"Hello. I've never really written a movie review before, particularly one about a movie in a language I don't fully understand, but I happened to catch Takashi Miike's "Youkai Daisensou" last night and found it pretty enjoyable. I was hoping there would be enough visual stimulation to carry me through, despite the language (and cultural) barrier, and I wasn't disappointed in this regard.

Though it does take a little while to get going, the world that our protagonist, Tadashi, encounters is full of wonderful creatures and beings. The majority of these are taken from both Japanese mythology (the Kirin, and the Kappa) as well as the universe of manga artist Mizuki Shigeru. Tadashi gets lured into this world via the analgous white rabbit--the hamster-like sunekosuri--and soon joins forces with the aformentioned creatures to defend the realm from the nattily-dressed Demon Prince. There's also an appearance by "Battle Royale" and "Kill Bill vol. 1"'s Chiaki Kuriyama, wielding a powerful whip and wearing a stylish beehive.

If you're in any way familiar with Alice's Adventures in Wonderland or the like, then you probably have a good idea of the structure of this film. Except Tadashi wields a sword. And the Kappa nearly steals the show.

From what I understood going into the film, it is mostly geared toward a younger audience, despite the frightening appearance of some of the characters. Given my limited exposure to the world of Mizuku Shigeru and the Japanese pantheon, much of it went over my head.

It was a good time, and might have been better if the protagonist said more than "Eh?" and "Oh!" all the time..."