Moon Over Tao (1997)

Moon Over Tao (1997)
Aka: Moon Over Tao: Makaraga
Japanese Title: Tao no Tsuki
Translation: Tao’s Moon

Starring: Hiroshi Abe, Toshiyuki Nagashima, Sayaka Yoshino, Yuko Moriyama, Takaaki Enoki, Kei Tani, Yukijiro Hotaru
Director: Keita Amemiya
Special FX: Tomo Hyakutake, Hajime Matsumoto
Action Director: Akira Ohashi

A few years after making Mechanical Violator Hakaider and the two Zeiram movies, writer-director-monster artist Keita Amemiya’s next project was a rather ambitious one. It was basically a Zeiram film set in period, albeit with lower-tech weapons and no “Zone” for our heroes to run around in—I guess filming in the forests of Japan is requires less extras than trying to set a believable action film in an urban setting. The film features alien babes (once more played by the pretty Yuko Moriyama), an indestructible alien monster, and earthlings caught in the middle. But it also features samurai sword fights, magical duels, and a more ambitious human story.

The film is set some time in the Sengoku Period (or some time before), opening at the fortress belonging to a daimyo named Tadaoki (Kei Tani, of Red Shadow and Samurai Fiction). Tadaoki’s men have recently come across a powerful sword while slaying bandits. The lord gives the sword to his trusted retainer, Hayate (Hiroshi Abe, of Godzilla 2000 and Chocolate), and asks him to find the source of the sword. Accompanying him is a warrior monk/magician named Suikyou (Toshiyuki Nagashima, of Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla and Gamera 2: Attack of Legion), who had previously served Tadaoki as a military advisor (though he tends to just up and disappear at times, much to his lord’s chagrin).

The two men decide to start their search in the bandit-infested (and sinister-looking) mountain not far from the fortress. The first person they meet there, however, is not a bandit, but a young peasant named Renge (Sayaka Yoshino, of Ninpuu Sentai Hurricanger Shushûto the Movie). Renge is out collecting honey from the local beehives and trying to steer clear of the bandits. Later that evening, Renge is awakened by the strange light in her window. She witnesses a trio of spacemen descending from what looks like a portal of light. The three spacemen get into an argument—they communicate telepathically, so we don’t hear it—and one of them strikes down their compadre with a sword. The other two depart to take their conflict elsewhere.

The fallen spaceman is actually a space woman named Kuzto (Yuko Moriyama) who has her mechanical support insect inject something into Renge so that they can communicate telepathically. Kuzto gives Renge a space gizmo called “the Tao” and tells her to either give it to one of her sisters, or to use it against “Makaraga”, should the entity appear. Kuzto gives Renge a special space tattoo that will allow her to use the Tao…and then expires.

The next day, Renge fulls around with the Tao and activates it, alerting the other two space woman—Marien and Abira (both of whom are also played by Yuko Moriayama, albeit in different wigs and make-up)—and the bandits. You see, the bandits in the vicinity are armed with the same sword that was given to Hayate and the loud sound produced by the gizmo causes the swords to shake violently. Renge turns off the Tao before anything else can happen, but the bandits are alerted to her location. They try to kidnap her, but she is rescued at the last moment by Hayate and Suikyou.

The three decide to follow the bandits back to their lair, where they discover that the brigands are led by a powerful magician named Kakugyou (Takaaki Enoki, of Heaven and Earth and Sailor Suit and Machine Gun: Graduation). We learn that Kakugyou and his men discovered a meteorite some time ago made of a powerful iron they’d never seen before. The iron of the meteorite was used to forge the special katana blades. What is more interesting is that at the core of the meteorite was a little white ball that kind of looks like a human brain.

What is that object? Well, that would be the Makaraga. We learn that the Makaraga is a biological weapon (see Zeiram) and is immortal (see also Zeiram). The Spacewomen got in a fight over it because Marien and Kuzto wanted to send it into the darkest reaches of space, while Abira wanted to use it in whatever revolution her clan was involved in on their home planet. There is a big fight between the good guys (including Marien) and Kakugyou’s bandit army, which inevitably results in the Makaraga being splashed with blood (see Zeiram 2). This awakens the creature and causes it to mutate, first into some worm-like parasites and then into a dinosaur-sized kaiju monstrosity. Will Suikyou, Hayate, Renge, and Marien be able to defeat the creature with their limited Earth weapons?

