Kai Doh Maru
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| Kai Doh Maru | |
|---|---|
| 怪童丸 (Kaidōmaru) |
|
| Genre | Historical drama, Romance, War violence |
| OVA | |
| Director | Kanji Wakabayashi |
| Studio | Production I.G |
| Episodes | 1 |
| Released | 2001 |
Kai Doh Maru (怪童丸 Kaidōmaru?) is an anime released as an OVA in Japan, 2001, and later by Manga Entertainment in the U.S. in 2003. In Australia, the film is distributed on DVD by Madman Entertainment.
Directed by Kanji Wakabayashi and produced by Japan's IG Plus / Production I.G, the film attracted anime star treatment received by other famous titles such as Ghost in the Shell.
[edit] Story
Set in the Heian period of Japan's history, the battle for political power and possession of the capital city, Kyo, rages. A young girl, Kentoki, is disguised as a boy by her father to protect her from her own family. Kentoki recalls events from her past indicating that her father had intended to place Kentoki as his successor, instead of her uncle.
When Kentoki's uncle kills her family to attain what he felt was his rightful position, Kentoki is chased into the mountain forests. Upon near capture she is rescued by the samurai Lord Raiko, leader of a faction from another city's defensive ministry known as "The Four Horsemen". This is where she begins earning the title of "Kai Doh Maru".
Kentoki is raised as a boy and as a warrior and soon joins the Ministry of Defense's Four Horsemen as a sort of permanent attache. While Kentoki begins developing emotional ties to Raiko, a figure from Kentoki's past resurfaces.
Ohni-hime, Kentoki's cousin, and now princess due to the seditious acts of her uncle, was once Kentoki's childhood playmate. Ohni-hime had once proclaimed her love for Kentoki (in the guise of a boy during that part of her youth), and even offered to take her hand in marriage. Ohni-hime, now under the spell of a vicious ogre, believes she is coming to rescue her precious Kentoki. In so doing, she causes a great amount of destruction and damage, and ultimately must suffer greatly at Kentoki's feelings for Raiko.
