Director: Takahiro Ishihara
Year: 2018
Country: Japan
Alternate Titles: Reddo bureido
Genre: Action/Period
Plot:
Living a troubled home-life, a teenager becomes so stressed out with everything around her that she disappears into a series of fantasy-related books. While trying to escape her situation, she soon finds herself living in feudal Japan with a ninja master and his students who inform her that she's in a separate dimension from her regular life and are to help train together in the way of the ninja. When the training's complete, the girls learn that an evil warlord that left them orphans has intentions on killing them all as well, forcing the girls to team up together with all their training to defeat the madman and live in peace again.
Review:
Overall, there's quite a lot to like with this one. Among it's most impressive elements is the high amount of strong action scenes within the film. That starts at the very beginning, with the initial fight in the forests that features multiple opponents and tactics ranging from swordplay to surprise ground attacks and other weaponry in an extended confrontation. A later battle scene between the girls and the guards at a ninja house has some great fun with the athleticism and training getting utilized and bringing about some decent action. Even the big battles with the head of the evil clan they're after has some great action, ranging from the swordplay and weapon-work to acrobatic jumps and some inventive tactics to offer a really exciting and cathartic sequence. While comedic in origin, her training session with the other girls has some fun times as she tries to understand and learn the ways of the ninja, resulting in the usual amount of mishaps and growing pains only to turn around and showcase the growth at the end when the training is complete. All told, there's a lot to like with the martial arts and action displayed in the film.
Also enjoyable here is a rather strong storyline. Managing to utilize a fairly routine and similar setup with the bullied and frustrated teenager who finds solace in a specific medium and then magically transports into that universe and learns to become a better, stronger version of herself in order to get through life, this setup provides plenty of options this one can take. The way we follow her struggles in reality against the ease of training and the relationship forged between her and the other girls that supplies her with the friendship needed to feel like her true self manages to be a worthwhile use of that familiar setup. The changing of times between the different worlds, from the ninja times in the past to the modern times in the present, offers up a fun twist on time-travel that gives off a lighthearted twist which works rather nicely with the heavier moments later on to signal the change in her character. These provide the film with a lot to like to hold up over the few flaws.
There are a few issues with this one. One of the biggest issues is an incredibly confusing nature as for what’s actually sending her back through time to begin with. While there’s plenty of setup to explain why she wants to explore the life of a ninja due to her home life, how they manage to pull off the ability to switch between being in the feudal time and back in the modern times. As we’re well aware of this change not only in characters’ costumes but also the general settings, there’s still very little about how that’s possible beyond mention of her desiring that to happen. The entire process is a mystery and considering that happens several times throughout the film without much in the way of explaining how they’re able to change times, especially since the other girls are able to do so as well. The other problem here is a lack of conviction in believing the girl is a true martial artist, as the final fight makes her look incredibly suspect in terms of being a skilled practitioner. Her moves are sloppy and stutters as if trying to remember the choreography rather than actually performing, making it obvious against the warlord who is a much more skilled and capable performer leaving her hopeless outmatched and defeated quite easily. Still, it’s not as big of an issue as the other flaw.
Overview: ***1/2/5
While this one has a rather big issue with a confusing storyline, there’s some enjoyable elements and a lot of action to help overcome that to make for a wholly worthwhile watch. Those curious about this kind of effort or looking for a light-hearted period-set action film should give it a watch while those turned off by the flaws or looking for something a bit more harder edged should heed caution.
This review was originally published on Asian Movie Pulse and is gratefully reprinted with their cooperation.
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