Onmyoji 0 (2024)

After watching the Onmyoji anime on Netflix and thoroughly enjoying it, I became interested in watching Onmyoji 0. I anticipated an epic battle between the Onmyoji Abe no Seimei and demons, with the noble Minamoto no Hiromasa by his side. However, I was somewhat disappointed because the story deviated significantly from my expectations and the original concept of the anime.

Key Points:

- The film lacks demons, so there’s no battle to save the world.
- It features a conflict between good and evil.
- The movie explores Onmyoji's training, hierarchy, and power struggles for position.
- The use of magic was limited
- The movie also explored the hypnotism
- The CGI was impressive.

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Mind Bendingly good ... literally

WOW this was a surprise masterpiece ... a beautiful feast for the eyes and ears and mind ... the script was so psychologically intriguing and fascinating 🙌 I have seen the anime and I really liked it too but I will just write about this movie as if it were a stand alone production.

The effects were brilliant from the galaxy in the sky to the golden dragon to the dream world ... it was beautifully done I thought. I loved the cinematography ... the different angles taken, the contrast between the often muted, blurry and dark gloomy backgrounds, which were 'lit' up by such vibrantly luminous colours in the costumes... the beautiful ultramarine blues, permanent roses and rich cadmium oranges ... as well as the luscious quinacridone gold rays of light that broke through the gloominess. It was so visually delicious. The costumes of the female characters were beautiful and exotic looking and I loved seeing their lovely black hair loose, the length of which nearly fell to the ground ... a beautiful combination that oozed a exotic kind of simplicity.

I loved the theatrical stage feel to many of the scenes ... it worked beautifully with the imagery and various sound effects from the natural surroundings and from the music and also just from the 'silence'. I loved hearing the sounds of bare feet walking and running of the wooden floor boards, the rustle of the long robes, the silence that was broken by the ethereal sounds of the flute ... calming, mysterious and hauntingly beautiful. I loved those kind of kabuki sounds when that 'demon' person was dancing his curse on a stage. It was a wonderful auditory feast.

I loved the 'old' kind of lore presented in this movie ... it was as if it predated the sort of yokai and oni I see in anime and manga. This was so fascinating especially when contrasted against the cool level headed observation and logic of Abe Seimei. The symbolism was profound ... how it linked to the incredible power of the mind and it's 'blind spots'. The way those old masters took advantage of those weak spots to manipulate and perpetuate their power base. It was a covert old school craft of misdirection, manipulation and social engineering ... taking advantage of not only how the mind works but also of people's egoic weakness and desires. This was really brilliant.

I liked Seimei's character and Kento did a good job with it. I liked the kind of cool arrogance he had in contrast to the foolery of all the apprentices and their masters. I liked his value system regarding the trickery and the perpetuation of superstition just to keep their power base and social and political hierarchy.

It was interesting to me that in spite of that he still took the role of Artificer .... in thinking about why he did that, I see method in his choice ... there are many manipulators out there that can, and do, wreak havoc among the populace ... by taking this position and therefore putting himself in line to work with the emperor ... his is like a Yin to their Yang ... a counterweight balance. Nice ◝(ᵔ‿ᵔ)◜

I really liked this little movie ... it was jam packed with all sorts of wonderful things ... and is definitely rewatchable. I really enjoyed it and it was a 10/10 movie experience for me as it kept me engaged mentally, visually and auditorily ﾟ:･*･:(๑ᵔᴗᵔ)･:*:･ﾟ

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Yin Yang Master It Is Not

Onmyouji or The Yin Yang Master: Zero is the latest Japanese live action adaptation of the popular game, Onmyouji. This IP has had many movie and anime adaptations over the years, three of which are Japanese films, including this one, an anime series, and three Chinese movies. As a non-fan of this franchise, I would say that this standalone film is watchable only to a certain extent. It is weird and draggy as hell! I had to watch this in installments because I kept dozing off and I always kept trying to remember what the plot was about.

The story? I don't know. Is there one? It just follows a gifted apprentice who is incredibly rude and full of himself. His parents were killed and he's looking to avenge their deaths. He meets a nobleman who befriends him and together they solve supernatural cases. The world is explained in a long narration in the beginning and their skills and techniques are conveniently explained through lectures given by teachers of these apprentices. And yet, they start showing off seemingly magical powers that come out of nowhere, so you begin to doubt whether you actually understood the explanation on how things work in this world. It has this dreamlike quality to it that makes you think that maybe you're hallucinating from an acid trip. But you're so confused that you just don't care anymore and fall asleep. That's what this is. Seriously, this is better off as a drama instead of a movie. Then maybe they could've done a more decent job at the world building aspect.

The acting is theatrical. In other words, it's bad. Yamazaki Kento is miscast once again. His portrayal of the lead role is exactly the same as his L in the live action drama adaptation of Death Note. At this point, I think he's just phoning in his performances. Oh well, at least he's only half bad here, not as horrible as his version of L. The rest of the cast all act as if they're in a stage play. Cheesy AF! The music? Pretty much non-existent because I didn't notice it at all. The visuals are decent but that's the only saving grace of this movie. I can tell they shot the vast majority of scenes in front of green screens, though.

All in all, this is not a good movie. If I were a fan of the games, then maybe I could've appreciated it more. But it's just badly written, acted, and produced. It's definitely one of those live action adaptations that should never have been made.

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