very informative in the era. Any war events that took place will obviously result to casualties by default. What's made it intriguing is the first intro where we are presented with demonic and griming scenario of gruesome scenes and emergence of abominable entity that blend perfectly well in the situation but sadly it just few second saving grace and we will be lead to small conflict in a small town and sometimes places devoid of people kicking of the war conflict which is shown in previou…
Read at the sourceSidewinder51
rate 5
English dubbed
Genre:Light horror, action, light romance
story
Average plot. Plot does go into some depth but has no thrill. Ending could have been better.
Art
Matches the story. Art is not realistic especially the blood. There were some drawing mistakes. For example when a spider victim had died their body laid still but before it could be eradicated it ceases to exist. Sound
Some of the word choices are not great. For example "it is an illusion. Generally that means it is not real and therefore can't have an effect but that is not what happened.
Enjoyment
a starter action film for those who are gradually becoming used to anime.
Read at the sourceCrushDepth
Its almost inevitable that any piece that falls into the historical ninja action realm is going to be compared to that watermark film, Ninja Scroll. While the two do seem to have a lot in common at first, the pacing, mood, and delivery are quite different. Blood Reign happens to be four years older (1989) and lacks a lot of the flash and slick animation that its more famous peer has. Yet it maintains a healthy of dose of a ninja hero slicing and dicing minions of the dark, which is probably what you're looking for if you're looking at this.
Putting aside the opulence of hack 'n slash action, there is more to Blood Reign than just being Ninja Scroll's dress rehearsal. Its noticeably darker and moodier, as for the entire time the show is going its surrounded, almost smothered, by a sense of…
Read at the sourcebedheadred
The war torn land is mottled with strange occurrences attributed to the rise of yoma or demons, feeding off blood and misery. A skilled ninja, Hikage, is ordered to silence his best friend and finds his friend holds a dark secret.
I have tried on 3 separate occasions to watch Blood Reign. The animation looks similar to Ninja Scroll and I really enjoy Japanese folklore, but I can’t get through the piece. The main character has no personality beyond persistence. The soundtracks has some really cheesy 80′s keyboard music but also some beautiful period sounding pieces. The story is hard to follow and the character design makes it hard to tell individuals apart.
Give this one a try and form your own opinion because this viewer is truly undecided.
This OVA features demons and 80′s melting bod…
Read at the sourcewooden-mango
This is a fairly obscure anime which is a shame because it's quite good.
Story: The plot is a little confusing at times, with flashbacks and such but overall a good story about friendship and betrayal with some pretty strong emotional scenes. It also has some pretty great japanese folklore in there with ghosts, monsters and other very creepy stuff.
Art: It has some really lovely traditional animation and a style to the characters that I really like. The backgrounds are gorgeous and the action scenes are pretty great. I mean it has /ninjas/.
Sound: You should definitely watch this in japanese with the english subs. The english dubbing is not very good at all. Did I mention the haunting music? One song in particular, you will know it when you hear it. The rest of the tracks are okay but…
Read at the sourceShura-shurato
This is one anime that SHOCKED me to death, made me feel like an scaredy cat and freaked me out back in 1999, 1:45 at night, but besides that it really shows the art of drawing and scaryness compared to todays anime in the same genre, THIS had an potential in further serie's /ova's i can only dream about!!!!@! The storyline really nicely mix in with the chara and at some parts when a bit bit of history( don't count the demons with it) have those untouched in-scene sketches,HANDDRAWN! can be grainy and mufly at time's but plz DON'T RE-MASTER, HD OR BLUERAY THIS STUFF!. the music is ofc welldone, that nostalgic '89 animemusic , wich i look to the older audience, main chara are no pussylike boys like much of today's anime to be clear, one with a very vigorous and demonic background. and i'm n…
Read at the sourceloknkey
The relationship between the main character and villain is what makes this anime good. Surprisingly, only one point of view is given, and the two main characters hardly ever interact. The protagonist displays emotion rarely, leaving the viewer free to imagine what he may be thinking. However, some subtle clues are given, and it seems as if he is asking the same questions as the audience. What makes a man evil? Is there still good left inside of him? Is there any hope for redemption?
Read at the source