So, is Moon Over Tao any good? In my opinion, it’s pretty good…I guess. It has a lot going on: from sword fights to magical duels (similar to Big Trouble in Little China), cute space girls to giant ugly monsters, from buckets of blood to even a(n) (extremely) random gratuitous breast shot! There is no reason for people—i.e. people like me, fans of B-movie goodness—to NOT like this film.

That is, unless the execution of the cool concept(s) is less than the concepts themselves.

To me, the big problem is that Japanese fight direction in the 1990s was often (most of the time) rather dire. I personally like the fight scenes in the Zeiram movies, but I won’t ever compare them to even the most mediocre Hong Kong action flick from the same period. A few movies tried mimic their HK counterparts, most notably in Kunoichi: Lady Ninja, but I don’t think Japanese fight choreography was truly revitalized from its older Sonny Chiba days until Ryuhei Kitamura and Yuji Shimomura revolutionized the industry with Versus.

What I mean by all this is that the action direction is severely lacking in Moon Over Tao. I guess it’s not terrible, but it should have been a lot better. Hiroshi Abe showed us in Chocolate that he can swing a sword convincingly. And I personally enjoy watching Yuko Moriyama fake it. But I thought the martial arts in this film was rather weak. The showstopper was supposed to be a big three-vs-an-army sequence, but the choreography just didn’t grab me, especially on Yuko’s end. Akira Ohashi, who is credited with the stunts, has done both monster suitmation and fight choreography, but I guess he was too early in his game to do much with this.

The special effects are also questionable. Well, mainly the CGI used to animated the Makaraga monster from a distance. The design is certainly unique: the beast as a quadrupedal “base” with four crab-like legs, a large neck, and an even larger head with two horns protruding from its forehead and another from below its chin. But this is 90s CGI in a low-budget Japanese films. Even the most expensive Japanese movies at the time cost a small fraction of what a Hollywood blockbuster would have cost; a low-budget Japanese movie was fighting an impossible battle if it wants to use CGI.

I can see people watching this and enjoying its combination of science fiction, fantasy, and chambara elements, but it didn’t really grab me. And Yuko Moriyama looked a lot cuter as a female ninja or as Iria than she does in any of the three space women she plays here.

Kunoichi: Lady Ninja (1998)

Kunoichi: Lady Ninja (1998)
Japanese Title: Kunoichi Ninpô-chô Yagyû Gaiden
Translation: Female Ninja Magic Chronicles: Yagyu Side Story

Starring: Yûko Moriyama, Kazuki Takeda, Momoka Saeki, NON, Kaoru Ukawa, Fuyu Ooba, Akiko Sugawara, Hitoshi Ozawa, Ryûshi Mizukami, Ryuji Katagiri, Akaji Maro
Director: Hitoshi Ozawa
Action Director: Yuta Morokaji

Released stateside as Kunoichi: Lady Ninja—which is essentially a Japanese word and its English translation—the 1998 film Kunoichi Ninpô-chô: Yagyû Gaiden is actually an adaptation of a novel written by famed Japanese author Futaro Yamada. Yamada’s books often dealt mixed Japanese history with fantasy themes and have oft been adapted to film, manga, anime and television. For example, The Kouga Ninja Scrolls were adapted into the manga and anime “Basilisk” and the film Shinobi: Heart Under Blade. Or Iga Ninja Scrolls was adapted into Ninja Wars in 1982.

A lot of his novels were adapted into sexy female ninja movies in the 1990s within the Kunoichi Ninpô-chô franchises. Some of them had already been adapted as early as 1964. Kunoichi: Lady Ninja is actually the seventh entry in the franchise, the first of which to star Zeiram alumni Yuko Moriyama. The movie, and its immediate sequel, are both based on the novel Yagyû Ninpô-chô, or “Yagyu Ninja Chronicles,” as they feature the famous samurai, Jubei Yagyu, in the narrative.

