FOUR AND 1/2 STARS
Let’s start with the extraordinary use of animation: at times it is exuberant, at times it is subtle, simple, but that combination of tones and shapes is in perfect synchronization with the theme and the story.
The theme is the revenge; the history, that of a woman from the 17th century in Japan who seeks revenge and recognition. There is also another theme -especially interesting in this case-: the clash between the European and the oriental, here symbolized in the character of Brannagh.
But what is surprising is the lack of prejudice to tell everything with the drawing, to create true emotions through the movement of these characters to overcome the commonplaces of a completely codified genre. There is a “something more”, the idea of adventure in a strange land, that gives the series a strength that is not common in the genre.
That Japan – distant in time and space – is a potential setting for a fantasy that here is, above all, and paradoxically, realistic.
