The animated film INU-OH tells the story of two young men. Both of them are cursed: Tomona comes from a family who dived in the river for the remains of a mysterious battle. When he uncovers an artifact with his father, his father instantly dies. Tomona goes blind. Tomona becomes a Biwa-hoshi, a blind monk, who travels across the country to tell stories accompanied by Biwa-lutes. The most important work in the medieval tradition of the Biwa-monks is the “Heike Monogatari“ about monk Akashi Kakuichi, stories of a sunken samurai dynasty whose treasures Tomona‘s family was diving for. When Tomona encounters a monstrously disfigured boy, they find out that the boy, who now calls himself Inu-Oh, or “master of dogs,“ is being surrounded by the spirits of the Heike. They whisper new Heike stories in his ear which Tomona tells in song form. Inu-Oh is the ousted and cursed son of a master of Noh dancing, and together with Tomona they become stars. From that point on, the film becomes a kind of rock opera. The traditional Biwa-sounds turn into electric guitars, and the stage shows become more and more elaborate until they look like stadium rock concerts. With every song, Inu-Oh loses a bit of his monstrosity, but they gradually attract the wrath of the traditionalists and the shogun. The masterly drawn film works with many different visual styles. The story is reminiscent of Osamo Tezuka‘s manga classic “Dororo,“ in which the hero has to cobble together his body as well, but something else lies here too: the transformation of Japanese culture after the war, when the influence of new American music promised a new path of subjectification to a generation.

Tom Dorow (INDIEKINO MAGAZIN)

Translation: Elinor Lewy