At some point during the Edo Period, there is a powerful Daimaiyo ruling over the Aizu prefecture. His name is Akinari Katoh (Ryûshi Mizukami) and he is a one lecherous son of a gun. He has amassed dozens, if not hundreds, of concubines from around the land. The movie opens with his bodyguards, known as the Seven Beasts, storming a convent and slaughtering its inhabitants. The reason is a bit fuzzy, although I figured that the seven nuns who survive, formerly members of the Hori Ninja Clan, had been chosen by Akinari for his lustful pursuits and they took vows in order to escape his clutches. Since the Shogun would never let a Daimyo, no matter how powerful he is, get away with seducing nuns, it’s easier to kill them than to rape them. The seven ninja-turned-nuns are saved at the last second by the arrival of Princess Sen, the former wife (or mother) of the current shogun.

She resolves to train the seven nuns in the arts of ninja magic in order to avenge the murders committed at the convent and punish Akinari for his misdeeds. After their training has ended, they receive some help from outside. That would be the prestigious Buddhist monk Takuwan (Ryuji Katagiri) and the famed one-eyed samurai, Jubei Yagyu (Hitoshi Ozawa)—his father is currently serving the Shogun as the official court instructor. The seven kunoichi are led by Ochie (Yuko Moriyama) and their goal is to wipe out the Seven Beasts one by one before eliminating Akinari Katoh himself.

Now, the problem with the Seven Beasts is that most of them are either expert swordsmen, magicians, or ninja with magical powers. The first one manages to infect one of the kunoichi, Ofue (Momoko Saeki), with a magical curse that will rot her from the inside. There is another one who can remove his eyes and cause them to grow into cycloptic samurai warriors. There is a monkey-like ninja warrior, a pretty boy swordsman, an albino samurai, a hulking fighter who can shoot fireballs, and sadistic, whip-wielding eunuch.

The film’s plot goes back and forth between the ninja girls targeting one of the Seven Beasts, a fight breaking out, one of the girls discovering her ninja powers, and sometimes a tragic death. This goes on for about 100 minutes before the ends. The film does up the stakes—kind of—as it goes into the third act with the introduction of Akinari’s personal priest, Dohaku. Dohaku is not only a powerful magician, but he is virtually indestructible thanks to his sharing a lifeline with his twin brother Tenkai, who is the Head Priest of the entire shogun’s court. His daughter, Oyura, appears to be Akinari’s number one wife, or at least she acts that way…initially.

So, most people who sit down to watch this will note the outlandish “ninja magic” being performed by the female protagonists. Now, when my generation was young, we became accustomed to the idea of ninja magic through Sega’s “Shinobi” games. This movie has stuff like that, albeit frequently with a “sexy twist” to it. In one sequence, the kunoichi Sakura (Akiko Sugawara), goes undercover as a bride—while in Edo, Akinari has his minions kidnap brides so he can [seduce] them—with Yagyu, going undercover as a blind man, as her groom. They both get captured and left inside of a deep pit. Sakura has the idea to let Yagyu deflower her so that she can let her hymen blood charge up Yagyu’s sword and make it shoot fiery phoenix animations(!).

Even more memorable are the ninjas Otori (Fuyu Ôba) and Okei (NON). The first one discovers that she can go into ninja magic mode, miraculously lose her clothing, and shoot concussive bolts of lightning out of her chest. This magic is referred to as the “Nipple Wave.” Okei’s is even weirder, in which she can absorb energy blasts through her “ladyparts” and then spit them back out at whomever she wishes. The movie refers to that move as the “Reverse Echo.” As of today, you can see videos of that one posted all over YouTube.

