KARAS: Karas: The Revelation

Karas: The Revelation is the sequal to the 2005 Karas: The Prophecy – a mini-series about the efforts of Karas, spiritual guardians chosen by their city and empowered by a sort of priestess cat-girl named Yurine – handled in the format of two feature length films.

Lord Eko, the overhanging threat of the prequal, quickly reasserts his will to uproot modern life, and in turn bring man to a humbler existence, recognising the spirits of the world that they had forgotten – and perhaps chiefly, Eko himself. A Karas since the Edo period, Eko nonetheless foregoes his duty to protect the city in order to satisfy his own agenda, which drives him toward the continuing creation of the Mikura, his own personal bio-mechanical army, to accomplish his goal.

The narrative of Karas: The Revelation divides its attention between the varying roles played by a fairly sizeable cast – some fairly insignificant, like those who are merely following or surrounded by the paranormal events of the film, and others who are more important, like Nue, a mikura who now defies Eko. All-in-all, however, the story and the cast are in varying degrees provisional, only serving to carry the totality of the film from one fight to another, and give the semblance of an overarching fiction that is more than average. Despite the occasionally subtle and intricate narrative, my personal feelings are, to the contrary, that Karas survives largely on its impressive beauty and action. The motion of events can also be disorientating, particularly, for example, when the previously calm and compassionate Otoha abruptly returns to the Yakuza lifestyle we learn of only a few scenes prior to the swords flying.

There are subtleties to the emotional range and story of the series, and not just the imagery, but for the most part, Karas is a relatively unconscious production, slowly and inevitably drifting between nonsensical or unnecessary twists as interlude between its extended fight scenes. However, for those following the story of Karas, there are a few (emphasis on few) surprises in the fiction.

Karas makes its strongest impression during the assorted action scenes, which range from skirmishes between Otoha and the Yakuza, and a massive, almost numbingly long series of final battles that hold a finger to the viewer’s heart strings until the very end. As much as Karas takes the technology of animation to a new extreme, it also embodies an exaggeration of modern visual convention – with dramatic but over the top scenes of blood trails flowing freely in slow motion and iconographical overkill in just about every form imaginable. Although it doesn’t always look at its best, it is hard to convey just how beautiful some scenes really are, from the misty encounter between Otoha and his father in the moonlit night, to the gold skied final battle between Otoha and Eko amidst the falling snow.

In Summary

Despite the fact that Karas is a production that survives largely on visual merit, its hard not to allow the undeniably lavish imagery to carry your reception of the film. If you want or tend to enjoy elaborate action and aesthetically pleasing animation, even at the expense of a good story or characterisation – then Karas: The Revelation will probably satisfy.