is a 1994 Japanese

epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

religious Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...

fantasy film Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually Magic (paranormal), magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The Film genre, genre is considered a form of speculative fic ...

directed by Takao Okawara and produced by Shogo Tomiyama, with a screenplay by Wataru Mimura. Distributed by

Toho is a Japanese entertainment company that primarily engages in producing and distributing films and exhibiting stage plays. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. ...

and produced under their subsidiary

Toho Pictures is a Japanese film studio and production company that is a subsidiary of Toho, Toho Co., Ltd. One of the most successful films produced by Toho Studio is the live-action film ''Godzilla Minus One'' (2023), which generated more than $100 million ...

, the film is based on

Japanese mythology Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology. The history of thousands of years of contac ...

, specifically the birth of

Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...

. It stars Masahiro Takashima, Yasuko Sawaguchi, Akaji Maro, Yūki Meguro and Saburo Shinoda.

Plot

A pair of twin princes are born. Their father, emperor Keiko of

Yamato was originally the area around today's Sakurai, Nara, Sakurai City in Nara Prefecture of Japan, which became Yamato Province and by extension a Names of Japan, name for the whole of Japan. Yamato is also the dynastic name of the ruling Imperial ...

, feels a great loathing for one of his sons, Ousu. Being convinced that this feeling is a premonition, Keiko orders the shaman Tsukinowa to kill Ousu, yet his efforts are spoiled by Amano Shiratori, the White Bird of the Heavens. Keiko's sister, seeing this as a clear sign of

divine intervention Divine intervention is an event that occurs when a deity (i.e. God or gods) becomes actively involved in changing some situation in human affairs. In contrast to other kinds of divine action, the expression "divine ''intervention''" implies that ...

, takes it upon herself to raise Ousu. Years later, when Ousu has matured into a man, he is given pardon by Keiko and allowed to return to the castle. However, not long after, Ousu's mother empress Inahi falls ill and dies mysteriously. This sends Ousu's brother into a rage and causes him to attack Ousu, who defends himself and accidentally kills his brother in the process. Keiko, furious at these events, orders Ousu to leave the castle and not return until the barbarians living in the Kumaso domain are dealt with. Ousu makes haste to complete this task, stopping off at a shrine on his way where, after a quick battle, he befriends a young priestess named Oto Tachibana who joins him on his journey. They, along with companions Genbu and Seiryu, raid the castle, killing Kumaso Takeru and their god Kumasogami. Following this defeat, Ousu changes his name to Yamato Takeru, yet fails to win the acceptance of Keiko. His aunt, though, warns him of a great threat looming overhead, as the

moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

god

Tsukuyomi , or simply or , is the moon kami in Japanese mythology and the Shinto religion. The name "Tsukuyomi" is a compound of the Old Japanese words and . The ''Nihon Shoki'' mentions this name spelled as , but this ''yumi'' is likely a variation ...

is poised to return, endangering the

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

. Takeru must prepare to halt this from occurring. She tells him to bring the enchanted Sword of Dark Clouds to her for safekeeping as it holds a good deal of the god's power. He secures the sword but is tricked by Tsukinowa, who revealed himself to be Tsukuyomi's acolyte, into surrendering it, thus inadvertently restoring Tsukuyomi to full power. Tsukinowa also reveals that it was him who killed Inahi and Takeru's brother to frame Takeru. The

solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs approximately every six months, during the eclipse season i ...

falls over Earth as Tsukuyomi blots out the sunlight. Takeru is told by the deity Susanoo that his divinely ordained destiny is to destroy Tsukuyomi with the aid of Oto, who revealed to be the incarnation of the sun goddess and Susanoo's sister

Amaterasu , often called Amaterasu () for short, also known as and , is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. Often considered the chief deity (''kami'') of the Shinto pantheon, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the () ...

. Susanoo tests him by having him pull the Sword of Dark Clouds from a stone, and tells him that it is the only weapon that can kill Tsukuyomi. Together, Takeru and Oto are transported to the moon to face Tsukuyomi, who transforms himself into Orochi, the eight-headed dragon. Takeru and Oto are joined by Amano in the form of a phoenix, and riding Amano to launch an aerial attack on Orochi, but Orochi overpowers them. As they have both lost their lives, Oto sacrifices herself to gives Takeru her life energy. Takeru realizes that the prophecy – that he would become a warrior of the gods once he possessed three lights – has come true, as he now has the shrine mirror, the Sword of Dark Clouds, and the sunlight of Oto's spirit. Takeru transforms into a gigantic warrior named Utsuno Ikusagami, who fights and defeats Orochi, who reverts into Tsukuyomi after defeated. With Tsukuyomi's defeat, Oto is restored to life. Susanoo again appears and tells Takeru to seal Tsukuyomi's spirit into his comma-shaped jewel, then cast it into the sky. The eclipse ends and the

sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

again shines on Earth. As Takeru and Oto mount Amano to fly home to Earth, Keiko says he wants to see Takeru.

Cast

Release

''Orochi, the Eight-Headed Dragon'' was distributed theatrically by

in Japan on 9 July 1994. The film was released in the United States as ''Orochi the Eight-Headed Dragon'' directly to home video by

ADV Films A.D. Vision Holdings, Inc. (known simply as ADV and also referred to as ADV Films) was an American multimedia entertainment distributor headquartered in Houston, Texas, and founded in 1992 by video game fan John Ledford and anime fans Matt Gr ...

with an English dub on June 13, 1999. The film was reissued in Japanese with English subtitles in 2003.

Reception

Robert Firsching of

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awarded the film three-and-a-half stars out of five, stating that "the film is firmly in the province of magical fantasy, and is quite a good example of the form ..Many films attempt to capture the look and feel of 1960s fantasy, but most fall prey to '90s cynicism and can't quite pull off the necessarily naïve belief in heroism and the power of goodness and purity to save mankind, or even that the belief that mankind is worth saving. This film does, and that alone makes it a refreshing throwback, and a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon."

References

Footnotes

Sources

External links

* {{Takao Okawara 1994 films 1994 fantasy films 1990s monster movies Japanese fantasy adventure films Films set on the Moon Films about dragons Sword and sorcery films Toho films Toho tokusatsu films Kaiju films Giant monster films Films directed by Takao Okawara Films with screenplays by Wataru Mimura Films based on Japanese myths and legends Shinto in popular culture 1990s Japanese films Yamato Takeru Legend 1994 science fiction films