Blade of the Phantom Master: Amheng Osa, the Ultimate Warrior

Hello everybody! Today we have an interesting pick, Blade of the Phantom Master.

BLADE OF THE PHANTOM MASTER

DIRECTOR:  Ahn Tae-gun and Jōji Shimura

EPISODES: 1 Film

GENRE: Adventure, Science Fiction, Fantasy

YEAR: 2004

COUNTRY: Japan, Korea

There was a time when the Angyo Onshi or “Amen Osa” – Guardians of the People – were plentiful and traveled the land of Jushin, killing off evil regimes and keeping the residents safe. But now, all the Angyo Onshi are gone save one. Jushin has been destroyed. And he’s back with vengeance.  Blade of the Phantom Master is the story of Munsu, an “Amen Osa” (“angyo onshi” in the Japanese version) – the last of a secret army created by the King of Jushin to guard the land and its inhabitants.

Unfortunately, the army failed and Jushin fell, now ravaged by zombies, creatures and evil tyrants. In the midst of Jushin’s collapse, Munsu falls into a state of unconsciousness and hovers between life and death. When he recovers, the King (also Munsu’s best friend) is dead and Jushin is in chaos. Munsu essentially wanders the land looking for Aji Tae, the man he believes is responsible for the destruction of Jushin and the death of his friend.

There are of course, a few plot twists to this story and while I won’t give everything away, I will tell you that Munsu is perhaps not exactly what he thought he was and there’s more to Jushin’s fall than initially revealed. But what really makes Blade of the Phantom Master so gripping is the level of action throughout the movie. Munsu is a “third mahai, meaning he wears the medallion bearing three horses and thus, wields some pretty amazing powers. The result is some extremely intense battles, including gunfights, decapitations and even encounters with demon cannibals.

Alas, something happens in the middle of Blade of the Phantom Master, a mix of stilted pacing, random happenings that don’t rightly fit into any other parts of the story–completely unexplained randomness–that starts the disastrous unwinding of the entire piece. The animation at least, was excellent.

It’s bloody, it’s grisly and it’s definitely not for the kiddos but if you want an anime that is “in-your-face”, Blade of the Phantom Master is definitely it.

PROS:

• Amheng Osa.
• Interesting subject matter.
• Gritty
• Ridiculous violence

CONS:

• Dated animation, yet excellent.
• Over-powered antihero.

SCORE: 6.0 / 10

If you have any suggestions for films/TV/Games/Music for me to review, drop me a comment! Remember: Like Media In Review @ https://www.facebook.com/MediaInReview?ref=hl Follow Media in Review @ https://twitter.com/Media_In_Review.