animalwith but first I'm going to rent the second movie the first one is still sinking in feel it human survival needed arrival the sky I also loved the acting in this film.Its morning. I hear birds chirping outside. The cars are racing about to get to work. I'm getting ready to rent: ONMYOJI II.Birds Birds Birds Tweet Tweet Tweet Birds Birds Birds Remembering southwest Colorado hiking in the middle of nowhere mind spread out body followed animal with machineenjoyed the soundsurround in the evening this dream it seems moments of the day

Jaida Jones I rented this movie expecting it to be cool in certain ways, which only goes to prove the old adage: never judge a DVD by its cover. Especially not in a dusty, abandoned corner of your local Blockbuster. In any case, Onmyouji was pretty much not-cool at all in any of the ways I had anticipated coolness; its wholly unique brand of cool came from somewhere else, somewhere unexpected, somewhere completely different. In the end, that's what won me over -- Onmyouji is the cool you just don't expect.Most of that cool stems from the acting and, therefore, from the characters themselves; the former operating on multiple levels of "fantastic" and the latter managing to intrigue, amuse and inspire great fondness by the movie's conclusion. I think the main joy of watching Onmyouji is Nomura Mansai's stellar performance; you get the picture early on that he's the real deal. He moves like some otherworldly spirit gracing his audience with his at once delicate and wry presence; some sort of living embodiment of mono no aware with a smirking edge and quirky eyebrows. I felt instinctively that it was an honor just to be watching him on my living room TV.Sanada Hiroyuki, while I felt sometimes that he'd stumbled onto the wrong set by accident and then figured "Hey, what the hell, maybe I'll get paid," delivered a wonderful performance as well. I was a fan of his before this movie, and I remain a fan.The special effects and some of the stages may be a bit on the cheap side but part of me feels that it was an intentional super-awareness of the movie-as-a-stage. The whole film watched and felt like traditional Japanese theatre, and not just because of Nomura Mansai's traditional Japanese theatre aura. As some sort of wild throwback to Murasaki Shikibu's classic and the literary tropes of Heian court culture, this film is a definite winner. Listen not to the people who were expecting a grand and lavish cinematic spectacular; this movie wanted to look like a stage and so it created one, on which its excellent stage actors excelled.

kamariah_hk I think this is really a great Japanese fantasy film ever made. I love to see the actor in a costume as (Abe No Seimei). Congratulation to the great actor (Nomura Mansai) as he is able to make the character as Abe No Seimei like real person. Since I watch this movie, I start to know more about Nomura Mansai. He is really good in acting and I adore him so much. I hope to see more him acting in other Japanese fantasy movie as well the continue of Onmyoji 3 and so on. credit to Nomura Mansai.... Keep up your good work. And credit also to the director of Onmyoji 1 and 2. Keep up your good works.... Please continue to make this great film.... make the continue of Onmyoji 3,4,5......To people who not yet seeing this film....It is a must see film.... you won't regret....trust me....

tkleeman Contrary to some of the more unfavorable comments, this is Japanese movie, has nothing to do with the Chinese genre of wuxia or martial hero movie, and does not prominently feature martial arts. Instead, it is a movie about an Onmyoji or Master or Yin and Yang, an ancient Japanese master of the occult arts, including exorcism, necromancy, foreknowledge, etc. The recreation of these arts is quite authentic and the movie is suitable for use in the classroom to help students understand the jumble of Chinese Daoism and Indian Buddhism that made up Chinese esoteric learning for the early Japanese. The hero, Abe no Seimei, is played by a noted Noh actor. His style is arresting, so mannered that it might seem artificial. But in this performance it gives Seimei an otherworldly, superhuman air that ads mystery to the character. If you rent it on DVD, be sure to choose to hear it in Japanese with subtitles rather than in the dubbed version. Much of the magic depends on chants and spells and I can't imagine how they could have dubbed those. THis movie requires close attention to follow the story, but it is worth it. An engrossing story of a totally different world, where the fate of nations is determined by sorcerers and wrathful spirits, and imperial forces rely as much on exorcists and priests as on generals. Highly recommended.