The rest of the action was staged by first-timer Yuta Morokaji. Morokaji would go on to choreograph a number of video games and some other films, most notably the first Azumi film by Ryuhei Kitamura and the two Battle Royale movies. What is interesting is that Morokaji honestly tries to stage the fight scenes as if he were making an early 1990s wuxia in Hong Kong. There are lots of wire-assisted jumps and moves, quick cuts, and “Qi blasts.” Unlike Chinese cinema, the qi blasts are more than the stuntman extending his hand and causing explosions: the Japanese filmmakers have state-of-the-art optical printers so they can animate the lightning and energy bolts. They also use some composite shots and matte work for some of the people flying, which is very noticeable. If you have seen early 90s wuxia films like The Three Swordsmen and Kung Fu Cult Master, you’ll know what I’m talking about. The action scenes are along the lines of those films, even if the actual martial artistry on display is limited in both quantity and quality. The wuxia works of Tony Ching Siu-Tung were full of wirework and “qi blasts,” but they still had some beautiful moments of balletic martial artistry. That last part is largely missing from here. On the other hand, there are A LOT of blood geysers in the fights here, so that may count for something.

Much like its predecessors, this movie features more than its fair share of female flesh on display. The character of Akinari Katoh is often seen with multiple women in varying states of undress draped over him. At one point, we get to see a prison room full of kidnapped women who appear to have been brainwashed: when Yagyu is thrown in inside, all the women fawn over and paw him…Best. Prison. Sentence. Ever. And there are other moments where women strut around wearing…well…not much of anything. But for fans of Yuko Moriyama—of which I am one—know that she stays modest the entire time.

Kunoichi: Lady Ninja is far from perfect. I’ve seen the Japanese-language version, which features some insane overacting from all the villains. The English dub on the Tokyo Shock DVD is largely considered inferior, not too unlike the Tri-Star dubs of the Heisei Godzilla movies. The pacing is solid, but the story structure can sometimes be repetitive. And things happen that are not always explained, or require a second viewing to make sense of. Like the scene with Oyura being “summoned” by her father in his inner sanctum, which looks like he’s invoking her from hell, sending her back, and then calling her back again. It’s such an odd scene that I had the slightest idea what was actually going on. Although, I suppose that’s the point, given that the entire film is almost one big head-scratcher.

Zeiram 2 (1994)

Zeiram 2 (1994)

Starring: Yuko Moriyama, Yukijiro Hotaru, Kunihiro Ida, Sabu, Kazuhiko Inoue (voice), Mizuho Yoshida
Director: Keita Amemiya
Special FX Director: Hiroshi Kidokoro
Action Director: Akira Ohashi, Mitsuo Abe

Zeiram 2 is an interesting sequel in that it tries to take some of lore created in the (superior) anime Iria: Zeiram the Animation and insert it into the context of the live-action films. It is only partially successful, thanks to the fact that Iria’s long-time rival Fujikuro (actor-director Sabu, who was in Don’t Look Up and Shinjuku Triad Society) has gone from a seasoned veteran trying to exploit Iria’s lack of experience to an annoying punk. But it does have flying umbrellas!

The film is set a few years after the events of the first film. Kamiya (a returning Yukijiro Hotaru) is trying to patch things up with his estranged wife. Teppei is about to marry his long-time girlfriend. And Iria is back on Earth with Bob (Kazuhiko Inoue) and Fujikuro in order to intercept a valuable teleportation device called the Karmelite from a band of space mercenaries. While that particular mission goes off without a hitch, the trouble begins when Iria is given a second, complementary mission.

The Intergalactic Bounty Hunters Union has recently built a new battle robot from the remains of Zeiram, the indestructible alien whom Iria had faced off with a few years earlier. Normally, that would be a very bad idea…wait for it. In any case, Iria supposed to have a duel of sorts with the robot to test its capabilities against a superior target (as opposed to robots and remote-controlled tanks). When Iria shows up in the outskirts of Tokyo to meet it, she is met by even more galactic ruffians. Zeiram does show up and, as per its programming, will not let the interstellar brigands harm her, so it switches into Turbo Mode and slaughters the lot.

The robot is initially not supposed to engage with Iria until a) she gives it orders to and b) they are isolated in a Zone (a pocket dimension meant for doing interplanetary dirty work without alarming the locals). This is where things get complicated. Iria and Bob are betrayed by Fujikuro, who wants to sell the Karmelite on the black market and retire early. To this end, he disables Bob’s hardware and kidnaps Teppei, who had coincidentally caught a glimpse of Iria earlier. So, while Iria is trying to rescue Teppei, she is not around to stop the last surviving star thug from spitting blood all over the Zeiram robot, awakening the little head that was built into it…really people?

