First of all let me start with this..Synopsis of this movie is completely misleading and nothing mentioned in it actually happens.
Second Before I start my review I have to say that this is my first introduction to anything Akumakun related so some of the points I make may not be valid. Duo to me not being able to find Akumakun anime series and seeing how MAL states that this movie is an alternative version of the anime and not a sequel I decided to check it out nonetheless.
Now onto the review...which may be all over the place and have some typos
Every 10 000 years a being by the name of Akumakun appears. This time he has been reborn as our main character Umoregi Shingo. Even tho Shingo is a kid he is very fearless and hes willing to give his life for his dear friends. Shingos dream is to make a world where everyone is happy and where people and demons can coexist.
There is not really a plot to this movie but Ill try my best to make something out of what I saw. The plot or the story of this movie is Shingo and his friends trying to catch up with a giant Sphinx monument before it reaches The Demon Void and fuels up all the demons and mummies with souls. If they fail and Sphinx menages to fuels up monsters all those monsters will wake up and start attacking people. Oh yeah The Demon Void is a dimension that connects heaven and hell. Now this would be a pretty decent plot if the movie was around 2 hours but since its only 40 minutes catching up to Sphinx takes them around 5 minutes max. After that we find out that the Sphinx is just being used by the real antagonist of this movie and we have a battle. Thats it. This feels more like a regular episode of an anime that has a monster of the week plot structure than a movie.
With that being said lets talk about pros cons and things I personally found likeable and enjoyable. Ill start with cons/negative thoughts and opinions I have about this movie and save up positive things for later because I would like to end this review on a high note.
NEGATIVE:
First problem I had with this movie is: too many characters. How is that a problem you may ask... Well with movie being this short none of them got polished none of them had any backstory and none of them had any character development. This may not be a problem if you have seen the Akumakun anime series before this movie but if youre going blind into this movie it certainly is. Let me again emphasize what I said earlier its stated that this movie is an alternative version of the anime that means that you can watch one even tho you havent seen the second. It would be a different story if it was a prequelsequel situation. That being said I highly recommend anyone to first watch the anime version and then the movie because you might get more supstance that way. Second problem I had is: artificially created problem which only served to make things more intense later on. There are these eight sages on Hourai Island that took Shingos Solomon Flute and a couple of minutes later promised to give it back if he gave them half of his soul. Why? Not explained. Next time he has to use the flute there is a tension that previously wasnt there because now he has only half of the soul and could die from using the flute. See what a mean by artificially created? There was no need for sages to take the flute from Shingo or to demand half of his soul. The last problem I had is the one I mentioned above in the plot section where I said it took them around 5 minutes or less to catch up with Sphinx. Now none of this would be a problem if the movie was longer but since it was this short I guess they did the best they could to make something out of it. Looking at it from the positive side you dont have to wait for the action to start 5 minutes into the movie and it throws you straight into the action.
POSITIVE:
Well start with the first thing we see and hear after clicking the play button on the movie and that is OP. Ngl its pretty catchy and I found myself moving my head to the rhythm. There are also a few designs that I liked for example: Celestial Vessel and Kajyu whos design I found really interesting and unique. I also liked some of the backgrounds mainly the ones on Hourai Island. They were very gorgeous colorful and super pleasant to look at. The battle at the end was also very interesting to watch because we get to see how Shingo and his friends work together as a team trying to take down the bad guy. Besides that we also get to see all friends use their super powers some of which were quite unique and some not so much. Very flashy and intense battle with a bunch of super powers that reminded me of all those Saturday cartoons I used to watch as a kid glued to the screen with my eyes and mouth wide open being fascinated by so many different colors and sounds.
All in all its a fun watch and a nice time killer but if youre looking for something with a story skip this one.
This would be a good spot to end the review but I wanna leave you with one of the sentences Shingo said that I really liked and that is: If you think only of your own happiness the evil will never disappear.
50
/100