SPIRIT WARRIOR (PEACOCK KING) – Volume 1: Revival of evil

This is what I call ANIME!

Blood, violence, nudity, supernatural, the occult, neo-Nazis, and of course, ultimate fight between Good and Evil.

Rustic animation ( Madhouse) gives this series a sort of epic flavour. Well, considering its year of production (1994) we’re not far from truth. Reissued on DVD by Central Park Media with updated sound and bonus material, SPIRIT WARRIOR reaches its full potential: a mighty anime! So, all of you who were lucky to watch VHS edition six years ago be prepared to hear blood splatter, genuine thunders and to see clearly all those ghastly monsters of evil in full glory.
All of us others prepare for the same experience.

Honestly, I am really annoyed by kissing up to kids ( who buy the anime mostly) with couple of comical characters, spoofs, cuddly animals, sweet children in school uniforms and most of all, those animations of freeze-frame open mouth with a couple of sweat-drops and question marks around the dumb-looking face. Spirit Warrior   is an ‘Old Skool’ piece of work: Germans with rectangular faces, bad guys are not mechanical, supernatural powers don’t come from advanced weaponry. Yes, and brief nudity is included. I want more of everything!

You might say that Makoto Ogono ’s story is a bit farfetched, but everything in this release is a bit boosted. Introduction and credits are puzzling and not accurate. Also, they sound a bit schematic. So, trust me and not the corny promos - film is excellent. When you simplify the story and characters, you will certainly think of another ‘young hero with partial amnesia of his childhood goes on a quest to defeat the evil forces…’ type of boring cliché. What distinguishes Spirit Warrior from the rest? Well, pretty much everything. I mean, film is made by Madhouse - what else would you like as a reference? Doesn’t sound very convincing but I haven’t got much more to tell you without revealing plotlines or sounding biased. Hm… one more thing: it reminds me of “Ninja Scroll”. That should be enough, right?

Oh, yes! Music is terrible, but never mind. Red Hot Chili Peppers are not on the soundtrack (luckily), but this will do as a sum-up of this review:

Blood thunder death magik  ( rated TVMA for mature)