This is the equivalent of setting a Krusty doll on “Evil” and Zeiram starts the “exercise,” creating a Zone and trapping itself, Iria, Fujikuro, and Teppei inside. Meanwhile, Kamiya has found his way to the abandoned building that Iria is working out of and fixes Bob and the teleporter. Get ready for more action in the vein of the first film.

The main problem with Zeiram 2 is that after the initial set-up (which probably takes longer than the first movie), it becomes a clone of its predecessor. It’s the same beats: Iria fights with Zeiram and wins; something happens for Zeiram to be revived; Iria is separated from the heroes for an extended period (she doesn’t even interact with them directly until the end); and then there is a final battle set to the Zone slowly deleting itself. Other than the monster designs—and we don’t get any stop-motion this time around (boo!)—there isn’t much to distinguish this from the first movie.

That said, one thing that director Keita Amemiya does well is suspense. There are several situations in which the protagonists find themselves fighting against impossible odds, like when Teppei is tied up with his foot on a landmine while Iria is trapped in a trash compactor room while holding onto a wasp-shaped missile (!) that is trying to fly toward Teppei. Or the climax, where Iria is engaging in a pitched martial arts battle with Zeiram at the top of a Kanon Statue as it “dissolves” from the ground up while the heroes scramble for the Karmelite. And the final scene will have even mildly-invested viewers at the edge of their seat…

The action is pretty good by Japanese standards, although it might pale in comparison to its Hong Kong cousins. The martial arts definitely have the feel of a Super Sentai series (or similar Tokusatsu show), although watching them performed by a GORGEOUS Japanese actress (and her stunt double) makes it more interesting then some Metal Hero. The rest of the action involves LOTS of gunplay and explosions. I enjoy the climax, which starts out as a sword fight, then becomes an aerial dogfight involving a winged Zeiram and Iria on a flying umbrella, and then becomes a martial arts fight, followed by ripping off the end of The Terminator.

The film is filled with early 1990s CGI (not great), miniature explosions, and your standard Japanese suitmation. I like the redesign for Zeiram. What I don’t like is the dog monster it creates—both the suit and the way the monster is created. Anyway, there’s enough fun action to keep most viewers entertained, plus Yuko Moriyama is always easy on the eyes. I just wish the film tried to set itself apart more form its predecessor.

Zeiram (1991)

Zeiram (1991)
Aka: Zeram

Starring: Yuko Moriyama, Kunihiro Ida, Yukijiro Hotaru, Masakazu Handa, Mizuho Yoshido
Director: Keita Amemiya
Action Director: Mitsuo Abe
Special FX Director: Hajime Matsumoto, Hiroshi Onodera

This one of those films that I caught on TV at the tail-end and wondered just what it was I was watching. It was cable TV back in the mid-1990s when I was channel surfing and happened upon a Japanese movie I was unfamiliar with (despite being a huge Godzilla fan at the time) and watched the last ten or fifteen minutes, which was full of action and monsters. A year or so later, I came across it again, probably on the Sci-Fi Channel (back when it was still cool) and watched all of it. It was neat. Then, when the Sci-Fi Channel did their Saturday Anime cycle, I noticed that the anime adaptation of this movie was on and taped it (over the course of two Saturdays). It is one of my favorite animes of all time. I eventually got this movie (and its sequel) on VHS from Video Daikaiju near the end of the 1990s (or early 2000s).

The movie opens with some high contrast black-and-white photography of a strange, mushroom-headed being walking through a corridor, viciously slaughtering all the soldiers standing in its way. Enter: Zeiram.

Switch to our Earth, where we meet our two main male protagonists: Kamiya (Yukijiro Hotaru, Gamera, Guardian of the Universe and Deep Sea Monster Reigo) and Teppei (Kunihiro Ida, of Weather Girl and Moon Over Tao). Both men work for an electronics company and seem to specialize mainly in equipment repairs. They’re working on a Sunday, which both men resent for differing reasons: Kamiya has scored high on his latest race bet and wants to celebrate with his friends; Teppei has a date with one of his female co-workers (whom we’ll never meet). Their last job of the day is to investigate a claim of someone stealing power from the grid. I would think that would be the job for the power company and not an electronics company, but maybe it’s a Japanese thing.

