Movies: Shonen Onmyouji Vol. #3

There’s a big difference between a truly great show and one you just feel an endearing affection for. Shonen Onmyouji is by no means a ground-breaking piece of work, but darn it all if I don’t like it. It’s got a mix of elements that hits a personal sweet spot, an attractive visual style, and a compulsively watchable storyline. As Frederik Pohl once said about another movie, “It may not be Bach, but it’s certainly Offenbach”, and that’s still plenty good.

A description of the show would probably be best served by talking about the title. Most of us reading this know what shonen means (young man), but onmyouji is probably going to send most of us scurrying for the dictionary. Sometimes translated as yin-yang master, an onmyouji was the feudal Japanese version of your friendly neighborhood ghostbuster — plus astrologer, sorcerer and a few other supernaturally-inclined vocations, all rolled into one. If the term rings a distant bell or three, chances are you might have stumbled across the two live-action movies of the same name, Onmyouji I and II, also issued by Geneon before they ended up in the great Suncoast Video cut-out bin in the sky.

Article originally written for AMN. Click here to read full text.