Youma

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 explain how certain things work or how different plot points link together. Of course, I don't expect anything like a hard magic system from an OVA of this kind from this era, but internal consistency does go a long way and this anime could have used a little more grounding in that respect. The art is this show's strongest aspect, lying out a dark fantasy bloodbath complete with gorgeous backgrounds, excruciatingly anatomical gore, and some genuinely impressive fight choreography. My favorite part has to be the design of the various Youma, which are uniquely otherworldly and creatively horrific. The sound is good, meeting all standards of quality for the time, but some line deliveries and music choices make the whole production feel a little rough around the edges. The characters are only about as good as they have to be to operate in this story, meaning that they aren't necessarily very deep. I'm not complaining here, as shallow characterization is what's standard for this particular type of anime, and doesn't really detract from the experience at all. My favorites here are Hikage and the second Aya, given that Hikage is the main badass that holds the whole show together, and Aya's interactions with Hikage highlight her more believable emotionality and even help to humanize Hikage a little bit. Overall, Blood Reign: Curse of the Youma is a fun romp of an OVA that is archetypal of anime in the late 80s. Give it a shot, especially if you like the subgenre of old gorefest OVAs.

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.

“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 uninterested in her, but for some reason she falls head-over-heels in love with him. His establishment as the antagonist Marou’s best friend is relegated to repeated flashbacks of the two running through a field as children. Supporting characters get even less development, which results in the viewer not caring what happens to them.

Background information which would help explain the plot is either not included or glossed over. This includes what exactly the “Youma” are (I get that they’re literally demons, but it’s not really explained what they are in this story’s universe), why the two Youma rulers of the land and the sea have to combine in order to unleash all of the Youma, why the Youma ruler of the sea is a horse, and other issues that could potentially be spoilers. Also, the whole premise that kickstarts the plot, where Hikage has to chase after and kill Marou, is not explained well. Basically, the ninjas’ “master” is killed, and according to his will, they have to hide his death from the public for three years (why?). Since Marou has gone rogue, Hikage is sent to silence (kill) him to keep the secret safe.

Also, contrary to what the synopsis on MAL and other places say, Marou was not killed in battle and resurrected to serve the Youma, but explaining what he really is potentially goes into spoiler territory, so I’ll refrain from elaborating.

True to its English title, there is plenty of bloodshed in this OVA. There is also a lot of grotesque body horror, with beheadings, disembowelments, monster transformations and whatnot, but it's not as off-putting as similar scenes in other anime are. There is no nudity in “Youma,” save for a naked baby boy at the very end.

As for technical aspects, the animation and art are serviceable — not bad, but not amazing, either. Characters' reactions often aren't realistic, and sometimes seem to come at the wrong time (like too early). Occasionally characters say things, but their lips don't move. The voice acting is okay. Kaneto Shiozawa particularly stands out as the voice of Marou. Background music varies between traditional Japanese-style music and ‘80s synth-pop. The ending theme is in the vein of the latter, a catchy, upbeat synth-pop track that, while nice, feels thematically inappropriate. There’s a pleasantly haunting insert song, but it doesn’t connect to the plot well (or if it does, its connection is not explained).

Overall, this OVA could have been better if it had had more time to flesh out its plot and characters. It tries to cram too much into a roughly one-hour runtime, and suffers as a result.