Onmyouji, Onmyouji II
Onmyouji (陰陽師, 2001)
Director: Takita Yojiro
A fun film to watch mainly because its approach is very straightforward. The movie is a fictional account of Abe no Seimei’s life, and by the way the movie was presented, you’ll get the idea that it’s not pretending to be “real” or something like that.
Abe no Seimei’s life is surrounded by myths already, so making a movie like this is not surprising.
It was just a bit “odd” because the characters spoke in standard Japanese. I was expecting that they will speak an older Japanese (more “lyrical”) but then again, who will even dare watch that? He he. I like Nomura Mansai’s acting; he seemed very “natural.” For a Heian-period movie it was entertaining and the plot was easy to understand.
Onmyouji II (陰陽師 II, 2001)
Director: Takita Yojiro
Ah, sequels. Surprisingly there wasn’t really a direct connection between the first movie and this one, as previous events weren’t even mentioned. However this movie dealt more with Shintoism, as it includes the story of the sun goddess Amaterasu and her bother Susa-no-O, the god of sea. The movie retained its cast, so there’s nothing to worry about acting and portrayal and such.
My only quirk in this movie is the introduction of the antagonists since they just appeared out of nowhere. The way they were introduced didn’t really make sense at first until the history behind Himiko was presented. I think that was the time when the movie’s story flowed smoothly.
Angela Solis grew up in the Philippines before moving in to Canada in 2003. She became a Canadian in 2006. Angela is 22 years old and an alumnae of University of Manitoba with a degree in Bachelor of Arts (Adv.) in Psychology and a minor in Asian Studies. She has been blogging since 2002 and occasionally writes for