Bikuu the Movie released

Ratings

Poll ended at Sun Jul 24, 2016 1:25 am

☆☆☆☆☆
3
60%
☆☆☆☆
2
40%
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0
No votes
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0
No votes
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 5
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Bikuu the Movie released

Post by takenoko »

Wiki: http://wiki.tvnihon.com/wiki/Bikuu_the_Movie

Bonuses
-Making Of
-Original Sound Track
-Manga
-Booklet scans

I really enjoyed this movie. I was a bit worried at first, because the first fight scene in the garage seemed kind of clunky, but the rest of it was pretty smooth.

A lot of surprises in this one. I think that I might prefer Makai Priest stories at this point, simply because they're more free to go anywhere. The knight stuff is always cool in these series, but at this point the lore's so established that there's nowhere really for it to go. That's why a lot of later knight stuff seems like rehashes of previous stories, I think.

Daichi was excellent. I wasn't sure, based on the Makai Retsuden episode that featured him, but he's way better in the movie. He has his backstory, he's not annoying, and he does a lot of action scenes in this. I was amazed by the part where he got thrown into a corner. That looked like it would hurt. I almost feel like the Makai Retsuden kind of ruins some aspects to this story, based on the ending. But we'll get to that.

The visuals were amazing, as expected from Amemiya. I'm surprised he didn't direct this movie himself. At least we get to see all his designs in play. I love the nightmarish scenes that they use. It's just so creative. And while Bikuu's underwear transformation is silly, I did like her ultimate form at the end of the movie. Oohashi Akira also did a fine job, filling in as both director and action director. He also did Tougen no Fue, so this guy knows what's up.

I knew Azusa looked familiar, she's Ito Kazue, who played Masaki Miki on GekiRanger. I knew either Saya or Hyakkai were going to be a surprise villain at the end. What a surprise that they both were.

Speaking of the ending, I think this is the first example of incest in this series. What a weird storyline to follow. I like that we get the Saya reveal post-credits, I don't like the face appearing over her face though. I want to see Saya as her own villain, not just Zesshin living on in her, which doesn't make sense since he was in Daichi.

I also really, really like the scene between Bikuu and Byakkai. Bikuu's a Rorschach, she never compromises. And having her face her mentor and understanding the consequences of his actions was really good to me. Either way, I figured it'd be a dark ending, but I prefer the one where Bikuu slyly kills her mentor, walks away, and tells Daichi to buzz off. That's why it's weird to me that she would suddenly be training him in Makai Retsuden. It felt a lot stronger to end the shot on Daichi and Bikuu part ways.

Full 5 stars from me. I haven't translated it at this point, but hopefully we're releasing with the trailers and making-of footage. If so, please check those out. I thought they were worth watching.

Edit: You should have known something was up when Byakkai turned into Pyramid Head.
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Re: Bikuu the Movie released

Post by XIII »

Man, what a fun movie. It did seem a bit strange at the start with the underwater scene. But it becomes clear later on as to why it plays a part in the story. I think I kinda lost interest around the 25 min mark and struggled for a while with being distracted on the timing. I did however find the 2nd half of the movie better and streamed right through it. Bikuu and Daichi had much better chemistry in this than in the episode, I kinda wish we got this before that episode, so that everything made more sense in the long run, cause seeing it before hand just confuses you.

That final fight scene, thats was something good. The underwear transformation was a tad odd. But that final form. Dam. I can see why you said "oh shit" now. That was just cool.

A lot of the villain stuff had a very strong Silent Hill vibe from it. Which is pretty cool, but they could have made it more creepy at times with a better choice of music.

I think my only gripe with the movie, was the choice of music at times. They got it great in places, but at somepoints, it was a case of "eh?"

Byakkai had been bugging throughout as I knew the voice, just couldnt put a name to it. But now knowing its Mickey Curtis from KS7, it all becomes clear.

