SHADOWSKILL - THE MOVIE (MA) 1998   SYNOPSIS: May contain spoilers...
Synopsis from Madman.com.au: In a war torn world of deadly conflict, one small group of heroes stands against the forces of darkness, armed only with two weapons - their unswerving dedication to good and the superhuman martial art known as the Shadow Skill… Anime directed by Hiroshi Nigishi. Running Time: 125 minutes. Rated MA 15+.  Contains Shadow Skill: The Movie and Shadow Skill: Epilogue  DVD $34.95 - Multilingual (English 5.1/Japanese 2.0) Extras: photo gallery, character bios Region 4 Video $27.95 -  ( English language) Available in Australia from Madman.
HEROIC-CINEMA'S REVIEW: The first thing that struck me about this anime is that it's graphic - not in the literal, bloody sense, although there's plenty of the red stuff splashed around and some of the characters takes some seriously nasty hits - but rather in the illustrative sense. Having become so used to the clean, sweeping lines and flat colour characteristic of most anime, it was somewhat a shock to hit play on the DVD and be confronted with something almost uncharacteristic - animation that is rough, ready, angular and expressionistic. After the initial reaction, it actually takes on a kind of beauty of its own. And if one is willing to draw parallels between form and function, taking into context not only the style of the images, but the way they can be seen as being influenced by the subject matter, the sketchy illustrative techniques seem to fit. And the strongest influence on this style seems to be the reality in which the story and characters are set, a similarly untypical fictitious era that borrows heavily from not Japanese antiquity but Roman. Immediately the images, the landscapes, the architecture, the costumes and even the characters themselves, establish a reality harsh and heavily militaristic, where the main aim of the game is to stay in the game, an all out, no holes barred, last man standing battle between contestants in a vast arena to see who's kung fu's the best.
Ella Ragu is the 59th Savalle, the highest rank a warrior can achieve, and master of the Shadowskill, a martial arts school of the fortress city Karuda. Gau is her younger brother, adopted after his parents were killed, and is the only thing she cares about other than fighting. But even then it's a close thing - she's training him in the Shadowskill as well, watching him become stronger, taking pleasure in shaping him into a man that she can be proud of. He is an excellent student, applying himself with obvious enthusiasm.
Enter Mysterious Warrior exhibit A, one of those sage, I don't fight but I'll show you a few tricks types who poses Gau a question and then provides him with an answer that becomes engraved in the young boy's mind. Why do you fight? Indeed, why? This is a question that seems to give the story some direction and some depth, but unfortunately gets lost for the most part amongst all the bloodshed and whoop-ass, as if it's taken a few too many knocks to the head and only remembers where it was heading at the end. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that the DVD provides Part 1 - Shadowskill the Movie, and Part 2 - Epilogue, in possible lead up to a Shadowskill series, which exists in Nippon TV Land but has not yet been scheduled for Manga Entertainment release at writing of this review. If it does find release, then the series might be something worth checking out, as much for the potential inherent in the story as for the intensely played action. As the first volume stands, it is a little too slow, revealing plot developments practically like pulling teeth and hinting at things that might make it great instead of merely good. In Shadowskill the Movie, the sub characters - our Mysterious Warrior, the exiled sorceress Faury, the young clan orphan Kyuo Ryo and the myriad, malicious monsters (human and otherwise) encountered - provide interest where the main plotline becomes weak. The Special Features section of the DVD provides further interest, with quite detailed backgrounds of the main characters that are not really mentioned to any great extent within the film itself. This background information, at least where Gau, Ella and the issue of the Shadowskill are concerned, is built upon in Epilogue, when the two of them set off for their annual pilgrimage to the graves of Gau's parents. It is here that Ella seems to come to a decision regarding Gau's future and his increasingly ambitious goals as a Shadowskill warrior.
It also marks a distinct difference in animation styles. The whole thing looks a lot more typical now, until the action starts to explode again, much like the adopted siblings' corded muscles bulking under the strain of their standard issue ultimate power. As did the illustration style in the first part take some getting used to, so does the change to something less expressive by contrast.
Overall though, the audio is quite good, although it is an even bet as to which dialogue is better - the English audio or the English subtitles. I had both on, which betrayed slight differences between the two, not enough to handicap the script but enough that I understood slightly more by combining them. The character voices grate - the Japanese audio is much more gentle on the ears - and the film score is good, seeming to be both at the same time quite unique, considering the context, yet also well matched. In addition, I had no issues with the DVD navigation (surprisingly this is not always the case with other menus I have come across in the past). As a stand-alone anime, Shadowskill is entertaining enough, especially if you like your action delivered with an impossible number of kicks in an astonishing amount of time producing the highest volume of blood. There were aspects of it I thought deeply cool - spells being cast announce themselves and the magic is pretty impressive (well okay magic is almost always impressive in anime but hey if you're on a good thing…). The nasties roaming the land beyond Karuda city (bad guys not inclusive) are interesting, mysteriously mythological in origins and possibly derived loosely from Roman myth, although I didn't go into any research on that count. And as I said earlier on, the sub plots involving the other characters deserve a good deal of credit also. I found them almost more interesting than the main story, complex and adding a depth that might not have been there otherwise.  All in all, it's not a bad film certainly, although it's also not as good as it could be. Perhaps it's in training, taking its knocks and learning its own cinematic Shadowskills in order to be the best. I think I'll stand in the spectators box and just wait and see.
Rating: 6 blindingly fast boots in the head out of 10. Reviewed by Deni Stoner   MORE REVIEWS: Dennis A. Amith at NT2099

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