They show up at the apartment in question, which is inhabited by a mysterious woman named Iria (Yuko Moriyama, of Kunoichi Lady Ninja and Tokyo Raiders) and her talking computer, Bob (voiced by Masakazu Handa). Before our heroes’ arrival, we had met Iria and Bob, who were talking about setting up “the Zone” and earning money from their latest job. Yes, they are intergalactic bounty hunters and their next target is Zeiram, whom we saw in the opening scene. “The Zone” refers to a temporary pocket dimension which can mimic the surrounding area up to a certain radius and thus can be used to carry out jobs without endangering the locals. Zeiram is on its way to Earth and Iria wants to capture him. So, she creates a version of the Zone to resemble to the industrial zone of Tokyo and sets up a portal for Zeiram’s travel pod to land directly in it. Unfortunately, when Kamiya and Teppei show up to find out why she’s stealing power—we learn that the Earth has been evaluated as being naturally unfriendly and uncooperative to outsiders from space (even friendly ones), so she’s working on the sly—they are accidentally transported into the Zone. That means that Iria will have to work twice as hard to fight Zeiram and protect the two humans (the dialog suggests that she and Bob will lose their bounty hunter license if any of the locals dies on the job, probably something about the “prime directive”).

From there on out, we have martial arts battles with monsters, gunplay and explosions, lots of slimy special effects (Zeiram can create little monsters from the DNA of other organisms it has assimilated), more gunplay and fighting, and even a scene of Teppei eating a space cockroach. At one point, Iria is transported out of the Zone and has to direct Teppei and Kamiya while she fixes the transporter. And Zeiram is not just powerful, he has several different forms he takes on whenever it looks like the humans are going to defeat him.

Zeiram is a highly entertaining Tokusatsu film from Keita Amemiya, an artist an effects man who became a director of some renown in Japan. This is one of his earlier films and he shows a good eye for monster designs and action sequences. These days, Amemiya is probably most well known for his work on the “Garo” TV series/franchise, which is sort of a more adult-oriented Tokusatsu series. He also directed Mechanical Violator Hakaider and Cyber Ninja, the latter of which was available to rent at places like Blockbuster Video back in the 1990s. He also directed an episode of “Dinosaur Squadron Zyuranger,” which corresponds with the first season of the “Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers” (specifically the episode with the Terror Toad villain).

The movie takes a little while to get going, but once the characters enter the Zone, the pace picks up considerably. My main complaint is the interval in which Iria is temporarily trapped outside the Zone, leaving our clumsy heroes to fend for themselves. It’s a good way of upping the ante and the stakes, since the two men have no skills and have to improvise to not die, but Yuko Moriyama is so compelling as Iria that watching her just hang around doing nothing is a bit of a letdown. Thankfully, she eventually finds her way back into the film, which sets up a triple-climax for the movie. And director Amemiya is really good at drawing out the suspense and upping the stakes so that deliverance really comes at the last possible second.

Most people will never forget the design of Zeiram, with its hulking green body, mushroom-shaped head, and a tiny, white, humanoid face in its head that can extend, much like the secondary mouth of the Xenomorph. Zeiram can engage in hand-to-hand combat, wield a gun, and produce clones of its victims to use as his minions. The effects are attributed to Hajime Matsumoto and Hiroshi Onodera. The former is best known for his work on Gamera: Guardian of the Universe and later Godzilla-Mothra-King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack and Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla. Onodera, on the other hand, worked on the FX teams for all of the Heisei Godzilla and Mothra movies, plus some of the early 2000s Ultraman movies. Their job is to give life to Keito Amemiya’s monster designs, which they do handily, mixing rod puppets, man-in-suit techniques, and even some stop motion animation.

The martial arts is a little limited, and its clear that Yuko Moriyama is doubled for the flashier moves. Japanese cinema was not the place to turn to for quality martial arts in the 1990s, but watching a beautiful woman like Moriyama (and her stunt double) karate-kicking a giant, four-legged stop-motion skeleton is just the epitome of entertainment.