I didnt recognize Miki thou, so that is a downside on my part

I do look forward to watching this subbed in the next couple of months.
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Re: Bikuu the Movie released

Post by takenoko »

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Should have known that you can't trust Pyramid Head. The panels in the back are noiseproofing tiles.

Speaking of which, did anyone else notice that Byakkai paints his nails?

Zesshin looks like he would have been a great Final Fantasy or Symphony of the Night boss.

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Re: Bikuu the Movie released

Post by xiiliea »

So now we learned that Bikuu is like Ultraman, she has 3 forms.

Dark Slasher Bikuu
Bikuu Cloth Bikini Form
Bikuu Metal Bikini Ultimate Form
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Re: Bikuu the Movie released

Post by PHurricane »

As much as I enjoyed this movie, the one criticism that holds steady throughout all of Garo’s movies is how predictable they are - if a new character is introduced, they will end up fighting the main character at one point in the movie or another. It’s a shame, because it ruined any surprise that Saya’s betrayal would have had. Actually, I take it back - I was surprised that Zesshin’s older daughter (GekiMom) was (a) still alive and (b) truly not interested in the family legacy which meant (c) she didn't get involved in the fighting.

The incest aspect of the plot didn’t strike me as odd. A lot of these Makai families seem awfully insular.

After the Makai Retsuden episodes, I wondered if Dark Slashers existed in Kouga’s time period, because you would think that the villains from the first two series would have been caught sooner if someone could check whether their souls were dark. I think this movie answers that in a roundabout way, since Zesshin is credited with creating the Soul Insertion spell and going crazy from using it, which could conceivably mean it was developed around the time that Makai Senki ended.

I kind of feel like Daichi the character deserved to be possessed. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt when it comes to following Saya because I was suspicious of her mostly because of my familiarity with Garo movies, but he let a half-dead guy catch up to him and then trapped himself on a rooftop. Those type of instincts are not conducive to a long lifespan in the fight against Horrors. On the other hand, Daichi’s actor was pretty adorable. When I was watching the movie, I thought the camera angles were too close for a lot of the action to be done by a stunt double, so I wasn’t too surprised during the Making Of that he had did most of his own stunts. And then I bothered to read the wiki and see that he was Inazuman in the Fourze movie, so that partly explains his comment about tokusatsu in the Making Of.

Considering I think Amemiya said in an interview that he’d wanted to use Bikuu’s actress for a long time in a Garo project, I’m surprised he wasn’t the main director for the movie. It was still a pretty stunning movie, visually speaking. The ending song was pretty too, although the lyrics sound like they were copied directly from the various lines of dialogue in the movie.

As for the ending...It wasn’t Zesshin with Saya at the end; it was Byakkai, hence her rolling her hand around like she was holding his chestnuts before the reflection changed to his bearded face. That was the only thing I even half-way liked about the ending. Byakkai clearly wasn’t a good guy, despite his white orb, but it struck me as out of character for Bikuu to shatter his soul considering how strictly she adheres to her beliefs of when it’s appropriate to act.

You’re right, Byakkai was totally in KS7. I have not been doing good recently when it comes to recognizing actors.
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Re: Bikuu the Movie released

Post by takenoko »

Oh, was it Byakkai's face? I mean, it's a cool twist, but I would have preferred both of those guys to stay dead.

I dunno, I still think that Bikuu's the one who shattered Byakkai's soul. It makes sense in the Dark Slasher character arc that's been established in the movie.
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Re: Bikuu the Movie released

Post by TypicalStandUser »

xiiliea wrote:Bikuu Cloth Bikini Form
Bikuu Metal Bikini Ultimate Form
Onto pixiv!!

The movie's alright. Excellent fight scenes!
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Re: Bikuu the Movie released

Post by Phoenix512 »

It sounds like the whole Dark Slasher is a new thing that Byakkai was trying to get more use in general Makai operations. This probably makes the episode with Bikuu and Assassin 18 a bit more sense that there might be some in the old order who would want to get rid of Dark Slashers by killing the best one, Bikuu.

It was definitely Byakkai in Saya's body. He probably found a way to copy his soul into another's person body in case he died like he did when Bikuu smashed his orb. Speaking of that, Bikuu might descend on the same path like Zesshin did since he destroy a white orb as well.
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Re: Bikuu the Movie released

Post by Dragonfan »

I really loved the movie, so everything good you have already said it.

When I watched the trailer, I liked it but that was all. However, I really loved Daichi's episode in Retsuden, both his character/actor and the concept of entering into souls.

I wonder if the people who were trying to kill Bikuu in her Retsuden episode are, like Phoenix says, people who want to get rid of her because she's dangerous, or maybe The Senate wants to eliminate her because she killed a person with a white orb, comitting a crime.

The thing with Daichi being trained in Retsuden is also weird, like there's a missing piece.

To say something bad about the movie, Bikuu's CG model was horrible, they should have used the actual actress for more shots and kept the CG shots for long distances.

BTW, thanks not only for the movie subs but also for the extras. I love that kind of stuff but unfortunately they are not normally translated.
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Re: Bikuu the Movie released

Post by Victormaru »

Too much to say about this movie.

First of all, this definitely takes place before MAKAI RETSUDEN, obviously. Although this movie goes far deeper into the whole Dark Slasher job description and concept. Not sure if it takes place after MAKAI NO HANA or not but it doesn't seem to matter. Also, I thought she was called a "Dark Hunter" in MAKAI NO HANA. Which is the same thing except being a "Dark Slasher" just adds the fact that she can enter people's hearts; something that wasn't mentioned in MAKAI NO HANA.

That white-clothed form is unnecessary and ugly as hell. It could've looked much cooler and sexier if they were just given a bit more time to redesign it. Not that it matters anyway since it doesn't appear to give her any additional benefits in battle.

Did the team from Kamen Rider Ghost direct some of the CGI for this?! A new form with a bunch of madou brushes for wings and then a brush dive kick finisher?! Alrighty then.

They went all-out with the CGI for this movie. It contains all the elements of GARO but it goes overboard with the weirdness, surpassing even Soukoku no Maryu, surprisingly. Overall, not what I expected for a Bikuu movie.
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Re: Bikuu the Movie released

Post by ry632 »

I 'll have to say thanks for this. I not usually into this genre. But I'm just here for Sayaka Akimoto, well kind of, that and the plugs on the front page. So I guess I'll give it a watch.
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Re: Bikuu the Movie released

Post by Dragonfan »

BTW, the movie is not called Yamigiri no chi?

I remember they marketed it like that, but the title seems to be simply "Bikuu the movie".
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Re: Bikuu the Movie released

Post by Alessar »

Re dark slasher/hunter-- Translating is always a bit of a choice. I respect the team went with a literal translation of her title, I think if this ever went mainstream they would probably use the more familiar English equivalent which would be inquisitor.

Overall I thought it was pretty good. The underwear fight scenes in the sort of video game like battle stages in a few places let me take point off so I went with four stars. Daichi's actor had very good fight choreography in the later part of the movie while he was possessed. I would definitely like to see that character with the actor cutting loose to his full potential in a future series.
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Re: Bikuu the Movie released

Post by takenoko »

Eh? Where are you getting inquisitor from? Seems a little too steeped in Catholicism to be applicable here.

The two Japanese terms for her title are made up portmanteaus. The first one Karishi (狩師) combines "hunter" and "expert", so another possible translation could be "master hunter".

The second title, girishi (斬師) combines the words "slash" and "expert".

So assassin might be another good alternate for Bikuu. Although that'd make it Dark Assassin, which would make it seem like she's an assassin who's dark, rather than an assassin that goes after the dark.
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Re: Bikuu the Movie released

Post by Zadvent »

Having never seen Garo Would I be lost watching this before Garo ?
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